Mabe's Burden (2 page)

“
Okay,” she answered,
surprised at how calm she was. She dashed through the kitchen, only
slipping slightly on the blood soaked floor, and ran to her room.
Grabbing a white terrycloth robe from the back of her door, she
pulled it on, sliding her feet into a pair of old flip-flops. By
the time she reached the front foyer, the EMTs had her father on
the gurney and were bumping it down the front porch
steps.

They reached the ambulance and slid her
father into the back. The other man, whom she didn’t know, ran
around to the driver’s side. Brent climbed into the back. He held
out his hand to her.

“
Climb in.” He offered her a
sympathetic smile. She did, and Brent wrapped his knuckles on the
roof three times. “Let’s go.”

The ambulance pulled out of her
driveway and began the twenty-minute drive to the hospital in
Tallahassee. Mabe stared at her father’s gray face; worried he
wasn’t going to make it.

Chapter Two

Mabe paced the Emergency Room waiting
area, hoping for some word about her father. The nursing staff had
been gracious enough to give her a place to clean up along with a
pair of hospital scrubs to wear. She’d used the time while she’d
showered to put together a mental list of who to contact. Her first
call was to Jake O’Leary, the bartender/chef at Shenanigans. She
told him what had happened. She needed him to open the pub and get
ready for the busy day. He hadn’t hesitated.

“
How’d this happen?” he
inquired.

“
I’m not sure. I didn’t
really get a chance to look around. I’ve got to get home, clean up
all the blood. Once I know how Da’s going to be, I’ll call you.
Jake, I’m afraid it doesn’t look good.”

“
I’m so sorry, darlin’. You
know I’ll take care of the pub. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll
call a few of the waitresses to see if they can come in early to
help me prep some of the food, and get the tables ready. We’ll take
care of everything. You take care of Shane.”

A heavy sigh reached her
ears.

“
What?” She had the feeling
there was something he wasn’t telling her.

“
I should have stayed with
Shane last night. I should have just come on in, slept on your
couch, and maybe this wouldn’t have happened. He was so drunk. He’d
been playing poker in the back room with those thugs he hangs
around with. When things wrapped up, it was really late. I walked
him home, and he said he was going straight to bed, so I didn’t
come in. He must have passed out in the kitchen, hit his head or
something.”

She exhaled, brushing away a tear from
her cheek. Her pain wasn’t so much for her father as it was for
this wonderful man her father had hired five years ago. Jake had
shown up in town, looking for a job, and her dad had given him a
trial run in the kitchen the same day. She hadn’t been as thrilled,
as the man’s self-professed background had been less than savory,
but her father believed in second chances. She was so glad he’d had
been right. Jake had been a total blessing to her on so many
levels. Because of his second chance, he had taken on the difficult
job of being her father’s guardian. No matter how horribly her dad
treated him during one of his drunken tirades, Jake remained
patient. Sometimes, he could deal with the old man better than she
could. She loved him like a brother.

“
Don’t you think for one
minute this has anything to do with you. If he did fall, it’s his
own damn fault. You know there was nothing you could do to stop him
from crawling into his pints, any more than you could have
prevented what happened even if you’d been here. Please don’t
torture yourself.”

“
Still Mabe….” his voice
hitched. “I feel terrible.”

“
Honey, if I felt terrible
every time I think about things I could have done differently with
Da, I would be miserable all the time. He is who he is, and there’s
nothing any one can do about it except to accept him.”

Jake sighed again. “I know…you’re
right. Listen, I could get Paul to run things for us. I could come
to the hospital, so you don’t have to be alone.”

Mabe smirked. “I know you could, but
today’s the first day of the playoffs. You know every baseball fan
in town will be in the pub by the time the game starts. We need the
business, and I don’t trust anybody but you to run things when I’m
not there.”

“
Okay, whatever you want.
You know I’m here for you. Let me know what’s going on.”

