Mabe's Burden (4 page)

Meg took her hand and led her around
the Explorer. She opened the door to the passenger’s side. Mabe
froze. Sitting in the front seat was a beautiful little girl of
around ten years old. Her long black hair hung down her back in a
sleek tail nearly reaching the cushion she sat on. She had pale
blue eyes with a smattering of freckles across her nose. She was
neither plump nor thin, and when she glanced up shyly at her aunt,
she offered a tentative smile.

“
Oh, my God, Meg.
She’s….”

“
My daughter.” Her sister
finished for her. “Emma, I want you to meet your Aunt
Mabe.”

Mabe rocked back a step to let her
niece slip down, her white tennis shoe clad feet stretching to
reach the driveway. Mabe offered her a hand. “Here you go,
sweetheart. It’s so good to finally meet you. Let’s get your stuff
out of the back. We’ll get you settled in your very own room. Sound
good?”

The girl glanced at her
mother. When she nodded, Emma skipped to the back of the truck.
Mabe caught her sister’s eye mouthing,
what the hell?

Meg mouthed back,
I’ll explain later.

Mabe helped her sister and newfound
niece carry their few small suitcases up to Meg’s old room. She
watched her take in the sunny yellow walls. A white, Queen Ann bed
sat by the window. A dresser, along with a small desk, completed
the simple ensemble.

“
You haven’t changed
anything. It’s just like I left it.”

“
I never knew when you might
come home. I didn’t want to change it. Everything is clean,
including the towels in the hall bathroom. Come on, Emma. I’ll show
you where you can stay.”

“
She’ll stay in here with
me,” Meg assured her. “Emma doesn’t like to sleep alone in strange
places.”

“
Uh…okay, sure.” She smiled.
“It actually works out best if Mara wants to stay here. Okay with
you, kiddo?”

Her niece nodded. She climbed on to the
bed with her stuffed bear.

“
Can she watch the TV in
here?”

“
Of course,” Mabe told her,
moving over to the flat screen television positioned on the corner
of the desk. She twisted it around so the screen faced the child on
the bed. Handing her the remote, Mabe looked at her sister. “I’ve
got some great cinnamon buns in the kitchen. You two want
one?”

Emma shook her head. She pressed the
power button on the remote, quickly finding an engaging
channel.

“
One hour, little girl,” Meg
told her daughter.

“
Aw, Mom, come
on.”

Mabe held a hand over her mouth to hide
her smile. A memory of when they were kids flashed into her mind.
Before their mother died, she would always restrict the amount of
time they could watch television. Emma sounded exactly like Meg had
when they were her age. She watched in slight amazement how Meg
tilted her head at just the same angle their mother used to. She
gave her daughter the same stern look. “One hour.”

“
Okay, okay.” Emma lay on
her stomach on the bed, her pretty face propped on the back of her
hands.

“
Come on, sis. I want one of
those cinnamon buns. Is it Mom’s recipe?”

Mabe nodded, allowing her sister to
lead her to the kitchen, still stunned by her extra, unexpected
guest. After making a fresh pot of coffee, she joined her sister at
the table.

“
Things haven’t changed
much,” Meg observed, looking around the kitchen.

“
No, not here. But you? My
God, Meg. A daughter? Why in the hell didn’t you ever tell
us?”

Her sister sighed, dropping her gaze.
“I know, right? Imagine me, a mother.” She huffed out a low
laugh.

“
How old is she, like
ten?”

Meg nodded. “She’ll be ten in March.
And, irony of all ironies, her birthday is St. Patrick’s
Day.”

“
You’re kidding.” Mabe rose
to silence the beeping coffee maker. She grabbed two mugs from the
cabinet. “I’m just floored.” She did a quick calculation in her
head. She almost dropped the mug full of coffee. She set it down on
the table with a bang, the hot liquid sloshing over the sides. She
plopped into the chair. “Oh…My...God. That baby is Rod’s. That’s
why you ran away, isn’t it?”

