24. Chapter Twenty-four

Chapter Twenty-four

Mickey was sitting at the glass-topped table on the back patio of the Wells' farm, listening to Jon and Ham discussing a case at the firm. It was a particularly messy divorce situation, and as Mickey listened, he knew why someone like Jon wouldn't be too keen on marriage. After listening to the things people were fighting over… boats, vacation homes, Jet Skis, book collections… He finally had to ask, "Do they have children?"

"Yes. Fourteen, eight, and four," Ham answered him with a kind look on his face.

"Are they fightin' about who gets the kids?" Mickey didn't bother to hide the disbelief in his voice. Children were the most important gift God could give. How could someone value a boat over a child?

Jon glanced down at the table as his father cleared his throat. "The mother's taking the four-year-old girl with her, and the father's sending the fourteen- and eight-year-old boys to boarding school." Mickey noticed a pained look on Jon's face, and he saw the way Ham looked at his own son.

"Shit, I'd give up all that other crap to keep the kids together. I mean, the rest of that stuff is just stuff. Those are their kids—their babies. How can they just…?" Mickey was too overcome to continue his sentence. His own upbringing weighed heavily on his mind. He knew exactly how selfish people could be, based on firsthand experience.

Without another word, and to save from embarrassing himself, he got up and walked down toward the barn. Allison had Megan inside the house giving her a bath, and Terrence was watching something on television in the room that Allison had told him was his when he came out to the farm for a visit. The teen was excited because it had a big-screen television mounted on the wall.

Mickey walked into the large, beautiful barn, slowly taking in the sight of the high-class mares and foals Allison owned. The only horse that didn't really seem to fit was Kennedy, the dun gelding Ally had bought off the neighbor.

It was a quarter horse and likely trail broke, based on the calm demeanor the horse possessed and the way he followed other horses around the pasture. There wasn't anything prize about the horse, and he sure hadn't seemed to mind moving into the elite neighborhood of the Wells' barn. Josie seemed to be right at home in a stall in the back near the birthing stalls.

Mickey walked back to where Josie was settled and took in the sight of the little jenny, smiling because she appeared to be snoozing until he walked up to the gate. "This ain't so bad, is it Josie girl? It was nice of Ryan to let you make the trip so Meggie could ride. I might have to make him an offer on you, but I'm not sure where we'd keep ya." Mickey was talking to the little donkey, and she knew it. She walked to him and put her head over the top of the gate, nuzzling into his chest.

Tim had sent along a saddle Mickey knew was given to Ryan by Josh and Katie. He believed it had belonged to their son, Shane, when he was a boy, but Tim said Ryan had outgrown it, so it was fine for Meggie to use that weekend.

The jenny was used to it, and Mickey was happy it worked out for the sweet little girl around whose finger Mickey was tightly wound. She'd enjoyed riding that day, and he planned to take her and Terry out the next day, maybe coaxing Allison to go with them to show them some of the more adventurous trails.

"We could keep her here if Ryan will sell her." Mickey turned, seeing Jon leaning against the gate of Kennedy's stall. He was in a pair of jeans and sneakers with a tight T-shirt. He looked perfectly edible to Mickey, who'd missed him during the week apart.

"Your momma wouldn't want the likes of little Josie slummin' up this fine neighborhood. Why on earth did she buy that dun gelding?" Mickey walked over to pet the horse with its head over the gate too.

Jon scratched the horse's ear and laughed. "Mom's custodial side gets the better of her a lot of the time. The Blanchard's are neighbors, but they don't live on this road. They live about two miles away off a gravel road. Mom buys hay from them, even though she gets what she needs off this land.

"Kennedy was their son's horse, but since he graduated from high school and went into the Navy, there hasn't been anyone to ride him. Mom bought him because she knew if he was here, she could have her barn manager exercise him until she could find somewhere to donate him. He's a gentle horse, right? Terry did okay on him?"

Mickey chuckled. "Terry did pretty damn good on him. That gelding is made for a first-time rider, just like little Josie. They're perfect starter animals."

Jon led Mickey over to a bench where he gestured for Mickey to sit. "You like the place?"

Mickey looked around and laughed. "Well, there's a lot of wood, you know, and the rose scent those fancy mares' fart could get on a nerve, I'd say. I guess Clyde fits right in here with all this finery."

