“This is not a job for the dogbeast,” Theo admitted.
“Uh, sure. Max’s at home with Rhys.”
“Perfect, Caleb’s kinda already on his way there to get him.”
“Okay.” Theo was fidgetier than usual, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Couldn’t Caleb have just asked Rhys?”
“Oh, he did. But I mean. He’s your dog too. So. Oh, and anyway I wanted to drop this off.” He pulled some signed paperwork out of his bag and put it on my desk.
“Okay, cool. Thanks.”
Weirdo.
“’Kay, great, gotta go, Matty, have a good one. Bye, Noé.” And then he was gone.
“Yo, is that dude in love with you and makin’ up excuses to drop in, or just the world’s worst liar?”
“I’m going with door number two, but I don’t know what he’s lying about. Who lies about borrowing a dog?”
Noé appeared to consider this, but didn’t come up with any more of an explanation than I did.
* * *
—
When I got home, I called out for Max before remembering that Caleb had come and taken him. Rhys appeared instead.
“I can’t believe they took our dog. Did Caleb tell you why Huey needed him?”
Rhys shook his head. “No, he was in a rush. Probably something with one of his sponsees. Hey, maybe he had the same idea you did about the healing power of dog hugs.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
I changed into comfy clothes while my mind drifted to my idea about bringing dogs into foster care facilities and I decided I would bring it up with Imari again after From Pianos to Paint launched. I was so distracted that I almost ran into Rhys coming back downstairs.
“Hey, do you wanna go on a walk anyway?” I asked. It had become kind of our ritual. Susan said rituals were good in establishing patterns of our life together.
It was nice to decompress after the hustle and bustle of the city, and stretch my legs after sitting all day. Besides, I’d found it was much easier to talk when we were walking, especially in the dark, especially with Max there as an easy distraction. Hey, I was working on it.
“Um, sure, yeah, great.”
“You okay?” I said.
“Yup, I’m great. Lemme just . . .” He ducked past me and grabbed a sweater.
We bundled up and pulled our boots on, then set off. The roads around our house were mostly plowed, but as we turned toward the cemetery, following our usual route despite Max’s absence, the snow was soft and thick on the ground. We walked in easy silence for a while, holding hands, heading toward the crypt where we usually sat as Max ran around.
When we got there, Rhys said, “Hey, do you know what today is?”
“Uh, Friday. And thank God, cuz I really need a weekend.”
Rhys smiled and squeezed my hand through our gloves.
“Yeah. Did you notice the date?”
I tried to picture the home screen on my phone.
“Oh shit.” February 2. “It’s our anniversary. Oh no, Rhys, fuck, I forgot. I’m so sorry.”
Wow, you’re the worst husband in the history of husbands.
“Aw, babe, no, no. I, uh, may’ve purposely not reminded you.”
“What, why?” All sorts of doom and gloom explanations chased each other around my head, but I told them to fuck off because that’s what I did now.
“Because . . .” Rhys took his glove off and stroked my cheek. Then he took my glove off and held my hand. “Because I wanted to ask you . . . Matty. Matt. Will you marry me?”
“I . . . what? We’re already married.”
Rhys smiled, like just my saying that made him happy.
“We are. But no matter how much I wanted to marry you two years ago. No matter how much I meant it with all my heart when I asked you. I don’t think I truly understood what I was asking. And I don’t think you quite knew what you were saying yes to either.”
He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. His eyes burned with love for me like nothing I’d ever seen.
“Now I think we both know.” He went on. “I think we’ve learned what being married to each other really means. So I . . . I want us to choose again. I don’t want this to be secrets and fear and rose-colored glasses. I don’t want you to be with me because you’re afraid it’s your only shot at happiness or for me to assume I know exactly what marriage is. I want us to choose each other with our eyes wide open.”
He sank to his knees before me on the ground.
“Rhys, get up, it’s all snowy!”
But my eyes blurred with unexpected tears at the sight of him.
“Matt Argento. I choose you. I choose being married to you and everything it entails. I choose you every day, and I want to choose you for the rest of my life. Now you have to decide if you choose me too.”