Earth and Sky

with?”

    Hunter smiled at the dashing young man, thinking for a moment that Gable had hired him for more than horse wrangling. “I have an appointment with him to buy some of his horses, but I’m sure you can give me a tour?”

    Flynn smiled, his eyes squinting against the bright sunlight. “Gable will be right back, I’m sure. I only work here. He handles the sale of his horses.”

    Hunter watched Flynn move away and grab a bucket, filling it with water from a garden hose. Although Flynn wasn’t his type, he caught himself eyeing the ranch hand’s jeans-clad ass anyway. “Gable’s a good friend of mine,” Hunter said, trying to make small talk. “We go way back. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I took a look around.”

    Flynn looked up. “I’d rather you wait here, sir. Gable will be right back, and then he can show you around.”

    As if by command, a horse skidded to a stop near them, and Gable jumped down from it, wincing momentarily as if the jump hurt his injured leg. He walked over to Hunter, extending his hand. “Hey, buddy! How have you been? Here to look at some horses?” He turned to Flynn. “Can you saddle TJ so Hunter can ride with me?”

    Hunter could tell Flynn wasn’t entirely happy with Gable’s demand, but Gable was carting Hunter off toward the house, so he didn’t say anything.

    “So what are you looking for?” Gable asked, seeming in good spirits.

    “Some horses I can sell on, a few I can keep, and a horse for me,” Hunter replied, taking off his hat as soon as they entered the kitchen. Gable gestured for him to sit down and poured them each a cup of coffee. He unceremoniously plunked down the sugar bowl in front of Hunter, while Hunter tried to inconspicuously look around the usually messy kitchen, which was now spotless.

    “You finally ready to ditch that mongrel you usually ride?” Gable was sporting a smile from ear to ear.

    “Yeah, yeah,” Hunter answered in a tone that conveyed that he was tired of the relentless teasing.

    “You have to admit that was probably the worst buy you ever made.”

    “Just ’cause I didn’t buy him from you,” Hunter rebutted.

    “I would never have sold you an animal like that. In fact, I would never have bought an animal like that. He’s good for nothing, except maybe a glue factory.”

    “Gable!” Hunter said with clear disgust in his voice, making Gable laugh out loud. Hunter enjoyed the friendly banter between them. He and Gable had been friends since he was fourteen, and it didn’t matter that Gable was more than ten years older than him. Gable had lost his father the same year that Hunter’s dad had unexpectedly died, and they’d had to take on running their ranches on their own after that. Gable had been a big support, since Hunter had really been too young for such responsibility. Now they pretty much did their own thing, but Gable’s ranch was still the first port of call whenever Hunter was looking for new horses.

    “So you want something for yourself as well?”

    Hunter nodded.

    “Mare, stallion, or gelding?”

    Hunter shrugged. “Something that does what I tell it to do.”

    Gable took a big gulp from his coffee mug. “For that you need to get yourself a wife, Hunter.”

    “No thanks,” Hunter replied, thinking to himself how true that felt right now. He couldn’t say anything about Grant, though, feeling it would be too hard on Gable. Instead he nodded to the front of the house. “Looks like you found yourself one?”

    Gable almost choked on his coffee. “You mean Flynn? He knows his way around the ranch, and he’s a damn fine cook.”

    “Knowing you, he’s more than that, right?”

    Gable threw him a mock glare that didn’t deny or acknowledge Hunter’s suspicions. “Let’s go look at some horses, okay?”

    They rode out to the higher meadows, Gable pointing out the horses that were ready to be sold and Hunter giving them a first cursory look. Most of them looked good enough to try out, so Gable marked them with a yellow ribbon, and they agreed Hunter would return later that afternoon with an extra wrangler and two horses so they could round them up.

    With Tim and Flynn to help them out, they easily rounded up about twenty horses and steered them toward a small holding pen next to the corral. Hunter couldn’t resist watching the way Gable and Flynn behaved around each other. Although that morning their relationship had seemed strained, this afternoon the sun was shining