Love Means Courage - Andrew Grey

work, but he was learning so much from Nicole, and he and the guys were becoming a team. They’d sold off most of the extra hay, and together he and Cliff had decided to hold off on the rest, particularly since they used some of the money to build the extra stalls in the barn.
    Word was already getting around, and they’d added another horse just yesterday, bringing the total to twelve, with four new horse stalls and two pony stalls almost ready. And tomorrow Cliff had an appointment at the bank, and he had asked Len to go along.

    The hardest thing was the way he was beginning to feel about Cliff. They’d worked together to build the new stalls, relocating Geoff’s sandbox nearby to keep him occupied.
    “Damn it, Len, practice what you preach. You gave Cliff grief 77
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    for hiding and living in his own world, while you’re doing the exact same thing.” With a small grunt, he lifted his work weary-muscles off the sofa and headed to bed. There was a lot to get done in the morning before their appointment at the bank.
    LEN woke at his usual time and quietly got ready for work, eating something, packing his lunch, and throwing an extra set of clothes in his car before driving to the farm. As usual, it was still dark when he arrived, but the horses were already active, and he turned them out in the pastures and began the constant job of mucking out stalls. He cleaned out the worst of the stalls and spot-cleaned the others before filling water troughs and feeding the few horses that stayed inside.
    At seven, he heard the barn door open, and the guys joined him for what had become their regular morning planning session. Len had told Cliff about these, but as yet, he hadn’t attended one. Len always gave him a recap when he saw him later in the day, though. “Before I forget, will one of you be able to stay close later this morning? I need to go into town with Cliff for a while.” Randy looked curious, but it was Fred who actually asked the question. “Does this have anything to do with the rumors going around town?”

    “Yes. We don’t know much right now, but I’m trying to help figure out what’s going on.” The guys nodded and seemed content with the answer, but Len continued. “I’ll ask Cliff to talk to you once he knows something.”
    “Thanks, Len.” The guys got to work, and Len went back to the stalls.
He liked to get the heavy work done early in the day when it 78
Andrew Grey
was cooler. He was almost done when he heard a familiar voice,
“Wen!” followed by the patter of small steps. He stood up, and small arms wrapped around a leg. “Wen!”
    “Hi, Geoff.” He picked up the toddler and gave him a carrot to feed one of the horses as Cliff approached from behind him. A familiar electric tingle went up his spine before lodging in his stomach, fading into the now familiar butterflies. “Morning, Cliff.” He didn’t turn around and watched as Geoff fed the horse his treat.
    “We should leave for the bank soon.” Len thought he heard a tinge of worry in his voice, which was fully understandable under the circumstances. “I don’t know what they’re going to tell us this time that they couldn’t the last time.” Len shrugged and set Geoff back down. “Sometimes it’s the questions you ask.” He turned to face Cliff. “As I told you before, money has a trail. We need to try to follow it, and the trail starts at the bank.” Len began walking to put his tools away, and Cliff followed. “I don’t know what we’ll find, but I promised you I’d help.”
    “Geoff, come back here. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes.” Those little legs stopped in their tracks and he ran back to Cliff. “Twuck?”
    “Yes, we’re going in the truck.” Cliff picked up his son before continuing, turning to Len. “I’ve been wondering why you’re helping me. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, because I appreciate it, but….” He stammered before continuing. “I mean, in the short time you’ve been here, you’ve already done so much.” Len put the tools in their places and turned around to face Cliff, noticing for the first time a look he didn’t quite understand. A million answers to Cliff’s question flashed through his mind, but he took what he thought was the safest. “Ruby was my best friend, and 79
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she loved both you and this farm very much.”
“Oh.”
    God, he wanted to tell Cliff what he truly felt and see if his lips felt like they did