Page 11 of Burke (The Haven #2)

S hirley didn’t know what to say to that. When the burger arrived in front of her, she started eating without even realizing it. When she was halfway through it, she stared down at her plate and frowned.

Burke laughed. “Eat,” he prodded her.

“I didn’t even order this,” she muttered.

“No, I ordered it for you.”

She groaned. “That’s not fair either,” she muttered, looking away. “It’s not as if my sister hasn’t had more than a few meals on you already.”

“You’re not your sister,” he declared, patting her hand. “Besides, I’m hoping I can get that back.”

She looked at him hopefully. “You think you can?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “but we’ll give it a good try. I’m also in contact with a lawyer, one who I know works with a lot of veterans and who does a lot of pro bono work. A friend of mine contacted him and explained what was going on.”

“That’s good.” She looked at him in delight. “Any help at all would be great.”

“I’ll take any help I can get,” he added, “so don’t you worry about that. It’s one thing to be stubborn. It’s another to be stupid.”

She laughed at that and agreed. “So, what have you been up to? You always wanted to work with animals. Are you doing anything along those lines right now?”

He grinned. “Right now I’m working pro bono myself, helping a friend of mine.

I was looking for a place to hole up and to get my head straightened out and to figure out what I wanted to do.

He’s in the midst of putting together an animal sanctuary,” he explained, with a smile.

“I asked him if I could bunk in for a bit, and he opened his door. That’s what friends are for.

And, because he’s in the middle of building it, I’m right in the middle of that, which works out. ”

“You were handy too,” she muttered. “I always admired that and wished I was able to do simple stuff, but it wasn’t anything I had any training or time for.”

“I think that’s the kind of thing you have to make time for.

Either you really want to get involved in it or not.

If not, really no point in worrying about it.

It’s one thing to have the skills from a maintenance point of view, but it’s another thing entirely to have the skills as a hobby.

It can be an expensive hobby, just gathering the right tools.

Yet, if you enjoy it, hobbies cost money sometimes, and maybe it’s worth it. ”

She smiled. “Either way, I’m absolutely delighted that you are invested in something. What kind of animals does he have?”

“Not too many yet because he’s still building.

A load of horses are coming, but I guess the vet, his girlfriend by the way, got held up, and she had to give the clearance for them to make the trip, so they’re coming tomorrow.

They were supposed to be here today, I think.

” He frowned. “Maybe it was yesterday. It seems as if I’m already losing track of time. ”

“And that’s because you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I really am,” he stated, with a smile. “I get that it won’t be a long-term solution, and it won’t pay the bills, but right now I’m helping a friend and a fellow vet who was more than willing to give me a place when I needed some respite.”

“When you needed a haven,” she pointed out.

He stopped, smiled, and nodded. “Exactly. And that’s precisely what it’s for.”

“Oh, it’s not just for animals?”

“He says it’s for two-legged and four-legged alike.

” He laughed, then his expression changed.

“Honestly, an awful lot of us came out of the military and didn’t have a great return home.

Either we have injuries or lost the people we were close to.

In some cases, divorces happened very quickly, or you come home to find out that you don’t have the support that you need.

Just all kinds of scenarios,” he muttered, with a dismissive wave.

“And, for a lot of people, that becomes very difficult. My buddy had injuries to recover from himself, so he gets it. Plus, he’s the kind of person who would open his doors and help, and that’s essentially what he is doing. ”

“You have to admire that,” she noted. “It sounds as if you have a real friend there.”

“I do,” he agreed, with a nod. “And gradually we’re getting a crazy collection of animals, maybe six dogs right now and a couple cats. A squirrel lives there that he calls Dodger, plus a bobcat called Billy Bob. Danny is the donkey, and a doe with a fawn sticks pretty close to the yard.”

“A doe?” she asked, looking at him.

He nodded. “Yes, a doe and her fawn. When he first saw her, she had an arrow in her shoulder. He worked to help her, and, as soon as he got the arrow out and got her stitched up and doing better, she dropped the fawn.”

“Oh, how adorable,” she cried out, then shook her head. “It sounds almost too good to be true.”

“It is, in a way,” he agreed. “A lot of work goes into it, and that’s one of the reasons why we’re all pitching in to help.”

“Of course,” she said warmly, “and, at the same time, it’s helping you.”

He smiled at her. “Exactly. He talks about a few other animals, but I haven’t necessarily seen all of them yet.… I’ve been there several weeks, and we’ve been working nonstop.” He laughed. “Honestly, I think I’ve worked harder physically there than I ever did in rehab.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re doing so much better now,” she suggested. “You know, with all those endorphins being released, plus the sense of satisfaction of a job well-done. I can’t imagine there would be anything bad about that scenario for you.”

“I don’t think there’s anything bad either,” he agreed, staring at her. “It’s always amazing when you go to help someone, and you find out just how much it’s helping you.”

She nodded. “Now if only I could find a solution to my situation,” she muttered.

He looked over at her and nodded. “That would be good because you’re in a tight spot right now.”

“I know.” She sighed. “I have all these uncertainties and fears about the different ways it could go, but I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”

“You did the tough part,” he stated firmly, “and now it’s a matter of making sure you stay safe.”

