Mabe's Burden (11 page)

“
It’s a good investment.
I’ll make the money back. With a few changes, it will draw in
larger crowds, get tourists from the interstate.”

“
What?” Mabe yelled.
“Changes? What kind of changes? Even if we were crazy enough to
sell to you...” She jerked her head toward Mara. “Which
we’re
not
. What
are you saying is wrong with our pub? I’ve run the place for years.
We do okay.”

“
You’ve done okay, I’m
sure,” Aaron addressed her calmly. “But you could do a lot better.
The decor is tired, the food is boring, plus you don’t carry enough
international beers.”

“
You’re a real estate
broker. What the hell do you know about international
beers?”

“
I own another restaurant
with a very successful bar in Tallahassee. I happen to know quite a
bit about international beers. You don’t promote or advertise,
there’s no real theme to the pub, the food, while good, is run of
the mill bar food.”

“
I wouldn’t ever let Jake
hear you say that. He’d pound you to a pulp with his tenderizing
hammer.”

“
Mabe, just listen to me. If
you’d like, I’ll hire you and your sisters to run it for me. We
could be a team. I’ll leave the name the same. Nothing would really
have to change.”

“
Except it’s no
longer
ours
!” She
fumed.

“
Aaron, you don’t have any
idea what this pub means to my family,” Meg spoke up. “We were
raised above the bar. My parents came here from Ireland to start
over, and despite my father’s drinking problem, he made a
reasonably good life for us until our mother died. Then Mara and I
left. Our Mabe here was left to deal with the fall out. She’s
single handedly run Shenanigans for the last several years. It’s in
her blood. She can’t run it for someone else. It just wouldn’t be
right.”

Mabe faced her
sister.
She actually gets it. At least one
sister is on my side. Thank God.
She turned
to look at her other, more practical sister.

“
I have to agree with my
sister,” Mara said. “It’s not for sale. We appreciate your generous
offer, but we will figure out our own way here.”

Aaron rose. “At least talk about it
amongst yourselves. Don’t make such a hasty decision. I plan to be
in town for another week, so let me know.”

“
You’re wasting your time,”
Mabe remarked. “We won’t change our minds.”

“
Maybe so, but it’s my time
to waste, isn’t it?” He approached her. “If you won’t let me pay
your medical bills, will you at least let me take you to dinner to
apologize for plowing into you? Anywhere you’d like to
go.”

“
She’d love to,” both Mara
and Meg piped up at the same time.

Mabe stared at her sisters. Aaron
reached out and, with one finger, closed her mouth. That simple
touch sent a volt of electricity straight through her
body.

“
I’ll pick you up tomorrow
night at seven.”

He left the porch, swaggering to his
car. He’d slammed the door and backed out of the driveway before
she even recovered from her shock.

She whirled on her sisters.
“What the hell do you two think you’re up to? I don’t want to have
dinner with
him
. I
don’t want to have anything to do with him. And
you
!” She jabbed a finger at Mara.
“What the hell do you mean by asking him what his damn offer is? I
told you we’re not selling.”

Mara swiped at Mabe’s finger. “Put that
away before you hurt yourself. I just wanted to know what
Shenanigans was worth. I know what a good restaurant goes for in
New York. I’ve watched Jacques negotiate for more than I can count.
His offer, though a little high, gives me a good idea of what the
pub is worth on the open market. I have no intention of selling. It
just gives us a good starting point. I know this hurts your
feelings, but I agree with him. The place needs some updating, and
the food is just plain boring.”

Hearing her sister say she’d no
intention of selling took some of the mad away. She sat back down
on the swing. Her hand shook slightly when she reached for her wine
glass. After a sip she stared at her sisters. “Okay, but I’m still
not going to dinner with him.”

Meg and Mara chuckled.

“
Yes, you are,” Meg
disagreed. “When a drop dead, sexy man asks you to dinner, you say
yes unless you’re married. If it were me, I doubt I’d even let that
stop me.”

