Mabe's Burden (5 page)

“
Uh…no. Listen, I’ve got
this. You’re going to the funeral home at five, right?”

“
Yeah. Meg’s going with
me.”

“
Good. I didn’t want you to
have to do that alone. You want me to bring Mara there when we get
back to town?”

“
No, just drop her off at
the house. We’ll probably be back home by then. Thanks so
much.”

“
No problem. Gotta run. See
you later.”

“
Okay, bye.” She placed her
cell phone on the table and sighed. “I don’t know what I’d do
without him. He’s been such a rock to lean on these last several
years.”

Meg’s eyebrows went up, and she met
Mabe’s gaze. “Are there wedding bells in the air?”

“
Wedding bells?” she almost
screeched. “God, no. He’s like a brother to me.”

Her sister grinned. “Okay, okay. If you
could have seen the look on your face.” She snickered.

Mabe smirked. “He’d be a fantastic man
for someone, but not me. He is super sexy, though. Black Irish like
you and Mom. He’s about six four, built like a brick house, long
dark hair he sometimes pins back in a tail. He’s got a few tats.
Makes him look like a pirate.” She waggled her eyebrows. “I’ve
gotta say when Da first hired him, I was afraid he’d come to the
house, maybe slit our throats in the night. I thought Da was crazy
to bring him on.”

Again Meg’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?
Why?”

“
Let’s say he doesn’t have
the most savory of pasts. He’d just been released from the prison
not too far from here. He’d served ten years for grand theft
auto.”

“
Oh, my God. Da hired
him?”

Mabe smiled at the memory. “Yeah. You
know how Da always claimed to have a sixth sense about people. He
said Jake was a good soul and needed a second chance. I must admit.
Da was right. He is solid. No one regrets his past more than he
does. He was just a stupid young man.”

“
Wow, I can’t wait to meet
this gorgeous jail bird.”

“
He can certainly take your
breath away. You sit here, relax. I’m going to go check on my new
niece.”

Meg smiled, looking somewhat relieved.
Mabe wondered about her expression on her way to see what Emma was
watching on TV. She made a detour to her room. In the back of her
closet, behind her numerous pairs of shoes, was an American Girl
Doll she’d gotten as a child. Never one to really play with such
girlie toys, she’d lovingly packed her away. She’d treasured the
keepsake, a gift from her mother before she died. She couldn’t
think of a better home for Samantha than in the arms of her
niece.

Chapter Five

Meg, Emma, and Mabe were just finishing
sandwiches with soup at the kitchen table when the front door
banged and loud voices rang from the foyer.

“
What the hell?” Mabe rose
to go to the front of the house.

“
Uh….language,” Meg
chastised, tilting her head toward her daughter.

“
Ohhh, Aunt Mabe said the
‘h’ word,” Emma tattled, eyes wide.

“
Oops. I’m going to have to
get used to having a squirt in the house.” She ruffled the girl’s
hair. “Sorry, kiddo.”

“
Emma, go on to our room.
I’ll come get you in a minute, okay?” Her mother shoved her into
the hallway.

Mabe raised an eyebrow.

“
No sense having her hear
more than necessary.”

“
Ah,” she agreed.

A voice shouted through the hall. “If
you hadn’t been so clumsy, you wouldn’t have scratched it all up.
Do you have any idea how much that bag cost me?”

“
Oh boy,” Meg muttered under
her breath. “Mara’s home.”

Mabe grinned, rushing into the foyer.
Poor Jake stood there, his face matching his crimson-shirt, holding
a Louis Vuitton suitcase. On the front was a small scratch in the
material no more than an inch long. He puzzled over it.

“
You can barely see it,” he
commented. “I don’t understand the big deal.”

Mara whirled on him. “You don’t see the
big deal, do you?” Her tone dripped with sarcasm. She spoke over
her shoulder, “Can one of you tell this Neanderthal just how
expensive a Louis Vuitton bag is? My God you’d think he was raised
in a barn.” She sniffed the air, glared at him. “Or were
you?”

