Chapter 1 #2
Toby nodded. “It’s so much easier to buy in bulk,” he shared, “not to mention cheaper. In this instance, it really just makes sense. You have to remember how many people we feed each week. In addition to the people we have staying onsite right now, we still get more coming out on the weekends, then returning to their families and their day jobs each workweek. It seems as if everybody is willing to swing a hammer.”
“Swinging a hammer, sure, but, not even counting your grocery bill, you must be paying a fortune to wire and plumb all that,” Sterling noted, trying to picture the place in his mind.
“Wait until you see it for yourself,” Timber said.
“These volunteers are a talented bunch of guys with varied construction experience. So they have had that mostly covered too, by God. That’s been huge because, without them and their expertise, we would have really been up a creek.
Yet we’ve got electricians and plumbers, plus framers and fencers, and don’t forget the foundation guys. It’s all been pretty amazing.”
“How the hell are you managing all this? Seems to be a pretty complex operation. The materials alone would break the bank.”
“It is,” Timber confirmed, then laughed. “Burke’s partner, Shirley, manages all our ongoing projects.”
Sterling frowned at his buddy and repeated, “Burke? As in Burke Thomas?”
“Yeah, sure is,” Timber declared.
“That old goat found a partner?” Sterling asked. “How did that happen?”
Toby howled. “Oh, not just him. Timber has. Jaxon has,” he announced. “Just something in the air, it seems.”
“Oh God,” Sterling muttered. “I’d heard that about Kat, but I didn’t realize the matchmaking rumors had spread.”
Toby grinned. “You just wait.”
“No, I’m not waiting for nothing,” Sterling declared. “I haven’t had a long-term relationship in a while, but not looking for anyone to matchmake on my behalf, thanks. I’m not sure I’m cut out for marriage.”
Toby asked, “You aren’t sure or the ladies aren’t?”
“Same thing, isn’t it?” Sterling asked, turning to him. “I still didn’t get that far.”
Toby nodded. “Yeah, relationships have a tendency to fall short of the altar, particularly for people like us. We’re out in the world, dealing with real life-and-death situations and, when we come back, we’re not the same anymore.
Some of us are missing body parts. Some of us deal with PTSD for years.
Most of us stifle all those experiences,” Toby pointed out.
“If your partner doesn’t share those same experiences, it’s hard to understand the change in us from their point of view.
Regardless, divorce is a shit show to go through. ”
“It sure is,” Sterling muttered, “but it sounds as if you guys are doing a lot better.”
Toby clarified, “I don’t know about a lot better, but Timber here and Burke and Jaxon have the relationship angle figured out.
” Toby added, “For the rest of us, we have decisions to make—about a new career, where to live, whether we want a relationship again, what we want to accomplish in this new chapter of our lives. For example, here, definitely some of us will choose to stay nearby. Yet others will be here temporarily, like the weekend helpers who return to their families and their day jobs each week.”
Toby continued. “Heavens, I’ve known Timber for a long time and totally trust him to make this work. I’m even looking at buying land around here and building my own place,” he shared. “God knows we have enough people around who I can probably get to lend me a hand erecting my little house.”
Sterling stared at him. “Wow, if you’ve got that kind of help around here, everybody will want to buy a piece of land.”
“Timber’s got his eyes on twelve properties so far, for just that purpose,” Toby stated.
“People, like me and Dwight, want that permanence. So, we’re all more than eager to get started on our own personal projects.
However, we also know that things haven’t calmed down at the center enough for us to do anything more than just talk about it.
While some volunteer help is still around, we’ll need to make the most of it. ”
Sterling nodded, thinking the idea of having a place to call home would be something he would willingly work toward.
“I’m not looking for much,” Toby added, “just a space to call home, and the assurance that I won’t lose it.”
“Yeah,” Sterling muttered, “that’s worth a lot.”
“It absolutely is,” Toby agreed.
“And yet you’re not getting paid?” Sterling repeated, asking Toby this time.
“Nope, not getting paid. I don’t really need to get paid.
I’ve got my pension, and I’m doing something I love, and I’m surrounded by a community of guys just like me,” he shared.
“Plus, I can take holidays whenever I want, but the guys would starve if I did,” he teased and then burst out laughing.
