“Call your mom and talk her into flying in for Christmas. I have Tessman checking with Becca to see if her sister’s house is vacant. I was thinking they could all stay there.”
“It would be a hell of a lot cheaper than paying for a hotel for them. It’s not going to be cheap, five last-minute plane tickets the week before Christmas,” Saxton said. “I’ll split the cost with you for everything,” she offered.
“Thanks, you don’t have to. I’ve got it. I just want them to be comfortable and safe, and I want the kids to have a nice Christmas.”
“You’re a good guy, Rich Burke,” Laura Lee said. “My sister is lucky to have you in her and her kids’ lives.”
“Hey, you say it like you’ve just discovered that about me,” he teased.
At least she no longer said he was too good for Donna, like she had done a year earlier. That had put a strain on their friendship. He had told Laura Lee over and over that he and Donna were just friends, something she had never bought, and now, with him paying for them all to come to Illinois, he was sure it would reinforce that thought.
Laura Lee chuckled. “Nah, I’ve always known you are. I just don’t like to tell you too often, so it doesn’t go to your head.”
“Thanks,” he said sarcastically. “I’ll text you when I have some plans made for them.”
“Thanks. I’ll call my mom now.”
Burke went back inside. The rest of the team had the plane loaded. “Sorry about that,” he said to the team. “I just had to get the ball rolling on it now before we were in the air.”
“I called Becca and got her voicemail. I left a message with the request to use her sister’s house,” Tessman said.
The four men boarded the Lear and settled into their seats. After the pilot taxied onto the runway, Burke threw his hands in the air. His teammates had been watching him with expectation. “What?”
“So, tell us again how this relationship isn’t what we think,” Wilson said, the sarcasm heavy.
Burke decided the time had come to give his team, his friends, more of an explanation. “She can’t handle what we do. As much as I’d like for us to be more than friends, we can’t be, so I’ve kept it in the friends’ zone.”
All three men were surprised.
“You’re not sleeping with her?” Tessman asked.
Burke shook his head, mildly embarrassed. “Look, she was only twelve years old when her father was killed on the job. That stuck with her. You should have seen her after Laura Lee was shot and all that went down at her mom’s house last Thanksgiving. She freaked the fuck out. I knew then that I had to keep her at arm’s length, but I had already promised the kids I’d be around for Christmas. And it just kind of continued from there,” he admitted.
“You can’t have this fatherly relationship with the kids without a relationship with the mom,” Wilson told him.
“I wish I could have a relationship with her, but…” his voice trailed off.
“That’s really fucked up,” Tessman said.
“Tell me about it,” Burke agreed.
“You do realize that kids get attached. This has been going on for over a year; they’re attached to you,” Wilson said.
“I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t,” Burke agreed. “I love spending time with Donna and her kids, being a father-figure to the kids. I genuinely care about them. And I do like Donna, but I’m smart enough to know a relationship with her isn’t possible.”
“But you do have a relationship with her,” Wilson argued. “Just because you’re not sleeping with her doesn’t mean there’s no relationship.”
“That’s why I’ve said it’s not like that,” Burke said.
“Does she know it’s not a relationship in your eyes?” Tessman asked.
Burke sighed. Yeah, this was why he hadn’t wanted to admit what was going on with Donna, or in his case, not going on. “I’ve shut her down whenever she’s tried to discuss what it is or isn’t. I think my exact words have been, we’re good friends and I’ll always be here for you and your kids, but my job doesn’t allow for a relationship right now.”
“You’re stringing her along, regardless of what you think you’re doing,” Rogers said.
Burke shrugged. “Maybe.” He didn’t want to discuss this any further.
“And if she meets someone who will have a relationship with her and be a dad to her kids? Are you willing to break contact with her and step aside?” Wilson pressed. He waited. Burke didn’t answer. “Because that’s what you’ll have to do. Step aside.”
