Page 22 of For the Love of the Lawyer

Leading the pair into the kitchen where Mickey was still busy at the stove made Jon nervous. Trying not to show his attraction to the man wasn’t easy, and Audrey knew him better than anyone. "Michael, this is my best friend and colleague, Audrey Langley, and her girlfriend, Lyla. Ladies, this is Michael Warren, head cook and horse aficionado at the Circle C.” Jon couldn’t hide his genuine smile for anything.

Of course, Mickey turned on his cowboy charm, and he didn’t disappoint. "Welcome, ladies. Can I get y'all somethin' to drink?" he asked with a broad grin and a wink. Jon wanted to hug him for it, but he needed to get on the road, ASAP.

Jon turned to see the look on Audrey's face, and he waved off whatever smart-ass comment had popped into her beautiful head regarding the cowboy. He knew she'd give him hell whenthey were alone, but at that moment, it wasn't the time, nor the place.

Yes, they needed to talk about the disaster he’d just dumped into her lap, but he didn't want to talk about things in front of Lyla. The tiny woman was a marble stone without a heart. Lyla didn't care about anyone other than herself, and the fact she'd come along set him on edge. She would make everyone uncomfortable and criticize everything.

Jon stepped up to answer Mickey’s offer of drinks so he could shorten the time it took to get into his car. "They're fine, Michael. Where're Rocky and Ryan?" Jon moved Mickey away from the two women and into the mud room off the kitchen.

Mickey stared at him, his brows furrowed and his lips tight with apprehension. Guilt consumed Jon because of what he was about to do, but he could only deal with one thing at a time. "They're walkin' Corky. What’s wrong?"

"No! No, things are fine. Audrey's a family friend, and her girlfriend, Lyla came with her. Lyla can be off-putting to a lot of people, but she's harmless, really.

“Audrey needs to talk with Rocky because she's going to be his new lawyer. I don't have the time to handle his case right now and do it justice, but Audrey will make time for Rocky, and she'll be the perfect advocate. She's going to need to talk to all of you and get the paperwork from Matt regarding the next steps in Rocky’s guardianship, so if you could call him to come to the house to speak with her, that would be great.” Jon whispered as he gave the information to Mickey. He didn’t want Audrey to overhear him preparing for his escape.

Mickey took a breath and exhaled. A smirk quickly formed on his handsome face. "Sure, Jon, I get what’s happening here.” Mickey reached into his wallet and handed back the business card Jon had given him.

"Don't forget your fancy boots on the porch.” Mickey walked out of the mudroom, through the kitchen, and down the stairs to his room. When the bedroom door slammed, Jon knew he'd made his point to the cowboy. He walked back into the kitchen to see Lyla at the stove emptying a frying pan into the trash with a harsh look on her face.

Before she opened her mouth, Audrey walked over to him and smacked him on the head. "You're an asshole, Jon. You might as well leave. You… Hell, I'm glad I like girls if this is how men act. You're just awful, and if all men are like you, good riddance.” The disgust in Audrey’s voice made him wince.

He exhaled before he looked at her. "I am an asshole; you're right about that. I just can't do the relationship thing. Please, I'm begging, take care of them. I just don't have it in me to make the commitment, Audie.”

Without waiting for confirmation, Jon ran downstairs and collected his things, beating feet out of there like his ass was on fire. It wasn't his finest moment, but it was the best thing he could do for the family… for Michael Warren.

Jon wasn't going to make empty promises to someone he believed to be a great guy, but not a great guy for Jon. Besides, he had no promises inside him to give.

For reasons he hadn't yet begun to understand, he was incapable of having deep feelings for anyone. It was definitely troubling, but it was the truth. He'd never lied, and therefore, he never had to admit guilt. It wasn't as great as he thought it would be, but it was a way out without really hurting anyone—or so Jon chose to believe.

Chapter Nine

"Nope," Rocky stated with absolute certainty as he gave Mickey a defiant look. The cowboy had offered to cut the boy's hair, but Rocky wasn't at all keen on the idea. His hair was long, and it was driving the boy to distraction.

It was nearly the end of the school year. Ryan and Rocky were in the grade school choir, and the end-of-year concert and artshow was fast approaching. The Christmas concert, where Ryan performed a solo, had been enjoyed by all the family and friends, so everyone was looking forward to seeing the boys perform together again.

Mickey had taken them to the barber shop in Holloway earlier in the day, and after the barber cut Ryan's hair, he staunchly refused to cut Rocky's hair because he didn't cater tothose kinds of people. Thankfully, Ryan had grabbed Mickey's hand to drag him out of the barber shop before the bigoted old fuck ended up on his ass and Mickey ended up in jail.

"Okay, so what do you want to do with your hair? I've got clippers, but if you don't like the idea—maybe I can get Matt and Tim to take you to Richmond tomorrow? They can call Miss Audrey and ask her to find a place for your haircut?"

"Can't we call Mr. Jon and ask him? He has the same kind of hair as Rocky. We wanna look our best for the concert. We getta sing solo parts, Mick. Mr. Jon prolly knows a good place for Rocky to get his hair cut," Ryan reasoned emphatically.

Thinking about calling the man reminded Mickey of the last time he'd seen Jon Wells. He didn't think he'd ever seen anyone trying to leave the scene so quickly in his life. The bastard hadn't even said a word to him on his way out. The look of guilt was evident, even to someone as ignorant of relationships as Mickey believed himself to be. Ah, you dodged a bullet, you sentimental fool, he told himself at the time. The pain in his heart was likely heartburn.

When Tim came into the house, he was all smiles until he saw Rocky's hair. "I thought you guys were getting haircuts.”

Before Mickey could get his blond friend's attention, Ryan walked over to Tim and pulled his hand toward him. "The barber was mean and wouldn't cut Rocky's hair after he cut mine, so we didn't stay ‘cause Mickey looked like he was gonna slug him. Can we call Mr. Jon and ask him if there's a place in Richmond to geta good haircut for Rocky? We got the concert, then we gotta see the lady who's gonna decide if he can stay here with us, so we wanna look our best.” Ryan had the most earnest look on his face Mickey had ever seen.

Tim swallowed and looked around the room, seeing the pair of horse clippers on the table, and laughing. "Tell me you weren't going to try to cut his hair with those?"

Mickey shrugged. "They're clippers, and I figured if I put a long enough guard on 'em, I'd be able to clean him up. It ain't easy roachin' up Josie’s mane, ya know. I figure of all of us, I got the best chance of…"

Before he could finish, Corky ran in through the dog door with a mouse—still alive—in his mouth and dropped it at Tim's feet, which set off a chain of events none of them could have predicted.

Tim and Mickey both screamed and climbed atop the center island in the kitchen while Ryan and Rocky ran around trying to catch it once it was finished being stunned by the galloping of the dog that brought it inside.

They were all screaming, as Tim and Mickey kept pointing to where the mouse was darting around the room in a futile attempt at an escape. The damn dog, who'd started the whole mess, kept barking and jumping around, instead of trying to get the stupid mouse.

Josh and Matt walked in through the back door to the sight of two grown men kneeling on the countertop while two boys and a dog chased something around the kitchen, and they held onto each other to keep from falling on the floor in laughter. It was a sight worthy of being caught on camera, which is exactly what Josh did.

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