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“Pretty please with sugar on top, plus a cherry!” I blurted out.
“And I got yours!”
I threw the dishrag at him, but he dodged it. Not giving up, I grabbed it off the floor, chased Rhys into his living room, and missed nailing him with the rag again. We kept going round and round his coffee table until he let me catch him. Then he scooped me into his arms and gave me the sweetest chocolate, peanut butter, and milk kiss. Afterward, we finished cleaning the kitchen and went outside to lay in the hammock.
“This is so nice and peaceful,” I said.
“Free therapy is what I call it.”
I snuggled into Rhys even more and continued listening to his heartbeat. Then he brought up Macie.
“I meant to tell you that I saw her at the gas station yesterday morning. She seems happy with her new vet-tech job in Longview.”
“She is.”
“Do you think she’ll get tired of the drive?”
“No, it’s only forty minutes. It’ll give her time to gear up each day before she gets to work and decompress before she gets home.”
“I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Lots of folks commute to Longview and Shreveport just like in Fort Worth and Dallas.”
“Live in a small town and work in a big city.”
“To make higher bucks, one has to go to a big city for employment.”
Rhys shrugged. “If you keep your life simple, you don’t always need to make more money.”
“That’s true.”
“I think I could live just on you.”
“But it wouldn’t pay your bills.’
“Mine are few. Besides, I have plenty in the bank. I started saving for you and me years ago.”
I lifted my head off Rhys’s chest and looked at him. “I didn’t realize you’d been preparing for our future all this time. Well, until last year.”
“I just paused for a while, but our financial nest is still intact and growing again.”
“Wow. I-I…”
“What’d you expect? Me not to take care of you? I always will, Riley.”
“I know.”
“I want to ask you something, and I hope it isn’t too soon. How do you picture us a year from now?”
“Together, of course.”
“But where are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you still in Fort Worth?”
“Yes. I guess. I mean, I haven’t thought that far ahead.”
