Page 4 of For the Love of the Broken Man

“Sweet Pea, you have to go to Mrs. Philips’ today because I have to work after I pick up the new hand. I’ll try to get out early, and I’ll take you for pizza tonight,” Danny promised, seeing her cocked eyebrow which always reminded him of her mother as a girl. It lit up his day, every day.

“Oh, can we go to the place with the games?” Danny had taken Kayley to the pizza place in town with the Moran family—Matt, Ryan, and Rocky—while Tim Collins, Matt’s husband, was in Northern Virginia meeting with an intellectual property attorney regarding his farm management software.

Dan didn’t exactly know how it worked, but Matt had told him it had the potential to bring in a lot of money, not that the two Collins men had any problems in that area. Jon Wells, Matt’s attorney, had contacted Tim regarding a license of some sort for the management system to use at Wonderland Farm, Jon and his partner’s place, and Danny overheard Matt talking to his dad, Marty, regarding the price for such a license and how it would bring in more money for the breeding program they’d started at the Circle C.

Dan was happy for his bosses because they’d been good to him, giving him a nice salary bump and year-end bonus; helping him find an assisted-living facility for his mother, Dorothy; and Tim’s research assistance regarding her type of cancer so he could explain things to Danny so he could make “informed decisions regarding her care,” as Tim had explained it. He appreciated their help and concern. They made him feel like a member of the family.

“Yeah, we can, but we need to get movin’. Do ya need to go potty? Wash your hands and face?” Dan picked up her breakfast plate. He’d heated some of the extra waffles he’d made over the weekend, and the syrup on her little cheek made him smile.

“Yeah. I’ll wash my face.” Danny placed her on the floor, and she ran down the hallway and closed the bathroom door as Dan finished cleaning up the dishes. After the dishwasher was filled, he turned it on and wiped the counters before throwing in a load of towels to cycle while they were gone for the day.

When Kayley rushed down the hallway with her blonde hair pulled back in a crooked ponytail, he didn’t laugh, despite how ridiculous it looked. He saw her happy smile, and he’d never do anything to break her confidence. “I did it myself.” The big grin showed him how proud she was. She was striving toward independence, even at the tender age of five.

“It looks great. You got everything?” She went to the bench to pick up her Dory backpack. He didn’t know what was inside because she’d told him it was private, but he weighed it in his hand to ensure it didn’t have anything substantial—like maybe a gun because the child could be a bit aggressive. His gun was locked up in the safe in his closet, but he’d never put it past her to find one of her own.

“Yeah. When will Megan come to visit?” Kayley took the backpack and hung it over her shoulder as the older kids did when they stepped off the school bus.

Megan was Jon’s foster daughter, who he and Mickey were trying to adopt. It had been a few months since the family had gone to visit Dillwyn where Mickey and Jon lived. The last time had been for a weekend party, which was part of the landscape of being a member of the large pseudo-family that was tied to Katydid Farm. Danny thanked his lucky stars for his extended family every day.

Everyone who spent time at the farm was kind enough to offer to look after Kayley anytime she wanted to stay at Katydid, or if she wanted to go to the Circle C. They’d even bought a pony Kayley could ride after Tim and Matt gave Josie to Mickey and Jon for Megan. It was a Shetland gelding, but he was trained for a rider.

Kayley had finally consented to allow Adam Horvath, one of the newer hands at the ranch, to lead her around the pasture on the animal’s back when he was home from college, and Danny was grateful for how everyone accepted him and Kayley into the fold.

There was a new hand coming to the Circle C, and the guy was set to arrive later that day. Matt had said he was supposed to be another horse hand, for which Danny was grateful because Nando, who had been great with horses, had been long gone from the Circle C, and Danny Johnson still didn’t like horses.

“I’m not sure, but I’ll call Wonderlandand find out. I think Mick’s busy with classes and the farm, but I’ll check to be sure. They’ll come back for Ryan and Rocky’s birthdays, so we’ll definitely see them in July,” Dan reminded his niece.

