Nathaniel skittered backwards—the movement far too feline for his taste.
As the smell of muffins filled the air, Thea puttered around the kitchen, baking a few more things and preparing for opening.When the direct sunlight finally made its way through the front window, she hurried to open the front door, and immediately the first customer arrived.
“Hello, Eugenia,” Thea said as the elderly woman made her way to the counter.
“Hello, Thea,” Eugenia said with a conspiratorial grin.“I have some news that might interest you.”
Thea simply raised an eyebrow.
“Nathaniel Alder was not at the orphanage at all yesterday,” she said.
“He was here,” Thea said simply, “I was sick, and he was kind enough to help me since he had a key.”
Eugenia let out a noise of disappointment, and Nat could’ve sworn he saw Thea’s lips twitch in amusement.
“I suppose I’ll tell the children they can stop worrying,” Eugenia said.But then her eyes narrowed.“Did he sleep here?”
“He may have slept on the lounge seat down here if he didn’t want to leave me alone while I was sick,” Thea said, “but I was unaware of it if he did, and he probably went to his house.I don’t pretend to know or care about my landlord’s habits.”
Nathaniel could hear the lies behind her words, and it gave him hope.
She still cared.
She wouldn’t have been reminiscing to the cat if she didn’t care.
He did his best to stay hidden as more and more people entered the café, letting Ginger have her usual spotlight.It wouldn’t do for him to get on her bad side.He tried to stay out of Thea’s way, while drawing her attention to her water and food when he thought she needed it.
“You’re such an odd cat,” Thea murmured to him at one point when he nudged a bag of nuts off the shelf because he’d noticed her hands beginning to shake.
Someone has to take care of you, he told her.You’re terrible about taking care of yourself.
And she was just as clumsy as he remembered.He watched in amusement as her elbow knocked over a mug of tea, and he dragged a towel over to her to help mop it up.
She stared at him, and he took a few steps back.
Perhaps he was overdoing it.
But she needed the help, and he was useless for anything else.The only other thing he could do would be go to the orphanage and check on them…but that would probably cause more problems than it was worth, and he didn’t want to leave Thea.
It was late in the afternoon when his nose began to itch and burn, and his eyes widened as much as a cat’s could at the thought of transforming into a man, here in the middle of the café.
That wouldn’t do.
He hurried to the door, doing his best to keep out of sight until someone opened it, and he shot out between their legs, ignoring their startled cry as he raced around behind the shop.
The itching was spreading, and he had barely turned the corner when he turned into himself again, crouched over on his hands and knees.
He took a deep breath as he straightened, stretching his back, which was oddly crampy.He hadn’t felt the pain yesterday.Maybe because he’d spent more time as a cat this time?Either way, the transformation left him tired, in more ways than one.
What would it take to break this curse?Because if this kept happening, he was going to have to explain, and Thea already disliked him.
She wasn’t going to fall back in love with a man who randomly turned into a cat.
Though Thea did like cats…so maybe that would be a point in his favor.
Chapter seven
Thea
