Page 20 of For the Love of the Broken Man

“We feel like we’re doing our part, but I know Mick and the guys keep up with things here, as does my mother. She and Pop come out once a month, and every couple of months, we spend the weekend in town with them where we take the kids to museums or the theater, so I see it as having the best of both worlds.”

Dan took another puff and contemplated what the man had said for a moment, knowing there was no way he could offer Kayley the same experience in life. “I don’t know about museums and stuff because I barely got outta high school, and I have no desire to move to the city.”

Jon laughed. “I think you’ve found your soul mate in Jason. He doesn’t seem to care for the big city either, based on a few comments he’s made to us about the places he’s lived over the years.”

That perked Danny up. “Uh, what do ya mean?”

“Earlier, when he and I were cleaning up the lunch dishes, I asked him how he thought he’d like living out here, considering he’s lived in seven different places all over the country. He said the one thing he’s never had is roots, and that’s what he wants to put down, roots. You think you could help him with that Dan? My Mickey wants the same thing, which was what made it hard for him to leave Holloway. Of course, you all made it easy for Jase to want to go somewhere else by treating him like shit. Shame on all of ya,” Jon scolded with a tender smile.

“Yeah, I know, we dropped the ball on Jase. Matt and Tim are fightin’ like two cats in a sack over him. I swear, in all the years I’ve known Matt Collins, I’ve never seen him so jealous or actin’ like such a damn fool.”

Jon laughed. “Jason definitely looks like a younger version of Matt, and let’s face it, when someone younger or better looking comes into our territory, we all get protective. I’m not saying Matt has any reason to worry because Jase is like a little puppy who’s eager to please, but Matt should trust Tim more. Everybody knows you couldn’t blast Tim away from the bull rider.”

Dan chuckled at the reference to the term they all used for Matt. “I know. When I get back home, we’re gonna have a long talk, Matt and me. He’s gotta get over his shit because I’d like to bring Jase back to the Circle C sometime in the future. I asked him if we can get to know each other over email and phone calls, and I hope to bring Kayley here to visit over the summer, if that’s okay.

“I can’t help myself, I guess. It’s sad that Jase has me so damn whipped already, and I ain’t even kissed the guy. He’s the first person I’ve met who actually set me on my ass. I need to take my time, right?” As he said the words, Dan knew he was reasoning things out to himself, more so than to Jon.

“Oh, I’m not the right guy to ask, because I nearly fucked it up with Mickey for good. I jerked the poor guy around twice, and I’m shocked he’d even take a chance on me after how I treated him.” Dan could see Jon watching Mickey and Jase in the pool with the girls playing some game of blowing bubbles. They all looked happy, and it gave him a warm feeling in his chest.

“How’d you finally get… What’d you do to figure out your shit? What was your biggest worry?” Dan had to ask. He needed advice in the worst way.

Jon closed his eyes and took a drag off the Cuban. He opened his eyes and sat up, flipping the ash into the large ashtray on the table. “At first, I thought it was what I perceived as Mickey’s shortcomings.

“I believed Mickey and I would have nothing in common because he’d never finished high school, and he had a very different upbringing. As time went by, I couldn’t keep him out of my head, and eventually, I figured it out. I was afraid hewouldn’t have anything in common with me. I’d been so damned caught up in myself and the things I thought were important, I didn’t consider what he might want frommein a relationship.”

“That’s interesting.” Dan hadn’t looked at his situation that way.

Jon nodded. “Once I thought about it and how much I wanted to get to know him better, I was able to open my heart to the possibility there might be someone out there who was perfect for me. The more I got to know about Mick and the more I introduced him to the world in which I lived, the more he took me into his.

“It seems so natural now, us living here on the farm, but in the beginning, I couldn’t see how it would work. My parents were a help, but it was Mickey who gave up the things he loved at the time—the people at the Katydid and the Circle C—to come here to be with us. Living here at the farm was a compromise in the beginning, but looking back, I would never have it any other way.” Jon nodded his head, seemingly happy with his answer.

The discussion gave Danny a lot to think about. Mickey was a pretty persuasive guy, which Danny wasn’t, and Jase? The kid seemed a little lost. Dan wasn’t sure what to do with him—or about him—but he knew he had fallen in love with the young man in just the short, few hours he’d spent with him.

What to do about it? Dan wasn’t certain. He had the feeling he’d be in a bad spot without Jase around.

“Watch me! Watch me, Uncle Danny!”Kayley called from inside the pool where Jase had been working with her to jump off the side at the deep end and he would catch her.

The pool was six feet deep there, and Danny knew Jase had been teaching both girls to swim. He’d confessed to being on a few swim teams over the years and he’d taken swim lessons on and off when he was a kid. His last summer job was as a lifeguard at the community pool on post at Ft. Bliss the summer between his junior and senior years of high school.

“I’m watchin’, Sweet Pea,” Dan answered as she jumped up in the air and tucked her legs into her body, doing a cannonball which Jase quickly pulled her out of.

When she came up, he moved her hair out of her face and praised her for a job well done, bringing that glowing smile to her little face that Danny loved to see. He hated the thought of the two of them leaving the next day to return to Holloway because Dan hated the idea of leaving Jase behind.

“Good job, Sweet Pea,” Dan praised as he walked to the pool and slipped into the water, leaving Jon and Mickey at the table.

“Me now! Watch me, Daddy and Poppy!”Megan called out.

Dan took Kayley as Jase lined up to catch Megan, only letting her dip into the water a little before he brought her up. Dan could tell Jase had determined he’d give Meg the same treatment he gave Kayley. He needed to reassure Jase the little girl might have a few differences, like the new glasses she wore when she wasn’t in the pool, but she wasn’t fragile.

“Great job, little one,” Mickey praised as he and Jon joined the contingent in the pool.

They let the girls continue to jump from the side, taking turns catching, until they were all worn out. “Let’s put them in a chaise under the umbrella. They can nap and we can continue to be outside. It’s too nice to go in.” Mickey picked up Megan and Kayley, placing the girls on a double lounger and covering them with a towel as he positioned a large umbrella above them to combat the sun.

It was a hot day, but there were fans around the pool helping to make the heat tolerable. As Dan and Jase sat inside the pool on the built-in bench watching the baseball game on the television on the deck, Dan slipped a little closer to the younger man. He definitely had to start thinking about Jase as a man, not a kid, before he creeped himself out.

Finally, he took a deep breath and put his arm around Jase’s back along the side of the pool, not touching, but opening the space between them. “So, you’ll call me and email me? I really want to get to know you better.” Dan’s voice was quiet, for Jase’s ears only.

Jase bristled a little before scooting closer, their legs touching under the water. “You really want me to? You sure that’s not guilt talking?”

---