“Not really, but Dwight would definitely need another kitchen assistant in my absence. So, anytime anybody gives me any guff over the food, I just threaten them with a holiday. They all instantly clam up because, without me and Dwight, there ain’t no food, unless one of them wants to cook.
” Toby was still grinning as they pulled into the next stop.
He hopped out and brought back a box of electronics, which he put in the rear seat of the truck. “Security cameras for inside,” he explained for Sterling’s benefit. “Wiring has to be run for more security with alarms and all kinds of stuff.” He grinned at Sterling. “You know Jared? He is here too.”
“I remember him but never knew him all that well.”
“You’ll get to know him while you’re here,” Toby noted.
“He’s a good guy. He doesn’t have his licenses anymore but is talking about maybe picking them back up again.
He’s been managing the guys with skills in the trades who come through, and he’s got a hell of a network lined up.
So, when Jared calls, anybody who’s got spare time, they come on out. ”
Timber pulled out of the parking lot, interjecting, “We are starting to get an awful lot of curiosity seekers around too. Today we’ve got someone from a local shelter coming out to see if these fifty dogs will be safe with us,” he shared, with the tiniest hint of sarcasm in his tone.
“You’ve got to appreciate the fact that they’re even checking,” Sterling pointed out.
“I get it, and, if she doesn’t think we are up to par, that’s fine. Then they can find space for those dogs themselves.”
“I can’t imagine that would be an easy feat.”
“No, it sure as hell wouldn’t be. That’s quite a load to take on all at once,” Timber acknowledged, “and, construction aside, we’ve got quite a job getting all these animals in better shape and keeping them that way.”
“What about large animals?” Sterling asked.
“We’ve got a dozen or so horses, with more coming.”
Toby nodded. “Even so, Timber has a lot of acreage, perfect for boarding. People in town without the space or facilities at home or who have jobs that make it hard to maintain the feeding and care that a horse requires should appreciate a new boarding setup. It allows them to still have a horse, with a little support, and it could provide good income for the sanctuary.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Sterling agreed.
“So, you just plug me in wherever you think I can be of use, and I’m happy to give you a hand.
I’m happy to just …” He swallowed hard. “To be honest, I’m grateful to have a place to go.
Otherwise I would be sitting in some motel room, trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do now. ”
“I hear you on that one,” Toby muttered. “If I hadn’t hooked up with Timber, I don’t know where I would be right now either. I can’t speak for you, Timber, but I feel that you are trying to find your own way, just like the rest of us,” he suggested.
Timber chuckled. “Damn straight.”
Toby told Sterling, “Yet Timber’s providing a sanctuary for both animals and people.” His voice deepened. “He deserves all the support he’s gotten, and we’re all there for him.”
Sterling nodded, glancing at Timber in the driver’s seat. “That’s awesome.”
Toby continued. “Wait until you see our collection of animals at the Haven—our own little herd of llamas, the horses that Timber already mentioned, and an abused donkey. The crazy thing is that we’ve got an eclectic mix of wildlife too.
Squirrels, of course, but even an armadillo stays close by now, much like a doe and her fawn, although the fawn is getting big.
We’ve got coyotes, the occasional bobcat, the whole dang works.
We even had a bear come through that needed a hand.
He is around still, and we call him Big Mike.
It’s almost as if the animal world has put out the call that help is available, and some of them have come by to check it out.
It’s been an incredible scenario so far, and I can just imagine what it’ll be like as the years go by.
Once Timber’s operation is set up a little bit better, and we get the word out there, then we can think about other options and other possibilities. ”
Timber nodded. “That’s the plan. It’s just moving faster than I can keep up.” He chuckled at that, shaking his head.
Sterling noted, “I think, once you’re set up, the possibilities are endless. Plus, the land is the important first part, and then it’s all about the infrastructure. So, if you can get all that paid for and up and running, it’s a home run all the way.”
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Timber confirmed, with a nod. “Home runs are a little hard to come by in our world, but we’ll take them.”
“Yeah,” Toby murmured, smiling at him.
Timber asked Sterling, “Did you get your pension and all that straightened out?”
“No, not yet,” he said, with a shrug. “I don’t even know how any of that works. They told me that they’ll get it connected so that I can at least take care of myself,” he shared, “but I don’t know that it’s enough money to live on.”