Page 22 of For the Love of the Broken Man

“You got everything, Sweet Pea?” Danny was helping Kayley gather her things on Sunday evening. They’d spent as much time at Wonderland as they could. They needed to go home to get ready for Monday morning because Dan had to work at the ranch and Kayley had day camp, which was a new event to change their usual routine.

Kayley had spent time with Jeri Simmons while Dan worked the first week of the summer, and afternoons the next week because she went to vacation Bible school at the Methodist church in town. Dan would drop her off in the morning and Miss Jeri would pick her up before lunch and spend time with her the rest of the afternoon as he finished his day at the Circle C.

No doubt, Dan owed the woman for helping him out, but she refused to accept money when he’d offered, telling him it was a “delight to get to spend time with a little girl. I’m surrounded by men and boys all the time.” He planned to figure out something special he and Kayley could do for Miss Jeri before the summer was over.

The day camp for Kayley was a little expensive, but it had a lot of activities—kid’s cooking, swimming, a trip to Richmond to see a play, plus lots of classes given by guest artisans—and Danny knew Kayley was looking forward to it. Brittany, a friend from Mrs. Philips’ daycare, was going to the same place, so he knew Kayley would acclimate easily.

“I’m ready.” Kayley walked out with her hair in another crooked ponytail. Dan needed to learn how to do something with her long hair because the adorable little girl wanted so much to have fancy braids and ponytails like her friends—her friends who had mothers who seemed to specialize in elaborate braids and hairdos. It plucked at Danny’s heartstrings to accept that he had no ability to do the same.

Dan was sure Kayley would balk at cutting her hair to make his life easier, but in reality, he couldn’t imagine her without the blond waves like her mother had when she was younger, anymore than he could imagine himself bald.

As they walked down the stairs, Dan saw Megan, Terry, Mick, and Jon waiting for them in the family room. “You guys got everything?” Mickey grinned.

They stopped, and Dan looked around. “Where’s Jase?” He didn’t care what they took away from his question.

He noticed Mickey glance at Jon and smile. “He had a question for you before you left. He’s at the barn.” Jon’s smile matched Mickeys as the two men held hands.

“Go ahead. We’ll get Kayley settled in the truck. Tell Matt and Tim I’ll send reports about Josie. She’ll be fine, I promise.” Mickey gave Dan a reassuring wink.

Meggie walked over to Kayley and reached out to hug her. “I’ll miss you,” the little girl with the curly brown hair whispered.

Dan watched as Kayley pushed it back off her face. “I’ll get Uncle Danny to take me to Miss Katie’s house, and I’ll ask her to show me how to braid, I promise. She has long hair, and I’ve seen her braid it. I’ll make Uncle Danny let me call you, okay?”

Meggie hugged her and smiled when she pulled away, straightening her glasses. “You’ll be back soon. I heard my daddy say so.” Terry stepped forward to hug Kayley, too.

“Go!” Mickey pushed Danny toward the back door.

Dan nodded and left their bags on the floor before he went out the back door, pulling on his boots. He went to the barn to find Jase brushing a mare he’d tied to a ring in the hallway. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“This is Rosie. She’s a jumper, and Mrs. Wells is coming out one of the next few weekends to show me what that means. She’s very gentle, and I plan to learn everything I can about horses.” Jase placed the brush into a small toolbox affixed to the side of a stall.

He turned to walk over to where Dan stood. As Dan opened his mouth to speak, the younger man sealed a soft kiss to his lips. He pulled away with a smile, leaving Dan completely stunned. “Look, I know you don’t want to care about me, but I think you already like me… Like, like me, so I have one request.

“You have to worry about Kayley, so give me a month before you come back. Let me start learning things here so maybe I can come back to Holloway and… Hell, Danny, I don’t know what else to say. I know you’re worried about me being so young, so let me grow up a little, but don’t leave me behind, okay? You have my phone number and my email address. I can’t guarantee how often I’d be able to visit Holloway, but I’d like us to give things a try.”

Danny wanted the same thing, so he reached for Jase and pulled him into his arms. To give him a gentle kiss. “You got it. Whatever you want. Come say goodbye to Kayley. She’s already as attached to you as I am.”

Jase wrapped his long arm around Danny’s shoulder as the two of them walked out of the barn together, breaking apart as they approached the truck and empty trailer.

Jase picked up Kayley and gave her a hug, which made Dan happy. “You behave yourself, Sweet Pea. See if you can get Dan to send me some of the pictures you draw at camp. I need stuff to hang in my apartment.” Kayley smiled, nodded, and wiggled to get down, not one who liked to be carried. Jase helped her into her booster and secured the seatbelt around her before he kissed her cheek.

Dan walked over to Mickey and hugged him. “Take care of him.”

Mickey nodded before Dan pulled away to shake Jon’s hand. “I’ll call you this week regarding the issue we discussed. Be safe getting home.” Dan nodded.

With a deep breath, Dan walked over to the truck and climbed in without looking back. He felt as if his heart was going to seize up and stop beating, but when he glanced in the left rearview, he saw Jase standing by himself, waving. Dan rolled down the window and waved back before they turned onto the blacktop, leaving Wonderland Farm behind, but hopefully, not for too long.

He’d committed to keeping in touch with Jason Langston, and Dan meant it with all his heart. The boy—young man—meant a lot to him, so he’d live up to his word. It wouldn’t be easy to be away from Jase, he was sure, but not much had been easy in Dan’s life. It hadn’t stopped him yet.

Chapter Ten

Jase was busy in the office of the barn with Mickey, who was showing him how to maneuver his way around the farm management program Tim Moran had written for Wonderland. The premise for updating the system was easy to figure out. Where to get the information that needed to be tracked was a little more complicated.

“So, you weigh everything you give to the horses, why?” Jase was writing down everything Mickey told him.

“It’s supposed to help Ham and Ally at tax time, plus it gives them an accurate accounting of the expenses here at the farm so when they decide to sell one of the horses, they know what they spent over the course of ownership. It helps them decide the price, plus each record has all the horses’ pedigrees attached in another file which makes it easy to call up all of the information with a few keystrokes,” Mickey explained.

Jase noticed Mickey didn’t look convinced of the software’s value, but since Ally Wells owned the place and had paid Tim Moran a lot of money to set it up, Jase would do as he was told and maintain the records.

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