Page 39 of Burke (The Haven #2)

A bout a week later Timber strode up the front yard and watched as the trailer backed up to the paddock. He looked over at Tiffany and asked, “Are you ready for this?”

“No, probably not,” she admitted, “but… alpacas and llamas apparently will be part of the family from now on. They are just some of the animals we’ll be looking after.”

As he walked into the paddock and saw the trailer was full, he smiled because it was either smile or cry, and he was not one to cry very easily, at least not in public.

Yet the animals always made him feel such emotions.

These animals were horribly thin and desperately in need of shearing and some love and attention.

He looked over at Jimmy, who had driven them here. Timber’s tone bleak, he asked, “Is this all of them?”

“It is, and two of them may not even make it,” Jimmy warned. “I’m not sure what to say about them.”

“No, I don’t know either,” he murmured, “but let’s get going.”

At that, another woman walked up.

Timber looked over at her and frowned. “Keisha?”

Keisha nodded. “Hey, Timber. How are you doing?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I heard an extra load of animals was headed this way when I was talking to Tiffany,” she explained, “so I thought I would come lend a hand.”

“You’re always welcome. You do know Jaxon is here, right?”

She looked over at him and asked, “Is that a problem?”

“Not for me, as long as it’s not for you.”

“Nope, not a problem for me,” she stated. “He’s my ex for a reason.”

“I know,” he replied, “but I also know that it’s not an easy ex.”

“There’s no such thing as easy exes,” she declared. She came around to the side and stopped when she saw the animals. “Dear God,” she whispered.

“Yeah, I hear you,” Tiffany muttered at her side. “Let’s get to work.”

At that, a shout came from the other side, and Jaxon walked over. “I saw the trailer come in and thought you could use an extra hand. What are we doing?” Then he turned, and his eyes widened when he saw Keisha. “Hey,” he muttered, as he pushed back his hat. “I didn’t know you would be here.”

“I didn’t know I would be here either, until I heard so many animals were in need,” she shared. “I came to help Tiffany. You got a problem with that?”

As there hadn’t been even a hint of a challenge in her tone, everybody else ignored it. Jaxon stared at her, then over at Timber. “No problem here. Animals first.”

And, with that, they all got down to work.