He couldn’t tell if she’d been short with him because she didn’t want to see him or because of the pastry crisis, so he decided to drop by the Cat Café on his lunch break to clear the air. It was probably the wrong thing to do; he’d rarely stopped by the café when they’d actually been seeing each other.
But he couldn’t help himself.
She was standing near the counter, talking to Monique, both of them all smiles. Apparently the pastry crisis had been solved. But Lauren frowned when she saw Caleb.
“Hi,” he said. “Uh, regular coffee?”
“Sure,” said Monique, going into action and grabbing a cup.
“What are you doing here?” Lauren asked.
“Getting a cup of coffee. And saying hello. You were a little preoccupied when I walked by this morning, so I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine.” Lauren’s tone was short and direct.
“Two dollars,” said Monique, placing his coffee on the counter.
The pastry display was pretty stark, with only a single plain bagel and a couple of cookies.
“I’ll take that last bagel. Toasted with cream cheese.”
“Sure. That’s another two-seventy-five.”
“No problem.” Caleb pulled a five from his wallet. The whole time he moved, Lauren stared at him like he’d grown a tail. While Monique dropped his bagel into the toaster, Caleb turned to Lauren and said, “Did your pastry delivery arrive?”
“Yeah. Later than I would have liked, but as you can see, we sold out.”
“Glad that worked out.”
“Who are you?” Lauren asked. “Do you want something?”
“No, I just came by because it’s my lunch break. I’m trying to be sociable.”
“But…why?”
So it wouldn’t be easy to slip back into her life. She was wary of him, with good reason.
“Can we be friends, at least?” he asked.
Lauren glanced at Monique, who was now smearing cream cheese on Caleb’s bagel. “I don’t know,” she said softly. “Probably not.”
Well, that was an answer. If Caleb wanted to be with Lauren, he’d have to undo some of the damage he’d done. If that was what he wanted.
They stood there in awkward silence until Monique finished the bagel, wrapped it in deli paper, and put it next to Caleb’s coffee on the counter. He handed her six dollars and told her to keep the change.
The thing was, Caleb still wanted Lauren. It was like his body was full of iron filings and Lauren was a big magnet. He wanted to touch her, hold her, kiss her right here with all the customers watching, but he also knew she would shiv him if he tried any of that now.
And that was all she’d wanted the whole time. For him to come in here on his lunch break and greet her as if they were dating, and to be a solid couple. And he’d fucked it up by telling her no.
“I’d better get back,” Caleb said.
Lauren frowned at him. “You come in now?”
“I just wanted to say hi.”
“Right. Well, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”
So she was pissed. Would she even take him back?
Part of him wanted to find out.
He doctored his coffee and grabbed the bagel and walked back to the vet clinic. He should probably let it go. Avoid Lauren for a bit while the awkwardness subsided so they could work together again. Move on with his life and try to forget any of this ever happened. The timing was terrible, he wasn’t ready, and he couldn’t give Lauren what she wanted. He was doing the right thing here and resented Lauren a little for making him choose between something good and nothing.
Better to get out before they both got in deeper.
Even if it felt like agony to walk away.
Chapter 25
Diane cooed over the kitten pen. All but Giant had been brought to their forever homes, and Giant had been merely waiting for Diane to return from a quick jaunt out of town.
“This little guy grew fast!” Diane said.
“Kittens do that,” Caleb said. “They eat like teenage boys, too.”
“I got that kitten food you recommended.”
“Good. Let me know if he has any trouble with it. We’ve been feeding him that food here and he’s been doing okay, but if he stops eating or otherwise acts strangely, let me know. He may have grown out of his digestive issues, but if he hasn’t, we’ve got some options.”
Diane picked Giant up. He rubbed his little head against her chin. “Aw. Don’t worry, Dr. Fitch. I’ll take very good care of this little guy.”
Caleb was surprised to feel a swell of protectiveness over this little cat. Lauren would probably tell him he was a marshmallow after all, because he felt a little squishy inside as he pet the kitten’s head. He supposed he’d grown attached to Giant that night he and Lauren had saved him, and he was glad Diane was adopting him and could give regular updates.
A cell phone rang. Diane said, “Here, hold him.” She shoved Giant into Caleb’s hands, so Caleb pet the kitten while Diane answered his phone. “Hello? Oh, hi, Lauren.”
Caleb’s heart rate spiked. He didn’t want to feel this. He wanted to push it aside and move on with his life. Instead, he held his breath and leaned forward a little, hoping he could hear Lauren’s voice on the other end of the call.
She sounded distressed. He couldn’t really make out more than a few words here and there, but he did hear, “…trying to shut down the café.”
“I’m just next door at the vet clinic,” said Diane. “I’ll be right there.”
And because he couldn’t help himself, when Diane hung up the phone, Caleb said, “What’s going on?”
“You know that real estate developer who has been sniffing around here? Well, his squirmy little germophobe of an assistant has decided to bring an inspector from the health department to look at the Cat Café.” Diane sighed and pocketed her phone. “He’s trying to get the place shut down. I can’t tell if this is some ill-thought-out ploy to make me lose income and sell the building, or
