Earth and Sky

something crack as Flynn slugged him. He staggered back and only just kept himself on his feet.

    Flynn’s eyes were on fire. “I don’t ever want to see you anywhere near Gable.”

    Grant shook his head. “I didn’t mean to upset him. I just….” He didn’t finish his sentence. Instead he rubbed his jaw and felt around inside his mouth with his tongue after tasting blood.

    Flynn seemed to calm down as he rubbed his own knuckles and spotted Calley. “He’s okay,” he told Calley. “He’s breathing on his own now.”

    “I’m sorry,” Grant apologized again.

    Flynn turned back toward Grant. “Gable’s not ready for you right now, Grant. He may never be. Please don’t try this again. At least not until he has a choice on whether or not he wants to see you.”

    “Fair enough,” Grant agreed. “I’m working at Hunter’s ranch if he ever wants to see me. I understand if he doesn’t.”

    Flynn nodded. “I have to go back inside,” he said, more to Calley than Grant.

    “Take care of him, darling,” Calley said as they watched Flynn leave.

    Grant took a deep breath and felt the adrenaline leave his system. “He’s a bigger man than I could ever be.”

    “Told you Gable hit the jackpot.” Calley was looking at him with a face full of concern. “So you’re working at Hunter’s place?”

    Grant nodded. “Hunter and I are….” He stopped because he couldn’t believe he was divulging his best-kept secret to her.

    “I never knew Hunter was gay,” Calley said quietly, but in her usual no-holds-barred way.

    “He’s figuring out he is,” Grant replied. “But don’t tell anyone, okay? Nobody knows yet.”

    She winked at him. “I may have the reputation of being the town gossip because my shop is a central meeting point for so many people, but I know how to keep a secret too.”

    Grant nodded. He knew that. Calley had kept more than a few of his secrets in the past. Maybe that was the reason he was so eager to tell her his new one. It felt good to tell someone. It made it more real somehow, although he still wasn’t sure Hunter was not going to bolt on him.

    “We’re not… it’s nothing steady or committed yet. Hunter is still getting used to the idea,” Grant elaborated.

    “Seems you’re getting more comfortable admitting you like men too?”

    Grant nodded. “Was always stupid to deny it, I suppose. I just never saw myself having an actual relationship with a guy before either. Not even when I was living with Gable. That wasn’t a real relationship, Calley.”

    She hugged his arm and nodded. “I know.”

    “But with Hunter I find myself wanting more than just….”

    “Sex?”

    Grant smiled at how easily she said the word. He shook his head at how uncomfortable it still made him to say it out loud. Years of prejudice weren’t easily wiped out. “Of course, the moment I meet someone I want to spend the rest of my life with, he’s the one who can’t imagine such a thing.”

    Calley gave Grant’s arm another squeeze. “He’ll come around. You’ll just have to be patient.”

Chapter 16

    Hunter was working late. Although he enjoyed doing the ranch work when Grant was gone, he’d known there were stock papers waiting for him in his office, and since he hated spending entire days in there to catch up, he went there after a whole day in the saddle just to avoid falling behind.

    The office was downstairs in the big house, just off the mudroom, and Hunter had to turn on his desk lamp to see what he was doing. It was already quiet in the main house, so when Hunter heard an urgent knock on the door, he startled.

    “Come in,” he answered, after a brief pause to figure out whether he’d dreamed the sound or not.

    “Hey there,” Grant saluted him.

    Hunter couldn’t hold back a smile. Grant looked dead tired, but he was still a sight to behold. “You’re back early.”

    “Thought I’d check in with you before I turned in to make sure I could start work first thing in the morning.”

    Hunter nodded and got up from behind his desk, trying to stall for time so he could think of a way to keep Grant with him a bit longer, but it made him feel selfish to see the dark circles around the other man’s eyes. He really should let the man go to bed. Then Hunter remembered something.

    “We’re missing another horse. I was going to take Tim out to ride fences in the morning so we could check for signs of cougar, but he’s pretty busy with some of the