Page 2 of Burke (The Haven #2)

S everal weeks later Burke Thomas sipped his coffee on the deck as he watched the sunrise.

Thankfully this arrangement had worked out for both him and Timber’s massive log house.

Dodger, the ever-faithful squirrel that had adopted Timber and now Burke, sat on the railing nearby, working on a peanut Burke had placed there.

He smiled, reached out a finger, and stroked the squirrel’s back, which didn’t seem to faze him one bit.

At this point in time, it seemed as if Dodger was more comfortable being hand-fed than foraging on his own.

Hearing footsteps behind him in the kitchen, Burke looked up to see Timber stepping out onto the deck beside him.

He glanced down, smiled at Dodger, then reached up and stretched.

“Had a good night?” Burke asked him.

Timber nodded. “It was pretty decent. I have to admit, nothing like a day full of physical work to give you the need for a good solid rest at night.”

“Agreed. Still, even knowing how many men you have here, I can’t believe how fast some of this is going up.”

“True, the basic structures are going up quickly, but a ton of finishing work will be left to be done, and you know how time-consuming that can be.” He placed his hands on his hips, did a few more stretches, then walked over to the top of the steps.

He stared out at the newly constructed bunkhouse, specifically for any long-term ranch hands.

“That bunkhouse has a roof and four walls, but that’s it. ”

In the meantime, Kat had shipped out here some smaller temporary units for sleeping quarters, some of which might remain for the more transient helpers who passed through the Haven.

Now those residents had a communal space with multiple bathrooms and a kitchenette.

A laundry unit at the back was currently in progress.

“And yet, what have you got, six guys sleeping in the unfinished bunkhouse?” Burke asked, with a laugh.

Timber glanced at him and nodded. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

“It’s a great thing though. You’re doing a lot of good here, man.”

“I started this for animals like Dodger,” he noted, with a laugh. As Little Toby came out, wagging his tail, Timber bent down and scrubbed his ears and smiled at the dog.

“How many dogs are you aiming for?” Burke asked.

“I have five of my own, and that will be it for a while. With the other dogs that belong to the crew, all of them can be a bit much when they’re loose like this all the time. Little Toby here belongs to Big Toby.”

“Oh, right. And didn’t Tiffany bring home another one?”

“She did, but he needs medical care and to get his strength back. As soon as he’s healthy enough, he’ll get a pen in the back, and we’ll probably have one or two others with him, who are also medical rescues,” he added, with a smile.

“Imagine you hooking up with a vet.”

“I don’t know about the hooking up part, but she’s definitely a partner in this operation,” he clarified, with a wave of his hand. Then he chuckled. “Badger and Kat have a fair share in it too.”

“Is all the paperwork done for the new parcel of land yet?”

“Nope,… not yet. The lawyers are still working on it,” he noted, with a smile, “but we have a contract. Now it’s just a matter of finishing off the details.”

“What about water on the new place?”

“There is a small lake and potentially a second one, with an underground spring,” he shared. “So I’m hoping that would be a huge boon.”

“And when you say a small lake…”

“Yeah,… I think it’s stretched out over eight acres or so.”

“That’s hardly small.”

“It’s enough, and it will have its own ecosystem of wildlife. I’ll get over there eventually and will figure out how to get that parcel fenced in,” he muttered, with a groan. “It was quite a job to fence what we have now.”

“I can imagine,” Burke agreed, a bit envious.

“You’re right though. It was great having all those guys out here to help us over the initial hump of development, and to buy that much more land is huge,” he admitted.

“It is, but everything you’re doing is for the right reasons, so I have no doubt that it will all end up in a good way.”

Timber laughed. “I’m not a naysayer, and I definitely work on positive thinking,” he explained, “but sometimes you just have to let go and to let life happen, then see how the cookie crumbles.”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

When a shout came from inside, Timber turned around and then told Burke, “That’ll be Dwight, so breakfast is probably up.”

“I’ll go tell the guys at the bunkhouse.”

But before he could make a move, the bunkhouse door opened, and men made their way toward them. Burke laughed. “These guys don’t miss much, do they?”

“They never miss a meal, especially with Dwight and Toby cooking.”

“Yeah, you sure lucked out with your cooks.”

“I did, indeed—not what I was expecting either.” Timber looked back and shrugged.

Burke asked, “Was Dwight supposed to be here for only a few days?”

