Page 4 of Burke (The Haven #2)

You take one step forward, and, all of a sudden, it’s seventeen steps to the left that you hadn’t really expected.

Yet it would probably bring on a passionate outpouring for Timber and his rescue, the Haven.

Burke hoped Timber had enough money to handle it because this was starting to take on a life of its own.

Burke was buried in water lines when Timber returned to help him out. “Everything okay?” Burke asked.

“Yeah, but we’ve got more horses coming, apparently fourteen of them.”

“Fourteen?” Burke repeated.

Timber nodded at him. “These are seizures from a local rancher, and the nearby animal rehab facility is hoping to move out some of the animals, but the intake needs to happen soon. They can support a bunch of the horses, but they need to bring some of them to a place that’s got space.

So, they were talking to me and then checked in with Tiffany to confirm I was a viable option.

She apparently gave us a clean bill of health, so they’ll be coming sometime this afternoon. ”

“Fourteen horses though? Good God,” Burke muttered. “As I said, this acreage will fill up quickly.”

“This won’t be permanent for these fourteen, but I hear you,” Timber agreed, with a smile. “Then we have to consider whether all fourteen horses can be kept together in one area or if we need to separate some of them.”

“Right, and what about stallions?”

“Hopefully there aren’t any,” Timber stated, “but, if there are, each will need his own pen.”

With that, the discussion continued for a while. Then they fell silent, as they got deeper and deeper into the physical work.

When they were finally done laying all the plumbing pipes and connecting them and making sure none leaked, Timber sat back with a big smile and declared, “Just in time.”

“Only if we can get these sinks connected today. Do you have them here?” Burke asked. Timber pointed out the large boxes off to the side. Burke turned around and nodded. “Perfect, that can be the work for this afternoon,” Burke said.

Timber frowned. “If we can get all the sinks and the faucets up and running, that would be huge.”

“Except you’ve got animals coming this afternoon.”

“Hopefully we won’t have to do an awful lot for the horses, but if we do?… We just do,” he stated, with a smile. “You’ve got lots of experience with horses, don’t you?”

He shrugged. “I’ve got some, but it’s been a while.”

“That’s fine. I just need people who are comfortable around them.”

“Oh, I’m definitely comfortable around them,” Burke added, “and, most of the time, they like me too.”

Hearing a bark, both men turned to see Little Toby and another one of the new dogs, Max, at the doorway, both barking at whatever was happening in the front yard.

When Max had arrived, the men wanted to change his name immediately, since obviously there was residual animosity toward Max Killerman—a rogue veteran and the son of Andy, the rancher who had sold Timber the land.

That Max had made life a living hell at the Haven, ultimately kidnapping Tiffany to torment Timber.

Max was ultimately shot and killed in a standoff.

At the end of the day, they decided changing the dog’s name would have confused him, so they decided against it.

Timber got up, took a look outside, and then whistled. Burke was unpacking and sorting the boxes of supplies designated for this building, but he froze when he turned to see a bobcat slink inside the door.

“It’s okay,” Timber muttered quietly. “This is Billy Bob. Just stay calm and don’t make any sudden movements.”

“Billy Bob? That’s a hell of a name for a bobcat.”

“Yeah. Hey, nobody ever said I was original.”

Burke added, “You mentioned the other day that you saw him again, but I didn’t expect him to get in so close and personal with us.

” As he continued to watch their visitor, the bobcat just stared at him, unblinking.

“So,… is he thinking I’m his next meal or is he looking at me and wondering what the hell I’m doing here? ”

“It could be both,” Timber noted cheerfully.

Then he laughed at the look on Burke’s face.

“Don’t worry. Billy Bob’s fairly well-fed, and he hunts on his own, which is a good thing.

However, that just brings up another issue, considering I run a rescue and have some animals he might want to catch and eat. ”

“Yeah, like Dodger.”

“That squirrel’s probably too small for Billy Bob to bother with. If he was really hungry,… maybe he would trap a squirrel, but, then again, he is just a cat. A giant one at that, but still a cat. And we have to understand that he lives his life the same as anybody does.”

“Got it,” Burke noted, as he watched the bobcat, now stationed under the window, still staring at him. “Can you pet him?”

“Billy Bob? Oh, absolutely,” Timber shared, with a smile, as he walked over and crouched in front of the bobcat. Immediately the cat turned into a big purring engine, walked over a few steps closer to Timber, and almost fell against his hands and his legs, rubbing up against him.

