Love Means_. Freedom - Andrew Grey

you were out in the cold alone last night?"
Stone shrugged. How he came to be outside alone was the last thing he wanted to talk about.
Hell, his whole life was something he'd like to forget. "You've been very nice, but you don't want me around."
    "Why don't you let me be the judge of who I want around my farm and family?" Geoff's face was firm, and Stone found himself fidgeting under Geoff's gaze.
    "What the hell." Stone sank into a chair, pulling the zipper open on his coat, but ready to make a quick getaway if he had to. "I grew up on a small farm outside Petoskey. It was just my dad and me." Stone felt tears threaten, but he blinked them back and let his anger take over, pushing back the sadness, and to his surprise his voice firmed as well and he was able to go on.
    "I thought the old bastard loved me. It was only the two of us after my mother died."
"What happened?" Geoff's voice sounded so concerned, but Stone knew that would change.
    "My old man kicked me out." The emotions threatened again, but he pushed them back, letting the love that had turned to hate keep him strong. "So I guess he didn't love me after all."
    Stone looked at Geoff's eyes and saw them soften as he waited.
"You didn't answer my question." Stone heard a note of compassion in the farmer's voice and decided to go for broke. "I told him I was gay." Stone watched Geoff's reaction, waiting to see what would happen.
    At best, he figured he'd be told to leave. At worst, he'd make a hasty retreat before he got hit like his old man had done to him so many times. The bruises were gone, but he could still feel the ache in his shoulder where the man had practically ripped his arm out of the socket as he threw him out of the house.
    Geoff didn't say anything, and Stone watched as the farmer got to his feet and walked toward him. Okay, here it comes. He expected to get hit, or to have him demand what the guy from the truck had. What he didn't expect was to get pulled to his feet and hugged, tight and hard. The strong man didn't make any sort of move. He wasn't felt up, he was just comforted--the way Stone had hoped his own father would have comforted him. "No one will hurt you here."
    The words reached Stone's ears, and he raised his arms and put them around the man, returning the hug. This was the first comfort of any kind he'd received since he'd been thrown out.

    The grip lessened and Geoff stepped back, and Stone's legs practically gave out as he slumped back into the soft chair. "How long have you been on your own?"
    "About three months. For a while I was able to work cutting Christmas trees for a friend.
But the job ran out, so I started heading south, figuring I'd try to get somewhere warm. The money ran out and I tried hitching." "You said you grew up on a farm?"
    "Yeah." Stone was starting to get suspicious. "We raised pigs." Stone shuddered. The last thing he ever wanted to do again was have anything to do with pigs.

    "You willing to work?"

    "Are you offering me a job? This time of year?" Winter was when most farms tended to go to sleep and needed less help, not more. "I don't want charity."

    "I'm not offering charity, but hard work. I need someone to keep the barn clean. The guy who was doing it went back to school and we've been making do. I've got twenty stalls that need to be kept clean and a tack room that must be kept neat. You ever worked with horses?" Stone nodded, hardly able to believe his luck. Instead of getting beaten up, he was being offered a job. "I learned how to ride when I was a kid." He'd had to leave his horse behind when his dad kicked him out, and his heart ached that he hadn't been able to take Buster with him.
    "Had a horse of my own." Damn it, he was starting to act like a girl, sniffling and everything.
"Good. My partner, Eli, gives riding lessons, and if it works out, he may have you help him."
    Stone could hardly believe his ears. "Your partner?" He saw Geoff nod. Stone thought for a while. "Is he the man I saw last night when you answered the door?" He got another nod and a smile. "Then who's the blind guy?" He saw Geoff scowl and realized he was being rude. "I mean Robbie, is he your brother?"
    Geoff held up his hand. "After we're done here, I'll introduce you to everybody, but I need to know some things." Now it was Stone's turn to nod slowly. "How old are you?"

    Stone's first inclination was to lie, but he didn't. "Nineteen." He heard Geoff growl deep in his throat and wondered what that was for and what