Mabe's Burden (24 page)

“
Go write your letter. I’m
serious.”

He leaned back in the chair, his gaze
never leaving Hope’s. “You know what? I think I will. A love letter
might just be the way to win her back.”

“
That’s the spirit,” she
said, grinning. “Take a few cookies with you for inspiration. I
always bake too many.”

Aaron grabbed a few from the basket.
“Thanks, Hope...for everything.” He leaned in, kissed her on the
cheek and headed upstairs.

He threw his black garment bag on the
bed. Stuffing his suits and shirts inside, he cursed. If he’d only
taken the time to tell Mabe sooner about his family. But she’d
learned the truth from a picture left in her sister’s
room.

“
Damn it!” he shouted,
tossing the shoes he’d been holding onto the bed.

For the first time in his life, he’d
found a woman who revved up more than his sexual drive, and he’d
blown it. She was not only beautiful, but smart, funny, and knew
her way around a pub. Many a night when he’d lain awake beside her
in the dark, he’d pictured what a future with her might be like.
Both of them working side-by-side in Shenanigans, or maybe he’d
keep his real estate deals, let her run the pub alone. Either way,
he’d have someone to come home to at the end of a hard day. Someone
he could share his innermost secrets with. Someone he could have
children with.

Whoa! I really do have it
bad. Me? Marriage? If I’d been more honest, she’d be here with me.
Idiot
.

He added the black duffle to the
garment bag including the few remaining clothes from the closet. He
stuffed his shoes in the side pockets and went to the bathroom to
get his toiletries. The sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach
wouldn't subside. Somehow he needed to make her understand. He
wasn’t the demon she thought he was. It had never occurred to him
they would find out who he was. Cursed Internet. Why hadn’t he
thought of it?

“
Because you’re a dumbass,
that’s why,” he said to the mirror.

He turned to the desk thinking about
Hope’s suggestion. A love letter. With the modern convenience of
cell phones, laptops, along with various other means of electronic
communication, the handwritten letter had become a lost art.
Perhaps it was just the vehicle he needed to express exactly what
he felt in his heart for Mabe. Would she appreciate the effort or
would she tear it to shreds the minute she found out who it was
from?

Aaron sighed.
No sense getting bogged down in rhetorical
questions.
He pulled out the ladder-backed
wooden chair and squeezed his legs under the small desk. Opening
the lap drawer, he pulled out several pieces of pale blue
stationary with the Hope’s and Dreams logo at the top.
How funny. Hope’s and Dreams. Something I’m
pretty short on.

He held the pen over the
light blue fibrous sheet.
What am I
supposed to say? I’m sorry I didn’t quite cut it?

Writing that letter was probably one of
the most difficult things he had ever done in his life. He wanted
to express all he felt for Mabe, while at the same time help her
understand who he was. She needed to understand how he felt about
what his mission in life had become. He wasn’t proud of his roots,
but he was satisfied with the man he’d grown into.

He exhaled a breath, placed the pen
carefully on the desk. He neatened the stack of stationary, folding
the pages in half. Slipping them into the envelope, he sealed it,
wrote Mabe’s name across the front. He sincerely hoped she would
believe his words and send for him, but until she did, he made up
his mind he wouldn’t come back to this little charming town. What
had been a hopeful beginning was now a sad, lonely ending for him.
It was time to crawl back to his den to lick his wounds.

But which den would he go to? He had
several choices. Atlanta felt too close, New Jersey too far away,
then it hit him. Where did most wounded hearts go when they needed
to heal?

Home to Mama.

Chapter Twenty

A week went by before Mabe was able to
face her sisters, but they’d had a heart-to-heart, promising never
to keep secrets from each other. They were family after all, and to
her, that meant everything. Her heart was still heavy but most of
her anger toward Aaron had subsided to grief and self-loathing for
becoming involved with a man like him. But there were times, in the
dark lonely hours just before dawn, she’d still think of what it
felt like to have his warm body next to hers. She dreamed of their
lovemaking, sometimes waking fully expecting him to be beside her.
Then, every time, reality came flooding back along with the
anguish.

