He doesn’t reply, but he smiles at her as we approach.
“You should have a hat on,” he scolds as we stop in front of her.
“I know,” she says. “I couldn’t be bothered to get up and find it.” I remember her saying she and Jude had an argument late last night. I don’t know what it was about as she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence, but I’m guessing she didn’t get much sleep. Archer takes off his baseball cap and puts it on her, and she laughs. “How did it go?” she asks.
He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Yeah, good.”
“It’s a great site,” I say. “Six bedrooms that can be turned into therapy rooms.”
“Perfect location,” Cullen adds.
“We’re going to see Noah about it tomorrow,” Archer says. He smiles at Beth. “I’ve been thinking about your idea of what to call it.”
Cullen and I look at her, and she grins and says, “I suggested the People and Animals’ Wellness Society.”
“PAWS?” I laugh. “That’s a great name.”
“Or it could be People and Animals Working Side-by-side,” Archer says. “We haven’t decided on the full name.”
“Pacific Animal Welfare Sanctuary?” I suggest.
“People Are Wonderful Suckers,” Cullen says. “Because we all keep adopting animals we’re not supposed to.”
We all laugh. “PAWS,” Beth states with a flourish. “Petting Animals Works, Seriously.”
“I’m going to use that as the title for my research paper,” Archer replies.
“PAWS,” I announce, “Professional Animals Who Snuggle.”
“That sounds like a bizarre escort service,” Cullen says, amused.
Archer grins. “Would we charge extra for lap dogs?”
Laughing, we all head across the Quad.
“I like the name PAWS,” I say as we walk. “Healing PAWS. Where hearts and minds are healed, one paw at a time.”
Archer clicks his fingers. “And there’s the tagline. Love it.”
I smile, glad to have contributed.
When we get there, Archer says to Beth, “Got a minute?”
“Yeah, sure.” She follows him into the building.
I pause and turn to Cullen with a smile. “Thanks for the walk.”
“Thank you for coming. I thought it’d be the perfect place, and it was good to have someone else there to convince him.”
I debate whether to say that I think Archer’s hoping to talk him into staying and running the place, but decide not to get involved. I don’t think Cullen’s going to agree, and I don’t want Archer to think I’ve spoiled his plan.
“Are you walking home at four?” he asks.
“Um… actually Stefan’s asked me to attend the veterinary nurses’ meeting at 4:30. And then Beth’s asked us over for the evening.”
He blinks. “Ah, okay. No worries.”
I hesitate. He thinks I’m trying to put him off. That I don’t want to spend more time in his company.
