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He squared his jaw and sighed again before continuing. “Calley and Bill have been trying to have a baby for as long as they‟ve been married.”
    “Hence Calley‟s tears the other day, after the stork comment?” Gable nodded. “They‟ve been seeing doctors and trying to figure out why they can‟t conceive, but other than that Bill‟s sperm apparently isn‟t grade-A quality, there doesn‟t appear to be a cause. At least that‟s what Calley said. So one day about four years ago, she asked me if I would consider „donating a sperm sample‟.” Flynn nodded, careful not to interrupt Gable‟s train of thought now that he‟d finally got him to talk. It answered a few of Flynn‟s 184

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    question, notably why he always had the feeling there was history between Gable and Calley.
    “I declined, trying to be really nice about it,” Gable admitted.
    “It‟s not that I never considered being a father or that I thought Calley wouldn‟t do a good job as a mom, but I have to admit that if I ever help conceive a child, I want to be its dad, not just the „donor‟.”
    “I get that,” Flynn nodded.
    “I wanted to help her and would have done anything to make her a mom, but not that.”
    Flynn snuggled into Gable‟s arms again. “I‟m sure she understood?”
    “She did. But then Grant came along. I always knew he slept with women too. He‟d go to town on Saturday evenings, to the dances or into the city to the clubs, and I knew he wasn‟t faithful to me then.” There was still some hurt in Gable‟s voice, but not nearly as much as when he used to talk about Grant, which soothed Flynn.
    “What I never expected is that he hooked up with Calley.” That surprised Flynn too. “Grant and Calley?” Gable nodded. “My hayloft. At the time, Calley and Bill were practically living apart. Calley told me the stress of visiting all those fertility doctors and the hormones she had to take were getting to them and Bill had moved to his practice in town.”
    “Were they in love? Calley and Grant?”
    “Oh no,” Gable answered. “Calley was lonely and she figured a pleasant side effect might be that she could possibly get pregnant.
    Grant was harder to read. I think he still carries a torch for her.”
    “And all this happened right in front of your eyes?”
    “Not exactly,” Gable said. “I‟m sure it did, and maybe I didn‟t want to see it, but they were pretty discreet around me. I think especially Calley felt very guilty. I know she avoided me for a while.”
    “But even Grant couldn‟t get her pregnant?” Gable chuckled, but not out of amusement. “As a matter of fact, he did.”

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    “But Calley doesn‟t ….”
    “Calley went into labor early and the baby was stillborn. That‟s when she confessed everything to me. She apparently told Bill too, but much later.”
    “Oh, wow, poor Calley.”
    “So you see why she still has a pretty good rapport with Grant and why Grant ticks Bill off. I can imagine it can‟t be easy for Bill to know his wife‟s ex-lover is still hanging around here.” Flynn agreed. “And we can assume he‟s going to be around for a long time. He really seems to hit it off with Hunter.”
    “Oh yes,” Gable sighed.
    “Are you jealous?” Flynn asked half-seriously.
    “Jealous? Me?” Gable was quick to protest. “No. Grant and I weren‟t good for each other. Besides, I have you now.” Flynn poked him. “You better believe it.”
    “I‟m still surprised about Hunter, though.”
    “I can‟t believe you didn‟t know that Hunter was gay,” Flynn giggled.
    “Come on, Flynn. It‟s not written on his forehead,” Gable replied.
    “I know he‟s never really had a steady girlfriend, but I thought he was just too busy on the ranch. Plus, I can imagine that with three sisters and a mother in the house, you wouldn‟t want to bring a poor, unsuspecting girl into that.”
    “Or a guy.”
    “Certainly not a guy,” Gable agreed. “I seriously doubt that Hunter‟s mom and sisters know about Grant. They‟re great girls, but I think they‟d be pretty devastated.”
    “Would they throw him out?” Flynn asked, feeling sorry for Hunter.
    Gable smiled. “He‟s still the man around the house. They all work around the ranch, but he runs it, and despite the fact he never finished school, he‟s got a really good head for figures. He runs that ranch even better than his father did.”

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    “You know him