Anger flowed over his
expression. Mabe jumped in. “Hey, it’s so good to have you home.”
She wrapped her arms around her stiff-as-a-board sister. She
glanced at Jake and mouthed
I’m
sorry
over Mara’s shoulder. He just
glowered at her.

Mara shoved her lightly away. “I’ll
make sure my sister takes this out of your pay. I hope you make
good money, Mr. O’Leary.”

“
I’m sure he didn’t mean to
scratch your luggage. It might have even been done by the baggage
handlers at the airport. Let’s just forget about it. We’ve got far
more important things to deal with.”

Mara blew out a breath. Mabe almost
laughed aloud at how comical her oldest sister looked struggling to
get her anger under control. She cast an angry glance one last time
at Jake. Tossing her head, she simply turned her back on
him.

“
I’m going to get back to
the pub. If you need anything else just let me know, as long as it
doesn’t involve the Queen of the Damned here.”

Mara’s eyes widened. Her jaw
dropped open. “The
what
?” she screeched, whirling on him. “You…you…insolent….” She
spun back to Mabe. “Fire his ass this instant. I will not tolerate
being talked down to by the
help
.”

Mabe tried so hard not to laugh. The
expressions on her sister and Jake’s faces were priceless. “Thanks,
Jake. I’ll talk to you at the funeral tomorrow. Is everything ready
for the wake?” She propelled him past her angry sister, out onto
the front porch. She shut the door behind them, trying to ignore
Mara’s shouts for her to fire him.

“
What the hell happened
between you two on the ride home from the airport?” she asked still
chuckling.

“
Your sister there is the
most stuck up bitch I’ve ever met. I’m sorry, but she’s a holy
terror.”

“
You certainly must have
pushed her buttons.”

“
I grew up around people
like her. I’ve learned over the years she puts her panties on the
same way I do. One leg at a time. I’m not going to let her or
anyone else treat me with disrespect.”

“
You wear panties?” She
grinned.

Jake’s cheeks flushed. “You know what I
mean. Don’t get smart with me. Damn.” He stomped down to the
sidewalk. “No one’s made me that mad in a long time.”

When he stared over her
shoulder into the house, she caught an expression on his
face.
What was that? Could it be?
She grinned again.
Yep,
there it is. He’s attracted to my oldest sister
. His eyes sparkled with desire.
Well, what do you know?
“I’m sorry
for her behavior. She’s always been a little high-strung. Perhaps
her years in New York made it worse. You know, I haven’t seen or
heard from her in over ten years.”

“
I’d consider myself lucky
if I were you.” He climbed into his truck and slammed the
door.

“
Thanks again,” she yelled
over the sound of squealing tires as he tore out of her driveway
headed up Washington Street. Still smiling, Mabe slipped back into
the house.

She found her sisters in the
bedroom.

“
Oh God,” Mara groaned
staring around her childhood bedroom. “This is horrible.” She
pointed to the old posters of her favorite rock bands still stuck
to the walls. “Why haven’t you redecorated in here? It’s like
stepping back in time. Not too many fond memories I can tell
you.”

Mabe shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. It
reminded me of you. Since Dad and I never knew if you were alive or
dead, we just kept it the same. Sort of a shrine, I guess you’d
say.”

Out of steam temporarily, Mara sat on
the edge of the bed. “I’m sorry, you two. That dunderhead just made
me so mad, I wasn’t thinking. You guys okay? Is there anything I
need to help with for the funeral?”

Mabe sat next to her sisters on the
bed, bumping them aside with her hips. “You shouldn’t have treated
Jake so mean. He did us a favor by picking you up at the airport.
What in the he—” She glanced around for Emma, but didn’t see her.
Still, she altered her language just in case little ears were in
range. “I mean heck, caused you two to get off on such a bad
foot?”

“
What were you thinking
sending him? He shows up in a filthy pickup truck, slings my LV’s
into the back like they were no more than garbage bags, and then
just climbs in. No opening the door for me or anything. I’m
expected to climb fourteen feet into a monster truck, wearing a
six-inch pair of Jimmy Choo’s? Then he has the nerve to laugh at me
trying to hoist myself into that God-awful piece of machinery. It
just went downhill from there.”

