Clouds and Rain

tucking himself inside them.
    Flynn chuckled, having just as much difficulty, but his jeans were a much snugger fit than Gable‟s, who still wasn‟t back to his weight from before the surgery.
    Gable was quite good at making his way down the stairs quickly, pushing himself up on the handrails and letting himself slide down, rather than run. Flynn wasn‟t far behind. They found Calley in the 171

    Zahra Owens

    kitchen with Bridget next to her. The dog was wagging her tail so enthusiastically her hind legs could barely keep to the floor.
    “Hi, Calley. Ooh, lovely fresh vegetables!” Gable greeted Calley with a quick kiss on the cheek and then dove straight into her box of supplies, missing her curious and rather amused look.
    Flynn didn‟t miss it, though. “We were upstairs moving furniture.”
    “Hanging curtains,” Gable said at almost exactly the same time.
    “Well, I wish Bill would hang more curtains for me. You two should explain to him how you do that one day,” Calley replied, helping Gable put things away just to prevent herself from laughing.
    “He never hangs my curtains,” she added, just to show how silly the men were for trying to fool her.
    Flynn looked at Gable and Gable had to look away. He was blushing.
    “So how is Bill?” Gable asked semiseriously. “We hardly see him these days.”
    “In the spring it‟s lambs and calves, the summer it‟s foals. It just never stops. The stork still doesn‟t have our address, though. That or I pissed him off too much.” She seemed serious and not her usual lively self all of a sudden.
    Gable took her hand and squeezed it and that seemed to bring her smile back. “Oh, well,” she sighed. “We know it wasn‟t meant to be.
    Time to go, my darlings.” She gave Flynn a quick peck on the cheek and then turned to Gable. She tried to do the same to him, but he wouldn‟t have it. Instead he pulled her into a tight hug and held her for a while. She let him, holding onto him. When she eventually pulled away, there were tears in her eyes, but she was still smiling. “I better leave before I turn into a puddle and can‟t stop. I‟ll be okay, Gabe.
    Thanks.” She squeezed his hand and then took her empty box outside to her car.
    Gable and Flynn came out to the porch to wave her off and make sure Bridget didn‟t follow her too far up the driveway.

    172

    Clouds and Rain

    “I don‟t mean to pry and it‟s probably none of my business, but….” Flynn waited and hoped Gable would anticipate his question.
    Instead, Gable pulled Flynn into a hug and held him like he‟d held Calley.
    “It‟s okay, I‟m not jealous of Calley,” Flynn said as Gable loosened his grasp.
    “I know,” Gable answered quietly.
    Flynn could see Gable was fighting his emotions too and didn‟t push him to say anything more, but that didn‟t mean he wasn‟t curious.
    Ever since that first time he‟d met Calley, he had a feeling there was more to their friendship, especially after he found out there was also some sense of betrayal, the depth of which he still didn‟t know. Just like at the hospital, today didn‟t seem like the right opportunity to ask.
    Gable remained broody all through dinner. After the dishes were done, they sat outside on the porch for the first time that fall. Flynn noticed Gable still put his foot up on the foot rest, but the solitary chair was now replaced with the wooden bench that Gable had spend most of the summer fixing up. This way Flynn could sit next to Gable, and they sat close together, watching the sun set.
    “Calley and Bill have been trying for kids for at least ten years now,” Gable said out of the blue. “It‟s a long story.”
    “I have time,” Flynn tried. He snuggled closer, putting his feet up on the side of the bench, while resting his back against Gable.
    “It‟s a really long story. Maybe one day I‟ll tell it to you.”
    “If it‟s such a deep, dark secret, maybe I don‟t wanna know,” Flynn answered, looking sideways at Gable.
    “Yeah, maybe that‟s best,” Gable replied, much to Flynn‟s disappointment.
    Flynn wasn‟t happy with the way Calley‟s visit had changed Gable‟s good mood to something very much resembling his attitude before the surgery: gruff, difficult, and moody. Only this time, the pain he seemed to be feeling was more of the emotional kind. Maybe there were some deeply hidden feelings there. Why was Gable so reluctant to tell him about them? He felt left out, and even if it