Burke gave a soft whistle. “That’s not what I was expecting when it came to the animals here.”

“I know, but what was I supposed to do? He had an injured tail and a nail sticking through his paw. It took a little bit to get close enough to treat him, but, once we were there,” Timber said, “he’s been a grateful soul ever since.”

“And he sticks around,” Burke muttered, as he continued to stare at the bobcat.

“He does, sometimes a little more than others, and lots of times he’s just here for the ride and wants to keep us company,” he stated, with a smile. “He and the dogs have to work things out once in a while, but it seems to be going okay.”

“Unbelievable.” As Burke bent to duck back under the sink to connect some pipes, he added, “I’ll need a hand to get this into the wall over here.

” After installing the stainless-steel counter along the side with the sink at the front, they had that one treatment room finally fixed up.

Burke stepped back and smiled. “How about that?”

“Good. Now we do it eight more times,” Timber noted, with a sigh.

“Eight?”

“Not eight more treatment rooms, but eight more sinks with a similar layout. Some are just a little more extensive, as those rooms will be set up for animals that need long-term care, animals that we’ll need to keep a little bit longer than normal, and we don’t necessarily want them in cages.”

“Right,” Burke muttered. “Obviously I have a lot to learn, but I’ll have fun watching you.”

“Hey, you can stay as long as you want, particularly when you’re giving me all this free labor.”

“Not so much free labor, as you’re giving me a place and a purpose right now,” he clarified.

“It’s a weird combination,” Timber admitted, a smile playing on his lips. “Yet somehow it does seem to be working for people.”

Burke looked over at him and smiled.

“Of course some people are probably hiding out here,” Timber casually commented.

Burke stilled, then turned to face him. “Was that directed at me?”

Timber narrowed his gaze. “If need be, it can be.”

Burke snorted at that. “I’m not hiding from anything,” he declared, “but that’s not the same thing as avoiding something, and that I’m doing. I am definitely avoiding .”

“It’s your business,” Timber replied. “Anytime you want to talk, I’m here, but I’m not trying to pry.”

“You might not be trying to pry, but there is definitely a sense of… something going on here that I hadn’t really expected.”

“And what is that?”

“A sense of community, a sense of purpose, a family maybe? A commonality of why everybody is here,” he noted, with a smile. “That’s not what I was expecting.”

“Whatever it is, it happened naturally. I’m only here setting up a refuge for animals, and I hadn’t even determined what animals and or how any of it would work. I figured I would be building it all myself, but somehow things snowballed.”

“I can see that, and, in your case, the snowballing was probably a good thing.”

“Sure, but it still needs managing, and somehow I have to keep directing it to flow in the right direction”—he laughed—“and that’s not necessarily an easy thing.”

“No, but I don’t think it’s a hard thing either,” Burke declared, looking over at him. “You’ve doing a great job.”

Timber smiled, straightened up, and announced, “Okay, this room’s done.”

As Burke stood back to look at the finished treatment room, he pointed to the window. “I see Billy Bob left.”

Timber came up behind him and nodded. “Time for a lunch break.”

“Thank God for that.” Burke groaned, straightening up again. He stood for a moment, waiting for the pain in his leg to settle.

“Leg that bad?”

“Just because I was in a weird position.”

“And you’ll take it easy, right?” Timber asked, his voice deep, his tone darkened with concern.

“Of course,” he said, smiling over at his buddy.

Timber studied his friend and murmured, “If I can do anything to give you a hand, just let me know.”

“Yeah, I hear you, but, unless you’ll bring out a masseuse or install a hot tub,” he shared, “I don’t really think anybody can do anything.”

“Sometimes just getting out and getting busy working on something else is a good help.”

“Yeah, I’ve been focusing on that,” he agreed, with a smile, “and it’s doing great things for the mental health, but it’s a little rough on the physical side.”

“Some good fitness trainers and physiotherapists are in town, depending on what you need, even some new people I hadn’t seen before too,” Timber shared.

“You checked them out?”

“I only went because Tiffany was talking about how this guy and his assistant were quite something. I don’t understand it, or even know how to explain it, but they do some kind of energy work on the muscles.

Something about engaging the muscles, turning off the right ones and turning on the other right ones,” he explained, followed by a laugh.

“Anyway, it’s made a difference for me.”