Love Means Courage - Andrew Grey

started digging with his hands.

    “We need to get you some toys.” Picking Geoff out of the sandbox, he carried him back to the house and opened the back door.
    “Cliff?” No response. Len figured he was upstairs and walked through the kitchen to the living room. “Let’s get you some sandbox toys.” In one corner behind a chair, he found a pail and shovel. With Geoff’s help, he filled it with cars and trucks. “Cliff, I’ve got Geoff, and we’ll be out by the ring.” Still no response. Shit, maybe he’d pushed too hard, but damn if the man hadn’t needed it. “Let’s go play in the sand.”
    “Daddy, sand!”
“You wanna go play?”
Geoff ran to the window and pointed. “Wen hos.”
    “Let’s go then.” Picking him up again, Len, looked around the still house one more time before carrying Geoff back outside and out to the riding ring. Placing him in the makeshift sandbox, he gave him his toys, and Geoff immediately went to work, digging to China.
    With Geoff occupied, Len began surveying the fencing around the ring. The posts seemed solid enough, but some of the cross braces needed repair, and the ring was full of weeds. Needing to keep an eye on Geoff, he started with the weeding. He spent the next hour of so on his hands and knees, pulling the tall, errant plants.
    They came up easily, and he was able to get the ring looking pretty decent. Geoff continued playing in the sand, having a jolly old time. “Hey, Geoffy, you making a sand castle?” Len called as he watched Geoff play. Geoff didn’t even lift his head, he was so engrossed. And Len continued with his work.
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Andrew Grey
“Having fun, Geoffy?” There was no trace of his earlier anger in Cliff’s voice.
    “Hi, Daddy!” Len looked up from his weeding and saw Cliff bending down near the sandbox, father and son talking while Geoff continued digging and running his cars on sand highways.
    Len watched for a minute and then went back to work, pulling the last of the weeds. As he worked, he still found himself looking toward the sandbox, but now, instead of watching Geoff, he found himself watching Cliff. The way his body moved, the way he played with his son, the way his jeans tightened over his thighs when he knelt down. I can’t be doing this to myself. Cliff turned to look at him, and Len put his head back down, concentrating on what he was doing. When he lifted his head again, he saw Cliff looking back at him. Busted. He covered as best he could by pretending to look at Geoff and then returning his attention to the weeding.
    A few seconds later, he heard footsteps approach and stop next to him. Pulling the last of the weeds, he lifted his eyes, staring right into the crook of Cliff’s crouched legs. “Looking good, Len.” He wasn’t kidding; from what Len could see, it looked real good. Thick legs and…. Len swallowed and forced himself to look up, hoping he wasn’t turning red. He forced his attention away from Cliff and back on work. “Thanks.” He dumped the last of the weeds into a bushel basket and then sat up. “I was going to repair the fencing, but I wasn’t sure where to find the supplies.” Len watched as Cliff looked over at Geoff. “I think you’ll find what you need in the equipment shed.” Len barely heard what Cliff said, his attention wandering. Oh, he heard the words, and his brain registered the idea, but his eyes saw Cliff’s lips moving, and his brain short-circuited.
    “You okay?” He felt Cliff’s hand on his shoulder, the warmth 55
Love Means Courage
seeping through his shirt.
    “Yeah, sorry.” Len glanced at his watch to cover his embarrassment. “I’ll go see what I can find.” Cliff stood back up, and Len watched his legs flex out of the corner of his eye. And unfortunately, he felt his pants grow tighter. Cliff walked back toward where Geoff was playing, and Len used the opportunity to walk to the equipment shed. There were indeed a few cross braces he could use, and he carried them back to the ring, returning to get the tool kit.
    Cliff looked up from where he and Geoff were playing. “You need some help?”
“Won’t turn you down.” He set down the tool kit and got a hammer to pry off the broken pieces.
Len heard Cliff tell Geoff to stay in the sandbox.
    “Okay, Daddy.” Geoff didn’t even look up from the hole he was digging, and Len smiled to himself as he finished prying off the remnants of the broken cross brace. Cliff picked up the new brace and held it in place