Page 19 of Burke (The Haven #2)

B urke woke up the next morning, bright and early, and headed downstairs.

He stopped outside her room, but it was quiet.

With a smile, he hoped that she’d managed to get some sleep after all the chaos she had gone through yesterday.

He went into the kitchen to find some coffee.

He stopped in surprise, when there she was, sitting comfortably, talking to Toby and Dwight.

She looked up and smiled at him. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. Did you get any sleep?” he asked in concern. “I stopped by your door to check on you, but there wasn’t a sound, so I assumed you were sleeping.”

She shrugged. “I slept fine, and then all of a sudden I wasn’t sleeping fine.” She gave half a laugh. “I was awake and not likely to go back to sleep again, so, once I heard some movement down here, I got up. I didn’t want to disturb anybody,” she said, then frowned at Burke. “Did I wake you?”

“Nope, not at all,” he replied, “and, even if you did, it would be fine.”

She smiled. “I’d forgotten how easy you are to get along with.”

He frowned at her. “Somehow that didn’t seem to come across as a compliment.”

She laughed. “Probably because I wasn’t trying to give you a compliment. I literally just remembered how easy you were to get along with,” she stated, with a shrug, “but you can take it any way you want to.”

“I’ll take it,” he conceded, with a mocking smile. “Don’t worry about that.” He walked over, poured himself a cup of coffee, then glanced over at Toby and Dwight, both studiously ignoring them. “Did we interrupt your breakfast or your quiet time?”

Toby shrugged. “If it wasn’t you guys, it would be somebody else soon enough,” he noted, with a yawn and a stretch. Two dogs at his feet got up and stretched too.

She chuckled. “I absolutely love how they mimic everybody else in this world.”

Toby nodded, then looked down at the stretching dogs and smiled. “These two are Kojack and Philly. The little basset hound is called Little Toby, and he’s mine.”

“Besides, they can mimic me anytime they want,” Dwight suggested, with a gentle grin on his face. “They are awesome company.”

“They are indeed,” she agreed. “And the two King Charles spaniels in the basket?” She pointed out the dog bed at one side. “You’re very blessed to have them. What are their names?”

“That’s Lucy and Bing.”

Dwight stood up. “In this business, some people just don’t seem to understand how important breakfast is.”

“I most definitely understand how important breakfast is.” She hopped to her feet and asked, “Can I help you?”

He frowned at her and shook her head. “Not today,… no.”

She looked back over at Burke, who just laughed and added, “And he means it. However, even if it’s a no today, it might be a yes tomorrow.”

“What’s the difference?” she asked in confusion.

Burke shrugged. “Depends on what he’s cooking, what his plan is,” he shared, with a smile. “So don’t worry about it. If he said no, he meant no, and it doesn’t mean anything more than that.”

She nodded but wasn’t exactly sure if she was supposed to do something anyway. So, when Burke got up and started to clear off the table, she jumped in to help. By the time they had the table set, she realized just how many men were here. “Do they all come in at once?”

“No, they sure don’t. Any number of men may come and go throughout brunch. Some eat breakfast. Some don’t. Some say they won’t but show up and eat anyway. It’s just life.”

She wasn’t sure how that was life—certainly not hers to date—but she was just trying to not rock the boat and to make herself useful.

She appreciated having a place to come to, yet she knew it was temporary, and she didn’t want to overstay her welcome.

But how was she to not overstay her welcome when she didn’t even know how long the welcome was good for? Or how it was supposed to work here?

As she sat back down again, she looked around at Burke and then Toby. “Is there more I should be doing?” she asked in a low voice.

Burke smiled at her. “No, you’re fine.”

“Are you sure? I really appreciate the fact that I had this place to come to,” she shared, “because God only knows what yesterday was all about.”

“That’s why I’m surprised you slept at all.”

“Honestly, I think it was just the relief of being safe. I know that sounds terrible, but…”

“No, it sounds perfectly normal,” Dwight noted, from beside the stove.

“Nothing quite like that safety to make you suddenly realize that you’re exhausted and that you can finally let go and just relax for a few minutes,” he shared.

“And you don’t have to do anything here.

You’re welcome to be here, and we’ll do everything we can to keep you safe while you’re here. ”

Toby frowned at her. “I can already see how that somehow bothers you.”

“It’s,” she began cautiously, “just definitely not something I’m used to.”

