Page 23 of For the Love of the Broken Man

It also gave him the idea to bring up something about the situation with Matt and Tim. Jase hadn’t told Mickey what caused him to leave the Circle C in the first place.

Jase didn’t know how much anyone had told Mickey about his time there, so he decided it was time to take advantage of the quiet and ask about the bull rider and the computer whiz. “Can I ask you a question?”

Mickey smiled as his bright green eyes looked up, reminding Jase how handsome the man was and how lucky Jon Wells was to have him for a partner. “Sure. Shoot.”

“Nobody ever asked me why I didn’t want to work at the Circle C. What did they tell you?”

Mickey sighed. “Timmy told me it was because you weren’t comfortable with the hands there. Miss Katie told me the hands didn’t want to train ya because they were worried about who was gonna be fired since you’d been brought on board. I know how those guys are, trust me. I thought if I brought you here to train ya myself it might help grease the wheels if you decide you wanna go back. We do things very similar to how they do things at Katydid and Circle C, when it comes to the stock.

“If I teach you how to take care of the horses, it’ll give them one less thing to hold against ya. You have potential, kiddo, and I don’t wanna see that bunch of asses chase you off. You’ve taken to the horses, and the work it takes to keep ‘em happy pretty quickly, and I’m proud of ya.” Mickey patted him on the back.

Jase swallowed, hoping he wouldn’t piss off the cowboy—his new boss. “That’s kinda right, but the real reason is that Mr. Collins doesn’t trust me there with Mr. Moran. My first day he took me out on a Gator and explained things to me regarding the ranch. Then, he threatened me to stay away from Mr. Moran. Every time I was there for work, he’d watch me like a hawk, and when Mr. Moran came into the office to talk to me, Mr. Collins would come busting in with a look on his face like he caught us doing something we shouldn’t be doing. I’d never, ever, go after another man’s husband, especially a man as big as Matt Collins, Mick.”

He watched Mickey’s face for a few seconds to see a lot of different emotions flit across it but not anger, thankfully. Finally, Mickey started laughing, quickly falling off the leather desk chair where he sat. Jase tried not to laugh, but Mickey was doubled over, pounding his fist on the floor, and it was comical to witness.

Before Jase could ask what was so funny, Meg and Terry came into the office, both caught by surprise at their Daddy’s figure rolling on the floor with tears coming out of his eyes as he continued to laugh.

Meggie immediately looked worried and rushed over to where Mickey was still on the floor, kneeling next to him. “Daddy! Are you sick?” she asked as she brushed his reddish-brown hair off his face.

“Oh, baby girl, I’m just having a good ol’, gut-bustin’ laugh. I’m fine. Is Poppy at the house?” Mickey sat up. Jase noticed Terry giving his father a careful eye.

“I’m fine, I swear. I just heard the funniest story I’ve ever heard in my life. Terry, son, will you help Jase bring in the horses and put ‘em to bed for the night? I need to get up to the house and talk to Poppy.” Mickey picked Meg up and settled his old, crumpled cowboy hat on her head. Her giggle was contagious.

That evening they went for a swim before dinner, which was served at the glass and iron table on the patio deck. It was Ursula’s pepper, sausage, and polenta casserole, and it was set to become one of Jase’s favorites.

After everyone had eaten their fill, they started to clear the table. “Jase, wait,” Mickey requested as Jon and the kids took the dirty plates inside.

Jase sat back down and sipped his sweet tea, nervous for what Mickey wanted to talk about. He hoped he wasn’t going to get his walking papers from his third job since he’d come to Virginia.

“I called the Circle C today and spoke with Timmy. He and I are good friends, like Dan and me. He explained what happened, and I want you to know it’s not your fault. Matt’s touchy about his age, and you look like he did when he was younger. Tim has made him see the light that you’re not a threat to their marriage, okay?”

Jase swallowed down his embarrassment. “Thank you.”

“I hate it happened in the first place, but Matt’s always been touchy about the fact Timmy’s as intelligent as he is. He thinks a smarter guy could steal his husband, and he believed you to be that smarter guy because Savannah Stanford told them how smart you were in school when she was asking them about hiring you.”

“I didn’t mean to cause any trouble.”

Mickey scoffed. “Now, don’t you worry about that mess anymore. Tim and Matt are working it out, and if the day comes and you wanna go back to either the Katydid or the Circle C, I can guarantee you things will be fine. No worries, okay?” Mickey patted Jase’s hand that was resting on the table.

Jase exhaled. “I appreciate you talking to Tim about the situation, Mickey. I didn’t get why Mr. Collins was so upset about me being around because I don’t think we look anything alike, but if someone thinks we resemble each other, I’m flattered. I don’t want to come between them any more than I’d want to come between you and Jon. I already have someone I’m interested in.”

Jase worried he’d said too much, but Mickey smiled. “Yes, and I believe Danny is interested in you as well. Just give it time, okay? He needs some space to adjust this thinking, I’d say.”

Jase nodded because he believed Mickey to be right. Danny Johnson needed time to adjust.

A week later Jase sat at the desk in the barn office, trying to reconcile the feed bills with the spreadsheet Mickey had kept over the prior three months, because he hadn’t entered the data into the software program Tim had written specifically for them.

Mickey had told Jase,“It’s kind of a pain in the ass when I’ve got so much other shit to do. I’ll gladly turn it over to your capable hands.”

It was late June, and things had been busy at Wonderland. Jase and Danny had emailed a few times, and Dan had called the farm once to talk to him because Jase’s cell phone didn’t get a good signal in Dillwyn.

“I hope I didn’t take ya away from somethin’,” Danny had said, and Jase could tell the man was embarrassed at having to call the land line.

“I called your cell, but it just rang and rang,” Danny had told him. There was a bite in his voice that put Jase on alert.

“I’m sorry. My phone is one of those prepaid deals, and I’m finding I don’t get a good signal here at the farm. How’ve you been? I was putting in a load of laundry, which is why I’m in the house in the first place,” Jase responded.

Danny chuckled. “Oh, well I won’t keep ya. I thought you were gonna call.”

---