Mabe's Burden (26 page)

“
Funny. I’m sure Toreni will
find a way to take care of us and get his money at the same time. I
have to say, I’m a little spooked.”

Mara glanced at Mabe’s purse on the
swing. The corners of both the velvet box and the letter poked out
at the edge of the leather bag. “What’s that?”

“
What’s what?”

“
Those two things sticking
out of your purse.”

“
Is that what I gave you
earlier?” Meg asked.

“
Yes.”

“
Are you just going to keep
us in suspense?”

Mabe sighed. “It’s a letter and a
diamond necklace. From Aaron.”

Both her sisters jumped up and squeezed
in beside her on the swing.

“
What the…? Jeeze,” Mabe
moaned.

“
What did it say? Was it a
love letter?” Meg wanted to know.

She sighed. “Yeah.”

“
Let me see the necklace,”
Mara begged.

“
Ooh, let me read it,” Meg
demanded reaching for the pages.

Mabe snatched them away. “No, Miss
Nosey. It’s none of your business.”

“
Come on. At least let us
see the necklace.”

She sighed. She pulled the box from her
purse, handing it to Mara. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

Mara opened the box. She gasped,
showing the necklace to Meg.

“
Wow, honey,” Meg exclaimed.
“That’s beautiful.”

“
It is gorgeous,” her oldest
sister agreed. “But what about the letter? Did he declare his
undying love?”

“
Actually, he
did.”

“
Nuh-uh...Really?”

Mabe nodded, a tear slipping down her
cheek.

Meg wrapped an arm around her. “Can we
read it?”

Reluctantly, because she was still a
little angry with her sisters, she handed over the
pages.

Mara read the letter first and then
passed it to Meg. When she’d finished, Meg looked down and dropped
her hands in her lap. “Wow.”

“
I know, right?” Mara
agreed. “He certainly seems contrite.”

Mabe glared at Mara. “So what? He still
lied.”

“
He did,” she agreed. “But
he was going to tell you about it the same night at
dinner.”

Mabe rolled her watery eyes. “Yeah,
sure. Of course he says that.”

Meg sighed. “I have to be honest,
honey. I’m the one who wanted to tell you right off when we found
out who Aaron was, but Mara convinced me to hold off.” Mabe started
to speak but she held up her hand. “Wait, let me finish. I knew it
would hurt you, but I felt you had a right to know. Now, I wish you
hadn’t found out when you did. I wish you’d given him a chance to
tell you about his family himself.”

“
What changed your mind?”
Mara asked. “You were pretty adamant about telling
Mabe.”

“
I know I was. After reading
this,” she said, holding up the pages, “Maybe I’ve been wrong about
him. If you think about it, Gavin brought him to us. The man didn’t
seek us out on his own. Then he offered us a very fair price for
the pub. Even though we weren’t interested in selling, it was a
fair price. He wasn’t looking to cheat us. Then he even offered to
let you run it. Why would he do all that if he was trying to take
advantage of you?”

Mara stared at her middle sister. “I
can’t believe this is you saying this. Mabe, she was ready to cut
the man’s throat when she found out he was kin to a mobster. Now
she’s his champion.”

Meg glowered at Mara. “All I’m saying
is I believe him. I believe he was trying to help us. He loves
you.” She turned to face Mabe on the swing. “You should call him,
invite him back. You two can work this out. You were happy with
him. You even said it felt right. When you find someone who
inspires those feelings, it’s a blessing from God. I had it once,
but wasn’t brave enough to fight for it. I may never find it again.
Don’t let love slip away from you because of your
pride.”

Mabe swiped a tear from her eye. It
suddenly hit her what Meg was trying to say, and she wrapped her
arms around her sister. She’d spent her entire adult life raising a
baby alone, having no one to share those special moments with. When
Mabe had been with Aaron, those days had been the best of her life.
She loved her sisters and niece, but being with him was different.
Yet, he’d still lied to her. And if he did it once, he’d do it
again. She didn’t think her heart could take it.

“
Meg, we’ll always be here
for you. Through thick or thin. That’s what family is for. This is
your shot at love. I think you should forgive him, ask him to come
back.”

She shook her head. “If I do, he’ll
only think it was because I couldn’t get the money any other
way.”

“
You’re more stubborn than
Da sometimes. Forget the pub for a minute. If you’d just met him on
the street without all this other drama, and the two of you had
spent those blessed days together, what would you do?”

“
That’s unrealistic. What
happened happened. We can’t pretend it didn’t.”

“
True,” Mara agreed. “But
you can wheedle through all the crap to admit how you really feel
about him. Do you love him, sis?”

She jumped up off the swing, pacing to
the porch railing. “I don’t know. I’m so confused. I thought I did,
but he hurt me. Bad.”

“
I know he did,” Meg said,
her voice ragged with emotion. “But if you love him,
really
love him, don’t
let this get in the way. He really hasn’t done anything so
horrible. Not like what I’ve done to Rod. It could be worse. A lot
worse.”

Her words seared through Mabe’s brain.
She really hadn’t given much thought to Meg’s secret. Aaron’s
secret had been nothing close.

“
Maybe we were too hard on
him,” Mara agreed. “You didn’t see his face when he was trying to
get past Jake up those stairs to see you. He was torn
up.”

Mabe sat back down on the swing between
her sisters. “I’ll think about it. I just don’t like being lied
to.”

“
No one does,” Meg said.
“But he had your best interests at heart.”

“
Maybe,” she reluctantly
agreed. She didn’t know why it was so hard to forgive him for not
telling her who he really was. It wasn’t the worst crime in the
world. People hid things from others all the time. She thought
about the fact Meg never told Rod he had a daughter. Wouldn’t
something so egregious be way tougher to forgive than what Aaron
had done to her?

