Wedding Bells At The Cat Café

The groom was in a fix. If he couldn’t solve the problem, the wedding day would be ruined . . .

DO you think you’ll ever get married, Maxine?” Chloe asked, earning herself a sharp intake of breath from her mother.

“You mustn’t ask questions like that,” Sabrina scolded, allowing the fluff-ball she’d been grooming – a peachcoloured Persian cat named Brian – to leap down to the floor.

“It’s rude. Maxine won’t let you wait for me after school if you upset her.”

Maxine looked up from the computer and laughed. She might have been disappointed in love, but she wasn’t touchy enough to let the question ruffle her feathers.

Besides, with wedding bells in the air for her mother, it was only natural that Chloe would wonder.

“It’s all right,” she assured Sabrina. She turned to Chloe. “I was engaged once, but it didn’t work out.”

“What happened?” Sabrina was no longer telling her daughter to be quiet – she’d leaned forward in her seat, obviously keen to hear the answer.

“He didn’t like cats.” Chloe and her mother both looked scandalised, as well they might.

At the time it had upset Maxine a great deal, but she could look back on the experience now and realise what a lucky escape she’d had.

“You must want to meet someone else one day!”

With the romantic soul of an imminent bride, Sabrina obviously wanted the whole world to share the same joy she felt at her upcoming wedding.

“You won’t want to spend your entire life alone.”

“I’m happy as I am,” Maxine said, and meant it. “Between my cats and my friends I have all the companionship I could ever want.”

She smiled. “Besides, I have no time for a man. I aim to have the best cat café in the world and I need all my energies to concentrate on that.”

“You seem to be getting along well with Angus. I had thought . . .”

“Angus is a friend and a good neighbour,” Maxine insisted before Sabrina could say any more. “That’s all.”

She swiftly changed the subject.

“We shouldn’t be talking about me, not when you’re getting married tomorrow! Is everything ready? I can’t believe you’ve arranged it so quickly.”

The couple had only been engaged a matter of months.

“I know it might seem Ed and I are rushing things.” Sabrina turned her attention to gently brushing another of the café’s twelve cats, this time Gladys, the resident Norwegian Forest kitten.

“But we don’t see any point in wasting time organising a big party, not when we already had one of those last time.”

Marrying your exhusband might not work for everyone, but Sabrina was positively glowing with happiness at the prospect.

“There wasn’t much to do in any case. Chloe and I have sorted out our outfits and our flowers and taken Ed’s suit to be cleaned,” Sabrina continued. “And Ed’s booked the meal for afterwards.”

“Has he said where that will be?”

It had all been very low-key – invitations issued verbally, no wedding list and strict instructions for no presents. Sabrina shook her head. “He says we can all walk from the ceremony, so it will be somewhere here in town. He’s promised something special.”

“I’m looking forward to it, wherever it is. I’ve not had a day off since I opened this place.”

Instead of laughing, as Maxine had intended, Sabrina looked concerned.

“I’m sorry you’ll have to close up.”

“Don’t be daft. I can’t think of a nicer reason to take a day off! Angus said he’d pop in to make sure the cats are OK, though I’m sure they will be. They’ll probably just sleep.”

As though knowing she was being talked about, Gladys escaped Sabrina’s clutches and jumped on to the counter, where she settled on the keyboard of the laptop Maxine was working on.

“Little troublemaker,” Maxine muttered as she stroked the cat.

But she didn’t mean it. She was very fond of Gladys.

“Tomorrow we all get the day off,” Maxine told the 12 felines once the place had closed and Sabrina and Chloe had left.

She moved towards the storeroom where their food was kept, 12 pairs of attentive feline eyes watching her every move.

Gladys gave a hopeful meow.

Maxine shook her head. “No cake.” Recently, all 12 cats had acquired a liking for cake – café guests now had to guard their plates with their lives.

Luckily, the cats seemed almost as keen to get their paws on their own food, jostling each other out of the way in their attempts to get to their bowls.

There was a knock at the door. She was tempted to ignore it – the café was closed, after all – but it might be Sabrina or Chloe. Or even Angus from next door.

She smiled at the thought.

As it turned out, it wasn’t any of those three.

“Ed!” She greeted Sabrina’s groom-to-be with a smile. “Come in.”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I didn’t know where else to turn.”

He was pale, his hair dishevelled as though he’d run his fingers through it a million times.

“Whatever’s the matter?” Maxine quickly closed the door so none of the cats could escape. “Something awful!” “Are Sabrina and Chloe all right?”

He nodded.

“But I won’t be when Sabrina finds out what’s happened. I had one job to do for this wedding – and I couldn’t even do that right!”

He looked so dejected that Maxine hastened to comfort him.

“Whatever arrangements have fallen through won’t stop Sabrina marrying you tomorrow.”

