Call it boredom, call it restlessness or call it just plain needing to get out of the suffocating station house, Roman got a workout walking—or rather crutching—to the Cat’s Eye bookstore just before noon on Monday. In only a few days it would be Christmas. Butterfly Harbor Creamery next door boasted their new peppermint gelato and had him making a mental note to buy a pint—or perhaps a gallon—to take home with him.
Home. Huh. Roman found himself smiling at that thought.
“Afternoon, Chief!”
Roman turned away from the glass door with giant amber cat eyes painted on it to see Jake Gordon heading his way.
“I heard what happened to you through the grapevine, Chief. Word is Oscar Bedemeyer took you down, huh?” Jake tucked a paper bag under his arm. “We’re getting ready for the Christmas parade tomorrow afternoon.”
“That’s right. Got Santa all lined up then?”
“Harvey Mills’s son-in-law’s doing it this year. He and Harvey’s daughter are in town through the new year, and Harvey convinced him we needed an unfamiliar face. The kids are getting pretty good at recognizing people.”
“Well, you need anyone to sub in, I’ve got time to kill. As long as you can hide this thing.” He motioned to the cast.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jake said. “So, you just starting or finishing?”
“Starting or finishing what?”
“Christmas shopping.”
“Oh. Starting.” Roman cringed. “I’m always last minute.”
With his mother in town, he really needed to kick things into gear and find the perfect gift for her. Especially after she’d given him his father’s humidor.
“Good luck. If I don’t see you before, I’ll see you tomorrow in the crowd.” Jake headed off, and Roman pushed open the door to the bookstore.
Was there anything better than the sight and smell of a bookstore? The never-been-opened pages bursting with promise lining the endless wooden shelves. Hand-carved signs noted the genres, from biographies to new age and spiritual to an entire wall filled with romance novels. From the outside, the store was deceptively small. Inside? It was like walking into a treasure cave filled to brimming with stories and information.
“Roman. Good to see you up and around.” Sebastian Evans walked out from behind the front counter and offered his hand. “Heard you took a nasty fall. Down to what now? Four weeks in that cast?” He pointed to the plaster.
Gotta love small towns. “About that. My brain’s going to atrophy, so I thought I’d come in for books and maybe a couple of movies.” He’d taken inventory of what the station had, and in his estimation, the collection was wanting.
“Sounds like a plan. Movies are in the back left corner. We’ve got story time going on right now, but they should be done in about fifteen minutes.”
“No worries.” That explained the chitter chatter of young voices. “I...oh. Well. That’s interesting.” He looked up and found a line of narrow shelves encircling the entire store. Various ledges and knobs and such acted as road and entertainment for the cats perched about.
“The animal shelter gets pretty full, so we rotate them in and out of the store.” Sebastian pointed to a large, yellow-eyed tabby sitting on top of the bookcase closest to the door. “Except Zacharia. He’s ours. Or we’re his,” he added when the cat looked down at him with a critical blink. “Sorry, Zach. Just keep your eyes open, Roman. We’ve got Balthazar and Rowena wandering around, and Rowena has a penchant for jumping on men’s shoulders. She’s harmless. Just...devious.”
“Noted.”
“Dad! Look, look, look!” A girl had appeared from around the corner with a big open box in her arms. “Someone just left them outside! Just left them, can you believe it?” With big brown eyes that mirrored her father’s, Mandy Evans set the box on the counter. “Hi, Chief Salazar!” She turned a beaming smile in his direction. “Come see the kittens. They’re so cute! How could anyone just leave them alone like that?”
Roman did as requested and joined the father-daughter team at the glass-topped counter filled with trinkets, baubles and a selection of handmade jewelry and leather-bound journals.
“No point in asking that question, kiddo,” Sebastian told her as he gave her a quick hug. “We’ve become a bit of a makeshift shelter where cats are concerned. Let’s see what we’ve got.”
“Ooh!” Roman pivoted on his crutches at the sound of wonder coming from behind him. “New kitties! Mom, look! New kitties!” The squeals that erupted from the children’s section would have deafened him if he hadn’t been prepared.