Love Means No Shame - Andrew Grey

us. But most people are understanding, and quite frankly, most people really don’t care anymore. As an example, Lumpy, Pete, and Fred all knew about Len and my dad. It didn’t matter to them, but my Aunt Janelle still can’t accept it even after all these years.”
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“Oh.” Eli seemed more confused now than he was before he asked the question.
    “Let me ask you something. My being gay doesn’t bother you, does it?” Eli shook his head. “Why not?” Eli thought for a minute. “Because you’re a kind person who’s been good to me. And I guess I feel you’re right; it shouldn’t matter who you love.”
    “Then you answered your own question. What’s important is being a good person, caring for others, and treating other people the way you want to be treated: with respect and dignity. If you do that, good people will see you for who you are and the rest can go to hell.” Geoff gestured and laughed a little. “Does that help you?” Now it was Eli’s turn to smile. “Yeah.” They rode the rest of the way in near silence, returning to the barn an hour after they left.
    Geoff felt much better. The ride had gotten him some fresh air, and his muscles felt warm and loose. They finished unsaddling their horses and headed in for breakfast.
    The kitchen smelled heavenly with breakfast cooking. On his way to the sink, Geoff leaned against the table to smell the bouquet of wildflowers on the table. Len always gathered them each spring, and it made him happy that Len was carrying on with his life. With a final glance at the flowers, he went to wash his hands. “Is that fresh cinnamon raisin bread I smell?”
    Len didn’t look up from his eggs. “Yup.”

    “Thank you for making it.” His dad had made bread, but Len made cinnamon raisin bread that was to die for. Len brought him his plate and set it in front of him. “Thank you.”

    “You’re welcome, but I didn’t make the bread. Eli did.” Geoff took a bite of the toast and moaned softly. The butter and cinnamon melted together, sliding down his throat. That was heavenly.
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The door opened, and Eli took his place at the table, with Len putting his plate in front of him.
“Thank you for the bread, it’s delicious,” Geoff said. He got the same smile he’d seen when he brought out Kirk that morning, all happy and pleased.
    “I’m glad it turned out. I’d never made it before.” Eli started eating, and Len joined them at the table with his own plate. The conversation turned to the activities for the day.

    “I’ve got to get the books done; tomorrow’s payday,” Geoff said.

    Len swallowed. “The rest of us will be repairing fences this morning and checking on the herds this afternoon. Lumpy thinks he might have seen the signs of wolves, so we need to check it out.”

    “I’ll have lunch ready for you.” Geoff took his plate to the sink and went into the office to get started. He heard the others leave and breathed a sigh of relief before picking up the phone and calling Raine.

    “This had better be good, calling me at this godawful hour.” Geoff looked at the clock; it was after eight. “I’ve been up for hours. Shit, I forgot it’s an hour earlier there. Sorry, Raine.” He heard a yawn on the other end of the line. “What’s so important that it couldn’t wait until a decent hour?”
    “Raine, I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything, but I just can’t stop thinking about him.”
“What? Who? Geoff, who are you talking about?”
“Eli.” God, this was such a mistake.
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“Wait….” Geoff could almost hear the smile on Raine’s face.
“You’re calling me because you like this Eli and he doesn’t like you?”
“No, he doesn’t know how I feel about him. Eli’s the Amish guy who works for me.”
    “Holy crap! You’re telling me you’re in love with an Amish guy? Look, my mind’s not working too well yet. It’s early. Why don’t you spell it out for me so I can try to help you?” Geoff took a deep breath. “I told you about Eli already.”
    “Wait a minute. You’re calling me all flustered at some early hour about Eli. Let me guess; you really like him?”
“Yes, but I shouldn’t like him that way.”
“Why not? Does he know you’re gay?”
“Yes, we talked about it, and I told him.”
“Does he like you?”
    “I don’t know. Raine, I don’t even know if he’s gay. That’s the first problem.” Raine tried to interrupt on the