Page 9 of For the Love of the Broken Man

“I thought we was goin’ for pizza and games,” she reminded him of his morning promise.

“How about we take a ride out to the Katydid. You wanna meet Jason? He’s a nice guy, and he’s a little worried ‘bout stayin’ in a new place. You think you’d be okay with explainin’ to him how nice Miss Katie and Mr. Josh are? I tried to tell him, but he’d believe it more from you.”

Katie had given Danny and Kayley an open invitation for supper, after all. Plus, earlier in the week, one of Josh’s mares had foaled a colt from Charlie, Matt’s prize stud horse. Danny hadn’t told Kayley when it happened, but he was sure she’d want to see it—that was what he was telling himself anyway.

Kayley finally agreed when he told her there was a surprise aside from meeting Jase. After they got out of the Circle C truck, Danny looked around. Just as he’d assumed, the farm hands were gone, and Josh had Jason down at the barn where Lady was nursing her little foal. “Hey, Josh,” Dan greeted as he walked into the barn with Kayley.

Josh held his arms open for the girl. She didn’t hesitate to run into them and allow him to whisk her up onto his hip. “How are ya, pretty girl? I ain’t seen ya since your birthday a few weeks ago.”

Danny was sorry he hadn’t taken her out to the farm since that celebration, and he was feeling guilty he’d let so much time go by, especially since Miss Katie had thrown the party for her. When it came to Kayley, he had to remember her needs first.

When Jase walked over where Josh stood, Dan was surprised to see him stick out his hand and smile. “Hello, little lady. My name is Jase. What’s yours?”

“I’m Kayley Johnson. I wanted to come pick ya up with Uncle Dan this mornin’, but he made me go to daycare. Ain’t he pretty?” she told Jase as she pointed to the little colt suckling at his mother’s teat.

Josh laughed. “He’s awful purdy, Kayley girl. How ‘bout you name him?”

Dan saw her look at him with awe in her eyes. “Really? I can name him?”Dan felt his heart beat a little quicker in gratitude.

“Yep, but make it a good one. His sire is Ebony Prince Charles, and his dam is Lady Madeline White.” Dan didn’t know the mare had a pedigree, but apparently, she did. That colt was gonna be damn fine.

“Oh, I’d like to call him Whitey. He has a white face. Her comment caught Dan off guard. How the hell did I inherit a horse lover?

There was a squawk over the barn intercom. “Supper!”

Josh grinned. “Let’s get to the house before we get in trouble. Jase, son, you’ll learn not to be late for supper or you gotta do dishes.”

They all laughed and made their way to the house with Kayley holding Jase’s hand. Dan smiled, seeing the two of them talking. The demon inside him watched the kid’s ass move in those jeans, but he kept telling himself to lock it in the spank bank, not that he ever turned the combination to open it.

Usually, by the time he got Kayley in bed and cleaned up dishes after washing and folding laundry or dusting the place in an attempt at housekeeping, he was too fucking exhausted to jerk off. It was sad for a twenty-seven-year-old to be too tired to jerk it, but it was that way most nights.

Danny had somehow become the personal chauffeur for Jason Langston since the boy arrived in Holloway. Every fucking day when he picked him up at the Katydid, he fought his desire to pull off to the side of the road and have his way with the young man.

He hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since the boy walked out of the bus station, and Dan had become a miserable prick, as Zach had told him on the phone Sunday night.

“I’m not sure why you don’t give a flyin’ fuck anymore about Momma or Kayley. You run off to the big city, and you get all caught up in some pussy, forgettin’ about your family and their needs. Well, you enjoy yourself. I guess I got this.” Danny hung up. It had been a shitty way to end a message.

When Zach called back, he wasn’t happy.“What the fuck is wrong with you? That message on my answering machine was pretty shitty, Dan.”

Danny knew Zach had skipped meeting with their mother’s doctors that Saturday morning because he was too hungover to drive to the nursing facility. Zach had promised to be there to help care for their mother and their niece, right along with Danny. Apparently, Zach’s word was bullshit.

Dan honked the horn at six in the morning, pissed the kid wasn’t sitting on the steps like he’d been every day that he was working at the Circle C. Josh walked out of the house, looking none too happy, so Dan shut off the truck and hopped out.

“What’s wrong?”

“He called and asked Tim if he could work from here. I’m not sure what’s goin’ on, but he doesn’t wanna go over to the Circle C. You notice anything over there I should worry ‘bout?” Josh gave Danny a hard stare.

Dan shook his head. “He’s new, so maybe it’s just takin’ a little time for him to get used to everybody. I thought he did okay with meetin’ all ‘em—maybe not Paulie. He was a prick when he met Jason.”

“Who the fuck is this? Why do we have another hand?” Paulie had not been happy with the situation.

“You don’t need to worry about him, you just gotta do the jobs you’re told to do. He’s a coworker. You get back to work.” Dan had explained the situation without any pretense of being nice to the guy. He hated Paulie, and when Mickey left and Paulie came back to the Circle C, Dan wasn’t thrilled.

“Well, let’s let him work from here for a few days. He seems to have the computer stuff down, and that’s what I need right now. I’ve got enough to keep him busy for a few days while y’all figure out your bullshit over at the ranch. I’ll call Tim about it.” Josh’s tone left no room for argument.

Dan hated the fact he wouldn’t see Jason that morning and have his company on the ride to the Circle C. He hoped it wasn’t so bad the boy would leave because he knew the others had been hard on Jase when he worked over at the ranch.

Danny, himself, loved talking to the guy at lunch, and he knew he’d miss giving him a ride back to the Katydid at the end of a long day. Some of the discussions gave him things to think about beyond the regular shit circling his brain and causing him distress and indigestion on many occasions.

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