"Good. Stay with me, Rocky. Hang on," he ordered as he gave the operator the Whipples’ address for the ambulance.
After he explained the situation to the dispatcher and assured Rocky someone was on the way, Mickey ran out of the barn office and grabbed Jon Wells by the arm. He’d just finished unsaddling Charlie, and he was in the right place at the right time as Mickey directed the two of them to the house. "What's wrong?" Jon asked.
Without wasting a lot of time explaining things, Mickey continued to pull the attractive attorney with him as he spoke on his cell. "You doin’ alright, Rock? I'm headin' to the house to get Matt and Tim. We'll be there real quick, okay? Just stay on the line and when the ambulance gets there, let 'em in, okay?"
He then turned to Jon Wells and stated, "We need you to go to the hospital with us. This is Ryan's best friend, and his momma has MS. It sounds like she's hurt, and Social Services is gonna wanna put that boy in foster care 'cause he don't have any family to speak of that give a shit about him, but you're gonna become his best friend and make sure he can come here to stay with us until Cindy gets outta the hospital, got it?" His demand brooked no room for argument or negotiation, and when Jon nodded in agreement, Mickey ticked one more thing off the proverbial list. The boy had a lawyer who would stand in front of a judge and demand Rocky get the best care possible, which was with the Moran-Collins family.
Two hours later, the clan, along with all of the extended family and two lawyers, were sitting in the waiting room of Lewis Gale Hospital in Blacksburg, which happened to be the closest trauma center from Holloway.
Rocky and Ryan were sitting on a teal blue, vinyl couch with a deck of 'Old Maid' cards Jeri Collins had brought from home. Matt was playing with them as the rest of the contingent tried to give off calm vibes. Everyone was worried, but no good came from alerting the boys to the problems awaiting a worst-case scenario. At the moment, it was a wait-and-see situation, as the doctor had informed them earlier when Cindy arrived by ambulance.
Mickey had been closely watching Jon and Ronni talking quietly before one or the other would go to the far end of the room or outside to take a call. He had no idea what they were discussing, but he hoped someone was able to do something for the Whipple family.
As Mickey saw it, the worst-case scenario would be for Cindy Whipple to die and leave no one in charge of her son, who would immediately be sent into foster care. Mickey hoped she hadn't been so consumed with the other aspects of her illness she’d left her child unprotected, but he didn't know her. Matt and Tim did, along with Jeri and Katie, so he waited like everyone else to find out what would happen.
"Family of Cindy Whipple?" was announced as Mickey watched Jon in the corner of the waiting room with his cell phone.
"We're here," Matt responded as he took Rocky's hand and led him over to the doctor with Tim following closely behind. On instinct, Mickey grabbed Ryan's hand as he started to walk over to his friend, Rocky, to offer support. Mickey had a feeling maybe it was best for Ryan not to hear the news in that moment. He thought it was better for Matt and Tim to tell him what they believed he should know with regard to the situation.
"Stay with me, please. This makes me damn nervous," he told the boy, appealing to his caretaker intuition which Ryan had learned from Tim much more than Matt.
"It's okay, Mick. Do you have a momma and daddy?" Ryan asked him for the first time ever as the boy sat down next to him and held his hand. Mickey was truly touched by the boy’s tender heart.
He took a deep breath, preparing to be mostly honest with the sweet little boy. The child didn't deserve to hear how horrible a turn life could take, but Mickey's life was going far better than he'd ever anticipated in the past, and he was moving passed all regrets. "I do, but they had troubles. They needed to sort some things for themselves, and I needed to sort some things for me. We parted ways, but I still think about 'em sometimes. I hope they're fine.
"They were nothin' like Matt and Tim. Your dads wouldn't let you leave them for anything, but not everybody has parents like them. Be happy with who you have, Bud. We all ain't so lucky," he offered, hoping it wasn't too heavy for the boy. Mickey was certain it had sidetracked Ryan enough so whatever the doctor was telling Rocky, Tim, and Matt wouldn't register with him. Ryan had a gentle heart, and Rocky would need his support so keeping him calm for the moment was the best idea.
