Page 62 of For the Love of the Bull Rider

Matt wished he’d brought the shotgun that was locked up in his office because he didn’t recognize the voice. If someone was trying to steal from him, he was about to take out all his pent-up anger for Bertie on someone’s unsuspecting face.

When Matt walked into the barn, there was a tall guy standing next to one of the stalls where a huge black horse was tied. The guy was brushing him and attaching a ribbon to the mane.

“What the hell?”

The man turned around and smiled. “Well, hey now, bull rider. This is supposed to be a surprise. You best get outta here, so you don’t ruin Tim’s fun.” It was Mickey from the Katydid, and Matt started laughing because he was wearing a Santa cap atop his cowboy hat.

“Where in the hell did that horse come from?” Matt approached the beast, seeing it was one of the most beautiful stallions he’d ever laid eyes on.

Mickey stopped what he was doing to turn to Matt. “Look, I was told to drop him off here along with a saddle and fix him up a little. What’re you doin’ down here?”

“I came to do the same for Josie. You comin’ over later?”

Tim had bought Mickey a gift and Matt hoped the guy would come for the celebration. He knew Tim thought of the guy as a good friend, and he wanted Mickey to feel welcome in their home. Maybe he could help Matt talk Tim into finally moving in permanently so Mickey could have Tim’s bigger room at the Katydid? It wasn’t exactly a bad idea.

“Yeah. Josh insisted Tim wanted me to come. I also got a message from your father-in-law. Quote, ‘Tell Matthew he better make Tim believe this stud horse is the best gift he ever received. Tim’s worried he won’t like it, and Matt better love it, or I’ll come over and kick his ass until he figures it out.’ Unquote. I don’t know nothin’ more than that to tell ya. I’ll fix Josie up for ya, too.Just get outta here so you can fake your total surprise. I’ll make it nice I promise.” Mickey gave him a big grin.

Matt nodded and hurried out of the barn and back to the house, leaving his boots on the back deck so he could sneak inside and start the coffee. He heard the dog whining, so he rushed to the family room to get him before he woke Tim or Ryan.

He grabbed the pup and took him out into the back yard along with a couple of paper towels to pick up the waste because he didn’t want the backyard to become a shitty mess. He put the puppy down and watched it sniff and wander all over the backyard, heading toward the fence separating the yard from the cow pasture.

“Ho! Hang on, bud.” Matt caught the dog just before he went under the fence. He wished he’d brought the damn leash, but luckily, he’d averted a disaster.

After the dog did his business, Matt cleaned it up, mildly complaining, before he carried the little dog into the house, putting him just inside the back door after stopping in the garage to open a big trash bag to put the dog crap and paper towel inside.

Matt would need to decide what to do with the littlepresentsthe mutt would leave behind because he didn’t want it being stepped in and brought into the house. There would have to be new rules for boots because now they had cow, horse,anddog shit to worry about being dragged inside. Cleaning those floors wouldn’t be anything Matt looked forward to doing.

He glanced at the clock, seeing it was six forty-five in the morning, which he determined was late enough. He grabbed his cell and hit the contact information for Jon Wells. He pressed the button to call him and chuckled to himself, sure the man wouldn’t answer. It rang twice.

“Wells,” Matt heard his attorney answer. Clearly, he’d awakened him, and it brought a big grin to his face as he considered how much he was about to fuck up the man’s holiday weekend.

“I oughta sue ya for malpractice, ya prick.” Matt was joking, but maybe not entirely? If Jon hadn’t suggested the damn joint custody clause in the first place, Matt wouldn’t have lost his son for the thirty-six hours it took to get him back.

“Who the fuck is this?”Jon Wells didn’t sound very happy.

“Can’t you read? I know you have my number in your cell.”

Matt had lost a lot of sleep because he couldn’t shut down his imagination regarding all the scenarios which could have occurred when Bertie took his son. It seemed fitting Jon Wells should suffer a little bit as well since he’d been the one to leave the door open for Bertie to take the boy in the first place.

“Aaron? What the fuck, man? You know what time it is? I thought you and Ricky were well on your way to St. Kitts for your honeymoon. The roaming charges will eat you up, man.” Jon chuckled, which brought a laugh from Matt as well.

Matt heard someone in the background. “Get off the fuckin’ phone, Jonny, and fuck me.”

The voice was soft, but it was definitely low-pitched. Matt had never asked about Jon’s personal situation, having assumed the man was straight. Obviously, his gaydar was for shit.

“It’s me, Matt Collins. Because of your fuckin’ joint custody clause in the divorce papers, my ex-wife kidnapped my boy from school on Christmas Eve. I had to get a goddamn Special Forces soldier to help me get him back because the cops wouldn’t do a goddamn thing about it. You said to put it in the papers so we could get the fuckin’ thing over with faster, and the cops told me I didn’t have a goddamn leg to stand on when it came to gettin’ him back.

“Now, you’re gonna fix that shit, Jon. I ain’t gonna have my son taken from me again, so I’d suggest you think on it and come up with a fix so it doesn’t happen again.” Matt’s words were harsh, but not unjustified.

There was a quiet “Oh shit!”

Yeah, you better be worried, you pricey motherfucker!

“Tell me what happened. I can’t do anything today, but Monday, I can file a TRO and a motion for sole custody,” Jon suggested.

“I don’t know what the fuck that is, but you better file somethin’. That joint custody shit shoulda never happened so you better fix it. Rob and his family are here, so you might wanna come out and pick his brain about how to handle Bertie and her mom because he used to be married to the woman. I don’t wanna give ‘em money, but if it’s all I can do, then so be it.

“We’re celebratin’ Christmas today, so I know Rob and DeAnne will be here. Come talk to him cause I ain’t flyin’ your ass to El Paso again on my dime. You fucked it up by not wantin’ to drag out the divorce. Well, I paid ya an assload of money to handle it, but this is a clusterfuck, as I see it. Time you started earnin’ that big check.” Matt hung up.

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