Love Means Courage - Andrew Grey

but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He inhaled deeply and let it out slowly. “Fred already knows, and I’m pretty sure Randy does as well.” He also thought Cliff’s sister Mari and Nicole Robinson might suspect that there was something going on between them, but neither had come right out and asked.
    “I’m not saying everyone is going to hate you. There will be people who’ll accept you and Cliff without question, but people can be violent when they hate.” She poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Len. “You’re still my son, and I’m just worried about you.”
    “I know you are.” Len leaned down and kissed her on the cheek before walking back to his bedroom to finish getting ready for work. Sipping his coffee, he finished getting dressed and packed a bag for the afternoon. Cliff and Geoff had asked him to go to the beach that afternoon, and he was looking forward to it: warm sand, sun, Geoff playing, Cliff in a wet bathing suit. Now that was worth getting up early for.
    When he had everything ready, he finished his coffee, grabbed his bag, and left his room, dropping his cup in the sink and saying goodbye to his mother before leaving the house. Starting the car, he turned on the radio as usual. “A fatal accident on US-10 left two dead and one injured. The police aren’t releasing the names of the victims, pending notification of relatives.” The announcer moved right on to another topic. “The drought in the plains continues to drive farm prices. According to The Andersons of Maumee, Ohio, corn closed up another five cents at two ninety-five a bushel, and beef futures closed up another four cents per pound.” The announcer continued with the rest of the futures report, but Len already had the information he needed and turned off the radio, continuing his drive 157
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    in silence.
    Pulling into the farm, he parked and headed straight into the barn and got to work. He tried to get some stalls cleaned every day so it didn’t get away from him, but with most of the horses spending their time in the pastures because of the weather, there were only a few stalls to clean, and he got those done right away.
    “Hey, Len. You ready to cut some hay?” Randy strode up, looking gleefully happy, followed by Fred, who looked pleased with himself for some reason.

    “Is that smile because you don’t have to do it?”

    “Yup. I’m mending fences today.” Len would rather ride on a tractor than mend fences, so it was fine with him. They were both hot, dusty jobs anyway. “I’ve got the tractor all set up for you, and I can show you what you need to do when you’re ready.”

    “Thanks.” Len turned to Fred. “What’s got you so happy?” Randy elbowed Len in the ribs. “He’s got a date with Susie Cooper tonight.” “Don’t pick on him too much. He went pretty light on you when you started dating Shell, remember?” Randy looked sheepish, and they reviewed their tasks for the day. “This afternoon, I’ll be away with Cliff for a few hours. We’re taking Geoff to play at the beach.”

    Randy and Fred looked at each other and around them before looking back at Len. “Are the two of you getting serious?” Randy asked in a hushed tone.
    “I think so, yeah.” Randy nodded but didn’t say any more. “Is there something you wanted to ask?”
“No. Other than to tell you that I have a cousin who’s gay, and 158
Andrew Grey
she’s really great.” Randy began to fidget, and Fred took over.
    “What we’re saying is that we both understand, and that it’s not a big deal. That’s not to say it won’t be with others.” They trailed off, not sure what to say, and Len let them off the hook gracefully.

    “Thank you. That means a lot.” It really did. Len had expected a lot of problems—maybe not from Fred and Randy, because of what Fred had said before—but even Cliff’s sister had been hinting and acted like it didn’t bother her. He and Cliff definitely needed to talk about this.
    Fred moved them along. “We need to get started.” Randy got the tractor out and showed Len how to operate the hay cutter, and then they were off. Len spent the next eight hours on the tractor mowing wide swaths of hay and leaving it to dry behind him. Unfortunately for Len, the tractor was not enclosed, so he sweated up a storm, having to wear a long-sleeved shirt and a hat to keep from getting sunburned. It was truly hot and dusty work. At four o’clock, he