Page 16 of For the Love of the Bull Rider

Thankfully, the floor could be hosed out, but the sick little boy staring at him with things he didn’t want to consider on his shirt made Tim hurry around the truck. He opened the door and unbuckled the seat belt, picking Ryan up as an unfortunate sound came from the boy that wasn’t coming from the top end. When Ryan started crying, Tim knew there was more going on than a bug.

“Aw, sweetheart, don’t worry. We’ll get you cleaned up and settled into your bed. I’ll take care of you,” Tim told him.

The little guy was sobbing so hard, Tim was afraid he was going to throw up again, so he hurried inside the house with the aid of the key Jeri had given him.

He took Ryan down the hall to the bathroom and carefully helped him out of his clothes as Tim continued to speak quietly to him. “Don’t worry. After we get you cleaned up, I’ll wash your clothes, and this remains between us, okay? When did you start feeling bad?” Tim asked as he stripped off Ryan’s little white briefs. They’d definitely need to soak, so he tossed them into the bathroom sink and continued to help the boy get settled under the warm spray of the shower to get cleaned up.

Tim took off his shirt so he didn’t get soaked, and after he pulled down the portable showerhead and sprayed off Ryan’s backside, Tim handed him a washrag with soap on it so he could wash. He just didn’t feel right about doing it himself because he wasn’t Ryan’s father, but since his father was nowhere to be found, Tim was forced to improvise.

After Ryan was cleaned up and his teeth were brushed, Tim helped him into one of his dad’s T-shirts and his little boy briefs before he put him in his bed on a large towel, just in case. “How’s that?” he asked the boy.

“Feels nice. I’m sleepy. Can I sleep for a little bit before Daddy gets back?” Ryan asked.

“You can in a second. Let me see if your dad has something in the medicine cabinet for tummy troubles. I’ll be right back.”

He went to the hall bathroom, not finding anything of help in the medicine cabinet or the vanity, so he bucked up his courage and went to the bathroom in Matt’s master bedroom. Luckily, he found some pink stuff he remembered taking when he was a kid and hadissues,so he turned it to the back to check the dosage.

Tim poured the thick pink liquid into the little cup, sniffing it to remember the smell. He hurried back to Ryan’s room with the medicine and a glass of water.

“Here we go. Let’s see if this helps. I used to love this stuff when I was little.” Yeah, he was lying, but if the kid took the meds, he’d chance a black mark on his immortal soul.

Ryan took the little cup and sniffed it, wrinkling his nose a little before he reached up and pinched it closed as he drank down the thick, pink liquid. He took a sip of the water before he placed the glass on the side table.

“Okay, get some rest. I’ll be in the family room so just holler if you need me,” Tim told him before he kissed the boy’s forehead, not detecting a fever as Bonnie Eads had mentioned earlier.

Ryan was important to him, and he truly wanted the boy to be well. Seeing him sick made Tim’s heart hurt.

After Ryan was tucked in, Tim went into the kitchen, rummaging through the freezer to find the broth Jeri mentioned. He found a large glass bowl in the cabinet and filled it with hot water. Once he was satisfied it was hot, he floated the container of broth in it and checked the clock to see it was about two in the afternoon.

Tim stared out the deck doors to see the cowboys still in the field. As he thought about it, he got pissed all over again, contemplating how the hell Matt would ever get a call from school if something was wrong with Ryan?Doesn’t he have a cell? Doesn’t he give a shit about his kid at all?

At 3:10 that afternoon, Tim glanced up from the magazine he was reading to see the bus drive by the house at the same time as the back door opened and closed. The whistling that followed only served to piss him off even more. There was a sick little boy in a bedroom down the hall, and Matt was happy go lucky?Fuck that noise.

Tim moved to the kitchen hallway where Matt was pulling out a beer from a twelve pack before he closed the door and opened the freezer, retrieving a glass dish. “Hmmm. Lasagna? Yeah,” Matt said to himself as he placed the dish on the counter and started toward the front door.

“Unless you can eat the whole thing, I’d save it.” Tim quietly stepped into the kitchen.

The bull rider jumped, which startled Tim. Matt wheeled around, his face filled with anger. “What the fuck are you doin’ in my house?” Hostile, but it was nothing compared to how Tim felt about him at that moment.

“Your mother gave me a key to get in. Your son called me at the farm to pick him up from school because he’s sick. If you think I’m making it up, you can go see the puke on the floor of my truck or go look at the dirty underpants in the bathroom sink that I haven’t had the chance to toss in the washer. He has the flu, I’m guessing. He called the house and the barn, but nobody was here to answer, so he called me.

“You weren’t reachable, Mr. Collins. If you can’t take care of the boy, I’m pretty sure my Aunt Katie would help me take care of him. I hate to judge people by their circumstance, but it seems like you suck at multitasking.” Tim didn’t hold back, keeping all his righteous indignation firmly in place.

Matt laughed, seemingly without humor. “What the fuck do you know about raisin’ a kid? You… You won’t ever have a family of your own, now will ya,fag?”

Tim held back the litany of names he had in his arsenal for the type of men who pointed the finger at him because of his orientation.Well, it’s not the first time I’ve been called that. It’s only a word.”He chose to ignore the ugly slur because no good came of arguing with an ignorant jerk like Matt Collins.

Tim took a deep breath because as much as he wanted to beat the shit out of the bull rider, he quickly determined he’d likelyend up on the bad end of that stick. It seemed prudent to try another approach.

“I’m curious, Matt. What are you running from so hard? You’re making your life so damn difficult, and from the outside, you have a beautiful life. You have a son who worships the ground where you walk. Your parents love you and only want to help you raise your precious little boy, offering everything they have to help you with Ryan. You have friends in town who are always willing to pitch in for any reason. Whatever happened with Lanny Whitehead is your business, but don’t let your night in jail make you lose sight of the bigger picture—the well-being of your son.”

Tim stopped talking to give Matt a chance, but the man just stared at him, not acknowledging anything he’d said.

After a calming breath, Tim continued. “You can call me all the names you want if it makes you feel better. I’d never hit on you because you’re not my type at all, but as a friend of your family, I’ll do anything I can to help with your son. That little boy is amazing, and he deserves to be put first. I just want to help you make that happen, just like everyone else.” Tim spoke with as much sincerity as he could muster, given the current situation and the man’s harsh attitude.

Matt sunk into a kitchen chair, exhaling a held breath as he took off the NFL team cap he was wearing and hung it on the back of another kitchen chair. “I owe you an apology, Tim. That shit with Lanny just… He dropped the charges against me, and I dropped the ones against him. He was tryin’ to get me to leave Ryan with Mom and Dad, just like Bertie wanted me to do. Lanny believed the two of us could go back to ridin’ bulls and things would be like they used to, but that ship sailed a long time ago, really.”

Tim couldn’t tell if Matt was bullshitting him, but he seemed sincere. Or Tim was the most gullible person on the fucking earth.

---