Like Cats and Dogs by Kate McMurray (scary books to read TXT) 📗

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.

The inspector seemed disinterested in all of this. “I’m going to take a look at the cat room.”

Lauren rubbed her forehead.

“The law says no animals in places that serve food,” said Newton.

“We worked with the city to make sure everything was up to code,” said a male voice from the phone. “Because, actually, you can bring your dog into some bars. The law that passed last year allows for animals in places that serve food as long as the animals are kept away from where the food is prepared. The Whitman Street Cat Café goes a step further to keep the cats separate from where the food is served. And given that the café brings in food from outside and doesn’t prepare anything except for coffee, there’s no violation.”

Caleb looked around for Sadie and saw no evidence of her, not even the cat bed that usually sat in the corner. Lauren had probably recognized Newton was out to shut down the Cat Café and had made sure they were in compliance with the law. Not that he was bothered by Sadie having free rein of the café space as long as she stayed away from the food. But that didn’t appear to be the case here.

The inspector walked back into the café space.

“How frequently do the café tables get bussed?” he asked, hooking his thumb back toward the cat room.

“Often, but everyone is up here dealing with this right now,” said Lauren.

“Er, if I may,” said Caleb. “I’m a veterinarian from next door.”

Everyone turned to look at him. Lauren look startled, like she hadn’t known he was there.

Caleb took a deep breath. “Look, I’d be the first one to tell you there’s something a little crazy about a cat café, but I can tell you in the two months I’ve worked next door, I’ve never known Lauren to do anything but keep this place clean and adhere to the letter of the law. Mr. Newton may not like the idea of animals living in the same building as a business that sells food, but he doesn’t have to dine here if that’s the case. There’s nothing illegal happening here.”

“I own this business,” said Diane. “And I concur. If I thought Lauren was doing anything less than keeping the safety of both the cats and her customers paramount, I’d shut this place down myself.”

“All right,” said the inspector. He pulled a tablet from his bag and started tapping at the screen.

When Caleb turned to look at Lauren, she was staring at him.

***

Lauren assumed Caleb had come in with Diane from the vet clinic, but it was still alarming to see him standing there. How had she not noticed him walk into the café? And was he defending her?

“Do the cats ever walk around up front here?” asked the inspector.

“Not on purpose.”

She glanced at Caleb. It would be just like him to tell the inspector that Sadie hung out up front sometimes. After the first time Mr. Newton had threatened to bring in health inspectors, Lauren had put Sadie’s bed in the cat room and was better about keeping her in the cat room during regular business hours. It was the sort of bending of the law that was fairly common in the neighborhood, from what Lauren could tell. A lot of the restaurants let customers bring their dogs if they sat outside. There was a bar a few blocks away that let dogs in regularly. It was a law no one enforced as long as the customers were happy.

“What does that mean?” asked the inspector.

“Every now and then a cat gets out,” said Paige. “You’ve met cats, I assume. You can’t really tell them what to do. We always catch them and put them back in the cat room.”

“Again,” said the lawyer. “Strictly speaking, the only thing the law requires of us is keeping the cats out of the area where the food is prepared.”

The inspector tapped at his tablet screen a few more times. Lauren looked at Newton, who looked irritated, but Lauren didn’t think they were out of the woods. The inspector could still shut them down if he decided further investigation was warranted, or he could put them on probation and do random checks to make sure they were complying. A lot of outcomes could cause big problems for the café, especially if the morning rush crowd found another business while they