“I’m not so sure. What bride would be happy to go through with the ceremony knowing there would be no reception for her guests afterwards?”

“Oh.”

Maxine didn’t quite know what to say. The absence of a reception was pretty disastrous.

Maxine knew Sabrina would be bitterly disappointed if she wasn’t able to celebrate with her small group of guests after the ceremony.

“Oh,” she said again. “Listen, I’ll put the kettle on and then you can tell me all about it.”

“So, what happened?” she asked once they were sitting in the café with cups of tea by their side and a cat each on their laps.

“I’d booked a private room at the restaurant where I proposed the first time.

“But when I phoned this evening to make sure it was all still OK, they told me the room had been double-booked!”

“Did you tell them it was for your wedding?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, the other party is for the owner’s grandmother’s ninety-fifth birthday lunch. They have family arriving especially from abroad.” Maxine sighed. “How could this have happened?”

“When I booked the room I apparently spoke to a junior member of staff who didn’t pass my message along.”

“That’s awful. Did they offer any suggestions?”

“They said we could have a table in the main restaurant, but it wouldn’t be the same, celebrating in a room full of strangers.” “No,” she agreed.

“So I wondered . . .” he carried on. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I don’t know what else to do.”

“What?” she asked cautiously.

“Well, this is where I proposed the second time. Do you think we could have our reception here, in the cat café?

“I know you’re not opening to the public tomorrow, and it would be perfect for our small party.”

She let his request sink in and immediately came up with a million reasons why it wouldn’t work.

“I’m not set up for making meals,” she said, casting her eye towards the tiny kitchen that was perfect for preparing coffees and teas and serving cakes, but was way too small for anything else.

“It needn’t be anything fancy,” he said. “Just sandwiches and cake.”

“I have to tell you, Ed, Sabrina’s expecting something special. Would she be happy to have her wedding reception in the place where she works?”

“She really loves this café, you know that. And she’s completely smitten by the cats.

“I think it would make it up to her, for me messing up the arrangements for the meal, if we were able to celebrate here with our closest friends and family.”

Maxine couldn’t argue with that. Sabrina’s devotion to duty was unquestionable – Maxine knew she was very lucky to have found someone so enthusiastic to work here.

Surely she could do this one thing for her conscientious cat nanny?

“OK,” she agreed at last. “But you will have to be prepared to make things up to her, because this really will be very low-key.”

“That’s exactly how we wanted things – low-key,” he said with a grin.

As soon as Ed left, Maxine panicked. She wished she’d been stronger – that she’d been able to tell Ed that no, she wasn’t able to put on the reception here.

But Sabrina and Ed had become good friends and were always willing to lend her a hand – it was only right that she help them.

Mentally, she went through a list of what she would need to do to prepare before tomorrow.

She needed to decorate the place in some way.

The café was a nice, cosy place, and the cats made it extra special, but Maxine would need to make it look extraordinary for Sabrina’s big day.

Fairy lights! She had a boxful of those from Christmas up in the attic.

Then there was food. Ed had said sandwiches, so they would need to be made. And maybe some other savoury snacks.

She glanced at her watch. It was already late, so there was very little she could do tonight apart from make lists.

But she would be up first thing in the morning, and she would need to be focused if she was going to get everything done.

The lights were on in Angus’s shop when Maxine checked at six the next morning. She knocked sharply at the door.

It made sense to give Angus the business, and maybe he could gather the food items she needed all together, which would save her a bit of time.

She tried not to think that it would also be a good excuse to see her neighbour again.

Sabrina hadn’t been that wrong when she’d suggested there might be an attraction between Maxine and Angus, though that was a complication Maxine refused to entertain.

And it was easy to reject all thoughts of romance when she saw his grumpy face.

“What’s got you up and about at this time in the morning?” he asked. “Cats all right?”

“Yes, they’re fine, but I could do with your help.”

“I’m sorry to bother you. I didn’t know where else to turn!”

He listened as she told him what was happening and then he wrote down her order.

“It seems a lot of fuss to me.”

His frown reminded her of the day she’d told him she was opening the cat café next door. He hadn’t been happy then, either. She sighed.

“It’s a wedding; of course there’s going to be a fuss. Can you help, or not?”

“I’m sure I could manage that lot,” he said. “I’ll bring the stuff round to yours when I have it all together.

“I’ll wait for the deliveries first, so everything’s fresh.”

She grinned. Their eyes met, and for just a second the grumpy frown faded and he slowly smiled back. Her breath caught. “Thank you, Angus,” she managed at last.

She was halfway up a ladder, wobbling and trying to dodge Gladys’s attempts to catch the string of lights in her hand, when he turned up with her order in a large cardboard box.

He put the delivery down safely in the kitchen, then went over to hold the ladder steady.

“What are you up to now?”