In the last few days though, he’d had
become the least of her worries. She’d been busy with Shenanigans,
trying to keep it running all the while worrying about the loan.
She’d heard nothing from the loan officer at the bank, and each
time she tried to follow up there was always an excuse. He was at
lunch, on vacation for the day, in a meeting. Today she’d decided
was his day of reckoning. If he wasn’t going to loan her the money,
she’d at least have him tell her no to her face.

At her last visit to the doctor, she’d
had her cast replaced with a more flexible one, which she
maneuvered through the sleeve of her most professional black dress.
When the doctor had x-rayed her arm, he’d been pleased it was
healing. She, too, was grateful. He told her he hoped to take the
cast off in two more weeks. He’d recommended therapy, but she knew
between lifting beer kegs and carrying heavy trays laden with
drinks, she would get enough therapy at Shenanigans to get her back
into fighting shape. Fight...that was what she planned to do. No
one was taking Shenanigans away from the O’Banyon sisters. No
one.

“
Hey, Aunt Mabe, you look
pretty. Where are you going today?”

“
Hey, squirt. Zip this up
for me, will ya?”

“
Sure.” Emma came around and
zipped up her dress.

“
Aren’t you going to be late
for school?”

“
Nah. Mom’s dropping me off
this morning on her way into the doctor in Tallahassee.”

“
Oh shit, I forgot she was
going today. Is Mara going with her?”

The girl nodded, offering Mabe a shy
grin. “You said the ‘S’ word.”

“
Oops. I did, didn’t I?” She
ruffled the girl’s hair. “I’m sorry.” She paused when she caught
the anxious expression on her niece’s face. “What’s wrong little
one?”

Tears sprang to those haunting blue
eyes, and Emma wrapped her arms around Mabe’s legs.

“
Hey, hey, look here.” She
lifted the child’s chin with a finger. “What’s all
this?”

“
Mom’s going to die, isn’t
she?” Emma choked out the question, trying bravely to hold back her
tears.

Mabe grabbed a handful of
tissues, handing them to her, backing her up to sit on the bed. She
held the girl in her arms while she sobbed.
Poor lamb, always trying to be so brave for her mom. The
closer her mom gets to her surgery the more unglued she becomes. I
know the feeling.

When her sobs subsided, she blew her
nose. Mabe squeezed her shoulders. “You listen to me, little duck.
Your mom is going to have her surgery, we’re going to help her
through the chemo, and whatever other yucky things she has to go
through. She’s going to come out of this. We’re O’Banyons. We never
let little pesky things like cancer take one of our own. You got
that?”

Emma sniffed. “Don’t lie to me, Aunt
Mabe. I know how sick she really is. I’ve heard her crying in her
room at night.”

Poor kid. We’ve been so
wrapped up in our own worries we’ve completely missed how brave our
Emma is trying to be.
“Listen to me. I
promise I won’t lie to you if I think things are going to get
really bad. You have a right to know. But I’m telling you true, we
are going to do everything we can to help your mom beat this. I
believe with all my heart she will. Positive thinking is more
important than any surgery or chemo. Do you understand?”

She nodded but still looked
doubtful.

“
I know it’s hard for you to
stay strong, and I want you to come to me or your Aunt Mara anytime
this gets to be too much for you, okay? We’ll go get some ice
cream, talk it out. What you need to do is think super-positive
thoughts and pray for your mom. Prayer is a powerful weapon. Little
girl, when you’ve got three O’Banyons praying all at the same time?
That’s pretty hard for God to ignore. Okay?”

The corners of Emma’s mouth turned up
in a tiny smile. She nodded.

“
All right, then. Let’s go
get this day started.”

