Mabe's Burden (20 page)

He stirred next to her, wrapping his
arm around her waist, pulling her to him. “Good morning,” he
muttered his voice sexy with arousal.

She kissed him on the nose. “Good
morning.”

“
What time is
it?”

“
A little after nine. I need
to get moving. Today’s beer delivery day. I promised I’d help
Jake.”

Aaron groaned. “I hate beer delivery
day. Let Paul help him.”

She laughed. “Why? You don’t have to do
anything.”

He snuggled his face in the crook of
her neck. “Because it means you have to go in early.”

“
Didn’t you say you had
meetings in Tallahassee today?”

He sat bolt upright in the bed. “Oh
shit! What time did you say it was?”

She grinned. She knew he still had
plenty of time, but she loved teasing him. “A little after
nine.”

He threw back the covers. “I’ve got to
get moving.” He strode naked into the bathroom.

She grinned, admiring his
backside.
Boy, he’s really got a nice
ass.

“
What time will you be
back?” she asked, rising, slipping on her jeans and
T-shirt.

He started the shower. “A little after
five I guess.”

She went to the bathroom door. She
leaned against the frame. “Aaron, what are we doing?”

He turned his face to her, eyes
squinting against the shampoo streaming down his cheeks.
“Huh?”

“
I mean, you’ve been renting
this room from Hope, and I know what these rates are. It can’t be
cheap, yet you never talk about going back to your home. I’m not
really even sure where that is. You’ve mentioned Atlanta, Vegas,
New Jersey. Come to think of it, I don’t even know very much about
your family at all.”

His body stiffened slightly. He stuck
his head under the water.

“
Aaron?”

“
I heard you,” he said.
“Can’t we talk about this later? I’m running a little
late.”

“
I know. I just feel like
over the last several weeks you’ve learned all there is to know
about me, but I know very little about you.”

He soaped up, rinsed. Twisting off the
water, he reached for the towel she held out to him. Grabbing one
end, he pulled her into him. She squealed as the front of her
t-shirt got soaked. He bent down, kissed her soundly on the mouth.
“I promise when I get back tonight, I’ll come by the pub. We’ll
talk all you want.”

She smiled, satisfied. “Okay.” She
looked down at her shirt. “Now look what you’ve done.”

He handed her the hair dryer. “Here.
Dry off your boobs.”

She laughed and switched on the
appliance. When her shirt was reasonably dry, she handed him back
the dryer. “Thanks. I’ll see you later.”

He kissed her again, deeply this time.
“Mabe, I am a free spirit. I live wherever the work is. Today, it’s
here with you. I still think you should let me buy the pub. It
would save us all a lot of trouble, but—” He held up a hand when
she started to protest. “—since that’s not going to happen, I want
to be with you until you get Toreni paid off.”

He held her hands in his “I have three
condos. One in Atlanta, one in Vegas, and one in Atlantic City.
Since my work takes me all over the United States, it works for me.
My mother lives in the condo in Vegas. Sometimes she travels with
me to Atlanta, but most of her friends are in Nevada, so she spends
a lot of her time there. The rest will have to wait for tonight
because I’ve got to meet a client in less than thirty
minutes.”

Her cheeks flushed. She hated the
feeling of doubt causing her to ask such personal questions, but if
she was going to invest any more of herself in their relationship,
she needed to fill some gaps. For now, the information she’d gotten
would do. She would find out more about him tonight. More about
him, along with more about where the crazy thing between them was
going.

“
Okay, I’ll see you
tonight.” She kissed him again and left the room.

She crept down the stairs, sneaking by
the kitchen. This time, Hope was busy with her guests, so she
escaped without being seen. Walking home, light-footed, she hummed
to herself. It was fun to be this happy. She was glad her sisters
had encouraged her to go out with Aaron. In spite of the fact they
now seemed worried, she was enjoying her time with him.

When she reached the house,
she noticed a small moving truck parked out front. She
smiled.
Must be the rest of Meg’s stuff
from Arkansas
.

They’d worked hard the last few
weekends, clearing out old furniture from her father’s bedroom and
Meg’s old room to make room for them to move in permanently. They’d
move in most of their stuff, but they had also rented a storage
unit not too far away to store the rest of her stuff. Knowing what
her sister was facing after her surgery, Mabe needed her close by
in order to be able to look after her.

Meg came out to the porch just as she
bounced up the steps. “Hey, I see your stuff got here
okay.”

Meg’s expression betrayed worry. “Are
you sure about this? I don’t want to crowd you.”

“
Oh, don’t be ridiculous. I
want you and Emma here. You need me, and I need you. Is there
anything I can do to help?”

She shook her head. “Don’t you have a
beer delivery today?”

“
I do, but Jake can handle
it if you need help.”

“
No, I’m fine. Mara’s here,
and she’s very good at bossing people around, so they’ll be gone in
no time.”

Mabe laughed. “Okay. I’m going to grab
a shower and get on down to the pub.”

She passed the two movers on her way
inside. She smiled. Nearly colliding with her sister, she said,
“Hey, watch the arm.” She held up her cast.

Mara rolled her eyes. “When does that
God awful thing come off?”

“
In two weeks, I hope. I’m
off to take a shower.”

“
Make sure you lock the door
so these two dunderheads don’t walk in on you.”

She laughed. “Good idea,” she shouted
over her shoulder, jogging up the stairs.

Mara met Meg in the kitchen where she
was pouring a cup of coffee. She held it out to Mara who accepted
it gratefully.

“
I guess she was with Aaron
again last night,” she commented.

“
Ah, Meg me darlin’, you
make the best coffee.”

She laughed at her sister’s imitation
of their father. “Thanks. It’s a secret ingredient.”

