Love Means No Boundaries - Andrew Grey

that for your peace of mind, you need to find out.” He took another step and stopped again. “And do it before the entire farm 131
    Andrew Grey
needs Prozac.” Joey saw a huge grin just before Eli turned and walked into the house.
    Instead of going inside as he’d planned, he veered off and walked around the house to the vegetable garden, standing at the edge of the large plot, looking over the straight rows of lettuce, carrots, beans, and cabbage before his eyes wandered to the patch of tomatoes that Robbie had planted. “He’s right, I need to find out.
But how?” Walking around the garden he continued thinking before walking back around the house and going inside.
    Geoff and Eli were sitting at the kitchen table along with Len and Chris. They appeared to be waiting for something, and Joey was afraid it was him. “Joey, please sit down.” Len indicated the chair next to him. Yup, it was him. Joey felt like an errant child who’d been called to the principal’s office. “We’re worried about you,” Len started. “For the last month, you’ve been morose and extremely down, and we all just want you to be happy.” Joey looked around the table and saw all four men nodding their heads before Len continued. “I know that you’ve been nursing a broken heart, but I think it’s more than that.”
    The idea percolating in the back of his mind zoomed forward.
“It is, and I’ve been thinking that I may need a vacation.” Joey saw Geoff smile. “I need to make a few calls.”
    “I just need you back in time for haying in a few weeks,” Geoff said, as Joey pushed back the chair and stood up. He suddenly felt an excitement and energy that he hadn’t felt in weeks. He’d been going through the motions since Robbie had left and maybe it was time for him to take charge of something.
    Taking out his phone, he dialed the number he knew by heart and listened for the ring. “Hello, Joey?”
“Hey, Robbie, can you talk? Is it a good time?” God, why was he feeling so… nervous?
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“It’s always a good time to talk to you. What’s up?” He heard Robbie shifting around and imagined him setting aside his violin and bow. “I was wondering if you have anything going on next week.” Joey’s stomach was fluttering with nervous excitement.
“No.” He sounded guarded, tentative. Joey almost gave up, but plowed ahead anyway.
“Geoff gave me some vacation time, and I thought I’d come see you. That is, if it’s all right with you.”
    “Of course it’s all right with me.” He could hear the excitement in Robbie’s voice, and the image of his bright smile flooded his mind. “I’ll arrange it with Mama. She hasn’t said anything about having other guests, so it should be okay.” Joey heard some of the energy fade from Robbie’s voice, and he started to wonder if this was such a good idea.
    “What is it?”
He actually heard Robbie’s huge swallow through the phone.
“Um, I haven’t told them yet.”
“Told them what?” Joey stopped. “That you’re gay or told them about me?”
“Neither one.”
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” Joey wanted to hang up right away. He’d been such a fool for wanting this so badly. He thought Robbie felt for him, but now he wasn’t so sure. “I’ll talk to you later.” Joey got ready to disconnect.
    “No, Joey, don’t hang up, please.” Joey stopped and listened.
“I want you to come, and I know I need to tell them.” A deep sigh came through the phone.
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Joey felt terrible. He knew he was putting Robbie on the spot and he didn’t want to do that. He cared too much for him to put that kind of pressure on him. “It’s okay. I’ll just be a visiting friend.”
    “No!” Joey actually stepped back at Robbie’s vehemence.
“That’s not fair to you. I need to tell them.”
“Please don’t do it for me.” The words tumbled out as Joey felt flashbacks to his own coming out and the nervousness and angst he’d felt telling his mother, even though she’d already known anyway.
    “I’m not. They deserve to know who I am, and they don’t.” Robbie’s nervousness came through the phone.
“If you want, I’ll be there with you.”
“I think this is something I need to do.” Robbie sighed softly.
“Please come, I really want you to.” The longing in Robbie’s voice matched what he’d been feeling for the last month and it was that sound more than anything that convinced him that Robbie