“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 if that squirrelly little assistant is just doing this for spite. I’m sure Randolph has pulled stunts like this with a dozen other landlords. But this asshole has never had to deal with me before.”
Without giving it much thought, Caleb put Giant back in the kitten pen and followed Diane back out to the waiting room. Rachel stood and asked what was going on, so Caleb said, “Something’s up at the Cat Café. I’m just going to make sure everything is okay. Be right back.”
He and Diane walked next door. In front of the café counter, Lauren stood with her arms crossed as Newton stood right in front of her, his posture equally authoritative. Neither was speaking.
Diane hurried to Lauren’s side. “What’s happening here?”
Lauren gestured toward the counter. “Mr. Newton brought a health inspector. I keep telling him the cats are confined to the cat room and we’re following the letter of the law here.”
Caleb could see through the glass that a man in a suit was kneeling behind the counter, examining the pastry case.
“I’ll call the lawyer,” said Diane. She took a step away from Lauren and got out her phone. While she placed the call, Caleb looked over at Lauren, who was clearly distressed. She chewed on her thumbnail and watched the health inspector look through the pastry case.
“Looks clean here,” said the inspector.
“There’s no way they can have this many animals and not have a sanitary issue,” said Newton. “There’s a reason people can’t bring their dogs into restaurants. It creates unsanitary conditions.”
“My lawyer’s on speaker,” Diane said, placing her phone on the counter.