“
You two are nuts. Can’t you
see there’s more to this for him? Why would anyone offer twice what
a property is worth? There’s something shady going on here. I’m
going to find out what it is.”

“
There you go,” her oldest
sister pointed out. “A good reason to take him up on his offer for
dinner.” She grabbed her wine glass, eyeing Mabe over the bottle
while she poured another drink. “Sherlock.”

Chapter Ten

Gavin answered the intercom on his
desk. “Yes?”

“
There’s a Mr. Toreni on
Line One for you,” his secretary said. “He mentioned it was
urgent.”

“
Thank you.” Gavin leaned
back in his chair. His hand shook as he reached for the phone.
“McCain,” he spoke into the receiver, struggling to keep his voice
calm.

“
Mr. McCain, how nice to
hear your voice. I believe the deadline for our renegotiated
timeframe lapses in one day. Have you managed to acquire our money
on behalf of your deceased client?”

“
Mr. Toreni, you must
understand that we just buried the man less than forty-eight hours
ago. I’ve hardly been in my office all week. You above all people
know how long it takes to settle an estate. I’m going to have to
ask for more time. Shane’s girls have just reunited after ten
years. They knew nothing about what he owed you.”

“
It’s too late. I’m through
being patient, McCain. Do you think for one minute I give a fuck
about those women? The bar is worth far more than what they owe me.
I can take it all. But fortunately for you and them, I’m feeling
generous. Do your job. Get me my money, or I promise you, you won’t
like what happens next. Six p.m. tomorrow.”

“
But—”

The phone disconnected.

Gavin replaced the receiver, mopping
sweat from his brow with his handkerchief. “Damn those bastards to
hell,” he shouted to his empty office, referring to both Toreni and
his dead best friend.

He needed to talk to Shane’s daughters.
Their only option was to take Aaron Shaw’s deal. They could close
quickly and have the money for Toreni by dinner. But he could only
do so much. Mabe was being a total stubborn ass, refusing to take
the sweet peach of a deal he’d worked so hard to construct. What
the hell was wrong with her? They were out of time. He shuddered to
think what could happen to all of them if he didn’t have two
hundred thousand in cash by tomorrow evening. If Shane only knew
the danger he’d brought to them all by one little swipe of the
pen.

He picked up his phone to call Aaron
Shaw.

“
Hello, Gavin?”

“
We need to talk. You’ve got
to speed up your negotiations with the O’Banyon sisters. Toreni
just called. He’s holding to the original deadline. I don’t have
the money, and I don’t think they do either. I’m sorry to have
drawn you into this mess, but you need to convince them to
sell.”

He sighed. “I’ve already tried. I went
by last night to check on her. I laid out my offer, but she is a
stubborn woman.”

“
She’s an ass.”

“
Whoa there, Gavin. Isn’t
she like a niece to you? You told me you’ve been close to the
family for years. I happen to admire her sense of pride in her
family legacy. I know why she doesn’t want to sell. She’s earned
Shenanigans. God knows what she had to put up with, considering
what a mess her father was. She probably was the only one who kept
the place open. I don’t blame her for not wanting to
sell.”

“
You cannot give up so
easily.”

“
Oh, I didn’t say I was
giving up,” Aaron declared. “I’m having dinner with her tonight.
I’m going to try to convince her to sell. I’ve still got a few
tricks up my sleeve.”

“
I hope you do because
Toreni told me he doesn’t give a damn about those women. He just
wants his money. He’ll get it however he can. He’s a violent man,
Shaw.”

“
I understand, Gavin. Let me
see what I can do.”

Gavin hung up the phone, his attention
drifting to a framed photograph on his desk. He stood by Shane with
the girls on a pier in Boston. The picture was taken shortly after
their mother died of cancer. He sniffed. Aaron was right. He loved
those girls like family. He knew how much Shenanigans meant to
them, but it wasn’t worth their lives...or his.