Jon chuckled at his comment. "Pop wants to fire him. Seems he believes Clyde Chambers doesn't do shit around here during the week. He's apparently hired day-help to come out and clean stalls a few times a week instead of every day, charging it to the farm account. Mom wants to hire full-time hands, but Clyde keeps telling her he can handle it. She pays him a pretty penny to take care of the place, but he's not doing things as she wishes. My dad's tired of hearing her complain about it, so he plans to fire Clyde on Monday."

"For now, Mom's going to stay out here and take care of the farm herself while she looks for someone, but she had a thought. I have to say, I think it's a great idea though it's not my decision to make alone.

"Mom would like to hire you to run the farm for her. She'd like you to manage the breeding schedule and hire additional hands. She's down to those three mares because she didn't want to go too big when she stopped riding, but she's looking forward to the foals from Charlie, and if they turn out to be as great as she thinks, she's going to want to breed to him again.

"You know horses, Mick, and you're good with them. You can hire people you trust to help you out, and as a perk, Mom offered to have us move in here." By the time Jon stopped speaking, Mickey's eyes were probably as big as silver dollars.

Mickey's stomach instantly tied in knots as the nerves threatened to bring him to his knees. A chill skittered down his spine like nothing he'd ever felt in his life.

Was he really considering leaving a job he loved more than anything to move to a town as small as Holloway and manage an operation for his lover's mother? If his relationship with Jon didn't work, he'd lose everything—his job, his home, the kids.

There was safety for him at the Circle C. He worked for Danny, who knew how to manage a farm—well, a cattle ranch. Danny didn't want anything to do with the horses, so really, Mickey was in charge where the horses were concerned. He was proud to be trusted with the responsibility.

Charlie was a high-priced stallion who'd paid for himself in stud fees several times over, and Mickey wasn't sure who would manage the stud part of the operation if he left Holloway.

Jon stood before him with a look of deep concentration on his face, as if he was trying very hard to read Mickey's mind. On Jon's face, Mickey could see the longing the man had for him, and he felt his heart swell because never in his life had he thought he'd have someone wanting him the way Jon seemed to want him.

"I know it's a lot to consider, baby, but if we lived here, you could do what you love, and it's only an hour commute for me. I can take Meggie with me to Richmond, and she can attend that special school we talked about. She'd also be close to her doctors, and Mom's in town to help if we need her.

"Meanwhile, we could put Terry in the public school here, which is a lot smaller than the school he'd go to in Richmond. Hell, we'd have to put him in a private school there to ensure he stays out of trouble, but if we lived here, he could go to school, and you'd be nearby if he needed anything. When he gets home from school, you could put him to work with you at the barn. It would give him something to focus on, and then he could still have his hobbies. We can hire Ursula to cook and clean for us, and we'd all be together.

"I'm not asking for a decision yet, okay? Just think it over. Mom wants to talk to you about it tomorrow while you all go for a ride. Pop and I are going to have a conference call with that couple and opposing counsel he was talking about earlier. He says you gave him an idea he wants to float by them, and I said I'd sit in with him. Just please, don't say no yet. Think about it." When Jon finished, he leaned forward and kissed Mickey, biting his top lip before he pulled back with a smirk.

Yes, Mickey was overwhelmed with the offer. And, yes, he was worried about leaving the familiar territory of Holloway because he'd come to think of the place as his home.

He'd be leaving people he loved who'd become the family he'd never had, and that was a lot to consider. But having Jon and the kids—his new family—with him every day, along with managing a top-notch operation like Ally Wells was offering, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity he'd never expected. Mickey definitely had a lot of thinking to do.

Little feet running to the bathroom across the hall woke Mickey from his peaceful slumber wrapped around Jon, so he hopped up from bed and pulled on boxers and a pair of shorts along with a T-shirt. He quietly slipped into the bathroom in Jon's room and did his morning business before he let himself out of the bedroom and waited patiently outside the bathroom door for Megan to finish.

Once he heard the flush, he knocked on the door. "Little Bit? It's Mick. You okay?"

Meggie opened the door and pushed her hair back off her face. "I can't reach the water to wash my hands."

Mickey picked her up and helped her wash her hands before he set her on the counter. "How'd ya sleep?" he asked her, seeing her continuing to fuss with her wild curls.

He quickly pushed them behind her ears as he wrung out the face cloth he'd warmed to clean the sleepiness from her little face. She looked like a princess to him in her purple pajama set.

"So good. Nana said we can paint my room here if I want. She's gonna buy me new bed stuff. We're gonna look on the 'puter after breakfast. How did you and Jon sleep?"

