Page 41 of For the Love of the Broken Man

Tim lifted the strainer and set it in the other sink before pouring the liquid into a saucepan and turning on the stove. Danny was very confused about what he was doing.

Tim turned back to him and took a sip of coffee. “What did Jase tell you about his schooling?”

It figured Tim would answer his question with a question. “He told me he applied to a whole bunch of really good colleges and got into a few but his parents wouldn’t help him with tuition because his father was set on him joinin’ the Army. He didn’t wanna and that’s why he left home.” Danny took a sip of his own coffee.

Tim nodded. “Vanna told us he had a solid four-point-oh in high school, and he’s extremely gifted when it comes to anything to do with computers. He hacked into their school’s mainframe to change his schedule his junior year and got into trouble. His father and mother were called to the school because of it, and after that, she said Jase was determined to leave after he graduated because his father was livid and had decided to make his life miserable.

“I’m not surprised he got accepted into those schools because he picked up on using the software I wrote for the Circle C and the Katydid, and he even wrote a patch for a glitch in my programs. What’s your real question, Dan?”

Danny tried to decide how to go about explaining the problem because it wasn’t about him at all. “I’m a broke-down cowhand with a pin in my leg, Tim. Jase needs to go to college and make somethin’ of himself. He has no more business workin’ at a ranch or a farm than I do performin’ brain surgery. I’m gonna tell him he can’t come around anymore because of Kayley’s adoption, and I need you to support me on it. He knows that’s why y’all put him at the Katydid, though you coulda explained it to him in the beginnin’. He needs to move on from me and Kayley. You see the logic, right?”

Dan’s heart broke at his own rationality, but it was the right thing to do. When Tim Moran nodded, Dan finished his coffee and left the kitchen, walking outside to put on his boots and head back to the fields. He needed to check on the bulls they’d just castrated to be sure all of them got their antibiotics and none of them had acquired an infection.

He stopped outside the barn and dialed his good friend, Mickey. “Hey, Danny. How’s it goin’? You callin’ to thank me?” Mickey had a laugh in his voice.

“What the hell would I thank you for?”

“Oh, I thought maybe last night you mighta got a little sexual healing.” Mickey was always singing, and it brought a laugh from Danny and some insight he hadn’t had prior. It only solidified his resolve to follow through with his plans.

“Ah, I guess I do have you to thank. Anyway, that’s kinda why I’m callin.” Dan explained things as he saw them and asked for Mickey’s help in his mission, sure his best friend would be on board.

“Oh. Fuck. No. I am not doing that to that boy. Do you have any idea how that will fuck him up? Fucking hell, Danny, that’s heartless.” Mickey was clearly not on board with Dan’s plan, but he pushed on.

“Mick, I love him, I do, but he’s a brain like Tim, okay? The kid had a four-point-oh in high school and got admitted to some top-notch colleges, okay? He didn’t think he’d get to go because of his daddy, who’s a stone-cold bastard. Now that his father’s not a problem, I won’t be the reason he doesn’t go to college. I pray Kayley is smart enough to have her choice of colleges like Jase.” Danny hoped he was getting his point across.

It suddenly dawned on Danny that it was a shitty thing to say because Meggie would be lucky if she could learn to live on her own with her condition. Danny loved the little girl, but he needed Mickey to back him up.

Mickey had a lot of influence over Jase, and Dan knew his best friend could talk the boy into going to college. Mickey had a way about him that he could talk a dog off a meat wagon.

“Nice try, but no. I won’t do it. I refuse to tell him he can’t work and live here, Dan. You have no idea how it feels to be homeless. I do. You go ahead and dump him and send him home. Jonny and I’ll take care of him. I’m damn glad Jon didn’t pull this shit with me.” Mickey then hung up.

“He’ll get over it.” Danny had to hold tight to that thought. He was doing it for Jase after all.

Dan went about the rest of the day continuing to tell himself that Jase would survive. It was going to be awful, but if he had his way, Jase would leave and never look back.

The kid had a future as bright as the sun and Danny was determined he had the stars in his future. After everything the young man had been through, he deserved to have good things happen, and Danny would hold him back like a millstone around his neck.

Chapter Sixteen

“I’m so sorry, Jase, but this ain’t gonna work out between us. If the social worker finds out…well, you know from livin’ with Jon and Mickey, and you know from Matt and Tim. It’s best if we don’t see each other anymore.

“I got a call from the woman that she’s gonna come in the morning to speak to Kayley and me, so I had Adam go to the house and pack your stuff so you can stay at the Katydid tonight. If he missed anything, I’ll send it to ya at Mick and Jon’s. I’m sorry, but Kayley’s my responsibility. I gotta look out for her because I’m all she’s got.”

“Sure, Danny. I understand about it. Um, can we… I mean, can I call you? Can we keep emailing? I won’t bother you too much, but I love you, Danny.”

“You don’t know what love is, Jason. Son, you’re eighteen years old, and we’ve only known each other for about three months. Your life is just startin’, and I’ve got responsibilities you’re too young to comprehend.

“You should be in college, getting a fake ID to slip into bars, and hangin’ out with friends. You don’t need to worry about how kindergarten is gonna be for some older guy’s kid. This has been a good time, really it has, but I think we both need to wake up and smell the co…”

Jase sat up in bed, feeling tears on his face, yet again. The whole scene was too much to contemplate, which was why he supposed it came to him in his dreams because, in his waking hours, he refused to think about it. Remember it. Feel the gut-wrenching pain that made him wish to go to sleep and never wake again.

Having his heart crushed in his chest and feeling like a fool had been more than enough to make him retreat. After that fateful night, he’d gone back to Wonderland Farm,slipping in during the wee hours of the morning, unnoticed, before hiding away for a week.

He’d always give Megan credit for knocking on his door every morning and keeping him alive.“Jase? You wanna come outside? We can swim,” she’d ask.

His sniveling “No thanks, sweetie” would send her little feet scrambling down the stairs. When he heard her yell, “He’s alive,” he smiled. He knew Jon and Mickey were worried about him, so after that first week, he crawled down those stairs and went back to work.

He’d called his mother, telling her he’d come to visit her, and he’d gone at Mickey’s urging. The visit had been intense.

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