Earth and Sky

where it belonged.

    Just as he was leaning toward Grant to whisper a quiet “I love you” in his ear, he felt something tug at his sleeve. He glanced away from Grant and saw Lindy standing next to him, looking infinitely shy, as if she was afraid of the reaction she’d get for drawing his attention.

    Hunter smiled at her and bent down. “What’s the matter, sweetie?”

    “The boys are playing rough. Can I sit here with you?”

    “Sure, honey,” Hunter answered, pulling her onto his lap. She settled easily, leaning against Hunter’s chest and snuggling into his embrace. Grant looked at them, and for the first time since Christy’s leaving became an issue, Hunter saw his lover smile again. Grant ran his fingers through Lindy’s curls and smiled at her too. “So you found another cuddle bear, didn’t you?”

    Lindy looked up at Hunter and then back at Grant and nodded fervently before squeezing Hunter tightly—as much as she could, since she couldn’t exactly reach around him.

    It took all of two minutes for Lindy to fall sound asleep in Hunter’s embrace.

    “They didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” Grant said. “Maybe we should put her back to bed.”

    “And have her wake up alone in a strange room like this morning?” Hunter shook his head. “I’m comfortable. She can sleep like this for a while longer.”

Chapter 37

    Grant could watch them together for hours.

    Lindy clung to Hunter like gum to a shoe. Now that the boys went to school with Danny, she was the only one left, so early in the morning Hunter would bring her out to the stables for morning chores and let her help with watering the horses and mucking out the stables. Although at first the large animals scared her a bit, Hunter had explained to her what to do and, more importantly, what not to do. Lindy had taken to it like a duck to water. Grant’s heart stopped every time he saw her dash in and out of the stables, but he’d also noticed that the horses were very gentle around her and watched her every move.

    Grant had sawed half the handle off a rake so she could help without poking anyone’s eye out, and although it was a funny sight to see a four-year-old mucking out stables, she certainly gave it her best effort. What she lacked in strength, she certainly made up in eagerness, but seeing her bend over a patch of horse manure with her nose scrunched up never ceased to make him laugh out loud.

    Although it warmed Grant’s heart to see Hunter taking to parenting so easily, it surprised him even more that he enjoyed it so much as well, although he gravitated more toward the boys. None of the kids were used to living in the great outdoors, but all of them seemed to blossom, and Grant was silently glad they hadn’t heard much from Christy. There was no doubt in his mind that she missed her kids, but at night, after they’d tucked them all in to bed, Grant sometimes despaired when he thought of the day that Christy would show up again to claim them back.

    “What are you brooding about now, Stud?” Hunter asked after sitting down next to him on the bed. Hunter’s hand lay possessively on Grant’s thigh, and Grant enjoyed its warmth.

    “I was wondering whether your mom would be able to work with Christy.”

    Hunter raised his eyebrows but didn’t answer.

    “I know I’m being very forward here, but with Lisa gone, your mother does the cooking for the crew, and I know it’s a lot of work. She’s not as young as she thinks she is, so I thought maybe we could try to find Christy and offer her the position of crew cook. That way she could come live here with us and the kids.”

    “You’re just worried that she’s going to come back and take the kids away,” Hunter said empathically.

    “I know you’d miss them too,” Grant said.

    Hunter nodded. “Very much.”

    “So you think…?”

    “We’ll have to square it with Mom first, and you know how she is with strangers working in her kitchen.”

    Grant sighed. “We could bring the crew kitchen into the twenty-first century, and that way Christy would have her own territory.”

    As Grant put his hand over Hunter’s, Hunter twisted it and took Grant’s hand in his. “We’ll just have to explain it to her. Find the right moment. Do you know where Christy is?”

    Grant shook his head. “But we have the postcard she sent us, and I know her friend’s name, so we have two leads to work with. We’ll need to spend a weekend or so in Vegas,