Page 24 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight
“Ain’t no lightning yet.”
“No, I know. But when there is.”
Grady set the saddle down and looked out over the lake. It was the second deepest lake on his land, the surface a dark blue, the soft powdered white shoreline ringed with a thick line of trees. The sky felt like it was pressing down above it, black and purple, like a bruise smoldering over the water line. It felt at odds with the heat and humidity in the day. It always did.
“Yeah, I think I do.”
Cole nodded.
“My brothers always said you could get electrocuted. I wondered if that was true or they were just messin’ to see what I’d believe.”
Grady breathed a laugh. Yeah, he could see Jack messing with the kid.
“I reckon there’s probably some truth to it.”
Cole nodded like he’d thought as much too, had been right to trust them on that occasion.
“But you’d have to be unlucky.”
Cole nodded to that too.
Grady stripped off his shirt, started unbuttoning his pants. When he looked up, he caught Cole staring at him.
“What?”
“Are you goin’ swimmin’?”
“Yeah,” Grady said and sat to undo his boots. “Gonna take Red in, cool him down.”
Grady got his boots off, then his socks, stood up and shucked his jeans. Cole focused on running his hand over Chloe’s neck.
“Ain’t no lightning yet.”
“I’m not worried about the lightning,” Cole replied and then rushed out, “I mean, I got nothin’ to swim in.”
Grady frowned at him. “Can swim in your jocks. Or go naked if you want. What, you Cole boys never go skinny dippin’?”
Cole scoffed and pulled his shirt off.
Grady took Red by the lead rope and walked down to the shore. He stopped as Red tested his hooves in the water, his big nose swinging from side to side while he assessed the situation. Grady slipped his hand into Red’s mane and scratched idly. The dogs realized what was going on and rushed by them and into the lake, splashing as they pounded the surface. They swam right out before making a wide arc to swim back again, their little heads poking above the water line, tongues lolling out.
Chloe came up beside Red, the white of her in the corner of Grady’s eye against the chestnut of Red that looked black from his sweat. Grady kept his eyes to himself as he led Red into the water. They walked out together, Grady’s feet sinking into the sand. He felt it giving way beside him as Red’s hooves sunk deep. He walked until he was neck high, the water cool, then warm, and he lifted his feet and started to swim, his legs moving behindhim. Red still walked beside him, his head above water and his breaths chuffing the surface and rippling all around them. Grady felt the water shifting near him when Red started to swim, his long legs paddling and creating whirlpools. Grady swam out ahead and let go of the lead rope, felt Red following at a gentle pace behind him.
He spun around and trod water as Red swam up to him. Grady patted his nose, smiled at him and said, “That’s nice, old boy, isn’t it? That’s nice.”
He looked back to the shore and saw Cole was neck high, Chloe beside him, her haughtiness evident even in swimming. Grady remembered she’d never been swimming before. Cole swam alongside her and talked to her, and Grady saw the moment she gave over to swim, her eyes widening like she couldn’t believe it, like she loved it. Cole’s laughter skimmed over the water as his eyes lit up with delight.
She made a wide arc around Red and Grady, Cole pacing to keep up with her, his white skin breaching the surface in smooth strokes. Chloe headed back, and Cole slung his arms around her neck. As the two of them breached the surface, it was like something evolving from the depths—a horse’s head and a boy’s head, a pale-skinned body, a four-legged creature emerging until she had her footing. She charged to the shoreline, smacking the sand with her front hooves, kicking her back legs up, looking for all the world like she was dancing. Cole rode her bareback, his bare thighs holding his seat as he slapped her on the neck in encouragement, the sound of them ringing out across the water.
Grady turned to head in, and Red swam on back behind him. Hooves and feet touched powdered sand before water rushed down his torso and Red’s chest, over Grady’s waist, streaming down legs, feet, hooves, until they both stood bare to the sky that was about to open up.
Cole had dismounted and was tying Chloe’s lead rope to a tree, his body shivering in nothing but his underwear. Grady looked him up and down. He was lean but wiry, built in a way Grady wouldn’t have thought from looking at him dressed, a bit more weight on him than when he’d arrived. His skin was white and smooth, firm and perfect like it’d never been touched by anything.
When Cole looked up, he caught Grady staring. He held his gaze for a moment, swept his eyes over Grady’s naked body, before turning quickly back to Chloe.
Grady blew out a breath and went to fix Red to the tree. He was mindful of Cole pretending like he wasn’t there. Grady focused on the years of doing this exact same thing, naked as the day he was born, before he went over and dragged on his jocks and jeans. He pulled out his bag and bedroll, spread both out so he had somewhere to sit and make some lunch.
Cole mirrored his actions, sitting with his arms resting on his bent-up knees, his pants unbuttoned at the waist like Grady’s and damp, but they both knew they’d dry out once they set out again. Cole’s eyes were fixed on the lightning rolling in, the dense thicket of trees protecting them from the worst of the rain.
