Page 50 of For the Love of the Broken Man

“Sweet tea would be nice. I think we’ll see a lot of each other, so getting to know you might smooth the way,” Jase responded.

The two men went to the workroom where Javie continued to process orders, showing Jase how to make a perfect bouquet of roses to deliver to the mayor’s wife. It was nice to watch him work with the flowers, or so Jase told himself. He felt at ease as the two men broke ground for a new friendship.

Twenty minutes later, two men came into the back room, and neither of them was Danny. “Well? How bad was it?” Javie asked.

“Same.” The man sighed and turned a soft gaze in Javier’s direction, leading Jase to surmise he must be Phil. He was handsome as well, but he seemed to be more troubled. He walked slowly into the back room, taking a handful of flowers from the older man before he gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

The third man, short and thin in cleric’s clothes walked over to Jase. “I’m Stuart Manning. I’m the pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd here in town. We’re a small congregation, but we enjoy worship together. Do you live in town?” the man asked with a welcoming demeanor.

“I’m Jason Langston.”

The pastor turned a wide-eyed expression to Felipe, who smiled.

“Oh, I’ve been waiting to meet you, you femme fatale…well, I guess you don’t exactly fit that bill,” Felipe told him as he slowly made his way over to Jase.

“Yeah, I’d say not. I’m guessing Danny’s upstairs?” Jase asked.

“Well, yeah, but…” Felipe appeared ready to protest, which wasn’t going to go over well with Jase.

Reverend Manning touched the taller man’s shoulder and smiled. “I think it’s time, don’t you? None of us seem to be making any headway with him. Danny can’t continue… It’s time the two of them talked.”

When Felipe backed off, pointing to a set of stairs that went up the back of the building, Jase nodded in gratitude. He took them two at a time, opening the screen door without knocking. The living room was quaint, for sure. It was lived in yet inviting. He allowed the screen door to slam and took a deep breath.

“What the fuck now?”Danny!It was the man Jase loved, shuffling into the room with a glass in his hand that hit the floor, shattering. The first thing Jase noticed was Danny was wearing sweats with bare feet, so he walked over to pick him up, noticing he’d lost weight.

He carried Danny to the couch and placed him on it as he went to the kitchen to find a dustpan and broom to clean up the broken glass. “What are ya doin’ here?” Danny asked behind him.

Jase found a closet with cleaning supplies, so he grabbed what he needed and began sweeping up the glass. He glanced up to see Danny sitting stone-still. When he was certain the area was glass-free, he walked over to the couch and sat down next to Danny… with a foot of space between them.

“I graduated. I wanted to stop by to see you and Kayley. I know the adoption went through because I still talk to people here, so I know I wasn’t a problem in the adoption process, and I doubt I would have been anyway.

“For the record, Jon Wells never told me anything about what was going on with you, but everybody else admitted their mistakes. How about you, Daniel? You got sins you need to atone for?” The anger Jase had inside surged from a place he’d tried to keep buried deep down. When Danny laughed, it caught Jase off guard.

He saw Danny close his eyes before he spoke. “I have many sins, Jase. I shoulda never… we shoulda never got together. You have a great life waitin’ for ya. I’m just me with nothin’ to offer you but a drunk with an eight-year-old kid somebody’s likely gonna take away.” Danny wouldn’t meet Jase’s eyes.

Jase sat there, staring at the shadow of the man he’d fallen in love with, and he was ashamed of himself for not seeing the bullshit stunt Danny had pulled for what it was.

At the time, Jase would have been happy to go to Virginia Tech where he could have received the same degree. Three years ago, he simply wasn’t worldly enough to see things for what they were.

He knew Daniel Johnson had lived a quiet life in a small town from which he’d only been away for a year or so when he had his misfortunes in the Army. It seemed he thought cutting all ties with Jase was the only way to give the younger man freedom to fly.

There were things he needed to explain to Danny. Maybe not that day, but eventually. They needed to clear the air between them because they weren’t that different.

Jase chuckled at the realization. “You’re an arrogant, stupid man, but I find I’m still in love with you, you crusty bastard. I’ve never stopped loving you, Dan. That doesn’t mean we don’t have a mountain of shit to work through, to be sure.”

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jase knew it wasn’t the time for tears. “You, my love, are going to have to go to rehab. I have some money left from my grandparents and if it’s not enough? I’ll find it somewhere, but we’re gonna find a place for you to work through this and get better.

“I’m going to take care of Kayley while you’re gone, and we’re going to start this whole damn thing over, okay?” Jase offered.

Danny looked up with disbelief on his handsome face. “Why would ya? After what happened, I’d imagine you’d hate me. Why would ya wanna try to help me?”

Jase reached over and pulled the man into his arms, hugging him tightly. “Because, Daniel Johnson, I have faith inyou. I love you too much to let you scare me off again. I’m not a kid now, so you can’t get rid of me easily, old man.”

Danny’s laugh was another thing Jase had missed so much. Hearing Danny laughing next to him made his heart race. When he wrapped his arms around Jase’s body and held him tight, broken pieces inside Jase fitted together again.

They had a long road to travel, but Jase had faith. Danny was the only man he’d ever love, as he’d thought the first time when they’d been together. It wasn’t any less true as he felt the warmth from the man’s touch. They’d get through the ups and downs and come out on the other side together.

Chapter Nineteen

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