Earth and Sky

kitchen.

    Hunter nodded and opened the door. His mother was standing at the stove, straining gravy. She was wearing an apron over her clothes and didn’t react to Hunter entering.

    “Mom.” Hunter’s voice was soft as he came to stand next to her.

    “Hunter,” she answered, equally softly.

    “Anything I can do to help?”

    “Will you carve the meat?”

    Hunter nodded. This was usually the job of the man around the house, and he was glad his mother still considered him to be that. It gave him some confidence that she wasn’t going to throw him out after dinner.

    “Not too much, darling,” she said. “There’s only seven of us.”

    Hunter counted them out in his head. Mom and Bernie, Izzie and Hugh and Danny, he and… Grant. He smiled when he realized she’d counted on Grant coming down for dinner.

    “Grant’s asleep, Mom, so there’s only six of us for dinner.”

    She didn’t immediately reply and pretended to be busy fishing the bay leaf out of the gravy. “Carve him a piece anyway. You can heat it up for him once he wakes up.”

    Hunter eyed his mother. The expression on her face was still as cold as ice, business as usual when emotions came into play.

    “He was hurt pretty badly and he’s still in a lot of pain.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt conscious of the fact he was apologizing for Grant. Why did he feel the need to do that? They were all grownups.

    “Did you put him in the guestroom?” she asked casually while she dished out the mashed potatoes.

    “No, Mother. He’s asleep in my room.” Hunter couldn’t stop the annoyance seeping into his voice.

    “Then I suppose you’ll be staying in the guestroom until he’s well enough to go back to the crew house.”

    It wasn’t even a question, Hunter realized.

    “He’s my”—he wanted to say “lover,” but knowing his mother’s opinion about premarital sex, that wouldn’t be a safe word—“partner, Mom.”

    Her eyes shot up, but she turned away only moments later, busying herself with her cooking. Hunter didn’t know what to say or how easily he’d crack under the pressure. He wasn’t ready to stop fighting, though. He loved his mother, but he loved Grant too, and he was too old to choose her over the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

    With a grunt, she moved the heavy pot containing the roast from the oven to the table in the middle of the kitchen. Hunter rushed to help her but forgot how hot the copper pot was and burned his fingers. She let go of the pot and grabbed Hunter’s hand, pulling him toward the sink to cool it off under the spray of the cold water. Hunter hissed at the sting.

    “Izzie and Hugh aren’t sharing a bed under my roof either, Hunter,” she said eventually.

    “She’s carrying his baby, Mom. I think that’s enough proof that you can’t prevent them from sleeping together.”

    She turned away from him and shot him an intense stare. “What they do away from this house, I have no power over, but I will not have those two cavorting under this roof. What’s Danny supposed to think?”

    “There’s no doubt in my mind that Danny is happy to have his father back. You know how close those two are.”

    She nodded curtly.

    “I don’t think Danny’s giving it a lot of thought, Mom. We know he adores Izzie, and he worships the ground his father walks on, so I don’t see what this has to do with Izzie and Hugh sharing a room.” Or with Grant and me , Hunter wanted to add. He knew they were avoiding that conversation altogether.

    “Hugh is still married to Lisa!”

    Hunter was startled by the fact she’d raised her voice. “And they’ve been miserable since about the week after their wedding, and you know it. Now Lisa’s found someone else, and so has Hugh. I know how long he’s been in love with Izzie, so I’m glad they finally got together. Plus, we both know Izzie’s only ever had eyes for Hugh since she was a little girl.”

    If her shouting hadn’t surprised him, the tears that welled in her eyes after his statement made him even more uncomfortable. This was the woman who hadn’t even cried at her husband’s funeral. “What have I done to my children? Why can’t they be happy?”

    Hunter pulled her into his arms. “Izzie is happy, Mom. And so am I.”

    “But how can you…?”

    Hunter leaned back to look at her face. “Grant makes me happy, Mom. Happier than any girl has ever made me. Or could make me.”

    The