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“So, that makes you the Name Whisperer.”
Paige shook her head. “This conversation is getting so weird.”
Ignoring that, David, said, “Now, as the Name Whisperer, I figure there’s at least one more good name in your arsenal, right?”
She gave him a Thanks for putting me on the spot look. “Well, let’s hope so.”
David returned her look with an encouraging one of his own. “You got this.”
“You got this,” Jacob parroted.
Paige took a deep breath and rubbed at her forehead. “Ugh … the pressure of a name.”
“Take your time,” David told her. “This is important, and failure is not an option.”
“All right.” She frowned, as if concentrating deeply. “How about Snowball?”
Jacob laughed.
“No? Snowflake? Snowman?”
Jacob laughed again, shaking his head.
“Tough crowd,” she muttered. “Okay, what about Midnight?”
Jacob looked a little interested in that one, but not much.
“Well, he’s got that Halloween vibe going on, so what about calling him ‘Halloween’?”
Jacob nodded, seemingly on board this time, but David made a Hell, naw face. “Too obvious. Boring, even.”
“Wow, for someone who delegated the naming of your cat to someone else, you’re awfully critical.”
“I delegated it to someone I thought could deliver greatness. If that’s not you, then I’ll ask someone else.” He pretended to look around the room, as if starting the search.
“Fine.” Paige stuck her tongue out at him before going to stand in front of the black cat and letting him rub his face against her fingers. “Okay, not ‘Halloween’,” she murmured. “But it needs to be Halloween related, don’t you think? Yeah, me too. Now … what about Michael Myers? That’s not bad, but Jacob won’t get it, so moving on. Phantom? It fits, but … a little bland. Boo? No, that’s a character from Monster’s Inc. Hershey? No, David doesn’t like sugar. Count Chocula? Ooh, that’s a good one, but … David doesn’t like sugar.”
For a moment, she pictured past Halloweens as a child, dressed up in costumes and going with friends to—
Abruptly, she turned to David and Jacob. “I’ve got it. Hold onto your pants.” She paused for effect and then put her hands up and then dramatically spread them as she said, “Trick-or-Treat.”
“Trick-or-Treat!” Jacob bobbed his head enthusiastically.
“Trick-or-Treat,” David repeated slowly. “Um, yeah. I like that. I really do. See? You’re the Name Whisperer—I knew you’d deliver greatness.” He looked at Jacob. “What do you say, Little Man? Trick-or-Treat?”
“Yes!”
With the name picked, David said he was going to go start the adoption process, so Paige offered to keep an eye on Jacob. Once David was gone, she asked Jacob if he wanted to meet some of the other cats for fun, and he nodded.
They wandered down the rows of cats in cages, of all colors and breeds, coming to a stop in front of a cage housing a very petite cat with snowy white fur and ocean-blue eyes. It was huddled in the litter box, obviously stressed and unhappy. “Oh, look at you,” Paige said softly, her heart clenching for the little cat.
Jacob, wanting to see, held his arms up to Paige in the universal ‘Pick me up’ gesture, as if being picked up was no big deal—and for him, maybe it wasn’t. For her, however, it was going to be life-changing. She could feel it in the way her skin pebbled with goosebumps and the way the backs of her eyes prickled as she bent to lift him up, groaning a little at the unaccustomed action.
The heavy weight of a child against her hip, his arm trustingly around her back, and she was toast.
Swallowing the huge lump in her throat, Paige reached into the cage to rub the cat’s head and read the cat’s info aloud to Jacob, a little taken aback at finding the tiny cat was four years old. She’d been found scavenging near a dumpster in an alley by one of the volunteers at the shelter and was named ‘Angel’ because of her sweet and shy nature. She was also deaf, which didn’t come as a surprise to Paige, given that the majority of white cats with blue eyes were, but she was a little surprised to read that Angel was mute as well.
“What’s deaf mean?” Jacob asked.