Hand-in-hand, they entered the kitchen.
Mabe cringed. Meg looked so pallid, standing by the door, car keys
in hand. She took a deep breath, smiling bravely at her
sister.

“
I was wondering where you
were. We’re going to be late if you don’t come on.” Meg cocked her
head, looking hard at her daughter. “Have you been
crying?”

Emma glanced up at Mabe who winked. The
child’s face split into a wide grin. “A little, but I’m okay. Let’s
get this show on the road.” She grabbed her lunch box and headed
out the back door.

Meg looked quizzically at her. “What
was that all about?”

“
The power of positive
thinking.” She wrapped her sister in a tight hug. “Mara’s going
with you today, right?”

“
Was Emma upset about
me?”

Not wanting to have any secrets any
longer Mabe didn’t lie. “Yeah, but she’s a tough kid. We talked it
out. I explained to her how tough we O’Banyons are, and we aren’t
going to let a little thing like cancer get one over on
us.”

Her sister smiled, eyes moistening with
tears. “Thank you. You’re the best thing that’s happened to my baby
in a long time. I love you.”

Mabe hugged her sister fiercely. “I
love you, too. Bring me home so good news.”

She sighed. “I doubt we’ll have much,
but I’m staying positive like you said. Are you going to the
bank?”

“
Yep. I’ll check in on Jake
until it opens, but I want to be there when Mr. Chicken Shit walks
into his office. He’s not getting away from me this
time.”

“
Go get ‘em,
tiger.”

“
You, too. I’ll talk to you
this afternoon.”

She nodded and turned to go. “Oh, I
almost forgot. Hope dropped this off for you yesterday. I covered
it up with a magazine, so I forgot it. Also...” Meg reached into
her purse. “I’ve been waiting to give you this until the right
time. Don’t open it now. Wait till later.” She handed Mabe the
black velvet box, Aaron had left for her.

Mabe accepted the box along with the
light blue envelope with her name written neatly across the front.
“What’s this?”

“
I don’t know. Hope just
told me to make sure you got it.”

She eyed the two items suspiciously but
then slipped them into her purse. “Okay, thanks.”

“
Gotta run. Emma’s going to
be late for school,” Meg remarked, hurriedly. “See you
later.”

She smiled as her sister scuttled out
the back door. She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at
the kitchen table. She bowed her head and said a prayer for both
Meg and the approval of her loan. If she didn’t get it, she had no
idea what she would do next.

****

The clock read 9:02. Mabe waited for
the bank manager, Chris Sullivan. The teller went into his office,
to tell him she was waiting. He glanced through the glass wall at
her, frowned then slowly nodded.

The perky teller came into the lobby.
“Mr. Sullivan will see you now.”

“
Thanks.” She rose,
following the blonde into the lender’s office.

“
Good morning, Mabe,” he
greeted her. “Have a seat.”

“
Hi, Chris. Let’s get right
to the point.” She sat on the edge of the chair across from his
desk. “Are you going to grant me this loan or not.”

“
You’re asking for a lot of
money. I’m sorry you’ve waited so long for a decision, but a loan
of this magnitude had to go before the board, and they just met two
days ago.”

“
Well?” She held his
gaze.

The little man with wire-rimmed glasses
squirmed in his seat. He tugged at the collar of his starched white
shirt.

“
Chris?”

He cleared his throat, clasping his
hands together on top of his desk. “I’m afraid the board said
no.”

“
What? Why?” she demanded.
“I’ve got three co-signers, the pub’s been appraised, and you know
I always pay off my debts. I even paid off my car loan early. You
know we’re good for this.”

He sighed. “This isn’t just about you.
This loan is huge. If something went wrong, causing you to default,
the bank would be left with a restaurant we’d have to
sell.”

“
We won’t default on it. The
pub appraised for more than what I’m asking to borrow. We need to
make those improvements. When we do, we’ll be busier than ever.
I’ll have plenty left over to pay back the bank.”