After a few more minutes, Matt walked over to where Mickey and Ryan were sitting and knelt down as Tim left the room, holding Rocky's hand. "We're gonna take Rocky home with us tonight. The doctor isn't sure about his momma 'cause she hit her head, but Tim's gonna take him to say goodnight, and then y'all are gonna go home. The hospital will call us if anything changes," he explained to Ryan, keeping his hand on the boy’s shoulder. Mickey wasn’t sure if it was for Matt’s comfort or Ryan’s.
"I can stay here and wait for any news, Matt," Mickey offered.
Matt kissed Ryan’s head before he helped the boy up from his chair. "Go get Gramma and Papa so y'all can go home. We'll be home in just a little bit," he explained to the boy, leaving Mickey confused. Ryan kissed Mickey on the cheek before he hurried over to where Marty and Jeri Collins were sitting with Josh and Katie Simmons.
After they were gone, Matt led Mickey to the opposite corner of the room to deliver the bad news, as his face foreshadowed. "She has a fractured skull and her brain is swelling. They want to operate, so I need to go to her house and find the folder she put together for Tim and me in case anything like this ever happened to her. She has a Power-of-Attorney and a Will she told us about when we were there one time. Supposedly, it gives me the power to authorize medical care for her and Rocky and grants Tim and me custody over the boy if anything happens to her. She just had it done up by a guy in town, and I need Jon to go with us to look at the shit. Hell, I don't even know if it's legal because I never met the lawyer.
"Would you stay here and just keep an eye on things until I get back? They're gonna call her parents, but I doubt they'll come. I just don't want to think she's alone." Before Mickey could respond, Matt sniffed and reached for a handkerchief to wipe his eyes before he offered Mickey a watery smile.
"Damn that Tim Moran. I used to be able to get through shit like this without a tear or a worry. He's made me soft, the little fucker," he joked as he continued to wipe the tears.
Mickey glanced at the floor to give the man some privacy in which to compose himself. "You're lucky, ya know? My heart's so damn hard at this point, I can barely imagine any reason I'd ever shed a tear. Go…do what ya gotta. I'm just a random guy sittin' in a waitin' room in case her folks do show up. I'll be here," he stated.
Matt looked up through a watery smile and pinched his cheek. "You're as cute as a speckled pup. You'll find somebody who's gonna make you think twice about feelings, Mickey. You'll see."
Yeah, right…
Mickey felt a large hand gently squeezing his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes to see Jon Wells standing in front of him with a tender smile. "You're going to hate yourself in a few hours if you keep your neck screwed up like that."
"How's Cindy?" Mickey asked, suddenly sitting up to look around the waiting room, not really surprised there was no one around.
"They drilled some holes into her skull to relieve some of the pressure, but she’s in a coma. We found her documents and Matt gave consent for them to operate, but the doctor didn’t seem very hopeful about her making a full recovery. I spoke with her lawyer, who wants nothing more to do with the case. Apparently, he knows her parents and that’s why he did the paperwork in the first place but he doesn’t want to compromise the friendship, so I'm going to file the papers to take over as attorney-of-record. The hospital has the number at the ranch so let's get you home. Matt and Tim are home with the boys, and they're all asleep by now. Come on, Cowboy," he stated, taking Mickey's hand to pull him up.
Once on his feet, Mickey stretched to crack his back, and then adjusted his clothes. "Awful nice of ya to come get me."<
br />
He saw Jon laugh. "Ronni went back to Philly, so the boys are going to share Ryan's room. I'm going to stick around for a day or so, and I was hoping maybe you'd let me ride Matt's big stallion again," Jon asked with a smirk.
Mickey chuckled, sure it was inappropriate at the time. "I can hook you up with a stallion to ride if you want."
Jon laughed. "I bet you can, Cowboy."
Once they arrived at the ranch, Mickey retrieved his keys to open the basement door so they didn't wake the house as they went inside, especially Corky. The dog would go apeshit if he heard them, but he was probably in Ryan’s room upstairs, sound asleep. In the spirit of caution, he held up a finger to his lips for Jon to be quiet as they listened to nothing but silence, which was a very good sign.
He led Jon inside behind him before he closed and locked the door, turning to the man to grasp him in his arms and suck Jon’s plump, bottom lip between Mickey's eager ones before he invaded the lawyer’s mouth with his tongue.