“
I will, but I’m telling you
now, it doesn’t look good. I think he was dead on arrival, but they
just don’t want to tell me yet. I was covered in blood when I came
into the hospital. They gave me some scrubs and a place to shower.
I think I was scaring the other patients.”

He barked out a short laugh. “I bet.
You know I’m here if you need me.”

“
I know. Thank
you.”

“
Love ya, kiddo. Call me as
soon as you know what’s going on.”

“
I will. Love you,
too.”

Mabe pressed the end button and slipped
her cell into the pocket of the purple scrubs she wore. Rising from
the uncomfortable chair, she strolled to the window facing the
parking lot. The potential of her father’s death didn’t terrify
her—she’d prepared herself years ago. With the advanced stages of
his alcoholism, she knew this day would come. It would surprise her
if the doctors had any good news at all.

She laid her head against the cool
glass watching the late summer heat shimmer off the car windows. If
she were totally honest, as much as she hated to admit it to
herself, the death of her da would be a relief in many ways. Sober,
you couldn’t ask for a more generous loving man. One who would give
the shirt off his very back to a total stranger. But…he was rarely
sober any more. She couldn’t count the times she’d dragged him home
from the pub with Jake’s help to prevent some brawl or other. Her
da was a big man, burly, red-haired, and strong. There were
countless times he’d slung her tall but petite body to the side
like a rag doll. She had the bruises to prove it. No…losing him
would be sad but not devastating. The pub made a good living for
them. She’d paid off the family home with the earnings, managing,
years ago, to talk Shane into putting her on the deed with him.
That way when the inevitable happened, at least she wouldn’t be out
on the street.

“
Ms. O’Banyon?” A masculine
voice drew her attention from the window. A doctor of about thirty
years of age strolled toward her, his handsome face grim. “I’m Dr.
Hoffman. Let’s sit down over here,” he stated, gently guiding her
to a nearby chair.

So…here it comes. The news
I’ve anticipated all morning.
To save the
doctor some trouble, she spoke first. “Is he gone?”

“
I’m afraid so.” He paused
for her reaction. When he got nothing but a somber nod, he
continued, “We did everything we could, but his heart was weak. We
got it started a few times, but it would stop again. His blood
alcohol level was extremely high, so we suspect alcohol poisoning,
but for a man of his size, he’d have to drink a lot.”

She surprised herself by offering the
doctor a small smile. “I’m sure he was pickled. He had a terrible
alcohol problem. When I found him this morning, I could tell by the
color of his skin I’d probably lost him.”

“
He most likely passed out,
hitting his head on the way down. I venture to say, his heart would
have given out before the day’s end anyway. I’m so sorry, Ms.
O’Banyon.”

“
Thanks. Please, call me
Mabe.” A tear escaped her eye, and the doctor laid a roughly
chapped hand over hers. She stared at it.

“
I’ll call the morgue. They
may want to perform an autopsy since he fell at home. That’s
generally the rule for a sudden death like this. Is there any
family I can contact for you?”

Her head snapped up.
Oh shit
,
I have to call my sisters.
“No. I’ll take care of it. When will we know if there needs to
be an autopsy?”

The doctor rose, checking his notes.
She stood with him. “I don’t see too much information here. I’ll go
see what I can find out. Are you sure you’re okay? Want me to have
a nurse come sit with you.”

Mabe sighed. “I’m fine. Thanks, Dr.
Hoffman. I’ve been trying to prepare myself for this for some time,
but when it actually happens, it’s still a bit of a
shock.”

Dr. Hoffman’s mouth curved into a
slightly crooked smile. If it hadn’t been for the circumstances
she’d have found him very attractive. She was sure many a woman had
fallen for his dark hair, dimpled chin, and sparkling hazel
eyes.

“
Okay. Just have the nurses
page me if you need anything in the meantime.”

