Loving the Lawyer (The Cowboys of Katydid Farm Book 2)

by Sam E. Kraemer

  Remembering where he was, Jon looked at Megan and the smile on her precious face let him know he was in deeper trouble than even he'd imagined. He cued up the game she'd been playing earlier and handed her the phone. "You sit here and play while I talk to Miss Cece, Angel." The child giggled and took the phone, not watching as Jon led Cece a few feet away.

  "Okay. I'll represent your starving artist if you'll get the judge to let me call Audrey Langley to be the temporary guardian for Megan if we can't get the Asberrys here in time for the hearing. She's the perfect person to take care of that little girl and get her out of that institution, and as it looks right now, we don't seem to have any other choices in the matter.

  "Look, Cece, I'm gay. I doubt the judge would grant a gay man temporary custody of a four-year-old girl. I mean, I'd never do anything untoward, but caring for a child, boy or girl, isn't anything in which I have first-hand experience. You understand, right? You recommend temporary custody with Audrey, and we'll search for a permanent situation for that sweet girl, maybe with Audrey?" he suggested, hoping she'd understand he was doing the best thing for the little girl.

  When Cece Wright laughed, Jon's senses perked up because clearly, she was going to come at him from another angle. "Okay, so I'll advocate for your friend, who I've never met, to Mattucik to be the temporary foster parent for Megan, and you'll represent my graffiti artist in front of Morrison? How about you take temporary custody of the boy to get him out of that hellhole of a group home where he lives after you get him released from detention?

  "Those kids are becoming hardened criminals while they should still be playin' baseball and dominoes. That home has at least three boys I know are slingin' for the Disciples. I need to get this boy outta that environment, Jon. How about you take Terrence under your wing for, oh let's say three months, and then we'll revisit things?" she bargained like a seasoned mafia henchman.

  Jon cursed his bad luck with regard to the boy's judge when he reviewed the file. Chandra Morrison was known as a 'hangin' judge' in the hallways of the juvenile court system. She was tough as nails, and any kid unlucky enough to draw her to hear his or her case was already doomed.

  Jon had appeared before her once with a shoplifting case…teenage girl from a good family suffering from the loss of a little brother to leukemia…and the judge had sentenced the fifteen-year-old to six months in a detention facility and a year's probation with two-hundred hours of community service at a homeless shelter. The parents wanted to appeal the verdict, but another lawyer told them Jon had gotten them a good plea deal with the girl sentenced to probation for four years and a hundred hours of community service, which they had chosen to decline in favor of letting the judge decide. There were no appealable issues, so they were stuck with Morrison’s sentence.

  "How the hell did you end up drawing Morrison? She wants to make an example of every kid that appears in her courtroom. Shit, I'm going to file a motion to continue based on new counsel and hope we draw another judge. She'll be hard on the boy, and it sounds like the kid has some redeeming qualities. I'll be back," Jon told her as he left Megan and his phone in Cece's custody, taking her file with him. He went the clerks' office and signed into a public terminal to fill out some paperwork in hopes of getting the young man another chance with a far more empathetic judge.

  After he hit the send button and signed off the terminal, he heard raucous laughter behind him, turning to see Morrison's clerk at her desk. She glanced up to see Jon standing off to the side and motioned him over. "Mr. Wells, you know she'll never grant a change of venue. Just go in and face her head on. She actually likes you," Mary Katherine Reilly told him. She'd worked for another judge Jon had a good relationship with before he retired, and he was a bit relieved she'd taken a job with Chandra Morrison.

  "Look, the kid isn't a first-timer at the table, but he needs a break. How about just giving me a chance to get to know him for a week or so? I can better represent him if I know him," he pleaded, trying to support his motion for a continuance which was all he was really hoping for. The change of venue was like asking for the moon and accepting the street light.

  Mary Katherine looked around and smiled. "Okay, Jon, but you won't get many chances like this. I'll give you a month. Keep him out of trouble," she demanded. He nodded and took off back down the hallway.

