Chapter 1 #3
Toby grimaced. “No, it’s not, and that’s part of the problem and why Badger and Kat are so active with their programs. Thanks to Timber too, while we’re here, we’re not paying for living expenses, so it’s an opportunity to save.
And, if there’s any chance of getting a home out of this, believe me that I’m already in. ”
Sterling appreciated Toby’s eager candor. “Seems you’ve landed on easy street.”
“Feels like it too,” Toby confirmed.
Timber took the turnoff down a dirt road with some gravel thrown about for added traction.
“Wait until you see the place. It wasn’t easy street at the beginning, not at all,” he clarified.
“A ton of hard work was and still is involved, but somehow being here with all you guys, where we have so much in common, it doesn’t seem like hard work. ”
“It never does,” Toby pointed out. “When you’re working with friends, when you’re appreciated, and when you know that you’re safe, it’s a good feeling.”
Timber glanced at Sterling as he drove down the road and asked, “That safe part is one thing that takes a bit, doesn’t it?”
Sterling sighed. “You come out of rehab, where everything is taken care of, and then suddenly you are on your own—which is scary, to be honest, especially if you don’t have a place to go to and don’t have family, which I do not,” he shared.
Timber added, “You are welcome to stay here for as long as you want.”
“So no family?” Toby asked Sterling.
“No, not really, not that I ever had much of one anyway. I was shipped off to foster care. I stayed with one foster family for a while at the end, but they’ve moved to Europe.
I haven’t had any contact with them since I went into the military.
They didn’t agree with that decision, and I think they more or less figured that they did their job, and now they’re done. ”
Toby went quiet for a long moment before he finally spoke up.
“I think that’s part of the reason why Timber’s place works so well.
It is truly a haven in every sense and for all, both two-legged and four,” he declared.
“We have a lot of guys who come here who don’t yet know what their next move is.
They are just happy to have a way to give back and a bed to sleep in at night,” he noted.
Sterling turned to Timber and asked, “Did you tell the other guys about me? Do they even know I’m coming?” he asked hesitantly.
“Sure,” Timber replied. “The more, the merrier. You already know some of the guys, and the rest of them you are about to meet during lunch. Don’t you worry. You’re always welcome here.”
Sterling looked over at Toby, who nodded.
“That may not seem possible, but I can guarantee that it’s true.
You’ll see how much we need all hands on deck.
You can work on projects based on your skill set or where you want to learn from others.
Don’t worry. You’ll fit right in, and it will all be fine. ”
And, with that, Timber drove them the last bit up to the Haven in silence. As they crested the hill, and he came up to a series of gates and cattle guards, they drove on.
Sterling smiled. “That certainly brings back memories.”
Toby looked at him. “Like what?”
“It reminds me of riding around with my granddad,” he explained. “I ended up going into the foster care system because of his death. It was always my dream to live with him, but he didn’t come back out of the hospital the last time, and that’s when my life really changed,” he shared, with a shrug.
Timber muttered, “You never really know what life will do to you.”
Toby added, “No, you don’t, but the good news is, when you get to a place like this, it’s a whole new beginning.”
Timber nodded and pulled the vehicle up to the front of a building at the end of the drive and hopped out.
“Sterling, this is the main cabin, where we share meals. You can come with me to meet the other guys or just stay with Toby to get a look at the rest of the central layout here. Then join us all afterward.”
As Sterling went to get out, Toby pointed at him. “Sit tight. You can see more as we drive around to the storage in the back,” he suggested. “Then you can give me a hand. We’ve got too much here to unload alone.”
Sterling settled back into the vehicle, waving at Timber as he left them, while Toby took over the driver’s seat.
Sterling looked around in amazement at what seemed to be a city being built right here.
Guys were running cables. Men were moving 2x4s.
Others carried tools on their backs, one packing power tools in both hands.
Some nodded at him curiously but kept on going.
Sterling recognized the disciplined look to them, the limps on some, that whole standing straight at attention posture from his military days.
Then, for the first time, he realized that many of them were probably exactly like him, hoping for a place to be productive and active, a safe place to land, while they figured out what they were doing now with their life.
Somehow that made him feel a hell of a lot better.
Toby had said all that, but hearing it and seeing it were two different things altogether.
As Toby drove behind the main cabin, he announced. “This will be fun. Now you can give me a hand unloading all this on the other side.” He parked beside a big deck and a large storage room.
“Did you build this just to hold the food for everybody?” Sterling asked, as a joke.
Toby looked at him and nodded. “Yep.”
“You’re not kidding, are you?”
“You have no idea how much these men can eat,” he muttered.
“Anytime you get bored helping around out here, you can always come inside and give me and Dwight a hand in the kitchen.” Then he laughed.
“Yet you won’t get bored here. Any time you do, it’s on you.
We have an awful lot of other things to do here. ”
“Oh, I won’t get bored,” Sterling declared. “I was too damn glad to have you and Timber pick me up at that bus stop.”
Toby slapped him on the shoulder. “I get it, dude. It’s all good.”