Page 33 of For the Love of the Broken Man

“How about we go get you dressed and fix your hair before breakfast?” Jase offered the little girl.

“You can fix my hair?” she gasped with big eyes as he followed her upstairs.

Jase laughed. “I learned from Mickey and Jon. What do you want? Pigtails? Ponytail? French braid?”

After watching Mickey and Jon with Meggie, Jase was confident he could master something simple. Audrey Langley had taught them all when she’d visited the farm a few times, and Jase liked the woman and her teacher girlfriend, Gina. They were both very nice to him.

He could see a triumphant smile on Kayley’s face as she stated,“Finally!”

Jase left her alone to get dressed after they picked out her outfit for the day, which was a pair of denim shorts and a green T-shirt that she said matched the cowgirl boots Uncle Dan had bought her.

Kayley requested a high ponytail and showed him where the hair bands were kept in her bathroom, so he happily obliged, grateful she’d chosen the easiest style. After she was ready for the day, they made her bed and went downstairs, because Jase believed the breakfast casserole was almost done.

He was happy to see the Johnson brothers at the table, drinking coffee and smiling. It seemed the crisis was averted. It had been a tense weekend, but Jase felt he’d been able to help, and it made his heart feel better for the family he hoped to call his own, someday.

Chapter Thirteen

After Kayley had settled in bed, Danny opened his email and felt his heart lurch. It was from Jase.

From:Langston, JasonTo:Johnson, DanielDate:02 July (12:20 PM EDT)Re:I MISS YOU!

Danny –

I really miss you, so this isn’t easy for me to write. We won’t be coming for the boys’ birthdays. Mrs. Wells is coming this weekend, and there’s going to be a party, so we have to be here. I know I need to meet her because she’s my boss, and she wants to make sure I understand how important these horses are to the farm.

I’ll come to Holloway as soon as I can get away, I swear, but I need to be here right now. I hope you understand, Danny.

I love you,

Jase

Dan knew he had to be at the ranch for the holiday weekend because the boys’ birthday party was coming up, and he’d promised to help with the celebration. He also hated the idea of breaking the news to Kayley that Jase, her new favorite person, wasn’t coming to Holloway.

Dan closed the email, unsure of how to respond. After a lengthy contemplation, he decided to leave it till the morning. He turned off the lights in the living room after he closed his laptop, and he went to bed, making certain to set his alarm for six.

The hands at the Circle C were doing a major cleanup in anticipation of the upcoming party, as was the usual practice at that time of year, and Dan had to be there to supervise. There would be a cookout that evening with the employees and their families, so he was taking Kayley with him to work, likely still in her nightgown.

He knew he could put her on the couch in the family room of the ranch house, and the boys would let her sleep. Dan remembered to pack her a little bag so she’d be ready for whatever the day brought, and as he looked at her while she slept, he felt a warmth in his soul. Life was full of surprises.

Dan went to bed, wishing Jason Langston was next to him, but they’d agreed to give each other time. He decided he’d get up a little early and respond to Jase’s email the next morning, so he fell into a deep sleep. Of course, his dreams weren’t of Jase, as he’d have wished. They were much more disturbing.

“You fucking ass! You could have… You hung up on me,” Zach had yelled as the two of them stood in the chapel at Curtis Funeral Home where Dan and Zach’s mother’s wake was being held.

“You didn’t bother to call or come home to check on Mom this whole time, so I didn’t think ya gave a damn one way or the other. Besides, you knew she was sick as well as me, Zachary, so cussin’ me out when I called ya at six in the mornin’ to tell ya she died told me how ya felt about hearin’ from family. You damn well ain’t gotta stay,” Danny told his brother, knowing everyone was looking at them.

Jase took Kayley’s hand and led her out of the room as Mickey picked up Meggie and left. It was truly for the best. They didn’t need to hear the awful allegations two brothers would fling at each other because they were both hurting due to the loss of their mother.

“You’re such a fucking dick. She was my mother, too,” Zach snapped back at him, not seeming to care about the fact Dan’s friends and friends of his mother were staring at them.

He took Zach by the lapel of his suit jacket to drag him into the sanctuary. He stopped next to their mother’s casket and turned to his brother. The undertaker had done his best to make her look like the picture Dan had given him. The ravages of the disease were still evident on her very thin face, but there was a small, artificial smile that vaguely resembled how she’d smiled when her children were around her. Danny took it into his heart.

“There, Zach. That’s what’s left of our mother after cancer ate away at her. When did you come back to see her?” Dan felt a touch to his shoulder and turned to see Jase next to him with a tender look on his face.

“Danny, don’t do this. There’s no right or wrong, okay? You have a daughter to think about, so let it go,” Jase had whispered in Dan’s ear. Dan felt the calm settle into his soul, immediately.

He turned and kissed Jase on the cheek. “Thank you. You’re just what I needed.”

Dan turned to his brother. “We’ll get through this, and then we’ll take a break from each other. Let’s calm down, okay?”

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