Page 27 of For the Love of the Lawyer

"He was up here at the house after he cleaned out the barn for our new guest, and I suspect he took my clean boots and left these shitty ones for me. Anyway, thank you," his father responded as he stood from his seat and tossed the dirty boots onto the back patio.

"I'll clean 'em up later, and I'm gonna kick Clyde's ass when he comes back from town. What time are they supposed to be here?" Ham asked Allison as he kissed her temple.

"Three o'clock. You sure that stall is sound enough to keep him in?" Allison asked as the three of them turned to walk inside the house. Jon wasn't sure what they were discussing, but he was glad to be around the two of them again. They reminded him there was happiness in the world, after all.

Chapter Eleven

"I'm gonna watch a movie.” The television came on, but the volume was low. Even so, Mickey couldn't mistake the sounds of Belle and the Beast. It was a favorite movie of his as a kid because it had just the right amount of kiddie-thriller for him, though he didn't tell anyone about his obsession back then. He'd recently had the pleasure of watching it with Rocky and Ryan,who both made fun of him because he kept shushing them, and he sang along with the songs.

Mickey pried open his eyes to see he had no idea where he was, nor who the cute little blonde girl was sitting on a big pillow in front of a midsized, plasma screen, watching the Beauty and the Beast cartoon.

He glanced down to see he was fully dressed except for his boots, and as he fought to sit up, his head spun. He quickly lay back down to quell the nausea. He saw the home was modest, but it was inviting. The couch fabric itched, but apparently not enough for Mickeynotto pass out cold on the damn thing.

As he tried to recreate the events of the night in his head, all he really remembered was walking into Applebee's. As he concentrated, he started remembering seeing handsome Danny Johnson sitting at the bar alone, so he walked over and said hello, taking a seat next to him. Then, it all came flooding back.

"Hey, Danny. How you doin', man? I thought you were outta town," Mick had greeted the ranch foreman. The sandy-haired, blue-grey eyed man had taken the day off, and Mickey figured it was to go somewhere with his family. Mickey was surprised to see him at the restaurant, sitting at the bar with a pint of draft and a shot in front of him.

Danny gave him a sideways glance and took the shot. "Yeah, well, I helped someone move today. What brings you out? You never go anywhere." Danny expertly changed the subject.

Mickey laughed. "Matt and Tim wanted a date night, so I took the boys to Marty and Miss Jeri's and made myself scarce. According to Ryan, they like to watch scary movies, but Tim gets scared and screams at night. He wonders why they keep watchin' scary movies.” Mickey smirked, which brought a laugh from Danny before he finished his beer.

Danny waved a finger at the bartender, who had a killer smile, short, spiky black hair, and vivid, blue eyes. He had a tattooon his neck Mickey couldn't make out, but those eyes were hypnotizing.

"Yeah, I bet. They definitely seem to have a great relationship. I've found all kinds of things around the barn I won't go into, leadin’ me to believe they don't limit their activities to the bedroom. More power to ‘em." Danny lifted his beer toward the bartender and held up two fingers, glancing at Mickey. Spiky Hair looked his way, so Mickey nodded. That was the first round.

Mickey vaguely remembered the two of them continuing to drink and he thought they’d ordered chicken wings at a point. They were discussing work stuff, and it was the last thing he really wanted to talk about, so he changed the subject. "You have a little girl, right? I think I heard somebody say that. She home with her momma?"

Danny took a deep breath and looked away for a full minute, based on the clock for the first quarter of the NBA game they were watching. Basketball wasn't Mickey's game, nor was soccer, which was the other game on the televisions over the bar. When Danny cleared his throat, Mickey was relieved.

"Sorry, man. Kayley's my little sister's girl. My sister, Denise, died from a stroke when Kayley was born. The daddy was never in the picture. My mom took care of her but she ain't able to anymore. Thankfully, Denise made sure to fill out papers if somethin' happened to our Momma, I was to be named guardian for my niece. It's a lot easier than what Tim and Matt have gone through or are gonna go through for Rocky. I don't envy ‘em havin' to figure that shit out. What're you doin' here?"

After that discussion, Mickey remembered a lot of drinking and no more food. They'd actually called a cab which they'd taken to Danny's duplex where little Kayley was currently watching television. He wondered where she'd been the night before, but he could only concentrate on not throwing up… endlessly.

A car on the driveway had Mickey trying to get up off the couch, but he knew he'd puke if he moved, so he stayed put. He heard the back door open and saw the girl hop up and run toward it. "Hello, sweet girl." The voice was deep.

"Did you bring donuts, Uncle Zach?" Kayley asked in the sweetest voice Mickey had ever heard.

"I promised I would last night, didn't I? Where's Uncle Danny?"

"Upstairs, snorin'. He woked me. There's a man on the couch.” She pointed to Mickey’s prone body.

Mickey heard footsteps and closed his eyes, praying he didn't get the shit kicked out of him in his semicomatose state. The laugh was quite appealing. "Looks like a cowboy. What are we gonna do about that?" the man whispered to the little girl.

"Wake him up and throw him out," she announced in a loud voice, and the smile on Mickey's face betrayed the fact he was awake.

He opened his eyes to see a very handsome man standing over him with the beautiful child in his arms as the two of them stared at him. "I'd get up, but I might barf on y'all. I'm Mickey Warren, and I work for Danny at the Circle C. Seems I decided to tie one on last night, and Dan was nice enough to let me crash here on this couch.

"Soon as I can get up without makin' a mess, I'll be outta y'alls way," Mickey offered to the two of them. The handsome guy laughed. He looked like a younger version of Danny. Mickey sat up slowly, feeling the pounding in his head. He really wanted to die.

"I'm Zach Johnson, Danny's younger brother, and this one's other uncle," he teased as he tickled Kayley. Her laughter made Mickey's head pound, but it was like tinkling bells.

"Nice to meet ya. You live here?" Mickey tried to swallow the bile rising in his throat. It would be the last time he drank without eating.

"No. I'm in school in Richmond…VCU. I'm home for the weekend, so I made Dan go out last night because he spends too much time at home with Kayley. I guess it's too much to hope he picked you up and had his way with you?" Zach’s comment made Mickey laugh.

"Naw. Strictly professional and friendly, but not that friendly. Dan's a great guy and he'd never take advantage of a drunk."

Zach laughed. "Ah, well… Not my business, I guess. You hungry? I went to get donuts for Kayley, and then I was also gonna make some eggs. Danny oughta be down in a few minutes," Zach said the sound of the shower could be heard from upstairs.

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