Love Means No Shame - Andrew Grey

worry about the consequences. Now, Geoff was the boss, and everyone on the farm was going to look to him to make decisions.
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Andrew Grey
    It made him nervous. Granted, he had Len for advice and help, but the farm, the animals, and the people who worked there depended on it for their livelihood; they were his responsibility now.
    “Jesus, what am I going to do?” The enormity of what he’d taken on hit him all at once. He leaned against the side of the barn and forced breath into his lungs. “Take it one step at a time. That’s what dad would say.” He took another deep breath, “Fuck and Christ, now I’m talking to myself. Get your head on straight and don’t be a baby. You grew up here. You know what to do.” The sense of panic started to subside, and he breathed easier.
    Getting himself together, he stepped into the barn and headed for Kirk’s stall. The majestic black head poked out of the stall as soon as he got close. Geoff got a carrot and fed it to Kirk, rubbing his nose, the horse calming the last of his nerves as it munched loudly, those huge, deep eyes watching him closely. “You are something else, boy.”
    Len had tried to convince his dad for years to have Kirk gelded, but Cliff would have none of it, and Geoff had no intention of doing it either. With a farewell stroke of that black nose, Geoff left the barn and headed toward the house.

    The kitchen was filled with voices and laughter, the four men talking and joking easily with each other.
    “Come on, Geoffy, pull up a chair.” He took a seat away from Fred, and Len dealt him in the next hand. Simon continued the banter. “Pete, did you see Joey brushing Kirk this afternoon?” Kirk wouldn’t let Pete get anywhere near him without trying to bite the short, stocky man. Not that he’d let Simon, a.k.a. Lumpy, anywhere near him either, but Pete had always bragged about how good he was with horses.
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Love Means … NO SHAME
A cheese curl went flying across the table. “Knock it off, Lumpy.” The aim was good—it left an orange splotch on Simon’s shirt. “Are we gonna play?” Pete grumbled into his cards.
    They settled down as the betting got under way. Not that there was big money involved. Geoff thought that someone might have won five dollars once, years ago. For them, it was all about who could bluff whom.
    Geoff couldn’t help himself and got in on the ribbing, “Come on, guys, Kirk’s a big baby.”
Fred snickered. “Only ’cause he likes you.”
    “And apparently Joey.” The fact that the teenager found favor with the stallion amused Geoff immensely. Geoff always felt that horses could sense what was in your heart, and Kirk was a particularly astute horse. That he liked Joey spoke a lot about the young man, as far as Geoff was concerned. It didn’t hurt that the kid was as cute as they came, either. If he were a little older…. Geoff had to force the thought from his mind as he bet carefully with his full house.
    Sure enough, Lumpy bet big, which meant he was probably bluffing, and Geoff called him.
“Three nines.” The tall, wiry man laid down his cards, grinning like a cat.
    Geoff smiled and showed his cards. “Full house.” Lumpy groaned and threw in his cards while Geoff raked in the pot. “Joey seems like a real good kid,” Geoff commented, and the conversation around the table stopped. “What?” He hadn’t expected the simple comment to have such an effect.
    Len leaned forward, voice low and serious. “His daddy died a year ago, and his mom’s doing her best, but it ain’t easy for her. 29
Andrew Grey
    Joey’d been hanging around the barn for a while, and he finally asked how much riding lessons cost. I told him if he’d help around the barn, I’d give him lessons for free. You should have seen his face—lit up like a Christmas tree. That look alone was worth a year of lessons.” Somehow Geoff didn’t doubt it. “Why, what are you thinking?” Len somehow could tell an idea was percolating, but Geoff shook his head, not ready to talk about it yet.
    Geoff patted Len on the shoulder. “You old softie,” he accused as he went to the refrigerator. “Anybody need anything?” The conversation around the table returned to normal.

    “I’ll take a beer.” Geoff got two and handed one to Len before sitting back down.

    Fred picked up the cards and started shuffling as antes were thrown in. “I hear your Aunt Janelle’s mad enough to spit nails at you.” Pete was dating Geoff's cousin