“
I will.” She watched him
retreat back into the E.R. She pulled her phone from her pocket.
She glanced at the last email she’d received from Meg. It had come
on Father’s Day. She clicked on reply and typed.

Hi Meg, I don’t know where
you are right now, but I need you to come home. Da’s dead. He had a
fatal heart attack this morning. Call me.

She sent the message. Scrolling through
her contacts, she thought she had a number for Mara, but had no
idea if it was still good or not. It popped up on her screen, and
she pushed the talk button. It rang five times, a voice answered,
“Hi, you’ve reached Mara O’Banyon. I can’t come to the phone right
now, but leave a message. I’ll call you back. Thanks.”

Mabe waited for the beep, left the same
message she’d typed for Meg. A twinge of guilt passed through her
at the blunt way she’d informed her sisters their father was dead,
but neither of them had really cared for him. She didn’t blame
them, but it bothered her they hadn’t at least kept in close touch
with her. She didn’t resent them though. She could have chosen to
take her scholarship to attend Florida State with her best friend
Sandy, but at the last minute, she’d chosen to stay and help her
father run the pub. She’d figured there’d be time for college later
in life.

She swiped at another tear
sliding down her cheek.
Damn
him
.

As mean as he was, he could
still make her cry over his passing. He was the only father she’d
ever known. There was love there. Under the surface there was a lot
of love. In a way, she’d really miss having him around, miss
hearing his strong baritone belting out those Irish drinking songs
when they’d throw a
céilí
at the pub. He was mean, sure
enough, but he was her father, and she would grieve.

She sat in the chair, tears filling her
eyes.

Chapter Three

Mabe stood on the porch of her blue
two-story house on Washington Street. Everything seemed odd without
her father. His presence had always loomed so large in their living
space, and without him, the house was empty, lonely. Leaning
against a column, watching the lazy traffic meander up the quiet
Monticello street, she waited for Gavin McCain, her father’s best
friend and the family attorney. When she’d spoken to him earlier,
he told her there some urgent matters he needed to discuss with
her. Although there weren’t many, Gavin handled her father’s
business affairs. She couldn’t think of a time since her mother
died when he hadn’t been around at some family function or
another.

Out of habit, she glanced at her cell
phone. She’d not heard from either sister in the last twenty-four
hours since she’d left their messages. She expected to have an
email from Meg at least. She couldn’t imagine either of her sisters
hated their father so much they wouldn’t take the time to come to
his funeral. When the Monticello Police released her father’s body,
she’d make sure it was sent to the funeral home. He’d told her once
he wanted to be cremated with no fuss made over his “old dead
bones”. But he was so well known in town, Mabe knew she’d need to
have at least a small memorial service. If all those flowers lined
up along her fence by the street were any indication, the service
would be packed. In a town of less than three thousand, most of
them had come to Shenanigans at least once. Even families would
wander in on Sunday afternoons to watch some sporting event or grab
one of Jake’s famous burgers.

A charcoal colored Mercedes pulled into
the driveway, and Gavin McCain climbed out. He was short, thin, and
balding, but had the most striking green eyes she had ever seen on
a man. He used to joke with her when she was a girl about being a
leprechaun. With some of the magic he’d pulled off keeping her
father out of trouble all these years, she thought that might be
halfway true.

He opened the back door of the car,
pulled out a black leather satchel along with a huge bouquet of
flowers. Tears pricked her eyes at the sight of the simple gesture.
People had been dropping them off all day by the front of the
fence. She’d managed to keep it together, but seeing this simple
bouquet in Gavin’s hand completely unraveled her composure. She
plopped down on the porch swing, crying.

Gavin rushed to her, gathering her into
his arms. “There, there, now, Mabe darlin’. I’ve got
you.”

Her shoulders shook with the sobs she’d
been holding in. She clung to Gavin until the storm of emotion
subsided. He handed her a pressed white handkerchief. Wiping her
face, she glanced up at him gratefully.