He snorted. “I hear you there, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot in this day and age because, when you need help, you need help, and there’s just nothing else for it.”

“Go grab the eggs out of the fridge, will you?” Dwight asked her.

She walked over to the fridge, opened it up, and noted it was stocked full of breakfast foods. “I presume you have a second fridge somewhere,” she noted, as she grabbed a couple dozen and brought them over to him.

He looked at her and nodded. “Go grab another dozen.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and she headed back over and picked up a third dozen. “So, they’re all big eaters?”

“Every one of them,” he declared, with a smile. “And I would rather they were big eaters than noneaters.”

“Oh, I’m right there with you,” she agreed. “I just really didn’t expect you to go through that many eggs.”

“Oh, this is nothing,” he replied, “but, right now, we’ll do pancakes. You know how to flip pancakes?”

“I do.” Using the batter he’d already made up, she quickly started cooking flapjacks on the griddle. By the time she had twenty or so off to one side in a lidded warming tray, she noted that a few of the men had come in already.

She had said hi to a couple but now realized others were here too.

She knew there would be questions, since she had come in last night, had been here for dinner, but had also stayed overnight.

That in itself was something that most people would be curious about, but thankfully nobody mentioned anything over breakfast. She continued to flip flapjacks as long as there was batter, and, when she was done, she washed up the containers.

Dwight pointed at the table. “Go sit.”

She laughed. “I guess you give orders all the time, huh ?”

He nodded. “Pretty much.” Then he grinned at her. “And it’s better if I bark orders at you, instead of you getting into trouble over something that could have been fixed because you didn’t listen to a bark.”

“Oh, I’m pretty good at listening to orders,” she shared, “and, back in my project management days, I barked a few myself.”

He laughed, and she just smiled, took a seat, and polished off a decent-size breakfast herself. When Timber showed up, instead of coming from upstairs, he came in from outside.

She looked over at Burke. “ Uh-oh , should we have gotten up earlier?”

He shook his head. “No, we’re fine.” Then he looked back at Timber. “Any news?”

He shook his head. “It’s all quiet.”

“That’s good,” Burke said, with a yawn. He stood up, throwing back the last of his coffee, and said, “I’ll start in the barns, working with the horses.”

“You have horses?” she asked.

“Seems you forgot in all the chaos, but we’ve got some rescue horses that came in, plus Sparky, who has been with Timber for a long time.”

“And a donkey too. I heard him early this morning.”

“That’s Danny,” Toby pointed out. “He is older and had been abused, but he’s doing just fine now. We got him after some jackass hurt him, and he ran in here, wounds all over his belly.” He exchanged a glance with Timber.

Burke noted the shared look, wondering what that was all about. He added, “Danny’s kicking up a bit of a fuss over the newest arrivals, the additional horses.”

“In what way?” she asked, as she got up and helped to clear off the table.

“He wants to join them, to say hi, but we’ve kept him separated for now, and have some of the horses separated from each other as well. We’ve also got some farrier work to do today.”

She nodded. “Are you okay if I give you a hand out there?”

“That would be great. There are always stalls to muck out,” he teased.

She groaned. “Should have seen that coming, but I’ve got no problem doing that either.” And, with that, the two of them headed off.

As she got out to the barn, alone with Burke now, she whispered, “I feel a little uncomfortable around the men.”

He frowned at her. “Uncomfortable being around the men, or uncomfortable because of the men?”

“Not because of the men,” she clarified. “I just want to help where I can, but I don’t want to get in the way.”

“Ah,” he muttered, “and that’s a different thing altogether.”

“Maybe. I don’t want to split hairs about it. I just want to fit in.”

He laid a hand on her shoulder. “You just got here last night and don’t even know your way around the place yet. Try to relax a bit and give yourself a chance to settle in.”

She sighed. “I suppose so. I’m really not trying to be difficult.”

He faced her and stated, “You need to let go of everything concerning that family of yours. Fitting in isn’t something that you have to do.

It’s not a requirement. Getting along is a requirement,” he noted, with a laugh, “but trying to fit into a place with all the moving parts this one has is a pretty tall order.”

“I really appreciate the fact that I was able to get here, safe and sound. I know I need to be figuring out where I’m going from here, but—”

Immediately he placed a finger against her lips. “That’s not the issue for this moment.”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Do you think I can stay here for a couple days?” she asked anxiously. “Or do I need to leave today?”