“Yes. I have two ideas. First, I read about another cat café that does arts and crafts with kids and cats early on weekend mornings. We’re usually slow here then, so I thought that could be a good way to get some customers in. I called the owner of that cat café and she gave me some solid ideas for crafts.”
Diane bobbed her head. “I like it. You should talk to the ladies at Stitches up the block.” Stitches was a yarn and craft store a few doors down from the Cat Café.
“That is a great idea. I hadn’t gotten as far as sourcing materials yet, but maybe they have some leftover or remaindered stuff, or…oh, what if we made craft kits for the kids to take home and Stitches could sell them here?”
“See, there you go. You’re so quick with the ideas once you get going. And I think that kind of coordination between businesses on this block is exactly what this community needs.”
Figuring out how to pull together the small business on the block had been one of Paige’s pet projects. She’d invited everyone from the block to this party, although she didn’t see any of the women who worked at Stitches. She made a mental note to follow up with them later. Then she said, “And since you mention it, I want to do a program with Stories to have kids read to the cats maybe one day a week.”
“You… Kids read to the cats?” Diane tilted her head.
“Yeah. This is a program some shelters have been doing. They bring kids in to read to the cats. This helps the kids develop their reading skills and their confidence with reading, because a cat may judge a kid in their cat-like way, but he’s never going to tell a kid he’s reading poorly. And, actually, the program benefits the cats too because it helps them socialize and get some attention. I found a journal article about it, and there’s plenty of evidence that the program is good for both the kids and the cats. The article had all these ridiculously cute photos of cats snuggling with kids while they read.”
“Wow.” Diane smiled. “I never would have thought about that, but that sounds like a great program. When can we start that?”
“As soon as we get the word out. Well, I’m still working out the details with Stories. I’m hoping to corner Pablo tonight to see what we can work out. I was hoping they’d lend us books, but the Stories owner doesn’t seem too keen to loan books to an event that involves both kidsandanimals. So we may have to buy them. Hence setting aside some of the money we raise tonight for kids programming.”
“Don’t worry about it. You want some extra money to buy books, give me a jingle. It’s a fantastic idea and I want to support it.”
“Wow. Thanks, Diane.”
“Oh, and who’s that? I haven’t seen him around the neighborhood.”
Paige followed Diane’s gaze, and her heart fell to her stomach. “Uh, that’s Josh. Lauren’s brother.” What on earth was he doing here? Paige’s heart began to pound. He must have known Paige would be here, even if Lauren asked him to come. Wasn’t he supposed to be working?
He looked around. His gaze landed on Paige’s and their eyes met for a long moment, but then he turned and walked over to Lauren.
“Oh,” said Diane. “So something happened there.”
“Oh, no. Is it that obvious? Because Lauren doesn’t know Josh and I have done more than say hello to each other.”
“Not completely obvious, but something happened to your face just then to make me think something was up.”
“It’s nothing, really. We both volunteered for Mitch’s feral cat trapping program a couple of weeks ago and met there.”
“But you made a connection.”
“Even if that were true, he’s Lauren’s brother. First of all, I like this job. And second, Lauren’s my friend. It’s all too weird and complicated.”
“Ah, I see. You know, my friend Carol married her best friend’s sister.”
That felt like the opening to one of Diane’s long stories. Paige liked Diane even while finding her kind of pushy, but she did not have time for a story right now, not when she had to get ready to do this presentation. “I’m sure that kind of thing works out all the time, but I don’t know. I’m very good at messing up romantic relationships.”
“Right, so I hear.”
Paige could sense that Diane wasn’t taking her seriously. “What I meant was, I’m twenty-eight and still single, so it’s not like you could call any of my relationships a success.”
Diane laughed. “Oh, sweetheart. You will make some man very happy someday. Maybe even that man. He’s coming this way.”
Paige sighed. Diane liked to take a motherly role with everyone at the Cat Café, even though technically they were her employees. And Josh was indeed headed right for her.
“I appreciate that, Diane,” she said. “I’ll, uh, talk to the party guests. Please enjoy the event.”
Diane winked and walked away. Josh approached tentatively. “Did I interrupt?”
“No, you’re fine. Um, hi. How are you?”
He smiled. “Hello. Ah, can we talk for a few minutes?”
