She looked at Guinevere, who was still eyeing him suspiciously.
“Who’s this?”Thea asked.
“A cat that wanted to be let in,” Guinevere said.“Ginger seems to like him.”
Ginger did not like him whatsoever.Had she just hissed at him?
“I think you should keep him,” Guinevere continued, with a tone in her voice he wouldn’t have expected from her.Had she seen what was happening in the square?
“I thought you’d already left,” Thea said.
“Oh, yes.There was a man out there who seemed a little odd, so I didn’t leave yet, and then this cat was here, and I knew you’d want me to let him in.”
Had she seen the transformation?Why wasn’t she telling Thea that he was Nathaniel?Why was she not saying anything?
Guinevere peered down at him and Nathaniel’s heart lifted ever so slightly.
If she’d seen him be cursed…and she wasn’t saying anything to Thea…maybe she knew how to break it.
Or she had no idea, and she didn’t want to break Thea’s heart…as if that would happen.
Maybe he just wished Thea would care if he disappeared.
Chapter three
Thea
Thealookedatthenew cat suspiciously.
He was not a familiar cat—not that she spent much time outside of the café.But she knew what a couple of the strays around town looked like, and none of them looked like this.
“He looks suspiciously well-fed,” she said to Guinevere.“He doesn’t look like most of the strays.”
“I agree,” said Guinevere.“There may be more to him than meets the eye.”
That was a cryptic response.
Thea shot Guinevere a glance, but her friend only shrugged.“I’m just as confused as you are, but since the odd man is no longer standing outside, I’m going to go home.I shall leave you with your new pet.Have fun.”
“I don’t want a new pet,” Thea called after her as Guinevere exited with a mischievous grin.
Why was she acting odd?
“I don’t want a new pet,” Thea told the new orange cat, who was looking up at her as if he knew exactly what she was saying.
“You’re not wanted here,” she informed him, “but I will offer you some food and a place to stay for a day or two until we see if someone is missing you, because you look far too well-fed to be a stray.”
He was a handsome cat, his fur a darker shade of orange than Ginger’s, and he had a confident air as he walked toward the fireplace like he owned the building.
He was a cocky little thing.
Thea rolled her eyes as she went back to the kitchen to get him some food, and when she returned, he seemed to be having quite the conversation with Ginger.
The two of them were meowing back and forth as if it were an actual conversation and not just two cats making noise.
Thea shook her head to herself as she put two food bowls down in front of the fireplace.Maybe giving them some food would make them stop.Then she hurried back to the kitchen to finish her preparations for the end of the day.
There was dough to be mixed and left to rise, and everything to wash up, and she did not have time to babysit a cat.
