Love Means Courage - Andrew Grey

man Len didn’t know stepped out and closed the door. “Are you all right, Lorna?”
    “I’m fine.” She managed to get a hold of herself. “Jerry, this is my son, Leonard. Len, this is Jerry Foster.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Lorna has told me a lot about you.” He extended his hand, and Len shook it.
“I don’t want to interrupt anything. I just need to get changed 180
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    for work. I’ll only be a few minutes.” Len excused himself and went into his room, closing the door behind him. He changed quickly and packed a small bag to keep in the trunk of his car. When he was done, he opened the door and quietly walked to the kitchen.

    Lorna seemed to be waiting for him. “You’re really okay with Jerry and me?”

    He pulled her into a hug. “Of course I am. You deserve someone who’ll make you happy, and he seems really nice. So go back to him, and I’ll see you later.” He kissed her on the cheek and left the house, the drama with Janelle and Cliff’s family temporarily forgotten as he drove back to work.
    When he pulled into the drive at the barn, Cliff was waiting for him, looking very nervous. “My sisters will be here for lunch, and I’ll tell them then.” “Cliff, there’s nothing to be nervous about. These are your sisters, your family, and they love you. Besides, I think Mari already suspects.” “Should I tell the guys?” Cliff’s mind was wandering.
“They already know, remember?” Len began leading him back toward the house. “Cliff, just relax. We’ve done nothing wrong.” “I know. I’m just worried that they’ll hate me.”
    “They won’t hate you. They may not accept it, but they won’t hate you. No matter what, you’re still their brother. Besides, if they’re going to hate anyone, it’ll be me.”
    “You? How do you figure that?”
“They’ll hate me for corrupting their brother.” Cliff glared at him. “I can just hear Janelle.” Len mimicked her voice. “He wasn’t gay until he met you.” 181
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    “That’s nonsense. I’ve had these feelings for as long as I can remember. I just denied them for most of my life.” Len opened the door and guided Cliff inside. “I know, and you need to help them understand that. But Cliff, I don’t want to come between you and your family.” It would break his heart if Cliff lost his family because of him, and he couldn’t let that happen.
    “What are you saying? That if they don’t accept us, you’ll leave?” Cliff turned to face him, his eyes blazing. “Is that it? You’ll be magnanimous and leave to appease my family and what? Make me completely miserable? Leave me alone?” Cliff poked his finger in Len’s chest. “Don’t you fucking dare!” The heat in Cliff’s eyes continued to blaze.
    “Okay! We’ll face this together, no leaving and no running.
But it’s not going to be easy. I hope you know that.”
“Nothing worthwhile is.”
“Don’t be flip. This is important. Do you know what it means?
    There’ll be people who won’t want to do business with you anymore. You may have trouble finding help when you need it. This is a big step. I’m not saying you shouldn’t do this; I’m just saying you need to do it with your eyes open.”

    “I am. My eyes are wide open.” His expression softened. “For the first time, I know what it is I really want, and that’s you with me.
    The rest of the world be damned. Besides, I’m not the one who’ll have to deal with finding help when we need it. You will.” “I will?”
    Cliff’s eyes twinkled with delight. “Yes. As the new farm foreman, it’s your responsibility. You’ve already told me that if I dealt with the hands, I’d run them off, so you’re the foreman. Not that it’s a big change. You’ve been doing the job almost since you 182
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arrived. I’m just making it official.”
“But what about Fred and Randy? They’ve been here longer than I have.”
    “I already talked to them, and when I told them I was looking to hire a foreman to help run the farm, they both mentioned you. But there is one thing you need to do that you aren’t doing now.” That twinkle was back in Cliff’s eye. “You need to organize a poker game for Friday nights. It seems you’ve been lax in that area.” Cliff kissed him as they heard Geoff calling from upstairs. “Seems he’s awake and our reprieve is over.”
    “I should get started anyway.” Len took another kiss and then headed outside while Cliff