For the Love of the Broken Man (Love & Cowboys #3)

8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Jase hit the alarm on the table next to the bed in his new apartment. It was set for six, and while he wasn’t exactly used to getting up at that hour, he was eager to prove himself—so much so, that he’d hardly slept at all.

He quickly dressed and hurried down the stairs of the carriage house and over to the main house, seeing Mickey in the kitchen through the French doors near the pool. He was still in pajama pants and no shirt, but he appeared to be making coffee. Jase quietly knocked on the back door, seeing Mickey turn and offer him a grin.

His boss walked across the kitchen to flip the lock, opening the door for him. “I forgot to get ya a key, so I’ll have Jonny dig one up later. The other farm hands don’t have one because they don’t live here, but you need access to the house. We have a house alarm, but we only set it if nobody’s home. We’re pretty fortunate to have the sheriff live up the road, so we don’t worry too much about break-ins.

“How’d ya sleep? I remember when I first started livin’ at the Katydid, I had a hard time sleepin’ in a strange place that was so damn quiet. I hope it wasn’t too bad for you,” Mickey offered as the coffeepot hissed.

“I slept okay…” It was a lie, but he didn’t want to worry his new boss. When Mickey arched his eyebrow, Jase felt his face flush. “Well, I haven’t been sleeping too well since I left El Paso, but I guess it’s because change isn’t easy. Hell, you’d think I’d be used to it because we moved every few years. Army brat.” It was then Jase realized he hadn’t really told Mickey anything about himself.

It dawned on him Mickey and Jon hadn’t asked him any questions and it worried him a bit. “I-I can fill out paperwork for you so you can do a background check.”

Mickey chuckled. “No need. My anal-retentive best friend forwarded me your file, not that I thought it was necessary. We’re in the middle of the same thing as Matt and Tim, regarding adoption and guardianship with Meg and Terry. Jon thought it would be better for you to stay in the garage—excuse me, carriage house—when I mentioned I wanted you to stay here with us.

“See, we have home visits all the time because of the kids, and Jonny’s worried the social worker might ding us because of you livin’ here in the house without being a relative, not that it always makes a difference,” Mickey explained.

It all seemed to be a lot clearer to Jase in that moment. “That’s why Mr. Collins wanted me to live at the Katydid? I thought it was because they thought I was some sort of freak who’d molest their sons or maybe a drug dealer.” Jase watched where Mickey went to get mugs for coffee and glasses for juice.

Jase went to the fridge and pulled out a gallon of orange juice, placing it on the counter to help. “Does anyone like milk in their coffee?”

“Help yourself to juice if you want some right now. I’m setting up breakfast later. Since you’re up, we can go down to the barn and start the day before the other hands get here. I’ll be right back after I get dressed. Help yourself to coffee, too, and if you don’t mind, pour me one with a spoon of sugar.” Mickey pointed to the shelf where a blue sugar bowl was visible. It had a lid and two arms up in the air with a small spoon held in one hand.

“That’s cute.” Jase took the sugar bowl down from the shelf.

“It’s Merlin’s sugar bowl from The Sword and the Stone. We bought it when we took the kids to Disney World over spring break. I’ll be back.” Jase watched Mickey hurry up the stairs and made a few mental notes for his journal as he poured himself a cup of coffee and added a splash of milk.

Mickey and Jon definitely seemed to be very much in love, as signified the previous night when the couple had gone together to put Meg to bed. Dan had gone up and read a story to the girls and the three men said goodnight to the two girls. It all touched Jase deeply.

When they returned from upstairs, Mickey had said, “They want you to come up and say goodnight, if you don’t mind. Meg says goodnight to everyone in the house.”

Jase had laughed as he went upstairs and found them in a pink room in a big bed with steps at the side. “You wanted to tell me something?”

Kayley sat up and patted the bed next to her. He walked over and sat down in the spot as he waited for her to speak. “We wanted to tell you goodnight, and Meggie said if you want her night-light, she’ll let you use it since I’m here and I can hold her hand if she gets scared. We’re worried about you bein’ up at the ‘partment by yourself.”

Jase saw movement across the bed as Meg reached over and picked up her purple glasses, placing them on her cute little face before she grabbed a lighted, fake fish tank. “You can use it. If I get scared, I’ll get in bed with Daddy and Poppy. You wanna?” the little girl offered.

Jase smiled and took both girls’ hands. “Thank you so much for the offer, but I brought my own night- light. It’s shaped like a, uh, a baseball, you know, cause I’m a guy. But, if I needed another night-light, that fish tank’s pretty sharp. You name the fish?”

The girls giggled. “It ain’t real,” Kayley chided, giggling again.

Jase had gotten up and walked around the side of the bed to offer an examination as if he didn’t believe them. They both giggled as he picked it up. “I’ll be darned. It sure looked real. Okay, you two get some rest. Hopefully, we can swim again tomorrow if the weather cooperates and your dads say it’s okay.”

Jase had leaned down and kissed Meg on the forehead, taking her glasses to place them on the bedside table before he walked around the full-size bed and leaned down to Kayley. “I don’t have a dad, Jase. I have Uncle Danny. Night.” She kissed his cheek and snuggled under the covers.

As he had pulled the door three-quarters shut, he vowed that if he had anything to do with it, that little girl would have a dad. She needed Danny, and though the man might not realize it yet, he needed Kayley as well.

“Hey there, sunshine.” At the comment, Jase glanced up from his coffee to see Danny standing in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Hey, Dan. How’d you sleep?”

“Better than usual. Maybe I need a new mattress at my house. How ‘bout you? New place okay?” Dan picked up one of the mugs Mickey had left on the counter and filled it from the pot.