Mabe giggled. Before long, they were
all three on their backs on the bed in hysterics at the mental
picture Mara painted.

The oldest of the O’Banyons reached out
and grabbed her sisters’ hands on either side of her. “It’s really
good to see you girls. I’ve missed you.”

Mabe stared at the ceiling, still
trying to stop chuckling. “You too, Mar. Why didn’t you ever call
or at least email? I would like to have known what happened to you
for all those years. We had no clue until one of our customers came
in saying they’d seen you in New York. So, you’re a chef or
something?”

Mara sat up, pulling the other two
women with her. She used the back of her finger to swipe at the
tears leaking out of her eyes. “I’m sorry. There were so many times
I wanted to call. I’ve worried so much about you. How you were
fairing having to deal with Da. Was he as mean to you as he was to
me? Please tell me he wasn’t.”

Mabe shook her head, the overwhelming
guilt creeping into her heart. “He wasn’t. Why he treated you the
way he did is a mystery, but when he was sober he was a good father
to me.”

A rustle at the door drew their
attention.

“
Emma, sweetie, come here.
Meet your other aunt,” her mother beckoned, holding a hand out to
her daughter.

“
Aunt?” Mara was confused.
She glanced from Emma to Meg. “Oh my…she’s your
daughter.”

Meg nodded, pulling her daughter close.
“I found out I was pregnant and left about a year after you
did.”

“
I heard. Nobody mentioned
you were pregnant though. Wow. Who’s—?”

“
Let’s go get some ice
cream, Emma.” Mabe hopped off the bed. “Let’s allow your mom and
Aunt Mara to catch up for a minute.”

She led her niece down the hall to the
kitchen. Taking a carton of ice cream from the freezer, she scooped
some into a bowl. Someone knocked at the door. She placed the scoop
in the sink, handed Emma the bowl. Walking to the back door, she
peered out. With a sigh, she opened the door.

“
Hi Gavin.”

“
I’m sorry to disturb you at
dinnertime, but I heard all three of you were here. I thought I’d
stop by to read the will. Okay? I didn’t want things to drag on too
long. Especially while Aaron Shaw is in town…if the three of you
want to meet him.”

Her temper spiked. “I told you, I’m not
selling, Gavin. You can just tell Mr. Shaw to go right back where
he came from.”

“
Who’s Mr. Shaw?” Mara
asked, entering the kitchen behind Meg.

“
As I live and breathe,”
Gavin exclaimed. “It’s the long lost O’Banyon sisters. Let me look
at you.” The older man hugged both women fiercely. “You’re as
breathtaking as always.” He caught sight of Emma standing behind
Meg. “And who is this beauty?”

“
Gavin, this is my daughter
Emma,” Meg responded.

His eyebrows rose, his only expression
of emotion. “Hi there. Aren’t you a flower?”

She giggled. “I’m not a flower, I’m a
girl.”

All four laughed at her
response.

Mabe put a hand on Emma’s shoulder. “If
your mom says its okay, and you’re real careful, you can take this
into your bedroom. Eat it while you watch TV. Okay,
Mom?”

Meg glanced at the leather satchel
Gavin plopped on the kitchen table. “It’s okay, but be extra
careful.”

“
Thanks, Mom.” Taking the
bowl from Mabe, she walked carefully down the hall, the doll tucked
under her arm.

“
Thanks for giving her that
doll. She’s over the moon about it.”

Mabe smiled. “I’m glad.”

Mara pushed by her sisters, joining
Gavin at the table. “What’s all this nonsense about a Mr.
Shaw?”

Mabe sighed. “I guess we’d better get
this over with, so you both know what’s going on.”

Once all three women were seated, Gavin
proceeded to tell the recently arrived sisters the same disturbing
news he’d delivered the day before, only he spared them the amount
of the debt their father owed. Both women were equally appalled by
what Shane O’Banyon had done. When Gavin read the will and informed
them of their inheritance, they stood behind their youngest
sister.