Love Means No Boundaries - Andrew Grey

in Joey’s opinion a wonderful lady. If he were straight, he’d have made a play for her, at least before….
“Hey, Joey, how’s my brother treating you? Not working you too hard, is he?” Joey laughed in response. “Listen, is he around?” “No, he’s still out with the guys riding fence. Eli’s in the kitchen making dinner.” A crash sounded from the kitchen followed by a few expletives. Well, expletives in the sense that they were about as harsh as a man raised Amish would ever utter. “He seems to be having trouble with dinner.”
    “I need their help, and I’m a little desperate.” He could hear the slight panic in her voice.
“What is it? I’ll give them the message.”
    “The National Youth Symphony is arriving today, and one of my host families backed out. I need someone to take in one of the musicians, and I was hoping that Geoff and Eli would be willing to take him in.” Mari had been talking about bringing this group to town the last time she was at the house. It seemed that Mari had called in a number of favors and pulled every string she could think of to get them to include the Ludington area in their tour. Joey knew she couldn’t have something like this ruin it. “I’ve already got two girls staying with me, or I’d take him in.” 5
    Andrew Grey
“Hold on a minute. I’ll ask Eli and be right back.” Joey put down the phone and relayed the message to Eli who was wiping up the floor.
Eli barely looked up from his cleaning. “Tell Mari of course he can stay here. I’ll make up a bedroom for him. Ask her when we need to pick him up.” Joey hurried back to the phone.
Mari was thrilled and relieved. “Their bus arrives at the high school in fifteen minutes. I’ll call the symphony coordinator and make sure that someone will be able to wait until you get there. Tell Eli thank you.” She disconnected, and Joey relayed the message.
“Would you please pick him up for us? I need to finish this, and Geoff isn’t back yet.” Eli got up from the floor. “I know how you feel, and I wouldn’t ask, but….”
    Joey felt his insides start to churn, but he pushed it away as best he could. He owed Eli and Geoff a lot. He wasn’t going to let his own insecurities get in the way. “No problem.” Joey put his boots back on and headed outside. Getting into his car, he pulled out of the drive and headed to town. He hated doing this, but he hated the way he felt about it even more. Growa pair. He tried to psych himself up, but all Joey could see was the reaction of some kid when he saw his face: some snooty teenager from some rich, well-to-do family who was given everything in life was going to take one look at him and then look away in disgust. “You may as well get used to it because it isn’t going to change any time soon,” he told himself as he drove down country roads lined with their freshly planted fields.
    Approaching the outskirts of town, he slowed down and made his way to the high school, pulling into the long circular drive. He’d expected there to be a hoarde of people, but all he could see was a single bus and a woman standing next to a young man, holding what appeared to be a violin case. Pulling up behind the bus, he stopped the car and got out. The woman stepped forward, and to Joey’s surprise, he saw none of the usual pity on her face. He almost wondered why. “Are you here for Robert Edward?” The woman 6
    Love Means … NO Boundaries
looked relieved as she glanced across the parking lot to the only other car there. Two young women were talking together by the car. She’d obviously been waiting for him before taking them home.
“Yeah, I guess so. Mari didn’t tell me his name. She just said that I needed to be here to pick up a young man.” Joey wiped his hands on his pants as he turned to the man standing next to her. “I’m sorry I’m late. I’m Joey Sutherland.”
“Robert Edward Jameson, but everyone calls me Robbie.” He held out his hand, and Joey shook it, looking into Robbie’s huge, blue eyes. He also noticed that Robbie smiled at him without a hint of pity or even curiosity. Joey actually felt some of his nervousness slip away.
    “We should probably get your luggage loaded in the car.” Joey popped the trunk and picked up a large suitcase, placing it in the trunk. He noticed that Robbie hadn’t moved and hadn’t offered to help. Shaking his head, he picked up the second case and loaded it, muttering under his breath, “What does he