Love Means No Shame - Andrew Grey

you and the farm would split the proceeds.” Joey’s face split in a massive smile. “Really?”
    “Yes, really.”

    Len nudged Joey’s shoulder, “After your lesson, we’ll take a look at the youngsters and see if we can pick out two.” Joey smiled and began eating faster. When he finished, he raced off to the barn to get ready for his lesson.

    Once Geoff was done, he took a pill, told Len he’d do the dishes in a while, and went into the office, determined to get something accomplished. After spending a few hours working, he was tired again, so he turned off the computer and went upstairs.

    Geoff closed the curtains to darken the room, undressed to his underwear, and flopped down on the bed, falling asleep quickly. He woke to his door opening and closing, and then he was joined on the bed. “Tiger?”
    “Yes, it’s me.” He could hear a smile in Eli’s his voice and he felt smooth skin against his own. Geoff rolled over to face Eli, snuggling close. “That was a wonderful thing you did for Joey,” Eli said.
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“It’s just a business arrangement.” A mutually beneficial business arrangement.
    “It’s way more than that, and you know it. You could have chosen the steers and raised them yourself with little effort and kept all the money.” Geoff’s forehead was kissed gently. “You’re a sweet man, helping Joey like that without him even knowing it.” Geoff pulled Eli close and fell back to sleep. He woke hours later feeling better and very much like himself. The bed was empty, and he heard voices in the house. Dressing quickly, he went downstairs to a living room full of people.
“Did we wake you?” His Aunt Vicki smiled as she gave him a hug.
    “No, it was time I got up.” Geoff looked around and smiled at his Uncle Dan and his cousins Jill and Chris. He shook hands with Chris and hugged Jill tightly. Eli came in a few minutes later, and Geoff introduced him to his uncle and cousins. “Who’s up for a ride?”
    “I hope it’s okay. You said to come by.” Vicki sounded tentative.
“Of course. Let’s go to the barn and get the horses saddled up,” Geoff invited.
    Eli led the way to the barn, spearheading getting the horses brushed and saddled before leading them out to the ring. Jill and Chris hadn’t ridden much, so Eli helped them learn to direct and control the horses. Geoff brought out Twilight for Vicki, and she mounted like a veteran, easily remembering skills she hadn’t used for years. Eli mounted Kirk and joined the other three as they rode around the large ring, helping Chris and Jill.
    Geoff stood outside the ring, leaning on the fence with Uncle Dan, watching the riders.
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“I wanted to thank you.”
Geoff turned to look at his uncle.
    “I don’t know what you did, but for a long time, I’ve almost felt like I was married to Janelle as well as Vicki; there were times I thought they were joined at the hip.” Geoff noticed his uncle seemed more at ease than he could ever remember him being. “Last evening Janelle was spouting her usual crap when Vicki went off.” Dan watched his wife riding around the ring with such confidence, a look of pride on his face. “She told her she’d had enough. ‘Cliff was gay, his son is gay, and you'd better accept it.’ When Janelle didn’t stop, Vicki told her to go to hell, asked her to leave, and told her she could come back when she joined the twenty-first century.” Dan smiled wickedly. “I can still hear Vicki slamming the door behind her— sweetest sound I ever heard.” Uncle Dan was smiling to beat the band, just vibrating with happiness.
    “I never understood why she was so mean, and why Dad put up with her all these years.”
    Dan’s eyes widened. “No one ever told you?” He thought it over for a minute. “I guess maybe they wouldn’t.” He leaned in like he was going to tell a story. “When she was about twenty, Janelle met a man and fell head over heels for him. She dated him for a few weeks and then brought him home to meet the family.
    Unfortunately, the man she was dating was Len. He took one look at your Dad, and that was that.”
“Holy shit!” Geoff couldn’t help smiling.
    “Yeah, she never forgave her brother for stealing her boyfriend, even though Len always said they were only friends and that Janelle was making a lot more out of their friendship than there was. To tell you the truth, I tend to believe Len on that one. Janelle sees slights