Love Means_. Freedom - Andrew Grey

she lifted her little girl off her feet, hugging her tight. "Thank you, whatever you did or said. Thank you." Her hand cradled the blonde head as she walked to the car. Stone walked on air as he finished the last of his chores and was still riding high as he walked toward the house for dinner.
    Stone slipped off his boots and padded into the kitchen. Adelle smiled at him and handed him a warm mug. Geoff came in from the other room. "Could I talk to you?"
    "Give the boy a minute, Mr. Geoff, he just got in," Adelle admonished lightly, and Geoff grinned back at her.
"Come to my office, then." Geoff turned and walked back through the doorway, shaking his head.
    Stone couldn't help wondering what Geoff wanted, so he set the mug on the table and followed, figuring he'd better not tempt fate too much. He liked it here, but he'd sworn to himself he wouldn't get too comfortable. This could all end as fast as it started. Stone rapped lightly on the doorframe and stepped inside. It appeared that Geoff was already engrossed in something.
    "You wanted to see me?"
"Yeah." Geoff set down the papers, and Stone watched nervously, wondering.... "Sit down."
    Geoff didn't seem angry, which was good. "I heard what you did for Sherry. She and her mother stopped by before leaving, and the woman couldn't stop singing your praises."

    "I just told her that her mother was pretty and that she was pretty, too, because she looked like her." Stone smiled.

    Geoff looked confused. "The Biddles adopted Sherry when she was a baby. She isn't their biological daughter and doesn't look at all like her mother."

    "That may be, but Sherry said her daddy used to say the same thing. In fact that was the first thing she said." Stone couldn't hide the pleasure that his innocent and accidental mistake had helped the little girl. But Stone's smile didn't last long as Geoff's expression changed. "I also understand that you had a problem with another client."

    Stone looked down at the floor. "Yes, sir." He was in for it now. No matter what happened back home, he always got blamed, and it was the same thing here. "I'll get my things and go."
    Stone stood up and walked out of the office, heading for the stairs. Maybe this was for the best.
If he moved on, he wouldn't have a chance to miss this when they asked him to leave later.
"Stone." He heard Geoff's voice and turned, already halfway up the stairs. "Instead of jumping to conclusions, why don't you tell me about it."
    Slowly, he walked back down the stairs, expecting to get hit as he stepped past Geoff and went back into the office. It surprised Stone when Geoff pulled up one of the other chairs and sat next to him. "Just tell me what happened."

    Stone told Geoff the story, feeling stupid and ashamed. "I'm sorry I got mad at him, but he kept calling me 'Stable Boy' even after I told him my name. I shouldn't have said the things I did.

    I'm sorry."
    "Yeah, well, he shouldn't have been baiting you, either." Stone waited for Geoff to tell him to leave or at least yell at him for costing the farm a client. "Go on upstairs and get cleaned up for dinner." Stone looked up from the floor, totally confused. "Stone, I offered you a job, and if I'm not happy, I'll tell you. You did great today with Sherry, and the barn hasn't looked that good in months." Stone stood up slowly. "And clients do not have the right to treat you the way he did today." Geoff stood up and went to his desk. "I'll call and tell him he doesn't need to come back."
    "No, please don't." Geoff was already dialing the phone. "I don't want you to lose a paying client over me."

    Geoff slowly set down the phone. "We don't need clients like that. We don't mistreat anyone, and I won't let anyone on my farm be mistreated, either." Geoff eyes became hard.
    Geoff wanted him and was willing to give up a paying client for him. Stone was stunned. No one wanted him. His father had tolerated him and used him as a workhorse after his mother had died. "I think we can help him. He may be a bit of an ass," Stone said, and Geoff's expression changed to a hint of a smile. "Okay, a lot of an ass," he amended, "but we can help him, and maybe that's more important." Stone couldn't hold back a smile.
    Geoff sat down slowly, smiling right back. "Okay, but if he says anything to you, I want you to tell me or Joey. We'll throw him and his wheelchair out on his ear."
    "Mr. Geoff and Mr. Stone, dinner is ready." Adelle's voice carried in from the kitchen.
Geoff walked around