Tears formed in Meg’s eyes, sliding
down her pale cheeks. She reached for a napkin. “I just couldn’t
face Da. He’d have killed us both. I thought it was just easier to
run away.”

“
Wait. Does Rod
know?”

Her sister shook her head, miserable.
“I never told anyone. We’ve made a good life for ourselves, my Emma
and me. It’s been hard, but I think she’s a great kid. I know
you’ll come to love her like I do. You know how scary Da was. It
was just easier to stay away.” Meg swallowed a sip of coffee. “My
baby girl didn’t need a grandfather who’d treat her like a bastard
child. I knew what Mara faced all those years, so I couldn’t
subject her to any of his drunken insults.”

Mabe just stared at her
sister.
I’m an aunt. She could have at
least told me. How do you keep a secret like this from your own
family?
“I would have helped. I could have
sent money, gift cards, toys…whatever you needed. It sucks you shut
me out. I get it about Dad. I really do. But me? Why did you shut
me out?”

Meg rose. She drew her sister into her
arms. “I’m so sorry, honey. I really don’t know how to answer
except I was young and scared. I wasn’t sure how you’d react. I
didn’t want anyone running to Rod or Da. The more the time passed,
the simpler it seemed to stay quiet.”

Mabe grabbed her sister. She
squeezed her so tight a whoosh of air slipped through her sister’s
lips. “I’ve missed you so much. There were so many days I needed
you, wanted you here with me. It was so lonely after you two left.”
She pulled away, searched her sister’s blue eyes. Something didn’t
look right, but she didn’t want to bring it up yet. She was so
happy to see her and her daughter.
Wow. I
have a niece
. She grinned. “I can’t believe
you’re a mom. Is it hard? How did you survive? Where did you go?
I’ve got a million questions.”

The two women sat. Meg grabbed another
cinnamon roll, nibbled at it. “Here, refill my coffee. I’ll give
you the Reader’s Digest version.” She held the mug out to Mabe who
refilled it with coffee, cream, and plenty of sugar. Her sister
needed to gain a few pounds in her opinion.

“
Okay, spill it.”

“
Before I do, I want to ask
you a few questions. First, are you okay? You found him,
right?”

She sighed. “Yep. Right there on the
floor, bleeding all over the kitchen. He must have passed out and
hit his head on the counter. It was a mess.”

“
Oh my God, that must have
been really hard on you.”

“
Not really. It wasn’t that
much of a surprise. He had it coming. The drinking had gotten way
worse over the last two years. I knew it was only a matter of time.
He’d either have a heart attack or get run over by a car on
Washington Street walking home from Shenanigans. I tried to take
care of him. I really did, but he was uncontrollable most of the
time.”

“
I know, honey. I remember.
How’s the pub doing? Do you have enough help to keep it
running?”

Mabe thought about Gavin’s visit from
earlier, but decided to keep the debt a secret. She would wait
until their sister showed up to let Gavin tell them all together.
No sense spoiling her reunion. “I’ve got a great staff. They pretty
much run the place without me. Jake O’Leary is the bartender slash
cook. He’s a Godsend. The wait staff has been with me for a long
time, and they’re great, too. But enough about me. Tell me about
you.”

Meg took a sip of coffee. Breaking off
another little piece of cinnamon bun, she waved it at Mabe. “The
day I found out I was pregnant I hopped a bus and didn’t stop until
I got to Little Rock.”

“
Arkansas? Why
there?”

“
To be honest, it sounded
like a great place to raise a kid, so I stopped. I got a job
waiting tables at a little diner downtown. I spent a few weeks at
the Salvation Army women’s shelter—”

“
Oh no, why didn’t you call
me? We could have figured out something to tell Da. He went crazy
after you left. He went straight to Rod’s house, banged on the door
in the middle of the night. He was positive you were
there.”

“
Oh, my God, no.”

Mabe nodded. “He was furious, but Rod’s
father helped me calm him down. Of course they hadn’t seen you. His
dad helped me get Da home. It was ugly, I tell you.”

“
I didn’t tell him about the
baby because I didn’t want to screw up his life. Mine was already
ruined, or so I thought at the time. I knew I’d keep the baby, so
running away seemed like the right idea at the time.”

