Gretchen nudged Edie. “Let’s go inside and see what it’s like. Want to?”

Did she ever. They got in line to get in (There was an actual line! To see cats!) and waited their turn to get through the door. As they did, they were met at the entrance by an employee who was monitoring the busy doors to ensure that no cats got out. He handed them a coupon. “Hi, ladies. Today’s bachelor is Jiffy. He’s a neutered male orange cat. You’ll find him with the yellow collar on.”

“Thank you,” Edie murmured, taking the coupon. When the employee opened the door, she stepped inside. Immediately, a cat raced past her, chased by another cat. A ripple of laughter erupted from the patrons, and she glanced around. Everywhere, cats were being petted. Being loved. People sipped coffee, and in the corner, there was a booth labeled Adoptions and people were holding cats and waiting their turn to adopt.

It was . . . wonderful.

“All of this because of an app?” Edie asked, her throat aching around a knot that had formed there.

“Not just an app,” Gretchen told her. “An app plus stores plus everything else. I’m guessing the stores will cost a bit of money to set up, but it looks like they might end up being profitable. And if they’re not, I don’t know that Magnus cares. His main goal was getting people in front of the cats so they could see them to fall in love with them. He wasn’t a cat person until he got his first cat, and then it changed his mind. He thinks it’s sad that when people go to shelters, they pick out the young and the cute without regard to a slightly older cat that needs just as much love.”

“Really?” Her eyes were getting all misty. “How do you know all this?”

“I’m reading the back of the coupon,” Gretchen said, holding it up.

Oh. Edie flipped hers over.

Welcome to Coffee N’ Cats, the first chain of cat cafés in the United States! If you haven’t downloaded our free game, Cat Lady Café, check it out. What is Coffee N’ Cats about, you ask? Well, once upon a time, there was a man who had a problem. He fell in love with a lady who had a soft spot for shelter cats. Not just any shelter cats, but the old, the ugly, the special-needs cats. The unadoptables. This guy wanted to prove to his lady that he loved her, and he knew that finding loving homes for all these cats would surely melt her heart.

His main goal was getting people in front of these wonderful cats. He knew if they saw them outside of a shelter environment, where cats are scared and unhappy, that they would see the wonderful, funny personalities that these “unadoptables” have and they’d find new homes. Our hero wasn’t a cat person until he got his first cat, and she changed his mind. He thinks it’s sad that when people go to shelters, they pick out the young and the cute without regard to a slightly older cat that needs just as much love. Or maybe there’s a cat that needs a special medication and they can’t be bothered. These cats deserve a second chance.

That’s where Coffee N’ Cats comes in. We rescue the cats on “death row” at the local shelters. We feed them and give them a warm, secure place to stay and we slowly integrate them into the main dining area by creating a transition room. Once these cats are around people and not so scared, they’re welcome to prowl anywhere in the café.

Want to adopt one of our feline friends? At Coffee N’ Cats, all we ask is that you make a donation. All proceeds from donations go back to local shelters. We don’t make a dime off of our furry companions, only our coffee. So come in, pet a new friend, and maybe take one home with you.

There was some legalese at the bottom of the coupon, but her eyes were blurring with tears too much to read the fine print.

“You know what? I think I need a cup of coffee,” Gretchen said, hauling Edie forward by the arm.

Edie sniffed, swiping at her nose. “Okay.” She wanted to read that stupid coupon over and over again, memorize the words into her heart. Everywhere she looked, there were cats and people enjoying the cats. The adoption booth remained busy. Everywhere she looked, it was . . . perfect.

Utterly thoughtful, and utterly perfect.

“Hi, ladies, welcome to Coffee N’ Cats,” the barista chirped as Gretchen dragged Edie with her. “Our special of the day is Jiffy, a loving orange tabby who totally loves sleeping in laps and chasing a laser pointer. And the coffee’s pretty good, too.”

The special of the day was a cat? Edie burst into tears, alarming the girl behind the counter.

“Is . . . is she okay?”

“She just needs a moment,” Gretchen said, grabbing a wad of napkins on the counter and shoving them at Edie. “Can we get two cappuccinos?”

“Of course! Coming right up.”

Gretchen thumped money on the counter and looked over at Edie as she mopped her face. “Are you all right?”

“I think so,” Edie said, then spotted a sign in the corner. Are you a senior citizen? Our coffee—and our companions—are free for you! Ask about our senior program. And she burst into tears again. “He—he—he’s going to lose so mu-much money on these places.”

“Number one,” Gretchen said, ticking off a finger. “He probably doesn’t care because he has boatloads. And number two, it’s probably a tax write-off and he could probably use a good one. And number three, it has you all weepy and probably ready to shuck your panties, am I right?”

She sure wasn’t wrong. As Edie looked around, she saw an elderly couple cuddling a cat that looked just like her Tripod. And the tears started again.

“Two cappuccinos,” the barista announced, and Gretchen snagged the tray. She pushed Edie toward an empty table—the only empty table in the place—in the back.

As they sat down, Gretchen exclaimed, “Oh, look, there’s a cat-treat dispenser at the table!” She hit the tab and a little bell chimed as the treats popped out. Immediately, a fat white cat showed up, meowing. Gretchen laughed. “This greedy gus already has the treat system figured out, don’t you?” She hauled the cat into her lap and snuggled it. “Mmm, I wonder if Igor needs a friend.”

Edie wiped her face again, smiling at the sight of Gretchen holding the cat. She took one of the cups from the tray and sipped it, noticing that even the mug and saucer were covered in cats. On a large TV monitor in the back of the café, the game was displayed, running on a loop.

It was all incredible. When had Magnus managed to do all this? She was amazed. It was . . . beyond anything she’d hoped. She’d asked him to prove that he loved her.

He had. He totally had. He’d found her weak spot and pried her open. She felt totally vulnerable . . . and yet so completely, utterly happy.

Magnus loved her enough to do all this. To take her crusade to the next level for her. This place was clever and trendy and he’d managed to work his own spin to get people to come in and check things out, all with the goal of saving shelter cats.

It was simply incredible.

And he’d done this . . . for her. She was going to start weeping again in a moment.

Gretchen fed the fat white cat his treats and reached for her coffee. As she did, her phone buzzed with an incoming message. “Let me get that,” Gretchen said, and set down the cat. He looked over at Edie, and she automatically picked him up, burying her face in the soft white fur and scratching him under his chin, the way her cats liked it. She might have sobbed into his fur a little, too. Just a little.

As she looked up, Gretchen had a smug smile on her face as she put away her phone. “Want to go see the transition room, Miss Cat Behaviorist?”

Edie’s heart thumped. Did this have anything to do with the text Gretchen had just received? God, she hoped so. “Of course I do.” She was hoping that when they opened the doors, there would be a green-eyed hero waiting on the other side.