Earth and Sky

nodded. “I think so. I need him too. Especially right now.”

    “I can tell he’s really protective of you,” Christy said with a knowing smile.

    Grant looked up and saw Hunter walk back into the diner. He couldn’t take his eyes off the long, jeans-clad legs and broad shoulders encased in the sheepskin coat. This was the man he loved. “He says he loves me,” Grant said, so quietly it was only really meant for his own ears. Christy had picked it up, though, and she was smiling brightly as Hunter arrived next to their table.

    “Kids are inside. They were just in time for classes to start.” Hunter didn’t sit down and stood a little awkwardly, Grant thought.

    “Good,” Christy said, nodding a thank you in Hunter’s direction.

    “So have you discussed when we’ll be back here?” Hunter asked.

    Grant didn’t miss the “we.” “We haven’t, actually. When can we make it back here?”

    Hunter shrugged. “If we know it in advance, it’s easy to take a few days off. And traveling in a truck is more comfortable than on a bike.”

    “Bike’s wrecked anyway,” Grant added, looking expectantly at Christy as he tried to get out of the booth with minimal effort.

    “I wish I could make long-term plans, guys, but you know I can’t. I’ll call you, Grant,” she added.

    Grant hugged her good-bye, minding his ribs, and Hunter held out his hand, but Christy pulled him closer into a hug. “Take care of him for me, Hunter,” she whispered in Hunter’s ear before letting go of him.

    Grant eyed her amusedly, and she swatted him. “You know I like the feel of a big guy, Grant. Don’t read anything into it.”

    “Take care, Christy,” Hunter replied. When he looked back at Grant, Grant felt his heart skip a beat.

    After saying their good-byes, Grant couldn’t help noticing how Hunter stuck close by him, and it wasn’t just because of his concern for his physical well-being. Grant had the feeling Hunter was loaded with questions he wanted to ask. Grant didn’t feel ready to answer them yet, so he was glad Hunter seemed to have a hard time finding the right words to put them in.

    After getting settled in the truck and driving off toward the highway, it took Hunter almost half an hour to finally broach the subject.

    “You and Christy are pretty close.”

    Grant nodded. “Wouldn’t have had children with her if we weren’t.”

    “Why didn’t you stay around here?”

    “It’s a long story,” Grant answered dismissively. Then he realized maybe Hunter wanted more of an explanation, and if he was honest with himself, he had to admit Hunter deserved one.

    “Like me, Christy doesn’t have a family. When we met, she was all alone in the world, except for this little boy she had. She never told me who his father was, and I never pressed her about it, because she didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with him. When I made it clear to her that I had no intention to be more than a friend to her, she seemed okay with that. I played Dad to Lewis for a while, and she seemed to appreciate that, but then she met Frank and I was put on the back burner. In the beginning, she was afraid to even see me. Said Frank didn’t believe a woman and a man could be just friends and that he was jealous of me, so we met in secret, whenever Frank was out with his truck.”

    “Sounds like not a lot has changed.” Hunter sighed and kept his eyes on the road.

    “I tried finding work around here, but Frank blew his top whenever he’d see me around town, so I had to put some distance between us.”

    “You think he beat her up every time you came close?”

    “I don’t know,” Grant answered honestly. “I guess.”

    “So you wait for her phone call and then you drop everything and drive through the night, risking life and limb to spend a few hours with her and the kids?”

    Grant nodded slightly. “You make it sound really stupid.”

    Hunter put his hand on Grant’s knee, and Grant could feel the warmth of the touch seep through the fabric of his jeans. It felt very comforting, and as Hunter kept his hand there, the heat flooded into the rest of his body, relaxing him and somehow helping him deal with the pain.

    “It’s not stupid to run to her when she calls and you feel there’s reason to worry about her or the kids. It’s a little silly that you’re so far away from her, though.”

    Grant put his hand over Hunter’s. “Right now there’s this guy where I live. He’s sort