Page 66 of Something Like Hail

“Son,” he said by way ofgreeting.

“Dad,” Noah answered,unable to be so stoic. He grinned while shaking his father’s hand,fighting hard against tears. He was wanted here. If not, they neverwould have made it this far. “How’s things?”

“Good,” his father said,nodding some more. “Cattle are gone. Mule deer are a right pain inthe ass. No wonder people are so eager to shoot them.”

Noah laughed, even though the joke made himuneasy. “How do you keep them from jumping the fence?”

“They don’t jump unlessspooked,” Clarence answered. “Still had to build the fence uphigher. Want to see?”

“Sure,” Noah said, lookingback to see if it was okay with Harold. That’s when he rememberedthat he hadn’t done the introductions. “Dad, this is my friend,Harold.”

“Nice to meet you,” hisfather said with a nod. Then he reached for his hat, put it on, andturned around. Harold signaled that he was okay with stayingbehind, so Noah rushed to keep up with his father’s long strides.“The Kincaids down the road, they got in a dozen mule deer, but oldAndy didn’t walk the fence after the Mexicans built it. One of thesupport poles had fallen over, and they all got out. Now don’t tellhim I said this, but last time I did a headcount, I had two extra.I think they got in somehow.”

Noah laughed out of politeness. His dad’sintense masculinity always put him on edge. Noah didn’t normallyfeel insecure in that regard, but six years in the city had madehim weak. He even shoved his hands in his pockets so his fatherwouldn’t see how soft they had become.

“Fish still doing well?” heasked.

“Got a contract,” hisfather grunted. “One of the hotels. Some nonsense about locallysourced food. You ever heard of that?”

“No,” Noah lied. “Soundsgood for business.”

“Yup. Next time I go inI’ll try selling them on venison. It’s fine meat. Lots of flavor. Ilike it better than beef.”

Noah thought about his request for meatloafand regretted it. He supposed it was hypocritical to not eat deerwhen he had already consumed so many steaks. They were so cutethough! Cows were too, in their own way.

“Did you ever get that newtractor?” Noah asked, opting for a change of subject.

His father also had other topics he wantedto broach. “Who’s that boy?”

“Harold,” Noah said. “Iintroduced you, remember?”

“I know his name.” Clarencespit out of the side of his mouth. “I want to know who heis.”

“He’s my—” Noah hesitated,which was a terrible mistake, but the word friend didn’t feelright. “We work together.”

“Is he queer?”

Noah resisted an exasperated sigh. “Yeah. Heis.”

His father nodded. Noah almost interpretedthis as acceptance, until Clarence said, “Why bring him here?”

“He drove me,” Noah said.“And he was the one who insisted I should see my family again. Doyou wish he hadn’t?”

Clarence was quiet for a long time as theywalked. Then he said, “It’s good to see you.” For his father, thiswas the equivalent of an emotional outpouring. Noah was soencouraged that he barely grimaced when Clarence added, “You got agirlfriend?”

“No.”

“You should try findingone.”

“Okay.” Noah wasn’tagreeing. He was simply acknowledging the request because he wasstarting to think he could do this. He wasn’t the only one withhomophobic parents. Lots of people had headaches after holidayvisits, but at least they had a family. Surely that was better thannothing.

“Neighbors on the southside are moving,” his father said. “The Walkers. Never could standthem, but I’m considerin’ buying their land. Expanding.”

“More mule deer?” Noahasked.

“Your mother thinks weshould try goats. Says we can sell the milk, maybe make cheese. Ofcourse we don’t need all that land for goats. I was thinkin’of…”

And so the conversation went. This wascompromise, both of them tacitly agreeing to avoid hotter issues.Then again, Noah’s mother had always been the more religious of thetwo. She had the most fear in her heart, always concerned that theywould all burn in hell unless they lived right. His father was morepractical. Noah had tried talking current events with him once andhis father had said, “Politics are for people with too much time ontheir hands. I’ve got enough to worry about here.” Noah couldappreciate that, even if he didn’t agree. Had his parents chosen toignore his sexuality instead of combatting it, Noah would probablybe helping his father build a goat pen right now.