The kiss was mind bending…in Mickey's opinion. He was tasting a hint of coffee and something sweet, and the taste left him dumbfounded for a moment. It had, after all, been a while since he'd kissed a guy as passionately as he was kissing Jon Wells. The kiss with Henry Sachs was gentle, and barely a kiss at all, really. The kiss he was giving Jon Wells was far different.
Mickey was determined to be mildly aggressive with the kiss because he wanted the lawyer to understand he was serious, but he wasn't going mouth rape the man. Jon was older than him and had a career Mickey couldn't begin to understand, but that didn't mean Mickey couldn't show the sexy man a good time.
As their tongues swirled together, he felt Jon pull him closer to deepen the kiss, and he did everything he could to hold the man tighter. Kissing those soft lips added a whole new level to any kiss Mickey had ever experienced. He finally decided Jon's kisses tasted of butterscotch, but Mickey had seen him sucking on candy earlier at the hospital, just as he was sucking Mickey's tongue into his mouth.
The cowboy was about to shoot off in his jeans so he pulled back, looking into the gorgeous, light-green eyes of the man he'd been fascinated with since he'd shown up at the ranch. He could tell Jon was about to lodge some form of protest, but he put his finger over the man's soft lips to stop him.
"I know what you're thinkin'. We have absolutely not one fuckin' thing in common except for the fact we both feel the need to have the comfort of another person right now. We don't gotta have sex, Jon, and I won't ever breathe a word of this to Matt or Tim because I respect their home, but I'd really like to have a warm body next to me tonight to remind me life isn't always so horrible. A little boy's momma is barely alive, and I'd like to be reminded there are good things in this world as well. The feelin' of your warm body next to me is one of those good things," he whispered as he looked into the lawyer's soulful eyes.
Jon didn't offer any commentary, nor did he rebuff Mickey's advances. He led the tall cowboy into the room where he'd slept the night before, and he pushed him onto the bed where he worked to remove Mickey’s boots, socks, jeans, and shirt. He settled Mickey under the covers and then undressed while Mickey watched.
He so wanted to fuck the man, but Mickey craved a gentle touch and warm heat for comfort…and he wasn't about to break Tim and Matt's rules. Death, or near-death, made him want to feel a muscular frame in his arms to remind him there were things to be grateful for every day. Jon Wells was one of those things and just what he needed that night.
After the two of them settled into the bed, Mickey pulled the handsome man into his arms and held him, having always been in the caretaker position in every relationship he'd ever had. It felt natural to him to be the one handling business because it seemed he'd been drawn to people who needed someone to watch out for them all of his life. It was the only way he knew how to behave in a relationship. One day, he hoped to have someone who actually cared about him and wanted to be there for him in a similar fashion. It really was a dream of his, and until it came true, he was content to fake it.
"Thanks, Jonny for lettin' me hold you. I really needed it," he whispered. He felt a kiss on the side of his neck and then a trail of kisses down to his chest, which he appreciated.
"It's okay, Michael," Jon whispered as he wrapped Mickey in his arms and turned to his back, positioning Mickey’s head to rest on Jon's chest. It was unexpected, but Mickey wouldn't turn away the man's gentle coziness.
Mickey finally closed his eyes, absorbing the soft breaths against the top of his head until the cowboy could finally clear his head for sleep. The rising and falling of Jon's lightly fuzzed chest was exactly what Mickey needed, finally relaxing enough to fall into a peaceful sleep.
For the moment, the future was in the distance up ahead and the past was too far back to see. Mickey would savor the ‘now’ because it would become a memory far too quickly.
Chapter Eight
Jon woke with a bit of a start, feeling strong arms around him and a warm, muscular body behind him, which wasn't exactly how he remembered falling asleep, nor was it familiar. He was usually the one holding someone in his arms, and he'd already broken the vow of not allowing overnights, but then he remembered he wasn't at his place in Richmond, so he gave himself a pass. The 'No Overnight' rule would begin when he was back on his familiar hunting ground.
He gently extricated himself and grabbed clean boxers to go shower since he'd skipped it the previous day. After all of the drama, he was pretty sure he needed a good washing up.