  He stopped at a payphone and called Audrey's cell, getting her voicemail. He hung up and tried Audrey's office line. "Hi, you've reached Audrey Langley. I'm out of the office this week. Please contact my secretary at extension 6636 if you have an emergency. Thank you," he heard, which surprised him. She hadn't mentioned she was out of the office when he and Mickey had seen her on Saturday, and he had no idea where she'd gone.

  He went back to the bench where he’d left Megan and Cece. He noticed there was another person with them, and Jon wasn't surprised to see a young, black teen with a disgruntled look on his face.

  Cece smiled at him with a little red lipstick on her white teeth. "Jon Wells, this is Terrence Reynolds. Terrence, this is your attorney, Mr. Wells. Shake hands, baby," she ordered. The boy extended his hand without a smile.

  Jon greeted him and looked at Megan, not sure what to do about her. "Any news about the Asberrys?"

  "Changed their minds. Their adoption of Miles was approved, and apparently, they were only going to take that sweet child as a backup. We're back to square one. Where's your friend?" Cece asked quietly as she looked around.

  Jon looked at Terrence, who had moved down to take a seat next to Megan. She'd offered him the phone to play the game, and the two of them seemed to be getting along. "Can we step over here?" he asked.

  Cece looked at the two of them. "You sweet babies stay right there while Mr. Jon and I have a talk. We'll go get some lunch in a few minutes, okay?" she offered. They both looked up and nodded, going back to the game.

  "Where's Miss Langley?" Cece asked.

  Jon exhaled. "Apparently, she's taking some time off and not answering any of her phones. Can't we get another family for Megan? I mean, she's so sweet. There has to be someone available to take her in, just for a couple of weeks?" he whispered.

  Cece looked at him and pulled him closer. "You, of all people, know we don't get a second chance at this, Jonathon. I'm gonna recommend you as the temporary guardian of Megan, and then I'm going to call my boss and tell him you've volunteered to take Terrence into your custody from the group home and the detention center until his trial. You're the only one they've got in their corner, Jon. How could you let those sweet babies go back to the group homes," she goaded as she pointed to the children on that bench. The guilt was squeezing his windpipe closed.

  Cece opened her large tote bag and pulled out a crumpled file, handing Jon some less-than-pristine papers. "Fill this out and date it last week." The tone of her voice made him a bit nervous to deny her, so he glanced through the stapled document, seeing it was an application to become a foster parent.

  "Is this legal?" he whispered as he sat on a bench next to her and pulled out a pen. The irony of the question wasn't lost on the attorney.

  "Eh? It borders on ethical, but if you were so inclined to think about applying to become a foster parent last week, it's within the realm of possibility if I just happened to find the paperwork on my desk this morning. You see, Jon, there comes a time when we all stretch our definition of the law, based on the looks on the faces of two children who desperately need a chance to have a better life than what they're facing at the moment," she explained to him as she pointed toward the bench, again.

  He glanced over at those two children once more, one white child with some challenges of the intellectual and perhaps physical variety, and one black child with some challenges of overcoming the environmental factors that shaped his upbringing to that point. Jon thought about his parents and how they'd loved and nurtured him, and as he looked at Megan and Terrence, he knew all they needed was the same chance.

  He wasn't ready for parenthood, not really, but he
knew life threw challenges one didn't expect. Clearly, Jon was looking at his next ones, and they were two beautiful human beings who just needed someone to give them love and the benefit of the doubt.

  Before Jon knew what was happening, he had Megan Doe and Terrence Reynolds as his new foster kids. The three of them were in his car on the way to the condo when he sent Mickey an S-O-S text.

  You love me, right? Well, I really need you. Can you come to Richmond?

  Jon pulled into his parking space in the condo garage, seeing the two kids in the back seat weren't exactly thrilled. He needed to say something. "Okay, so, we're going to be living together for a little bit of time. You can call me Jon. I'm new to parenting, but I'll do my best. If I really mess something up, I'd like it if you'd tell me and give me a chance to make things right," he told them as he looked in the rearview.

