Love Means Courage - Andrew Grey

her mind, the man she thought of as her boyfriend—whether I was or not, is immaterial to her—is now involved with her brother. That’s got to be painful for her.” Len sighed loudly. “Though I don’t know what to say to her, and I wish she hadn’t found out about us the way she did.”
    “That was her own fault for being too pushy.”

    “I know, but it doesn’t change the way she feels.” Len picked up the shovel and got to work, the metal scraping on the concrete floor as he scooped. “Maybe Mari can help.”

    “Maybe. I’ll call and see if she can convince Janelle to talk to us, or at least talk to Mari.”
    “Good.” Len finished mucking out the stall and emptied the wheelbarrow, returning to the stall with a load of bedding. He decided to change the subject. “The first cutting of hay was very successful. The loft is three-quarters full, and with the additional horses, plus those additional bales we sold, we’ll have used up the hay from last year in the next month. The second cutting should fill the loft and give us some additional to sell. If we get a third cutting, and it looks like we should, we’ll bale it for the cattle.”
    “We’ll need it. With the additional calves, the herd’s growing nicely. And next year, I’m hoping to enlarge it even further. We have the land to support the larger herd now.”
    “When you’re doing your projections, you might want to 190
Andrew Grey
    project an additional hand while you’re at it.” Len finished up the stall and put his tools away. “Tomorrow night’s the fireworks at the high school. I was wondering if you and Geoff would like to go.

    Mom’s going with Jerry, and she asked if we’d like to go too. To tell the truth, I’m rather curious about Jerry.”

    “Sounds like fun.” Cliff began tickling Geoff. “You wanna see the fireworks tomorrow, maybe get ice cream?” Geoff giggled and laughed as he tried to nod his head. “I’m declaring today an unofficial farm holiday. Tell the guys to get done and go home.
    They can start the holiday early.” Cliff put Geoff in his sandbox, and he started playing, ignoring them as they talked. “And I thought we’d go into town tonight and have dinner. And afterward, maybe we’ll make some fireworks of our own.” Len returned Cliff’s wicked, naughty smile. “You’re on. I should be finished in a few hours, though I’ll need to get cleaned up before we go.”
    Len got back to work, the activity in and around the barn picking up as Nicole’s students began to arrive for a class. The guys returned from the fields mid-afternoon, and Len sent them home for the day.

    “We’ll be in to check on the cattle in the morning.” Then they were gone, driving away with huge smiles on their faces.

    Nicole agreed to make sure the barn was in order when she left, so Len grabbed his bag from his car and went inside, finding Cliff in his office working on his paperwork.
    “Let me get cleaned up quick, and we can go into town.” Cliff checked his watch. “Isn’t it a little early?”
“For dinner, yes, but I want to stop at the drugstore and the dime store, if that’s okay.”
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Cliff put down his papers. “We can stop wherever you like.
    I’m tired of this anyway. Go get cleaned up while I get Geoff up from his nap, and we can go.” Len would have loved for Cliff to join him in the shower, but with no one to watch Geoff, it just wasn’t practical.
    Stripping off his clothes, he stepped into the shower and did a quick wash and scrub before stepping out, toweling off, and changing into clean clothes. When he was done, he did a quick cleanup of the bathroom and put his dirty clothes in his bag before stepping out into the hall. He could hear Geoff and Cliff talking in Geoff’s room, probably as his clothes were being changed. “We’re gonna go to the store with Len and then get some dinner.”
    “Bwench bwies?”
    “Yes, you can get French fries.” Len stood in the doorway and watched as Cliff finished getting Geoff dressed. When he was done, Cliff picked Geoff up and lifted him in the air, making airplane noises as he flew him around the room. Geoff instinctively put his arms out like wings as he and his father played a game they’d obviously played many times before. Cliff flew Geoff over to Len and placed him in has arms.
    “Wen, hossey wide?”

    “Not right now, Geoff. We’re going into town. But if you’re good, we’ll get you a surprise.” Cliff