Once he started the water to warm, he stood in front of the mirror, looking into his scruffy reflection. "DO NOT GET FUCKING ATTACHED, YOU STUPID ASS," he hissed quietly at himself, hoping to clear the fog. His attraction to Mickey Warren was fucking ridiculous and he needed to acknowledge his own stupidity in the situation and move the fuck on.
He was at least eight-years-older than the kid, and he didn't do twinks anymore…well, he couldn't exactly call Mickey a twink in the traditional sense of the word. There was nothing outrageous about the man, not that there was anything wrong with twinks because Jon had maintained a steady diet of them in his younger years. So, no, Mickey definitely wasn’t a twink, but he fell into Jon’s ‘too-young’ category perfectly.
Jon stepped into the shower and adjusted the water from scalding to just warm enough to keep his nuts in the sack. He looked down at his dick and saw it was beginning to gain some steam, and it was the last thing he wanted. Entertaining thoughts of fucking Mickey Warren would lead to complicated (likely, good) things he didn't want to consider because he had no reason to want to spend any time with a cowboy from southern Virginia.
He washed his hair and his body, not thinking about the hot copperhead in his bed…well, not his bed, but the bed he'd been using. The guy punched every one of Jon's buttons, except one…he wasn't educated. He was simple, and even to Jon's own ears, it was harsh to say he didn't think Mickey was smart enough for him, but with the horrible grammar and lack of education, he didn't see a lot of substance to the man. Absolutely nothing would keep Jon’s interest in the guy beyond a good, hard fuck.
He finished his shower thinking about how hard the fuck might be, but it wasn't him fucking Mickey Warren. It was him being fucked by Mickey that flashed behind his eyelids, which was completely out of the ordinary. He'd felt the man's hard cock against his ass before he got out of bed, and for the first time, it enticed him to entertain thoughts he'd rarely been willing to consider with other partners. Yes, he'd bottomed before, but as he got older, he found he enjoyed being the dominant top, so that was the role he'd comfortably settled into, never looking back. The fact Mickey Warren was making him reexamine his feelings on the matter was a bit unsettling.
Jon thought about his friends, Aaron Wasserstein and his new husband, Richard Jefferson. Aaron was a lawyer at the firm. After Jon and Aaron got to know each other and Jon met Aaron’s boyfriend, Rick, the three of them became good friends. They played basketball on Sunday mornings in a league at a local gym,
and they went out for brunch together to trash talk the other players.
The two men seemed to be happy if Jon thought about it, but they were intellectual equals. If Jon was willing to admit it, he enjoyed the discussions in which the three of them indulged as they waited for their turn to take to the court, as well as the witty banter while they ate brunch at a place not far from Jon's condo. It was nice to have friends with whom he had a lot in common. It was his guy-time because most of his other time was spent with Audrey or at work. Mickey Warren had no place in his life, and the sooner he remembered it, the better.
Jon truly needed to get the fuck out of dodge, leaving the Circle C and the magic the inhabitants all seemed to weave around him before he lost his grasp on reality. His senses were on Def-Con three. The sooner he was on the road, the better.
"Go again," Mickey instructed Rocky as they were in the back yard with a long rope and the plastic form of a cow with horns. Jon had no idea what they were doing, but he sat in a chair on the porch watching Mickey teach the boy how to use the lariat rope. One thing Jon knew for certain, the boy was distracted from his worries about his mother and if that was Mickey's goal, he'd exceeded it.
"How do I let it get big, Mickey?" the boy asked. He was really a handsome boy. His skin coloring was similar to Jon's, and the boy had blonde hair the same texture as Jon's, substantiating the boy's biracial heritage as he'd been told by Matt.
He wanted to ask where was the boy's father, but he had a feeling it was better not to ask. All Dads didn't stick around, or so he’d heard from his friends who were a diverse group. His dad was there for him, but Jon had a lot of friends who hadn't been so lucky. He was guessing Mickey wasn't so lucky either.
He watched Rocky, Ryan, and Mickey in the yard with the rope as they continued to practice, the cowboy providing pointers when necessary. When his phone vibrated in his pocket, Jon retrieved it, seeing it was a text from the hospital.
Loving the Lawyer (The Cowboys of Katydid Farm Book 2) Page 9