wished he would find a nice boy and settle down instead of being a scientist down there, because he never comes home. Uncle Nicky, will you watch Max and Ruby with us now?”
“Absolutely,” he said. I squeezed his hand, and he squeezed back before following the girls into the living room. I shut the dishwasher, turned it on, and reflected for a moment on the fact that this was the first time I’d ever been part of someone’s coming out. Not that Dominic wasn’t already out to his family, but maybe seeing him in a relationship—for a given value of relationship—was novel to the girls. Either his preferences had been solely academic before, or it hadn’t come up with them.
I was glad he’d taken the leap. Particularly, I was glad he’d taken the leap for us. It shouldn’t have made me feel as effervescently happy as it did, but it was a big step for him, and I’d been the catalyst for it. I was happy for him. Being out was a big deal for me. I’d never ask a guy to come out, but I wouldn’t go into the closet to be with someone.
Not that I was thinking about the future. At all.
Especially not here, where my deadbeat dad caused ruckuses in grocery stores just to be an asshole. Where people still spoke of the tragedy he inflicted on the town, and my name was linked by association.
Nope, not happening.
…
Hal came home half an hour later, and as he went into the kitchen to get a beer to go with dinner, I followed him. The whole house smelled delicious, savory and warm, and I figured now was as good a time as any to talk to him about Ariel. He cracked open a bottle and took a drink, set it down on the counter, then offered me a seltzer. As soon as I took it, he grabbed his beer again, tilted his head back, and drank half of it down like it was water.
Uh-oh. “What’s up?” I asked quietly.
“I’ve fucking lost my mind,” he replied, looking grim.
Oh man, this sounded serious. I set my drink on the counter and met his eyes. “What is it? Did something happen at work?”
“Yeah, you could say that. Nothing bad, just—” Hal took a deep breath, held it, then released it with a bunch of words. “I got the girls a dog.”
He…oh. Oh. “Wow,” I managed after a second. “That’s a big step. I mean, I know Marnie’s been cheerleading for one for a while, but I didn’t think you were actually going to give in.”
“I didn’t mean to.” He sounded panicked. “I had absolutely zero plans to get a freaking dog for Christmas, but one of my guys almost ran into this mutt on the road this morning, and when he went to check it out, it turned out to be a puppy—probably not more than six months, the vet said.”
Hal put his broad hand over his eyes. “She’s seriously goddamn cute, Max. Seriously. I had to spend all day with the damn thing, and by the end of it, I had nowhere to put her but here, and I know the girls would love her and I already paid for her shots, for shit’s sake.”
This was serious. “Where are you keeping her?”
“In the truck.”
I blinked. “What?”
“She’s in the truck. Right now. She fell asleep on the ride here, and I parked in the garage so she’ll be warm and…fuck.” He drained the rest of his beer. “And I don’t know where to keep her until Christmas morning. Should I just give her to the girls early?” He shook his head. “No, I can’t do that. This is supposed to be the ‘Santa’ present, right? Marnie was saying something about that. Santa doesn’t come early. Shit.”
It would be funny if Hal wasn’t actually panicking over this. “Maybe…maybe Dominic could take her for the overnights?” I winced as soon as I said it—it wasn’t my place to volunteer Dominic for anything, much less something as big as taking care of a dog, especially when I knew he had to work during the day. Hal latched onto my answer like Kate Winslet hanging onto a floating door.
“Yeah! I’ll ask him—this is a no-brainer. Nicky loves dogs. You mind asking him in here and distracting the girls for a few minutes?”
“Sure.” I headed back into the living room and motioned to Dominic, who raised one eyebrow. “Hal wants to talk to you for a sec.”
“O…kay.”