Mickey knew he couldn't tell her that after he and Jon made love, he hadn't slept at all. Too many things were rolling around his head, and he couldn't calm his mind enough to drift off for more than a few minutes at a time. It was going to be a long day.

"Uh, we slept okay. You like your room here?" Mickey knew which room she was sleeping in, but he hadn't really looked at it when they went to bed because there was only the dim light from a night-light Ally had left on for the little girl.

"Oh, come see it. It's like a princess room. It's bigger than my room at home with Jon. The bed's fluffy and there are lots of pillows." Megan reached for him, giving him a happy smile.

He picked her up and carried her across the hallway to her room, looking around. It was a nice room. It was painted a pale rose color, and the furnishings were covered with various floral and striped prints. There was a pillow-lined window seat with a beautiful view over the back fields.

The four-poster bed was a double, just like the one in her bedroom at Jon's condo, but it was on a higher frame. There was even a small set of steps at the side to aid the girl in getting into the bed. It did look like a princess' room.

Mickey flopped onto d up on the bed and bounced a little, bringing giggles from Megan. "Feels pretty cozy. So, you'd want to paint it purple?"

She looked around the room and then at the comforter folded neatly on the bench at the end of the bed. "Maybe it's too pretty to paint purple. It's pretty like it is, right? You like it?" The little sweetheart snuggled up to him.

They both heard Jon laugh. "I guarantee you that Nana Ally would paint this room gold if you wanted it, Angel. Should we go downstairs to see what smells so good?"

Megan stood on the bed and took Mickey's hand, allowing him to help her down the stairs. She turned to them with a beaming smile, and Mickey was finding it hard not to just throw up his hands into the air in surrender. There was a lot to consider, but he could see Megan would be perfectly happy ensconced at the Wells' horse farm. That was one less thing about which to worry.

When Mickey pulled up to the barn at the Circle C and turned off the motor on the crew cab, he was surprised he'd made it home because he hadn't really paid too much attention to getting there. He'd been on autopilot since Jon had spoken to him on Friday night about moving to Dillwyn and running Allison's operation. The trail ride that the group had taken around the property that morning was like a guided tour from a real estate agent—hard sell included.

"This is another hayfield we rotate. This year, we got three good cuttings off it, two horse cuttings and one for cattle. The last cutting, we square baled for a pumpkin farm for their Fall Festival Maze, so it doesn't just sit around and go to waste.

"As I'm sure you've noticed, we use bedding pellets instead of sawdust or straw in the barn stalls. It's biodegradable and friendlier to the pastures. I only cut hay on half the land. I rent the other two-hundred acres to a cattle farmer who lives on the other side. Andy Edwards, and his wife Michele, are older than Jon, and they have two kids. Penny is seven and AJ is eleven, I think.

"They're very nice people, and I think AJ and Terry would get along very well. They'd ride the same bus, and it would be nice for Terry to have a boy near his own age to befriend. Hell, AJ might even be older than I think and could very well be in Terry's grade.

"Anyway, AJ rides the fences for me on their side of the pasture, but if all of you lived here, you could make that a chore for Terry to join him. Of course, I'd pay him like I pay AJ," Ally explained as they rode behind Meg and Terry who seemed to be having their own conversation.

Mickey sighed. "What about the breedin' program here?"

"Oh, I have a feeling you and I will get along well regarding the horses. See, I want…" Allison went on to explain her philosophy regarding her horses. She wanted to breed quality stock, train them to lead and be social, and then sell them to top-notch farms in horse country for them to take over the specialized training themselves.

She was looking forward to the Ebony Prince Charles foals because they would be her first test of her choices of mares. Building the stock was her primary concern, and as she explained it to Mickey, he couldn't help but long to be a part of it.

Ally continued with a tender smile, "I already have some of my former competitors interested in looking at the foals when they're born. I believe we could really make a name for the farm, Mickey. We have similar philosophies regarding the care and feeding of livestock, and having you care for things here at the farm will make Ham so much happier than the current set up. Ham wants Clyde gone as soon as possible."

"Yeah, Jonny told me about Clyde. Where is he, by the way?"

"I gave him a week's vacation. I think he's in New York. Anyway, we'll turn back after we get to the next fork. I'll show you this really great little meadow where I can see Meggie running through all the wildflowers. There's even a creek there where I stop to let the horses drink or wade myself if it's a hot day. Ham and I have snuck down there for picnics when I can get him on a horse."

