My dad looks up at her. “Well, I’ll… yes. Yes, I do. I’ll come with you. Anthony, another beer?”
“I’m good, thank you.”
“I’ll get one for myself, then.” He puts a hand on my mother’s back and they walk side by side to the house. Cooper and Hera rise from their sprawl and follow them, tails held low.
“Well,” Anthony says by my side. “That was subtle.”
I smile. “A guide dog, huh?”
He looks down at the puppy in his lap, extracting one arm to wrap it around my shoulders. “They’re nicer than a cane.”
“Cuter, at least.”
“Softer to pet.”
I chuckle. “A bit less well-behaved, but I think you’ll survive.”
“So do I,” he says. His hand curves around my shoulder. “When do you want to go?”
I look down at my watch. It’s a little past two. “Soon. In fifteen?”
“Sounds good.”
“Do you know when Tristan and Freddie are driving up?” We’ve rented adjacent cabins in the Catskills for the weekend and I can’t wait to breathe the fresh mountain air. Neither can Ace, though he doesn’t know it yet. The last time he met Tristan’s son, he received more cuddles and playtime than he knew what to do with.
“They’ve already made it, I think. They wanted to take Joshua hiking this afternoon,” Anthony says.
I bump his chest with my shoulder, softly, not to jostle the dozing puppy in his lap. “See? Hiking is a perfectly acceptable activity in the Catskills. No life-risking involved.”
“We’re not risking our lives by going white-water rafting.”
“I can see the headline now. Two of New York’s most successful billionaires lost to the waters as grieving girlfriends watch helplessly from the shoreline. New York State mounts huge rescue effort.”
“That headline is too long,” Anthony says. “If you were reading it to me from theTimesI’d say they need to hire a new editor.”
“Anthony,” I protest.
He laughs, the sound deep and free. “I’ll be careful,” he says. “Trust me, I don’t have a death wish, and Tristan most definitely doesn’t. Besides, I have a feeling both you and Freddie will join.”
“What? This is your bucket list wish, not mine.”
“Yes,” he says, grinning, “but you’ve never been one to back down from a challenge.”
I settle against his side. “You know just how to appeal to my pride.”
“Just as you know how to appeal to mine.” He presses a kiss to my head, his hand sliding down my arm. He lifts it up and I gaze down at the diamond Cartier watch on my wrist. “I’m glad you finally accepted wearing this, by the way.”
“You are?”
“Yes. Means you’re getting used to outrageously expensive gifts. Besides, I bought it for you.”
“You did not buy it for me.”
“Yes, I did. It was the one thing you looked at in that brochure.”
“When we were saving the rainforest?”
“Yes. Think about it that way,” he says. “You wearing that watch is making a real difference in the world.”