A tear trickled out of Mabe’s eye. She
couldn’t imagine what Meg’s life must have been like, how terrified
she must have been being in a different state a world away from
where she’d grown up, alone and pregnant. She reached for her
sister’s hand, squeezed it tight. “You were very brave. I wouldn’t
have had the guts to pull it off. Wasn’t it dangerous living in the
Salvation Army place?”

She snorted softly. “I was scared, I
have to tell you. Here I was a young, naïve, stupid girl, with pale
skin, blue eyes with raven hair. Let me rephrase, I was terrified.
But…I was very fortunate to meet a woman who owned the diner where
I worked. When she learned my situation, she let me live above the
diner in a little one bedroom apartment.”

“
Wow, someone was watching
over you, that’s for sure. Did you stay there until Emma was
born?”

“
I did. The woman’s name was
Marjorie. She talked me into going to college. I graduated with a
teaching certificate and started teaching elementary school. I
found a job at a private school which also had a Pre-K program. We
were able to get a larger apartment near the school so it worked
out great after all.”

Mabe stared at her sister. This was the
woman who could barely pass a test in high school. Now, she was a
teacher. She was about to praise her and tell her how proud she
was, but the phone rang. She held up a finger and reached for it.
“Hello?”

“
Mabe? It’s
Mara.”

“
Oh, my God, I didn’t think
I’d hear from you.”

“
Thanks a lot. He was my
father, too, you know.”

“
I-I know. I didn’t mean to
be harsh. I just wasn’t sure I had the right cell number.” Mabe
rolled her eyes at Meg.

“
Still acting superior?” she
mouthed.

Mabe nodded. “Where are
you?”

“
I’m at the airport in New
York. I should arrive in Tallahassee around six tonight. Can you
pick me up?”

“
Eek, they’re delivering
Da’s body to the funeral home this afternoon. I have an appointment
with the funeral director at five. What’s your flight number? I’ll
see what I can do about having someone pick you up.”

“
American, flight 878. I’d
appreciate it. I hate to take a taxi so far.”

“
Meg’s here,” she informed
her sister. “She’s—”

“
Great, tell her hi. Gotta
run. See you tonight.”

“
Mara? Hello?” She stared at
the phone. “She hung up on me.”

Meg smiled sympathetically. “Same old
sister. She always did love to lord it over everyone. Do you want
me to pick her up at the airport?”

She rejoined Meg at the table. “Would
you mind going to the funeral home with me? I’d really like your
company. I’m not sure I know what I’m doing. I can ask Jake if he’d
pick her up.”

Meg grabbed her hand. “Of course I
will, sweetie. You just tell me what you need. I’m here now. You
don’t have to do this alone. Should we wait for Mara?”

“
No, I’ll call Jake. She can
meet us back here.” She punched another button on her phone. “Hey,
how’s the pub?”

“
Quiet,” he responded. “You
okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah thanks for asking.
Hey, my sister just got here with her daughter.”

“
A daughter? Did you know?
Shane would have had a cow.”

“
I know, right? She’s a
precious thing. I’m so glad they’re here.”

“
I bet,” Jake commented,
surprised. “Wow, a daughter.”

“
Listen, I’ll explain later.
Right now, I need a huge favor. Could you possibly head into
Tallahassee to pick up my other sister at the airport?”

“
Sure. You know I’ll do
anything to help. Give me the details?”

She gave Meg a thumbs up. “Thanks Jake,
you’re a Godsend.” She relayed the flight information.

“
Does she still look like
her pictures in your house?”

“
I have no clue. I’ll take a
snapshot of the photo on the wall and text it to you. Maybe you can
hold up a little sign or something.”

“
Oh, just great. Maybe I
should rent a limo.”

She laughed. “Hey, be sure to get one
of those little caps, too. She’d feel like royalty.” She could
almost hear his eyes roll. Jake didn’t go for the fancy. He was
probably the most down to earth man she knew. She wondered what her
oldest sister would think of him.