Love Means No Boundaries - Andrew Grey

didn’t answer, and then he heard footsteps on the stairs.
“Shall we?” Joey’s voice sounded strange, but Robbie didn’t know what to make of it, and he let Joey lead their way to breakfast. 158
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“What did you have planned for today?” Joey inquired as he felt the top step.
“I don’t really know. What would you like to do? I’m not much of a tour guide, for obvious reasons.” He continued slowly down the stairs. “I just want to spend the day with you.” The sounds of dishware clinking reached his ears as they reached the landing.
“Why don’t I call Arie and see if he could show you around town?” He felt Joey stop moving. “What?”
    “I came here to see you, not spend time with Arie while you sat at home.” His voice sounded so firm. “I came to see you.” Joey’s vehemence was nice, and Robbie found that he liked being the center of Joey’s very welcome attention. Truth be told, he figured Joey would leave for the day to look around, and he wouldn’t see him until later. “Then I’ll ask Arie if he’ll show us around.” Robbie figured he could go along if it made Joey happy, and it might be fun.
His smile lasted through breakfast as he and Joey ate in the kitchen. Adelle informed him that his mother had a U.D.C. meeting and had already left.
    “She’ll be gone most of the day, then?” Adelle humphed as dishes clanked in the sink. “She’ll have her meeting; then they’ll go for lunch. She won’t be home until her cocktail hour.” Robbie smiled and felt Joey squeeze his hand as he heard Adelle mutter. “That woman never misses her cocktails.”
    “Adelle, would you sit for a while? You’re making me jumpy, working while I’m sitting.”
“Mr. Joey, I got work to do.”
“I’ll help you if you’ll sit with us awhile.” 159
Andrew Grey
Robbie heard a chair scrape the floor and a thump of a mug tapping the table.
“Thank you.”
He heard Adelle laugh, “You Yankees is weird.” Both he and Joey began to chuckle, and Robbie felt like he should explain, but Joey beat him to it. “On the farm, we all help each other.”
     
“Who does the cookin’ on this farm?”
     
Robbie began to eat and listened as Joey answered. “Eli does most of it because he’s the best cook, but we all take turns, and we all help clean up. Except whenever it’s Geoff’s turn, then we always end up in town.”
    “Who’s this we?” Adelle seemed fascinated.
Robbie kept eating, steadily and gingerly so he wouldn’t make a mess for Adelle to clean up.
“Geoff and Eli. It’s their farm, and I live with them.” Joey went on to explain. “Geoff is sort of like a big brother.” Robbie heard Joey’s fork against the plate, and Joey said, “This is really good, Adelle.”
     
He heard her laugh outright. “You sure can put it away.” Everyone was quiet until Adelle added, “I didn’t mean nothin’. I like it when people eat—it means they appreciate my cooking.”
     
“I sure did,” Joey said. Robbie knew that Joey was really winning over Adelle.
     
“You two finish eating and don’t you dare get up. I got work to do. Maybe I’ll be making some of my fried chicken for dinner.” Robbie couldn’t suppress a smile if he tried. “Her fried chicken is the best in the state, I swear.” 160
    Love Means … NO Boundaries
Adelle made a pffft sound, but Robbie knew she was pleased.
“You two run along now and have some fun. The quiet won’t last forever.”
Arie was thrilled that Robbie had called and quickly agreed to take them to see the sights. So, half an hour later they were ready, he and Joey
waiting on the porch. Robbie heard a car pull up and Arie’s laugh as he got out of the car. “Well, don’t you two look sweet together?” He felt himself blush like a girl and felt Joey slink his arm reassuringly around his waist.
     
“I think we do.” Joey’s voice was full of confidence.
    “Come on, lovebirds, let’s get going.” He felt Arie’s hand on his arm as he was guided to the car. “Do you have your cane?” Robbie patted his side where a small leather pouch was attached to his belt. “Good. You probably won’t need it because we’ll be there, but….” Robbie heard Arie’s voice trail off as the car door opened, and he felt his way into the back seat. “Why don’t you get in with him, I don’t mind playing chauffer.”
“Thanks, Arie.” Robbie really appreciated his friend’s thoughtfulness. He heard doors close and