“And how does one do that?” she asked. “If they even saw me with you right now, they would be shocked.”

“Maybe and maybe not. Silvia used to bug me about you all the time, suggesting that maybe I should date you instead, since I always seemed to treat you better than her.” When Shirley frowned at him, he laughed. “Yeah, she used to throw that in my face all the time.”

“She mentioned something similar to me just yesterday,” she muttered. “I just don’t know where she’s coming from anymore.”

“She’s coming from her own space, and that’s the problem,” he declared, with a shrug.

“It’s a space that nobody else can really understand, and nobody else really wants to access.

She’s doing something that’s important to her for whatever reason, but it’ll have repercussions that I don’t think she’s really aware of or prepared for. ”

“She’ll go to jail over this, won’t she?”

He nodded. “I would imagine so, and, don’t take this the wrong way, but I sure don’t want to let her off the hook.”

She winced, and her shoulders sagged as she considered that. “It’s probably the best thing for her, but wow.”

“I know, and going no contact with your family—”

“I’ve pretty well been there with my dad for a long time anyway,” she reminded him.

“Yeah, but a couple years isn’t really no contact ,” he stated. “If it was ten years, maybe.”

“All of this didn’t blow up ten years ago,” she pointed out. “It really went ugly when the two of you broke up.”

“Got it,” he said, with a nod.

By the time they finished their meal, had coffee, and he ordered a piece of pie to split, she smiled. “It’s hard to even imagine that we’re in this scenario.” He stopped to stare at her, and she winced. “Right. I get it. That was a stupid comment.”

“No,… not at all,” he replied. “Anyway, I need to confirm that, when you go home, you’re safe.”

“They don’t come around this part of town,” she said, “so that’s a good thing. Yet, if she has any idea that I’m involved in turning her in, it’ll get ugly. And I don’t think she knows you’re here either. If she saw us together,… it would make everything worse.”

“Of course, and, if you need anything from me, you let me know.”

“Yeah,” she muttered, “but it’s not as if you’ll be on hand. You’ll be out wherever this place is.”

“That’s true,” he agreed, with a nod. “I’m living there right now and don’t even have a home of my own at the moment.

Although it’s something that I think about, I don’t really have a location figured out,” he shared.

“My buddy and I have been friends for a long time, and we served together in the military for a lot of years, so a part of me wants to stay close.”

“You want to be there for him. I get it.”

“When you don’t have any family anymore,” he shared, “staying close to what you do know and what you do have seems to be important.”

“And you said he’s got injuries as well?”

“Yeah, and he has somebody who has been working on prosthetics with him, who is crazy talented,” he shared. “So, I’m not against having him try to get me in to see her.”

“Her?” she asked.

“Yeah, she’s pretty well-known for the work she does.”

“Interesting.”

“She’s missing a leg too, and her husband has a couple prosthetics as well. So, I guess it’s a natural progression of being unhappy with what was available to her all the years she was growing up.”

“Interesting.” Shirley frowned. “I think about these people who are doing such fabulous things, and I always feel as if I should have done so much more. I could have done so much more, and there’s always that feeling of it’s being too late.”

He shook his head. “That’s just not true. It’s never too late. If you want to go back to school or something, go back to school.”

She shook her head. “Not sure I’m up for that,” she admitted. “There’s something about school when you’re younger versus school when you’re older. It just doesn’t have that same feel to it.”

“Maybe not, but, if you’re unhappy with the life that you are living, then you should do something about it.”

She smiled and nodded. “I hear you, and I appreciate the advice.”

He laughed. “But you don’t need to listen to it, is that it?”

“No, I didn’t mean that,” she protested. “It’s just,… until I decide what to do, it doesn’t matter what the suggestions are. I still have to figure it out and commit to something.”

He tilted his head and noted, “That’s a very valid point. And, because of that, I will stay quiet and will let you do you.”

She smiled. “It’s the same thing you’re doing,” she pointed out.

“It is, and that’s one of the reasons why I’m happy to let you do it,” he admitted, and then he hesitated. “But I’m not against staying in touch if you want to,” he offered, an odd look in his gaze.

She stared at him. “Are you serious? You still want that, after what my family has done to you?”

“That’s your family, not you,” he pointed out.

She frowned at that. “I wonder if I would be so generous.”

“I would hope so,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s easy on anybody when you have people pulling the crap that your sister and her boyfriend and your father have been pulling.

So, I’m not expecting you to have answers, or to need anything or to do anything.

I just want to let you know that,… well, we were friends once. ”

“We still are,” she stated.

He smiled and nodded. “Certainly, considering what you’re doing, and I really appreciate it.”

Her shoulders sagged, as she added, “It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.”

He paid the bill and they got up to walk outside.

She looked at his truck and said, “Please tell me that’s paid for.”

“It is,” he replied cheerfully. “She won’t be getting that.”

“They might put a lien on it to sell against other debts or something.”

He shrugged. “We’ll try to do something about it if it comes to that,” he noted. “Still, they would have to prove that they’re my debts.”

“But they were made in your name.”

“I’m not going there right now,” he declared. “I have to believe in things turning out the right way. Otherwise it will be one more injustice that I’ll really struggle with, and I don’t need any more of that right now.”

“No, of course not,” she agreed. “I’m sorry about all that.”