“
Before I go back to New
York you need to share.” Mara sat down at the kitchen
table.

Meg poured herself a cup of coffee,
joining her. “When do you think you’ll go back?”

“
I don’t know. Jacques keeps
bugging me to come back, but I’m sort of enjoying my time out of
the rat race.”

Meg searched Mara’s face. “I’m glad
you’re here, but I don’t want you putting your job in
jeopardy.”

She waved a hand. “Pshaw. He can’t find
another great chef like me. I’m not worried.”

She smiled. “I wish I had your
confidence. You always did know exactly what you wanted and how to
get it.”

“
Not necessarily a good
thing,” Mara commented, holding up one finger. “Put that in the
bedroom down here.” Mara instructed the movers where to put the
mattress they’d just lugged up the stairs. They nodded, squeezing
past them.

She sighed. “I’m so glad you were here
to help with this. I’m not quite up to snuff today.”

“
I know, honey. It’s okay.
We’ll get this taken care of and then you can lie down for the
afternoon. I’ll take Emma to the park or something. Give you a
little space.”

Meg patted her sister’s hand. “Thanks.”
She cut her glance to the stairs.

“
What?”

“
Oh, I don’t know. I’m just
worried about Mabe and Aaron. Do you think he’s told her the truth
yet?”

“
Not sure. If he has, she
sure is taking it well. My guess would be no.”

“
Shouldn’t we tell her? I
just don’t want her to get hurt.”

Mara took a sip of coffee. “It’s not
our place. If what he told Gavin is true, then he’ll tell her in
his own good time...the way he wants to. I wish he’d hurry up, but
I’m sure he’s afraid of her reaction.”

She blew out a breath. “I just see her
falling more and more in love with him. I really think when she
finds out who he is; it’s going to break her heart. I think we
should tell her before she gets any more invested than she already
is.”

“
If she reacts negatively,
then we’ll be here to see her through it. She’s enjoying being
happy, and I, for one, am a little reluctant to end that for her.
She’s had so little of it.”

Their gazes met. “I guess you’re right.
I’m just a worrier.”

“
You’re a Mom. Moms worry.
Frankly, I’m more worried about what the loan officer is going to
say.”

“
Yeah, me too. But maybe
with all three of us signing the loan, we can get what we
need.”

“
Shh, here she
comes.”

Mabe entered the kitchen, wearing fresh
jeans with a hot pink cami, her red wavy locks captured in a
ponytail. “Oh yay, coffee.”

“
You want some breakfast?”
Meg asked.

“
Nah, I’ll have Jake
scramble me some eggs at the pub after we get the beer put away.
What are you two doing today?”

“
I think I’ll take Ems to
the park, so her mom can rest after the movers leave. You need help
at the pub?”

“
Nope. It’s going to be
slow. You two take the day. Enjoy it. I’ll probably go out with
Aaron after he gets back in town. He’s got meetings in Tallahassee
today.”

“
Have you heard anything
about the loan?”

“
Not yet. I can’t imagine
what’s taking so long. With you along with Aaron co-signing, I
can’t imagine it will be a problem. We can finally get the sleazy
mobster paid off.”

Mabe grabbed a mug from the cabinet and
poured coffee. She leaned against the counter, took a sip. She
sighed, long and deep. “I swear I thought the pub was finally free
and clear. Still pisses me off every time I think about
it.”

Mara put her arm around Mabe. “I know.
I’m so sorry you couldn’t have Shenanigans without so much
headache. I’d give it all to you if I could. I just don’t have
enough.”

Mabe hugged her sister close. “I know
you would. I love you.”

“
I love you, too. How are
you doing with Aaron?”

Mabe narrowed her eyes. “There it is
again.”

“
What?”

“
That feeling that you two
disapprove of him. You were shoving me at him less than three weeks
ago, but now you both seem so reserved.”

Mara looked away, putting her dishes in
the sink. “I just don’t want you to be hurt. This relationship of
yours seems to be moving terribly fast.”

She snorted. “I hardly think we could
call it a relationship. To your point it’s only been a few weeks.
I’d say we’re more friends with benefits.”

Mara punched her sister on the
shoulder. “Oh, come on. You practically glow once you’ve been with
him. Either the sex is off the chain or you’re falling in love with
him.”

“
Ow.” She blushed. “I don’t
know. I’ve never felt this way about a man before... that I’m sure
of. But I still don’t know very much about him or where he comes
from. He said we’d talk about it more tonight.”

“
Really?”

She nodded. “I don’t like secrets. I’ve
lived with enough of them. They always lead to trouble.”

“
I know how you feel, and
hopefully you’ll get your answers tonight.”

“
Maybe. I don’t want to
push. I really have enough on my plate without adding a
relationship to it, but when I’m with him, it just feels right
somehow. You know what I mean?”

“
Not yet, but I hope to
someday.”

Mabe set her cup on the
counter. “Wait. You and Jacques don’t have...oh what would you call
it…
zing?”

“
Good God, no. I know a lot
of people would think I’m a whore for what I’m about to say, but
Jacques was a means to an end. At heart, he’s a good man, but he’s
a bit controlling. I don’t see a solid future for us.”

Mabe glanced at her sister. “How do you
feel about that?”

“
I don’t know. He’s done a
lot for me and my career. I’m truly grateful, but with Meg being
sick, and you having all these troubles with the pub, I don’t know
I’m even sure I want to go back to New York. I guess I’ll have to
for a while to get my affairs in order.”

“
Affairs?” she
snickered.

“
Ha ha. Anyway, It’s
important to trust the man you love. It’s important to have more in
common than what you do for a living. Jacques and I only share our
passion for cooking and a bed. Not too much more, I’m
afraid.”