“Fairy lights,” she explained. “I thought they’d make the place look a bit more special. I didn’t realise how difficult it would be, especially when Gladys is so keen to help.”

“Do you want me to put them up?”

“No, no – it’s fine, thank you.”

It wasn’t. Maxine was quickly running out of time. She was nowhere near getting the café looking how she wanted it. Then there was still the food to prepare and herself to get ready.

“You’ve less than an hour to get to the wedding,” he told her patiently.

“You’re never going to get it all done. You haven’t even started on the food, and look at this place.”

“I know.” It would have been better if she hadn’t started to hang the fairy lights at all.

Much better to have nothing rather than wires dangling down and lights trailing untidily along the floor.

“Let me help,” he urged, from the bottom of the ladder.

She was the one who had promised Ed – it wasn’t fair that Angus should end up doing the work. But time was running short – what option did she have if she was going to get to Sabrina’s wedding, in time and properly dressed?

“You have your shop,” she protested.

“I’ll close it for a few hours.”

“You can’t do that!” “Why not? It’s my shop, I can do as I like with it.”

“But your customers? And you said it was all a silly fuss.”

“I’ve been short of customers recently,” he told her, his voice surprisingly calm. “And the wedding’s important to Ed and Sabrina, so it’s not my place to judge.”

She glanced down at him, just as Gladys picked that moment to make her presence known. She began to climb up Angus’s clothes until she was sitting on his shoulder.

“Aw.” He grimaced. “I’d have to leave you alone with them.”

There was no doubt he’d softened towards the cats recently, but Maxine still remembered his initial hostility when she’d first told him she was opening a cat café.

He shrugged, careful not to dislodge Gladys from her perch.

“You need to stop worrying and get down off that ladder so you can get ready.

“I’ll finish tidying the lights, and then I’ll make a start on the sandwiches.”

“You know you’ll need to keep the cats out of the kitchen and away from the food?”

He gave her an exasperated look.

“I sometimes serve snacks next door. I have a food hygiene certificate.”

“Sorry,” she muttered, embarrassed for having made assumptions. “Look, Angus, are you really sure about this?”

He let go of the ladder and took her hand to help as she stepped on to the floor.

“Stop arguing – you’re wasting time. Go and get ready.”

As things turned out, it was worth all Angus’s efforts. The bride was enchanted by the sight that greeted her as she arrived for her reception.

“Oh, it’s like a fairyland,” she declared, looking every inch a happy bride in her ivory tea-length dress.

“It is,” Maxine agreed, raising an eyebrow at Angus.

Every corner of the café twinkled; the cats didn’t quite know where to look.

“I didn’t expect my fairy lights to go quite this far.”

“I had some spare lights in the shop,” he said, heading towards the door. “Well, I’ll leave you to the celebrations. Food’s laid out on the kitchen counter.

“It would probably be best if everyone went in there to help themselves, rather than trying to bring everything through at once.”

He glanced meaningfully at the cats before heartily shaking Ed’s hand then dropping an awkward peck on Sabrina’s cheek. “Congratulations.” Sabrina took hold of his arm as he went to leave.

“Don’t you dare leave after all you’ve done for us today, Angus. Please stay.”

“Yes, do,” Ed added. “Maxine told us how you’ve helped out.”

Angus glanced across at Maxine. She smiled encouragingly.

“OK,” he said. “Thank you.”

So he joined the small wedding party that sat in the café, laughing and joking and fending off cats as they ate.

“This is the best wedding ever,” Sabrina said. “Thank you so much, Ed, for thinking of the café for our reception. And thank you to Maxine for allowing it to happen, and to Angus for helping.”

That was as formal as the speeches got before Chloe went and turned the sound system on, then they all quickly pushed the tables and chairs back against the walls.

The teenager surveyed the scene with a contented smile as her parents began to dance – with infinite care to avoid treading on paws.

Maxine sat contentedly next to Angus. Gladys had made her way on to his lap and was eyeing the slice of chocolate wedding cake on the plate in his hand.

Tentatively, she reached out a possessive paw. If the kitten could talk, Maxine fancied she would have cried “mine” as it landed on the cake.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Maxine quickly scooped the cat up and placed her on the floor. “Let me get you more cake, Angus.”

She reached for his plate, but instead of passing it over, he reached out and took hold of her hand.

Their eyes met and suddenly, as far as Maxine was concerned, they were the only two people in the café.

“Would you dance with me?” he asked, not taking his eyes from hers.

“I didn’t think you would be the dancing kind.” “I’m full of surprises.” Chloe materialised from somewhere and took his plate away and he and Maxine both got to their feet.

It had been a long time since Maxine had been dancing, but as Angus’s arms slipped around her, she’d never been happier.

Maybe Sabrina had been right, she acknowledged. Perhaps, one day, Angus might be the man who would tempt her to give romance another chance. n

The bride was enchanted by the sight that greeted her