“I wish they’da come back for my birthday.” Kayley’s birthday had been in April, and Miss Jeri had a party for her, inviting all the kids around town.

Unfortunately, Mick and Jon couldn’t make it back to Holloway for the party, but they’d sent Kayley a doll with blonde hair and big blue eyes that looked like her. He knew it was hard for Kayley to understand the absence of her best friend for her fifth birthday party, so he took another breath to formulate a response for her, as he was learning to do when it came to his niece.

“Well, we’re all busy, Sweet Pea. You’ll see ‘em soon enough, I promise. Let’s get goin’.” The two of them hurried out of the house to the truck. Danny put her into her booster seat before he climbed into the seat next to her.

“You have a week off next week before you start summer camp. You sure you’re okay with bein’ at the ranch with me?” It wasn’t ideal for Danny, but Mrs. Philips was taking the summer off, and he needed more reliable daycare for Kayley.

“Oh, I can’t wait. Miss Jeri told me she’ll come over, and we can bake cookies. Rocky and Ryan will be home, too. Miss Jeri even said I can go swimmin’ at her house. I need a swimsuit.”

Kayley made the announcement with a curt nod as she tightened her crooked ponytail. Her actions brought a grin to Dan’s face as he checked the rearview before he pulled into the drive of Mrs. Philips’ home. He was lucky to get her as a sitter for Kayley, and he made sure to always pay her in cash because she’d been a godsend to him.

“Okay, Kayley. Don’t sass Mrs. Philips. She says you get a little moody in the afternoon when she tries to get you to take a nap, but Sweet Pea, you get up awful early, and I sure wouldn’t mind a nap in the afternoon if Matt would letme. Just take a nice sleep, and then we can do fun things when I get off work, okay? Please be a good girl.”

Kayley would start kindergarten in the fall, but he’d still need somewhere for her to go from the end of the school day until he got off in the afternoon. He prayed Mrs. Philips would consent to continue caring for her after school started.

The woman was kind and patient with kids because she’d been a substitute teacher before she started an in-home daycare, limiting the total number of children to four at a time. Dan knew his niece could be a pain in the butt because she was so damn smart, but he didn’t want the older woman to refuse to care for her in the afternoons because she talked back. He wouldn’t allow Kayley to be spoiled and take advantage of Mrs. Phillips.

If he could get his niece on board with behaving for her babysitter, he believed they stood a good chance of securing a spot when school started. Never in Danny’s life did he think he’d have to worry and fuss over a child, but many things had occurred in his life he hadn’t expected.

After Kayley was settled at Mrs. Philips’ house, Dan made his way to US-460 to take the Blacksburg route to the bus station. He’d been asked to pick up the new hand, though he didn’t see how in the hell that fell under his job description at the Circle C. He hated going to the city, though Blacksburg could hardly be called a city in the general sense. It was, however, bigger than Holloway.

It was a favor for Tim and Matt which Dan couldn’t refuse because Matt had been damn good to him over the years. He’d hired Dan when nobody would even look at him because of the steel rod in his leg and the lack of explanation for how it got there.

Matt had never asked him what happened, just accepted him as the person he trusted to look after his cattle. For that alone, Danny Johnson would be forever grateful.

He reached into the passenger seat to find the paper Tim had given him with the nameLangstonprinted in large letters. Tim and Matt told him the guy was young and that they had spoken with the kid regarding his future at the Circle C, but nobody knew what he looked like.

Danny had thought about it and prepared himself for the worst-case scenario, based on shit he’d see on television and even when he went to a mall or a restaurant—tattoos, piercings, and crazy hair colors.

God knew kids expressed themselves in ways Danny couldn’t begin to imagine doing himself. His brother, Zach, had a tattoo of a skull on his back that Dan hadn’t expected to ever see, so if his straightlaced brother had one, maybe it wouldn’t be a stretch to think an eighteen-year-old kid might have a tattoo and more. He hadn’t chosen to do anything of the sort to his body, but if others did, then it wasn’t Dan’s place to object.

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