Jase had noticed Mickey took his coffee black, so he decided he’d learn to drink black coffee as well so none of the folks working at the farm body thought he was less manly, in case that was something they might determine. Not that coffee should be a signal of whether one was manly or not.

“It was fine. I’ll adjust to the quiet soon enough. It’s the first place I’ve had all to myself, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Dan nodded. “Let’s get down to the barn. Pete and Todd should be here any minute.”

“Sure,” Jase agreed, downing the hot coffee in a few gulps. The burn made his eyes sting a little, but when Danny laughed, he wasn’t sure what was so funny.

“You ain’t gotta drink it so fast. These are barn mugs. Mickey keeps the fine china up here at the house, but he has these Walmart mugs for takin’ to the barn. You’re gonna burn your guts drinkin’ that hot coffee so fast.” Dan shook his head and chuckled.

Standing next to Danny, Jase once again noticed he had several inches of height on the man, though the sandy blond was more muscular. Jase guessed the handsome man had about twenty pounds on him, but it was all muscle, muscle Jase hoped to develop for himself with farmwork.

The two men took their coffee down to the barn where a short, suntanned man with light brown hair and a tall, slender-built redhead were busy opening stall doors to let out horses. “Are they going to clean stalls?” Jase asked.

Dan nodded. “Mick runs a tight ship. On Saturdays, all the horses go outside, weather permitting, and they clear, hose down, and disinfect the whole place. Some of these mares in this barn are worth a lot of money. Miss Ally, who I’m sure you’ll meet soon, used to ride in equestrian events. I don’t know much about it, but I’m sure Mick can explain.

“Miss Ally breeds these mares to prime studs and sells the foals for top dollar. She’s bred her mares to Charlie a few times, and the foals have been incredible if you like horses. Myself, I’m more of a cattleman. Anyway, Mickey can teach you anything you need to know about horses, I promise. He’s got quite a colorful story himself, which I’m sure he’ll tell ya sometime. Anyway, let’s get to cleanin’ manure. I hate shovelin’ horseshit,” Dan complained as they walked into the barn.

“Hey! Pete, Todd. It’s me. How you boys doin’?” Dan greeted the newcomers with a friendly smile.

They returned his grin with big ones of their own. “Hey, Danny.” They walked over to him and shook his hand enthusiastically. Jase was impressed that the two men were so friendly.

Dan turned to Jase and gently tugged on his arm to bring him into the conversation circle. “This is Jason Langston. He’s gonna be workin’ here with y’all for a little while. You boys take good care of him, will ya? He’s just startin’ out in the business, and he’s eager to learn, so y’all help him get it right, okay?”

They both grinned at Jase and shook his hand. “Welcome, Jason. Nice to meet ya. Where ya come from?” Todd, the older guy, spoke first. Jase was judging him to be about forty, but he had a nice smile. He was on the thin side and his bright red hair had a few grays, but he seemed to be the welcoming sort.

“I’m from Texas, but don’t be impressed. I’ve lived all over the country because my dad’s in the Army, so we moved every few years. I’ve never worked with horses, but I’d like to learn whatever you guys think would be useful.” Jase hoped he sounded sufficiently nonthreatening.

The other man, Pete, laughed. “Welcome, Jason. It’s nice to meet ya. Um, what we do on Saturdays is clean the whole barn. Cuts down on fleas, flies, and certain bacteria that can cause problems with the horses. It’s not fancy work, but it keeps these ladies in good health, and Miss Ally and Mr. Ham pay us to do it how Mickey tells us. Glad to have a few extra hands. My son has a soccer game this afternoon and if we get on it, Todd and I might be able to go and not be late,” Pete told them.

Without another word, the four men went to work with wheelbarrows and shovels, emptying the stalls of soiled bedding material. They rolled up the rubber mats and took them out onto a concrete slab where they put Jase to work scrubbing them with a shop broom and some disinfectant.

Mickey joined them, joking about Danny disliking horses, yet so willing to clean up horseshit with everyone in the barn as they wheeled out the old bedding.

“What’s this bedding?” Jase had cleaned stalls at the Circle C and at the Katydid, and neither place used what Mickey was spreading after the mats were put back down.

“Peat moss. Works better for our purposes.” Mickey held out a handful of the product for Jase to get a better look.

Jase nodded and went back to work cleaning the compression mats that covered the concrete floor of the barn. Pete came out to help him hang them to dry over a fence after he brought out two more. They continued to rotate them until all were cleaned, and after they were replaced in the stalls, Jase was shown how to spread the peat moss from the large pile in the room next to the feed stall.

Mickey showed him how to clean the wet stall where horses were bathed and groomed, and he showed him the birthing stalls, though they wouldn’t be used until the next spring as all the mares had already foaled for the year and were bred back.

Todd and Pete left about ten that morning, as Jase, Dan, and Mickey returned to the house. “What’s next?” Jase asked.

“After a late breakfast, I’m gonna take you into the office and show you where I am in the bookkeeping process, and about two o’clock, we’re gonna beg off work and have ourselves a day of relaxation. There’s a ball game on television, and Jonny’s not working today or tomorrow so we can all take the time off.

“See, we don’t have the cattle aspect around here so our weekends can be low key. Later this afternoon, we can go let the mares and the few foals back inside, and then they’re fine until I run down to feed and water in the morning before breakfast.

“Oh, we have fences to look after, and pastures to fertilize to ensure there’s hay later in the summer, but that’s what we do Monday through Friday. We actually don’t do too much on Saturday and Sunday because we have a family, which I can see you being a part of,” Mickey explained to him.

Jase felt his face heat, but it was the best news he’d ever heard. Being a part of something like the operation at Wonderland was exactly what he’d been hoping for when he hopped on the bus in El Paso. It seemed like maybe he’d found a place he could call home.