Earth and Sky

never been able to keep good friends after I slept with them, female or male. She told me once she appreciated the fact I didn’t make a move on her, and she was probably the first person I ever admitted to that I was gay.”

    The two youngest children came back out to play.

    “So how did you end up being the biological father of those two?”

    Grant briefly looked at Hunter, expecting to find recrimination in his expression but seeing only genuine interest and maybe a little worry.

    “Pretty soon after she realized I wasn’t the man for her, she met someone else. He’s my age and drives one of those monster trucks, you know?” Grant smiled and Hunter followed suit. “He’s often gone for days on end, driving from one side of the States to the other. I never liked him, so after a first meeting where he made a few rude comments directed at me, she kept us as far apart as she could. But she said she loved him, and before I knew it, he’d married her and she was moving west and into his house.”

    “This one?”

    “Yes.” Grant nodded. “Her boy often asked for me, so whenever Frank was away, she’d let me spend time with him. Then she told me she and Frank had been trying to have a baby, but it didn’t seem to be working, and she asked me whether I was willing to help her out.”

    Hunter raised his eyebrows. “Help her out?”

    “She said she was desperate for a baby, but since Frank wouldn’t go to see a doctor, she had gone alone, and the doctor had said there was no reason she couldn’t conceive. She had no money for fancy stuff like artificial insemination, so we did it the old-fashioned way.”

    “You fucked her?” Hunter said blankly.

    Grant closed his eyes. “That sounds very crude for what we did.”

    “Okay, fine,” Hunter added in an annoyed tone. “You made love to her.”

    Grant sighed. He’d hoped Hunter would understand. “I loved her in my own way, Hunter. She’s a great woman. It didn’t take much. The first time she got pregnant after three or four tries. The second time we only did it twice. Making love to a woman isn’t that hard. It was just never what I wanted for the rest of my life.”

    “I know,” Hunter answered, all hurt gone from his voice. “But these children know you’re their father?”

    “No,” Grant answered. “They know me. From time to time I call her, and sometimes she tells me that Frank will be away for a week, and then I drive up here and spend some time with her and the kids. They think I’m just a friend of their mom’s. And I’m a secret. The kids play the game pretty well. Frank only found out once.”

    “And then what happened?”

    “He slapped her around. She claims that it only happened once, but sometimes she gets sad and I think he’s hit her again, but she’ll never admit to it. So when she calls I run to her. I’m always scared that she’ll need help getting away from him, but maybe I’m just imagining things. She was black and blue that time he hit her. I’ve never seen bruises on her any other time, so maybe he’s good to her and it was just a lapse in judgment that once. At least he provides her with money for her kids and she doesn’t need to work. They have food and clothes and nice things.”

    “Was that time he slapped her around the time you left Gable and he had his accident?”

    Damn, the man was perceptive. Grant closed his eyes. Most of the truth was out anyway. “Yes. Gabe and I had a fight about me leaving, but Christy sounded so frantic on the phone, and I didn’t have time to explain it to him. He never knew about her, and it would have taken a few hours to tell him the whole truth. When I didn’t give him a sufficient explanation, he got mad as hell, but I figured he’d get over it once he’d gone riding for a few hours. I swear I didn’t know he was hurt.”

    “I know,” Hunter said. “I know.” He scooted closer and put his arm around Grant, running his hand through Grant’s hair in a gesture that felt so loving and intimate Grant couldn’t prevent himself from leaning into it.

    “I’m sorry I misjudged you, but I didn’t know the full story,” Hunter said, kissing Grant’s temple. “I’m sorry I thought you didn’t treat Gable very well and that you were cold and mean to him.”

    “I know what it looked like, but I couldn’t defend myself without exposing everything. I know they live a long way away, but the last thing I wanted was for Frank to find out I