His face formed in her mind. His warm
chocolate eyes, masculine features, and wavy dark hair filled her
inner vision. She’d often wondered what his expression meant after
they’d made love. The way he’d traced her cheek with his
fingertips, placed those soft kisses on her lips. He’d held her
close...had warmed her heart like no other man in her life. If she
were truly honest with herself, she’d missed him.

A lot.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Aaron sipped his glass of wine, placing
the crystal on the end table next to his chair. He glanced about
his suite, comparing it to the small cozy room at Hope’s and
Dreams. This was as lavish as that had been simple. Frankly, he
preferred Hope’s place—or Mabe’s cozy little parlor—to all this
plush opulence. His mother enjoyed it though. She’d not been raised
in it, but after “the family” had become “successful”, she’d come
to prefer it.

He thought back to their
conversation from the night before when he’d told her what had
happened with Mabe. She never criticized. He’d poured out his heart
while she listened. He expressed regret over his failure to fulfill
his father’s wishes by removing her completely from the family.
There was remorse over his concealment of his identity to Mabe and
what it had cost him, and finally, sorrow over his loss of
identity. Where did he want to go in life? What did he want to
become? He’d spent his entire time since college following around
his uncle, pulling people from his clutches. At times it had been
rewarding, but it wasn’t what he wanted to
do
with his future.

He wanted a family, a home, a business,
all of which he could call his own. He did enjoy commercial real
estate, the wheeling and dealing. He liked getting bargains, doing
improvements, then reselling for a higher price. He also enjoyed
working with some of the charities that applied to their
foundation. So maybe, in retrospect, he wasn’t such a big loser.
But he didn’t have what he wanted most—Mabe.

After a week in Vegas, he was ready to
go. But where? He had no real deals lined up in any state, but the
thought of staying anywhere near the home base of his uncle
nauseated him.

He glanced at his watch. He was due to
meet his mother for dinner in less than thirty minutes. After his
workout he needed a shower, so he rose pulling his clothes off on
the way to the opulent marble bathroom.

He turned on the double showerheads,
adjusting the water temperature to scorching hot. After the
punishing workout, the warmth would help wash away some of the
soreness. He leaned his head against the cool tile, letting the
water cascade down his body. Memories of his last morning with Mabe
flooded his mind. The heat in her green eyes just before they’d
made love again. They’d both been running late, but at that moment,
it had been so important they be together again. Feeling the warmth
of each other’s bodies pressed close. God, he missed her. His
smacked one fist against the tile and cursed. If he’d just told her
the truth from the very beginning.

A loud shout from the other room drew
his attention. He cracked the glass door of the shower. “Anybody
there?”

“
Aaron, it’s me. Mom. I need
you to come out here quickly please.”

“
What’s wrong?”

“
Just hurry,
please.”

Forgetting about the shower, he grabbed
a robe from the back of the door and hurried out to the suite area.
“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“
Mom, what’s
wrong?”

His mother was pacing in front of the
large glass window offering a tremendous view of Las Vegas. Her
slight form looked even smaller against the vast city outside. She
was wearing a trim pair of tan slacks with a white tunic blouse
belted at the waist by a fanciful gold cord. Her graying short hair
was stylishly arranged to frame her delicate face. Her reflection
in the window showed her brown eyes were filled with worry, her
mouth drawn in a tight line.

She turned to face him. “What was the
name of the bar you told me your girlfriend owned?”

“
Shenanigans, why?” Anxiety
bubbled up inside him.

“
I was down in the dining
room choosing tonight’s menu for us when I overheard something I
think you should know.”

“
What?” he growled. “What is
that son of bitch up to?”

His mother winced at the vulgarity but
didn’t comment. “I overheard one of Rocko’s men complaining he was
going to have to fly to Tallahassee tonight for a job in
Monticello, and how much he hated that little, pardon the
expression, piss ant town. He said he’d been ordered to torch a bar
called Shenanigans. Apparently, the loan your girlfriend was after
fell through, and she can’t pay Rocko back.”

Panic seized him. “When did he say he
was leaving?” He ran to his bedroom.

“
I don’t have a time, but
you can use my jet,” she called after him. “I’ve already told
Vinnie to be ready to fly.”

He hurried back into the room, shoving
a leg into his jeans, nearly sending himself to the floor in the
process. “I’ll never forget this, Mom.” He stopped. “This isn’t
going to put you in a very good light with Rocko. Please come with
me. Go grab some things. We’ll go to Florida together. I’ll set you
up in a nice condo on the coast of Destin. It’s gorgeous
there.”

Evelyn Shaw smiled and touched his face
while he buttoned up his shirt. “I’ll be fine here. Don’t you worry
about me. Rocko’s a horrible man, but I’m his sister. In his own
twisted way, he loves me. I’ve got the foundation, all my friends,
everything I love to do is here. You go to your ladylove. Save her
and her bar. Make her understand how much you love her. If she
loves you, too, like it sounds to me she does, she’ll forgive you
in time. Mabe will come to see what you did came from the
heart.”

Aaron placed his hands on his mother’s
shoulders. “Please, Mom. Come with me. You can run the foundation
from anywhere. You can invite all your friends to come visit
anytime you want. I promised Dad I’d get you out of this mess. This
is our chance.”

Evelyn sat, pulling his hand to join
her on the sofa. “I know you have to go, but before you do, I want
to tell you something. From a mother to her son, I know how much
your promise to your father has meant to you over the years. The
things you’ve done would have pleased him tremendously.

“
You’ve saved people who
would otherwise have been ruined by my brother. Your father would
be very proud of you, but I also know he wouldn’t expect you to
ruin your life over it. You’ve done enough, son. Go to Mabe.
Convince her to forgive you and start a life together. You’ve got
enough money so neither of you will need to worry.”