Page 21 of Booking Burke
Eli smiled when he saw Greeley and Kevin Fitzgibbon walk into the room followed by Tennyson Grimm and Ronan O’Mara. Ten was holding their infant daughter. Bringing up the rear were a couple of his fellow officers, Jessie Price and Luke Rather. “Hey, guys. Shouldn’t the two of you be on duty?”
“We got the son-of-a-bitch,” Rather said. His smile was a mile wide.
“Brought him in alive. He was raving about having shot a cop.” Price shook her head.
“Did anyone else get hurt?” Eli was afraid to ask, but he needed to know.
“No. We grabbed him an hour after he shot you.” Price was shaking her head.
Rather rolled his eyes. “Bastard was hiding behind the dumpster at Lobster Charlie’s.”
“Shit, that’s my favorite place.” Eli frowned. He felt his eyelids starting to get heavy.
“We’ll bring you the biggest lobster roll when they spring you from this place,” Rather promised.
“Speaking of that, let’s head on out so Eli can get his rest.” Cisco started shooing people out of the room.
Everyone in the room shook hands with or hugged Burke. There was no doubt he was part of the family now.
“When’s the big day?” Tennyson asked from the door. He was the last one in the room.
Burke started to laugh.
“What big day?” Eli squeezed Burke’s hand. He looked back and forth between Tennyson and his boyfriend, there was something up for sure.
“Ten had a message for me when you were in the OR. He said he’d seen us on our wedding day. I wasn’t so sure I believed him until you sort of proposed.” Burke was blushing.
Eli smiled at the psychic. “You got any other news for us?” Eli knew Tennyson Grimm was the real deal.
Ten smiled down at his tiny daughter, who was asleep in his arms. “You both are welcome to babysit for Everly any time you like. You’re going to need the practice.” With that, Ten was gone.
Burke’s mouth was hanging open. “A baby?”
“Stranger things have happened. After all, I fell in love with you the second I saw you.”
“Same for me.” Burke shook his head. “How could the worst decision I ever made in my life be the best thing that ever happened to me?”
Eli had been wondering the same thing himself. What if he’d arrested and booked Burke instead of taking things in the direction they went that first night? He might not be sitting in this hospital bed with a hole in his shoulder, but he damn sure would have missed out on the man of his dreams. He was about to tell Burke that very thing when his eyes slipped shut and he fell asleep.
EPILOGUE
Burke
Five weeks later…
This day had come so fast. The time at home with Eli had been amazing and frustrating in equal measures, but they’d made it to today. Burke wasn’t sure how both of these big things were happening at once, but he wasn’t going to question it either. He had a feeling Cisco Jackson had something to do with it.
The one thing Burke had gotten good at over the last few weeks was cooking. When he’d brought Eli home from the hospital, he’d made a list of his boyfriend’s favorite foods and had scoured the internet looking for recipes. He still felt like he’d failed to protect Eli the day he’d been shot, so feeding him and nursing him back to health was his way of making it up to him.
Since it was a special day for both of them, Burke had gotten up early to make them a huge breakfast. There was fresh fruit; strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries along with Eli’s favorite breakfast, waffles and home fries.
The berries were artfully arranged in bowls at their places at the kitchen table. The home fries were crisping up in the pan, while the waffles were being kept warm in the oven. The only thing missing from this scene was Eli.
“Babe? Breakfast is served.” Burke called out. He pulled the waffles from the oven, putting two on each of their plates. Next came the perfectly done potatoes. Then glasses of orange juice. Last on the table was the ketchup and maple syrup.
There was no response from Eli. It wasn’t like him to drag his feet when it came to food. It also wasn’t like him to be late. Where the hell was he?
“Coming!” Eli called out. His running footsteps echoed through the house.
