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ranch hands at a later date anyway. He‟s going to pay you for your work, of course.” Gable looked at Flynn sideways to gauge his lover‟s reaction, but Flynn seemed oblivious. Of course he‟d called Hunter and asked him whether he could do him a favor. He knew Hunter, with his big ranch, was always short of able hands, and with the winter almost over, as they were moving herds to higher paddocks, they were stretched pretty thin. It was a little white lie, but Gable wanted to keep his secret a little while longer.

    TWO days later, Gable called Calley as soon as Flynn had left. It was the one day she had help in the store and could leave for a few hours.
    “Glad you‟re back in the land of the living,” Calley remarked as they were driving into town. “At least you look good. Flynn is taking good care of you.”
    “I can take care of myself, thank you,” Gable was quick to answer. Then he realized it sounded a bit harsh. “We‟re good,” he reassured Calley. “He does take good care of me, but now it‟s time I started taking care of myself again.”
    Calley raised an eyebrow and looked at Gable sideways, but soon turned her eyes to the road again. They settled into their usual silence, with Gable staring out to the side of the road. The drive took some time but neither felt the need to fill that time with small talk.
    “I can manage,” Gable stated as Calley dropped him off at the entrance of the hospital. “I‟m sure you‟d much rather go shopping or something instead of waiting for me in here.” That might be true for a lot of women, but Gable knew Calley wasn‟t one of them; still, he knew she wouldn‟t argue with him. “Pick me up in about two hours?” She gave him an annoyed look, but nodded and then drove off.
    Gable knew he‟d have to make it up to her somehow, but she wouldn‟t hold it against him. They went back too far for that.
    As soon as Calley‟s car was out of sight, Gable turned around and made his way inside the hospital. It was quite a big place and he soon had to stop to catch his breath and let the pain in his leg die down. He cursed under his breath like he did every time he was confronted with 143

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    the limitations of his body, and when he realized he‟d taken a wrong turn somewhere in the vast labyrinth, he conceded and sat down for a moment in one of the waiting areas. He was already late for his appointment with Craig, but he really needed a few moments to recuperate. From the other side of the room, a gaunt, bald child in a wheelchair smiled at him and his mood lifted. Why was he feeling down? He‟d lost a foot, would have to learn to walk again, but he was pretty healthy otherwise. This kid was probably dying of some really bad disease and might never see the outside of the hospital again, yet she was smiling and seeking contact with a stranger. Gable smiled back and the girl‟s eyes lit up. He waved, and she shook her mother‟s arm to tell her about this strange man across the room waving at her.
    Gable got up again and winked at her. He hobbled to the reception counter and asked for directions to the physical rehabilitation department, and found it was just around the corner.

    CRAIG was happy to see him, but as Gable had predicted, he gave him a lecture on why he should have come by earlier.
    “Muscles are wasting away, man,” Craig cautioned him. “Hasn‟t that boyfriend of yours commented on it yet? I bet you no longer have a nice, symmetrical ass.”
    Gable narrowed his eyes but didn‟t react. Craig had always been a bit brash, but he was a good therapist and knew how to get him just mad enough that he would want to prove him wrong. Also, Gable was standing upright between two bars and Craig was behind him, squeezing him in all sorts of appropriate and maybe not so appropriate places.
    “You‟ve been working out, though?” Craig asked as he came into Gable‟s field of vision. He was wiggling his eyebrows, which made Gable roll his eyes.
    “Yes,” Gable answered, unable to hide the fact he was quite pleased Craig had noticed. Although he was fully dressed, Craig‟s unashamed staring at his body made Gable feel very self-conscious. It also made him feel strangely aware of the physiotherapist. He shook his 144

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    head. This guy wasn‟t even his type. In his wilder years, when he used to drive into the city to cruise and get laid, he might have taken a guy like Craig up on it. But right now, even if his body had