“She was the pet psychic at the party. Her name is Hannah. She works at New Age Stones and Witch Crafts.”
“Oh, she’s darling. To be honest, I assumed she was straight.”
“Nope.” Kate said, shaking her head.
“She seems like a nice girl. I’m so happy you’ve found someone to date.”
Kate ran her hand through her hair. “Well, I don’t know about dating, don’t get carried away.”
Kate’s heart warmed as Cathy reinforced her opinion of Hannah. But then she remembered she had zero plans to date Hannah. Ravage her until she was shouting Kate’s name, yes, going on dates to the movies or out to dinner. No.
“Why wouldn’t you want to date her?”
The door opened, and a teenage girl carrying a bag and a drink tray from Fuji-Yummy walked in.
Saved by dinner. The girl put their dinners on the counter and walked out. Kate unpacked the food while Cathy took a long drink of her lemonade. “Not only do they have great food, but the mango lemonade is also fantastic.”
Both of them were hungry, and they dove into their dinners. The portions were always huge, so neither one of them finished their meals.
“Now I’ve got lunch for tomorrow, and all I came in for was to get a bag of cookies for my Munchie. Do you want me to e-pay my portion of the food bill separately, or do you want to run my card for the food and the doggie treats together?
“I like to keep the store receipts separate from my personal stuff.” Kate frowned at her leftovers. She needed to do more cooking at home than she liked to if she was going to reach the down payment goal.
Cathy sent her the money for the food, and Kate bagged up a dozen doggie cookies. She also added a small packet of cat treats for Cathy’s old grey cat. “I’m out of the pumpkin cookies, so I gave you half a dozen bacon and half a dozen oatmeal.”
“Perfect.”
Cathy added her leftovers to the bag Kate handed her and buttoned her cardigan. “I’d better head out; I’ve got my loves waiting for me at home.”
“I threw in a little bag of treats for Ollie. He shouldn’t be left out.”
“Aww, you’re the best. Hey, are you going to make it to Friendsgiving this year?”
“What day is it?”
“Week before Thanksgiving, the third Thursday of the month. At Hop’s Heaven, 6 p.m. Just bring a dish.”
Kate nodded. “Oh yeah, that’s right, bring a dish. You know my cooking is limited to baking for pets.”
“Stop at Diamond’s and grab a veggie tray or a pie.”
“That I can do. I’ll be late. I’m open ‘til seven.”
“You know no one cares if you’re late. Bring Hannah with while you are at it.”
Kate crossed her arms. “All I can promise is I’ll be there. Are you becoming the meddling aunt I didn’t know I needed?”
“Perhaps,” Cathy said with a grin. Then she turned toward the door.
Kate shook her head, “I’ll see you later, Auntie Cathy.”
Cathy waved over her shoulder and walked out. Kate got up and began shutting down the store. Technically the store had closed an hour ago, but if anyone had come in to shop while she was eating dinner with Cathy, Kate wouldn’t have turned down the sale. She bit her lip. How was she going to get extra money to buy the building? Her mind couldn’t stop running the numbers even though there was absolutely nothing she could do about it right now. Maybe she should contact Hannah; she needed a distraction, and she couldn’t think about anything better than having Hannah in her bed. Before she could talk herself out of it, she sent off a quick text.
Chapter Nine
Hannah hung up the phone after chatting with her best friend, Brandee, about watching Brandee’s son, Chris, Friday night so Brandee and her boyfriend, Luc, could go to the haunted hayride. Since Hannah lived a state away from her family and had only been back once since she’d left Chad with her car and a hundred dollars her grandma had given her for her birthday, Brandee and Chris were basically her Marley Creek family. She’d do anything for them and was always happy to watch Chris. Now that he was in kindergarten, she wondered if he was still into Bluey or if he’d moved on to some other new little boy obsession.
She got up off her couch and walked around the bookcase that divided the bedroom area from the rest of the apartment. Her favorite pajamas were sitting freshly washed on top of her dresser. She picked them up and quickly changed. Sure, it was only a little after eight p.m., but nothing was better than being home on a crisp fall night, wearing soft flannel pajamas and curling up with a book. She cracked open her library book andwithin a few minutes; she was immersed in the cozy mystery she was reading.