“Yeah, just like a bunch of the other guys,” Timber confirmed, with a big smile. “I’m so grateful for anybody who is working here, especially since none of them are getting paid,” he muttered, shaking his head. “That’s just amazing.”

“But most of them are here because either they physically need to test out their prosthetics or need to psychologically be here helping others. One way or another they want to help out, or maybe this place is providing them with something they didn’t have before.”

“Sometimes all of the above,” Toby interjected, as he stepped out on the deck and looked around to confirm people were coming.

Timber nodded. “You can never discount the benefit of what this place means to each individual person, nor their reasons for being here,” Timber stated.

“We all have our own reasons, and some of them are even good ones.” And, with a good chuckle, he called out, “You guys better come inside. Dwight frets if no one eats his cooking.”

Burke joined Timber as they headed into the kitchen, grabbing plates and loading up generous servings of bacon and eggs, hash browns, and toast, with some waffles on the side.

“How the hell did you make waffles?” Timber asked Dwight.

“Kat sent over a waffle iron via Tiffany. Waffles are pretty damn easy to make, and sometimes a little variety is good,” he muttered. “They’re also pretty fast, and, when you feed gangs of men like we do here, anything that’s fast works for me.”

“If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve already got a list going that I need to hassle you about.”

“Great,” Timber muttered. “Are we getting more deliveries?”

“I don’t know if you’ve paid for the last one,” he noted, with a smirk, “but, as soon as you have, you can bet that we’ll need more,… yes.”

“Right, I’ve got to get to the office and start paying some of those bills.” Timber shook his head. “I get caught up in the work out here, and it’s so easy to forget about the office work.”

“Oh, you can’t forget about that,” Burke declared. “Once the money stops flowing, the supplies do too.”

Timber smiled and nodded. “I hear you there. I’ll get at it first thing this morning.”

“Good enough,” Dwight said, “and, yeah, we do need more supplies.”

“Anything major? Do I need to go into town and get anything?”

“No, I spoke to Tiffany last night, and she’ll bring some of it out with her tonight.

” When Timber frowned at that, Dwight shook his head and asked, “What do you want me to say? She’s coming here anyway and doesn’t mind bringing stuff, as long as it’s ready for her to pick up.

Plus, they load it for her. That way it’s not putting her out much.

Plus, it’s on her way,” Dwight added, his gaze speaking volumes, “so it’s even easier. ”

“I know,” Timber muttered, but disquiet filled his tone.

Dwight looked at him, serious now, and added, “If you’ve got a problem with that, you better talk to her because you know as well as I do how she feels about you not letting her help.”

Timber raised both hands in frustration. “She already does a lot.”

“Of course she does, but not only does she want to help, that woman loves you, you moron,” Dwight declared, with a snort. “You would think, after all this time, you would stop being an ass about it. Keep this up, and she’ll realize you’re a lost cause.”

“Really?” Burke asked, with a laugh. “A lost cause for her or for Timber?”

“Both,” Dwight muttered, with a headshake. “Now hurry up and eat. You guys got work to do.”

“Yeah, that’s true enough,” Burke agreed. “We do have plenty of work to do.”

*

With a sigh Timber gave Little Toby another scratch and a piece of bacon, hiding it so Big Toby wouldn’t see. Yet Big Toby saw it all and grumbled. Timber noted, “Little Toby still needs to fatten up a bit.”

“On bacon?” Big Toby asked.

“Sure, why not?” Timber asked, with a laugh. After finishing his own breakfast, he got up and made way for a couple guys who were still coming in from the bunkhouse. He said good morning to all of them with a bright smile.

When they sniffed the waffles, they beelined for them.

Timber lifted a hand in a wave to all. “I’ll head to the office first and get after those bills then, I guess.”

“Good idea,” Dwight agreed. “We need more grub.”

Timber shook his head at that because it seemed as if nothing but groceries were brought into the house.

Having lived alone for as long as he had, it was still a shock to see just how much was required to feed everybody.

He would never argue about it though, especially since their labor was free.

The price was right, and these guys were a godsend right now, and that was all Timber needed.

It was enough to know that these men were well-fed and looked after while they were here, helping him.

As he stepped into one of the rooms in his cabin, now designated as his office, his cell phone rang, and he looked down with a smile to see it was Tiffany. “Good morning,” he greeted her. “It sure would be nice if you lived here full-time.”