Saturday morning, Mason Kane went to the art supply store to pick up some paints and brushes. If nothing else good had come out of his separation from Rhy, at least he had more time to work on his art. He specialized in bridal portraits, watercolors. But mainly he just loved painting people, lasering in on the things that made them happy.

He put his purchases into his trunk and pushed the cart into the corral. As he turned to go, he caught sight of a gathering in front of the adjacent pet store. A van with an animal shelter logo was pulled up, and a group in matching T-shirts were taking kennels out of the back.

“Shelter dogs!” Mason cried out loud, in a ridiculously excited voice. A woman at a nearby car looked at him as if he were insane, since he was standing there alone. But seriously, shelter dogs! Who could resist?

He headed toward the pet store. “Are these all up for adoption?” he asked the first official-looking T-shirted person he saw, a blue-eyed blonde in her thirties with pink lipstick and a bright smile.

“Yes, you’ll just need to fill out this paperwork—”

“A black lab puppy!” Mason cried, looking into one of the kennels at the cutest face he’d ever seen.

“She’s four months old,” the blonde said in her sweet Southern drawl, “house-trained and with all her shots. The family hated to give her up, but they had cats, and it just didn’t work out.”

Mason scowled. He wanted to get cats one day. “What happened? Did she terrorize the cats?”

“Oh, please,” the blonde said, “look at that sweet little bundle of fur. Can you see her terrorizing anything? It was the other way around.”

“So if I introduced a couple of tiny baby kittens to her, she would probably be okay.”

“She’s very gentle. The family called her Dora.”

He looked inside the kennel. “Dora the Labrador. Cute. I was thinking about a dachshund or a corgi, but my boyfriend wants a black lab.” Mason still had a boyfriend, right? “I mean, he’d probably think this was terrible time to get a puppy, because we’re renovating the house. But I can only afford to do one room at a time, and I think I can manage to keep her out of one room.”

“I can let her out of the kennel so you can see her if you like.”

“That would be awesome.”

The blonde opened the kennel, and the puppy cautiously moved forward, sniffing as she went. She was about a foot tall with a slender frame. She had the sweetest brown eyes Mason had ever seen, and they pleaded with him to give her a forever home.

He stooped down. With a leash attached to her collar, she let him pet her. Wagging her head from side to side, she assessed him, then stepped into his waiting arms.

Mason smoothed his hand over her sleek, luxurious fur. If he took time to think it over, then as beautiful as she was, she would be gone when he came back. This wasn’t totally out of the blue, after all. He and Rhy had agreed they wanted a dog. The side yard of Mason’s new house was fenced in, perfect for a dog run. And even though Dora was still a puppy, she wouldn’t require the care of a little one who had just been weaned.

The truth was, Mason had been horribly lonely since Rhy had moved out. Even if it was just temporary, he ached for companionship. A puppy was just what he needed.

This was meant to be. Dora was Mason’s dog.

He filled out the paperwork, paid the fee, and within half an hour was walking around the pet store looking for supplies. It was a lot of stuff, but Mason had two portrait commissions. He would be fine. The salary from his nine-to-five job was for paying bills, but the portraits were his fun money.

A puppy would definitely be fun. And a lot of work. But rewarding for sure.

Mason couldn’t wait to get her home.

 

***

 

During the car ride, Dora seemed to adjust to the carrier. She had whimpered when Mason first put her inside but eventually calmed.

When they got home, Mason put the leash on her and took her into the side yard to explore awhile. He wanted to confine her to the fenced part of the yard at first. Maybe later he would let her onto the rest of the property—supervised, of course.

Temperatures were in the eighties, with the days getting longer. The sun was bright, but a cooling breeze flowed down the Blue Ridge Mountains. Along one side of the fence, pink roses bloomed.

The puppy didn’t seem to like being on the leash, but she had to get used to it. She could grow to be seventy pounds. He had to be able to control her.

Once she tired herself out, he took her inside and set her on her bed to rest. Then, he unloaded the car. He set up the kennel in the mud room—close to the activity of the kitchen but still out of the way, so she could retreat there if she was feeling tired or overwhelmed. Her own little den.

When he finished, he lay on the floor beside her. He couldn’t find the energy to work on the bridal portrait. He missed Rhy.

Dora sniffed at him, and he cuddled up with her. She was so soft and gorgeous, and the physical contact did his heart good. But Rhy was slipping away from him, and he didn’t know what to do about it.

The last thing he wanted was to add to Rhy’s stress by making demands. Mason wanted to support him with whatever Rhy needed. It seemed like maybe Rhy didn’t know himself what he needed. He was spinning his wheels, and couldn’t get back on track.

His strong, brave Rhy was the smartest, kindest man Mason knew. Thinking about how Rhy’s parents had dismantled him emotionally, and how hard he had worked to rebuild himself, crushed Mason’s heart. Rhy was a well-adjusted guy ninety-eight percent of the time. But something had triggered the emotions that seemed to be running out of control.

Was moving in together so soon really the problem? Mason didn’t see how it could be. Unless Rhy was worried about failing at the relationship, about losing Mason.

Rhy’s parents had kicked him out without warning. Maybe it was natural that he didn’t trust love, that he didn’t trust relationships. Mason was willing to work with him on that—whatever it took—but they couldn’t even begin as long as Rhy kept shutting him out.

Mason nuzzled the puppy, then found his phone. He sent Rhy a text that said I love you, with a little heart emoji. Rhy got back to him right away, saying Love you too, with three heart emojis.

It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough. For now.