****

Aaron tapped his phone
against his bottom lip.
Why do Mabe and
her sisters have to be so stubborn? I must be losing my
touch.
He thought he’d be able to at least
get the interest of the two older women, but he was wrong. The only
thing working for him was they’d seen the brilliance in his plan,
but not Mabe.

He laid the phone on his chest, taking
deep breaths in an effort to ease the increased rate of his heart.
He knew how Toreni, how he dealt with people who didn’t pay him
back. Toreni wasn’t into cold-blooded killing. It was a waste to
him because he couldn’t get money from a dead body. But his methods
of intimidation were extremely dangerous. He would do anything he
could to ensure the O’Banyon sisters paid what their daddy owed. If
one of them was hurt in the process, more the better. He couldn’t
let that happen. Even though he didn’t know these women, something
about how they supported each other moved him. He understood
family, what it meant.

His thoughts drifted to the fiery
redhead he’d run into this morning. The jolt of contact had stirred
something in him he hadn’t felt before. Each time he touched Mabe
O’Banyon everything within him sizzled. In his mind, her beauty
surpassed all others. What made her even more intriguing was she
didn’t seem to be aware of it. When he’d walked into Shenanigans
the first time and spotted her pulling draft beers, he’d been swept
away. One look from those emerald eyes stole all sense of reason.
Fate had a way of forcing people into his path. At this moment,
Aaron was convinced the first phone call from Gavin had put the
ball in motion for him to meet this extraordinary woman. As he’d
told Gavin, he admired her grit. She was tough yet displayed the
utmost of tenderness toward her family.

He understood why Shenanigans meant so
much to her. He knew what it was like to work hard for something
only to have it taken away. He didn’t want the same for her, yet he
couldn’t see any other way to help her. They needed the money. He
had it. Shenanigans truly would be a great investment. With a few
upgrades, it would draw in even more patrons than it did now. Even
Mara had seen his logic.

Aaron rose from the edge of
his bed in The Blue Room of Hope’s and Dreams. He paced the
polished hardwood floor, trying to come up with a plan to convince
Mabe to do the right thing. He stopped in front of the fireplace
and put both hands on the mantle, staring down at the cold silent
grate.
Who the hell ever built a fire in
Florida anyway?

He smiled. She was his fire. When she’d
doused him in beer, he was surprised his body hadn’t smoked from
the heat. He knew she hated him, making him more determined to win
her over.

Glancing at the clock, he
realized he had two hours to come up with a brilliant
strategy.
How do I convince a stubborn
mule to move? Dragging it only makes it more obstinate. No, I’ve
got to convince her that selling Shenanigans is the best thing for
her family. I need to use her love for her sisters to motivate her
to see the logic in my plan. To get to her brain, I’m going to have
to go through her heart.

Inspired, he changed clothes and headed
down the stairs. His hostess, Hope McDonald was folding table
linens on the kitchen table.

“
Hi, Hope,” he greeted her,
going to the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water.

“
Hi.” She snapped a cloth
napkin into submission. “What’s up?”

“
I’m headed over to
Shenanigans. Thought I’d grab some lunch.”

“
You sure you don’t want to
grab something else?” Hope cracked a smile but kept her attention
on the napkins she was folding.

“
Why, Ms. McDonald, whatever
do you mean?”

Hope glanced up at him. “I’m not blind,
Mr. Shaw. I’ve seen how you’ve kept your eye on Mabe O’Banyon since
you’ve been here.”

“
That obvious,
huh?”

Hope laughed. “A little.”

“
Do you know her
well?”

Hope indicated a chair at
the table with a nod of her head. He sat. “I came here several
years ago not knowing a soul. I bought this inn sight unseen and
spent quite a while fixing it up. Jake
was
the handy man I chose to do most of the work.” Hope waved a hand.
“Obviously, he did a great job.”