Clouds and Rain

avoiding putting too much strain on his injured foot, made him think that Gable was probably pretty worn out too.
    “Why don‟t you go inside and start dinner?” Flynn suggested.
    “It‟s all on the stove. There‟s three of us to load the horses, so I‟m sure we can manage.”
    Gable looked at him suspiciously, and for a moment Flynn thought he‟d ruined everything again by telling Gable what to do instead of letting him make the decision. He couldn‟t take his words back, so he tried to ignore it by looking over at the approaching truck.
    “I can help,” Gable tried, but as they started walking, it was clear that his foot hurt pretty badly, so he conceded. “Well, if you‟re sure?” Flynn nodded encouragingly, briefly touching Gable‟s shoulder to send him on his way. As he saw what effort it took Gable to simply walk, he couldn‟t help but wonder what was underneath the bandages.
    He‟d only seen a glimpse, but for the injury to stay so painful for so long, it would have to be something serious. He shook his head, knowing it was futile to mull over it. Gable didn‟t want to talk about it, he‟d made that clear quite a few times.
    Less than an hour later the truck with the horses was en route to Hunter‟s ranch and Flynn made his way inside, his stomach growling.
    He kicked off his boots and washed his hands in the mudroom, and then made his way into the kitchen, where he found Gable standing by 26

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    the stove with Bridget next to him, looking up expectantly. He paused for a moment to look at the older man and shake the indecent thoughts out of his head before walking toward him. Although he knew he had to keep his body in check, he dared to lightly touch Gable‟s back to alert him to his presence.
    “Smells amazing.” Flynn couldn‟t help but let his hand linger, especially when it became clear that Gable wasn‟t pulling away from him.
    Gable shrugged. “You‟re the cook. I‟m just the help in here.” Gable nodded at Bridget to vacate the space between them and Flynn‟s heart leapt inside his chest. He silently told himself it didn‟t mean anything and urged himself to stop expecting things to be different all of a sudden because they‟d kissed, but he couldn‟t help himself, especially not when Gable took a fork and offered him a taste of the carrots.
    “Watch out, it‟s hot.”
    Flynn blew on it and then took the offering, but couldn‟t help showing his discomfort when he burned his tongue.
    “That bad, hey?”
    Flynn gestured “no” with his hands and then opened his mouth to let it cool. “Just… hot!” He opened the side cupboard anyway and took out the rosemary he‟d bought in town earlier that week. “And it needs a little of this, but other than that, they‟re done.”
    “Let‟s eat then.”
    Dinner passed almost in silence. They were both hungry and tired, so they didn‟t talk about the day until they were out on the porch.
    “So will you need to go to the auction or will Hunter‟s money be enough for this year?” Flynn asked a little hesitantly. He didn‟t like bringing up the money side of things, because he was afraid that Gable would start talking about paying him so he could go on his way, and he didn‟t want that.
    “We still have a few horses that are ready to be sold, so we should go,” Gable answered, as usual not looking at Flynn but out at the distant fields. “Any extra money is always welcome. You never know 27

    Zahra Owens

    what might happen over the winter.” He paused for a moment, and Flynn was eager to hear certain things, like that it was more expensive for two people to live through the winter than just one, or even that Gable was going to get his foot fixed, but instead Gable fell silent again.
    “Have you ever considered breeding horses instead of just buying foals?” Flynn asked, trying to keep Gable talking. “Brenner would probably make a first-rate breeding stallion, and you have a few good mares in your herd already.”
    “It‟s a big risk,” Gable replied as if he‟d thought it out carefully already. “Things sometimes go wrong and it takes a number of years for the investment to pay off. Besides, it would mean building extra stables and I can barely maintain the ones I have.” Flynn wanted to shout at him that he was here to help and that he would stay if only Gable gave some indication that he would be welcome. Instead he tried to keep himself calm enough to be more subtle. “I grew up on a