The knock on the window brought Mickey out of his daydreaming. He smiled at Danny standing there with a puzzled look. "Hey. How was the weekend? Any word from Matt or Tim?" Mickey opened the door before he hopped out.

"They called on Saturday to say they're all havin' a great time, and they've decided to stay till today. They'll be home soon I suspect. They went to that Universal Park thing where Harry Potterland is, and Rocky wanted to go back so they stayed an extra day. How was everything in Dillwyn? Megan get along okay with Josie?" Dan followed Mickey to the back of the trailer to release the donkey.

Josie turned and followed Mickey out without a protest or him holding the lead, and he knew he wanted her for Megan. "She was perfect. How much you think Ryan would sell her for? Megan is so in love with her, it ain't funny."

Danny chuckled as he retrieved the small saddle and tack from the ledge in the two-horse trailer. "I think if you'd let Ryan breed her to Chief, that stallion of Josh's, they'd let you take the donkey for nothin' if you'd give him the foal."

Mickey laughed. "Yeah, I know they've wanted to breed her to Chief. You think Matt would allow me to take her off the ranch and watch over her till she foals?" Mickey led the little donkey through the barn to turn her out into the upper pasture for a while so she could exercise after the three-hour ride from Dillwyn.

Mickey stared out into the fields, taking in the view he knew he'd miss if he ever left the Circle C. He was imagining how it would be not to care for the horses or the residents at the ranch when he felt a smack to the back of his head, pulling him from his trance to hear Danny laughing. "What's up your ass, man?"

Mickey stood, rubbing his head, next to the oak gate at the back of the barn and watched Josie trot along the property, snorting at the cattle in her company. Most of them were cows and calves that liked to run along the fence when a horse was in the upper pasture. He wondered if Josie would miss her bovine friends if she went to live at the farm in Dillwyn.

He took a deep, confident breath and looked at Danny. "I got a job offer this weekend. Well, it's a lot more than that, and I'm not sure what to do about it. If I turn it down, I could be happy here at the ranch, but I'd be givin' up a lot. If I take it, I'd be happy there, but same deal. I'm not sure what the hell to do," he explained quietly as Dan leaned next to him.

"Which decision will cause you the most regrets? That's the one thing you gotta think seriously about, Mick. Livin' a life of regret will eat you alive." Danny limped away without another word. It was the first time Mickey had noticed the man limping, but it had been rainy, and he knew Matt complained about the damp weather bringing out aches and pains he'd rather forget.

Mickey locked the gate to the pasture and went into the barn to check the other horses, seeing Charlie was out in the back lot Matt had built off his roomy stall. The horse was muddy as hell, and Mickey was immediately pissed off because obviously, the stallion hadn't just been left out for the afternoon. Someone had left him out all night, probably, and it had come a hard rain the night before, as evidenced by the mud around the ranch.

Mick went to the office to check the schedule, seeing Wayne and Adam had been working that weekend. He grabbed the walkie-talkies they had in the office and hit the button. "Adam? Wayne? It's Mick."

There was a squelch, and then a laugh. "Yeah, Mick. Adam here. When'd you get back?"

"Why is Charlie in the outdoor pen covered in mud?" Mickey didn't bother to answer the guy's question about when he'd returned.

"Nando turned him out yesterday and didn't say we should bring him back in." Mickey rolled his eyes because how fucking stupid could a person be to watch an expensive stallion stand in mud up to his fetlocks and not let him back into a dry barn?

"Well, where's Nando?"

"Don't know. He was a no-show today." Mickey didn't know which idiot answered him. It didn't matter.

Fuck! Mickey had his answer about leaving the Circle C. The horses would be mistreated, and he couldn't do that to them. Matt and Tim trusted him with the care of their prized animals, and he was managing the breeding schedule for Charlie's liaisons. He knew the stallion had a future as a big name in breeding circles, but it would take some of his foals becoming prime stock to hype his reputation.

Only Mickey and Tim seemed to be interested in pursuing it, and Mickey had thoughts about how to better market the stallion, knowing there was a lot of money waiting to be made. Bottom line: Mickey couldn't leave them behind because he was needed at the Circle C. The answer was simple. The Collins-Moran's' depended on him, and he'd never let them down. They'd welcomed him into their lives and as much as he loved Jon, he owed Tim and Matt, as well as Marty, Jeri, Josh, and Katie, his loyalty.