  "Is this where we're gonna stay?" he heard Megan ask Terrence.

  "I think so, Megan. Let's get you outta that seat belt. You hungry? I'm starvin'" Terrence told her. Jon was happy the two of them seemed to be talking. He prayed he had something to offer besides brie and prosciutto because he hadn't actually been to the grocery store since the weekend before when Mickey was there for a visit. From where he stood to look at the situation objectively, he was turning out to be the worst foster parent in the world.

  Jon felt someone's gaze studying him, and when he opened his eyes, he saw Megan with her little hands on the bed next to him. She was in one of Jon's t-shirts because there wasn't time to pick up her clothes after court.

  Cece had to get to another appointment, but she'd promised to drop off Megan and Terrence's things from their respective residences as soon as she had time. He'd never told Megan what happened with the Asberry’s because he didn't want to see the disappointment on her beautiful little face that yet another adult had abandoned her.

  "Hi, Angel," he greeted the little girl who had a bit of jam on her chin after she climbed up on the bed to sit next to him.

  "Terry made some toast. I like your jelly. There's a man down there who came in with a key. He talks funny," she informed. Jon knew it could only be Mickey. He'd given him the key before he left on Sunday night, begging him to use it anytime he could get away.

  Jon hopped up from his bed adjusting his sleep pants and t-shirt, needing the bathroom before his bladder ruptured. As he headed toward the master bathroom, he instructed, "Stay there, Meggie. I'll be right back."

  After he quickly did his morning business, he walked out of the bathroom to see the child still sitting on the bed with a shy smile on her face. She was the most beautiful little girl he'd ever seen in his life, he was sure.

  "Let's go see who the man is," he offered as he picked her up and carried her downstairs, not surprised to see his boyfriend sitting at the counter with Terrence giving him the evil eye. When Mickey turned to look at Jon, he laughed.

  "Finally. I was afraid this kid was gonna kick my aaa…rear. Thank ya for comin' down, Lawyer. You call and I'm here. Who's this pretty girl?" Mickey asked as Jon placed Megan on the counter.

  "This is Megan, a client, and this is Terry, another client. I truly appreciate you coming to help me out, my love," Jon stated as he walked over to Mickey and kissed him gently on his lips.

  "Oh, fuck, no," they both heard from Terrence. Jon exhaled, knowing he'd have to call Cece because he wasn't about to dismiss his boyfriend because the kid was homophobic.

  Mickey pulled away and looked at the boy. "What exactly has you pissed off, young man if I can ask?"

  Megan crawled over the counter to Terry and pulled on his t-shirt until he picked her up. He held her on his lap, but Jon could see the boy was itching for a fight. "You know, right, we're not gonna hurt either one of you. We love each other, and we only want to help the two of you," Jon explained, hoping to diffuse the situation a little bit.

  Megan turned Terry's face to look at her and she smiled that smile Jon had seen at the courthouse the day before. It was the one that sunk him. "They're not bad, Terry. They want to take care of us, and we need somebody to take care of us, right?" the little girl asked with a tilt of her curl-covered head.

  Jon heard Mickey's low chuckle, which brought him a lot of comfort. "Why, we wouldn't hurt a fly, Little Bit. I'm a cowboy, so it's not in my nature to hurt anything or anybody," Mickey responded, looking at the little girl with a smile Jon loved.

  A bit later, Mickey settled his things into Jon's room, and after the cowboy made pancakes and bacon for the group, the lawyer knew for a fact Mickey had won over the pair. He'd promised them a trip to the Circle C to meet Ryan and Rocky, along with riding lessons and baby calves to bottle feed, which brought a great laugh from Megan.

  The next weekend was the weekend of the wedding, but Mickey promised they'd have a great time, and Jon knew in his heart the man he loved meant exactly what he'd promised.

  Having two new people in his life for which he was responsible was totally unexpected, but like he'd told Mickey when he'd mentioned tracking down his parents, life went by much too fast, and living every day to the fullest was the only way to ensure a life wasn't wasted.

