And now that I'm back from two wonderful weeks overseas...

Mea Culpa: Chapter 2

Leland was greeted by a familiar warmth and comfort... quite similar to how the place had greeted him when he had first bought it many years ago. He was surprised to see that the entire downstairs had been transformed into a restaurant, and a busy one at that. Standing off to the right, in front of the main dining area, was a podium with a felinoid girl standing behind it. She looked to be in her late teens or so, and had dark brown hair that fell past her shoulders. Leland shook his head. Everything was strange to him, but he decided that the best way to do things was to first ask the girl if Sarah still owned the place.

When Leland approached the podium, the girl greeted him with a smile. "Hello, sir, and welcome to the Benbow Inn. Is it just a table for one, or will someone be joining you?"

"I think..." Leland trailed off momentarily.

"Sir?"

"Oh. Yes, I might have someone joining me."

"All right. Please wait here for a moment." The girl looked over her shoulder. "Moira! Carina!" she called.

Leland was taken aback when two other felinoid girls joined the dark haired one. They looked exactly like each other, except for differing hair color, as the other two had red and blonde hair respectively.

"Honestly, Emily," the blonde began, "You don't need to shout across the restaurant for us. It's not aesthetically pleasing to the customers, you know."

"Well, Carina, sometimes there's no other way to get through to you, if you know what I mean," the brunette (Emily) retorted.

"Don't even start with the blonde jokes, or mother will hear about it."

"Ladies, ladies!" The redhead (Moira) cut in. "We have a customer. So stop acting so immature." She nodded to Leland. "I'm sorry about my sisters' behavior sir."

"Quite all right," Leland replied, inwardly amused at these "catty" felinoids.

"I was going to ask you girls," Emily said, "Which of you has a table open so we can seat him. A table for two – he might have someone joining him."

"I do," Moira said, and grabbed a menu from the podium before her sisters could protest (and make more of a scene). "Follow me, sir."

Leland followed the red-haired felinoid to a table by one of the windows. When he was seated, she handed him a menu. "Again, I apologize for their behavior," she nodded in the direction of the other girls, then continued: "The special today is Aunt Sarah's Purp Fruit Pie. It's one of our most popular delicacies, as the recipe is Aunt Sarah's secret."

Leland looked up. Aunt Sarah? Did this mean that...?

"My name is Moira, and I'll give you a few minutes to look over the menu. If you have any questions..."

"Miss, I do have a question. When you say Aunt Sarah, do you by chance mean Sarah Hawkins?"

Moira cocked her head to one side and raised an eyebrow. "I do," she finally said. "Sarah Hawkins is the owner of this inn. She's been running it for many years, way before I was born. Although she's not my real aunt, she's like family to me and my siblings. Why do you ask, sir? Do you know her?"

"I did... a long time ago," Leland replied after a few minutes of awkward silence. "Is she here today?"

"She's always here, sir."

"Is it possible for me to speak with her?"

"I don't see why not. I'll see if she's available. Would you like to order anything or do you still need a few minutes to decide?"

"Could I just get a glass of water for now?"

"Sure. I'll be right back."

Leland watched the felinoid maneuver her way around the dining room and into the kitchen. He always found it interesting – the way that felinoids moved. There was a certain grace about them. He hadn't yet met a felinoid who wasn't graceful. But that was beside the point... he knew that he was only thinking of these things as a distraction from what was truly on his mind: Sarah, and what her reaction to seeing him might be.

There wasn't enough time for Leland to even gather his thoughts, for the felinoid girl had emerged from the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand. And behind her... there she was. Leland could only stare. After all of those years... there she was. And he was speechless.

-----

To be continued...

This chapter was pretty short. Sorry for that. The next one will be much more... fun? =)

Much thanks to those who reviewed.