  Jon honestly felt ready for anything that came his way…more or less. He loved Mickey Warren and he knew they'd have a wonderful life together. He'd fight for it every single day, and if it included a beautiful little girl and a teenage boy, then all's the better.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  On the drive out to Holloway, Jon thought about the previous week, and while everything hadn't been perfect, it was a very good start, in his opinion. The new, quasi-family was on its way to the ranch for the wedding, and Jon was actually excited for the kids to meet the people he considered his extended family.

  Meeting his parents would come the next week because they'd been out of town when everything went down, but they were expected to be back from Italy on Wednesday. His mother wanted to cut the vacation short when he'd phoned to explain the situation, but he'd put his foot down and told her there would be plenty of time for Ally to get to know the two new members of his family when she and Ham returned home. He couldn't help but feel maybe he needed a little more time with the kids on his own before his parents…his mother, namely…came steamrolling into their lives. She could be a handful.

  As he pulled up the long driveway, he knew he needed to say something to the kids, so he cleared his throat, feeling nervous, yet again. "Okay, there will be a lot of people here even I don't know, but Mickey's here so we'll be okay, right?" Jon asked, hoping he was conveying comfort and not making them as nervous as he was feeling. When Mickey was with him, he had a lot of confidence regarding the kids and their well being, but on his own, he was a babbling mess.

  Mickey had stayed with them most of the week so Jon could make arrangements to take some time off from work to help settle the kids, which was a problem because apparently, Audrey had decided it was a good time to take off to Mexico for a vacation without any prior notice. Jon was covering both of their dockets and trying to keep things on an even keel at home.

  It was a lot to juggle, and if he didn't have Karen Stubbs, he wasn't sure what he'd have done. She'd redirected projects to other associates when she could and only bothered Jon when it was absolutely necessary. He'd be eternally grateful for her kindness.

  Between fielding phone calls for his docket and Audrey's, Jon and Mickey had taken the kids shopping. Megan needed bedding for her new room, and after she picked it out and told Jon purple was the only choice, the two men promised to get some paint and paint the room for her when they could, which seemed to please her. The purple walls would match her new 'Little Mermaid' bedding, and she was anxious to get the painting underway.

  Terrence, however, was another story. He didn't want anything to do with Jon or Mickey, really. He definitely had some compassion inside him because he was definitely proving to be protective of Megan, but when Jon or Mickey had asked his opinion on bedding and clothes for himself, he simply grunted and looked anywhere other
than at the two older men. Jon wasn't sure if it was the gay thing or if it was just too much change, too soon, for a young man who hadn’t had a guiding hand in his life.

  Cece had explained some things about Terrence to him at the courthouse while they waited to appear before Judge Mattucik the afternoon Jon was granted temporary custody of Megan.

  "Terrence is hard-hearted. He was picked up as a runaway, and to date, he hasn't been reported missing. He wouldn't tell us anything more about him than his name, and we aren't sure if it's real because we can't find a record of his birth in any of the databases. I'm not sure what happened to him before he came to Richmond, but I'm sure you'll be able to be a good role model for him, Jonny," she'd told him. He knew she was bullshitting him to get him to take the boy, but he didn't take her encouragement lightly.

  Cece went on to explain to him about Terrence's previous arrests on several charges of vandalism, the last being tagging a cop car parked on the lot of a strip mall while the police officers were inside a small cafe getting coffee. The large donut he painted on the hood of the cop car didn't win the policemen's affection…even with the blue sprinkles the boy had added…and since it wasn't Terrence’s first arrest for vandalism, he'd been taken into custody from the group home and housed at a juvenile facility.

  Cece had been able to work it so the boy was released into Jon's temporary custody, though Jon prayed he was never questioned under oath about her methods. Jon agreed to get the boy into counseling and enroll him in an intensive deterrent program developed with inmates at the local correctional facility to 'scare the delinquents straight'. Jon was pretty sure it wouldn't impress Terrence, but he planned to set up the counselor as soon as the wedding weekend was over.