Mabe's Burden (9 page)

Mara leaned back in her chair. “Well,
who is it, then?”

“
Do you remember the trip he
took to Vegas?” Mabe popped the pills in her mouth and down them
with a gulp of water. “It was a couple of years ago. He’s probably
been stringing them along for a while. Gavin told Aaron they were
tired of waiting.”

“
That was nice of Gavin to
share all our personal business with a complete stranger,” Meg
huffed. “Even if he’s a hot stranger.”

“
Are you serious right now?
Maybe I should tell him to come over, so you can bang him to get
this obsession out of your system.”

“
Hey, I’m not the one who
got knocked on her ass and spent the entire morning being doctored
on. Sounds like you two got pretty chummy.”

Mabe rolled her eyes again. “Very
funny. I’m still extremely pissed at him. He had the nerve to
assume he’s saving us from some horrible fate. Like some super
hero, trying to save the day.” She puffed out her cheeks. “As you
know, I haven’t needed a man to take care of me in a long time. I’m
not about to start any time soon.”

“
What are we going to do?”
Meg’s worried gaze passed from one sister to the other. Mabe caught
the look on her sister’s pale face but didn’t say anything. The
ache in her arm was about all she could concentrate on—not to
mention the people her father owed a small fortune to.

“
Meg, you always were a
worrier,” Mara said. “We have to come up with the money. If we want
to keep the pub, then it’s our only choice.”

“
Where in the hell are we
going to get two hundred thousand dollars?” Mabe asked.

“
Let’s talk about it while
we run you into Tallahassee to see about your arm. I’m no nurse,
but it looks pretty bad, honey. I’ll go get Emma.”

Mara caught Mabe’s gaze after their
sister left the room. “Do you really believe these people are that
dangerous? Do we need to call the police?”

She shrugged. “It could be a scare
tactic to push us into selling, but he seemed genuine. It’s hard to
tell with a charmer like him. If Gavin weren’t so nervous, spilling
his guts to Aaron, then I’d brush it off. But I have to tell you, ”
she said, glancing at the doorway to make sure Meg was out of
earshot, “I’m a little concerned. He even mentioned he’d hate to
see the pub burned to the ground, so we would have to collect the
insurance money.”

“
Did Da have life
insurance?”

“
He did. At least I have a
policy, but I never followed up to see if he kept up with the
premium. He left it all to Gavin. I’m not sure these men will be
willing to wait until we get the death certificate and file the
claim.”

“
Okay, let’s go,” Meg
announced, coming into the kitchen.

“
What happened, Aunt Mabe?”
Emma stared at her arm.

“
I fell down hit my elbow on
the sidewalk.”

Her niece looked from her elbow to her
face. “I think it’s broken.”

“
Oh, jeeze. Can we just go
already?”

****

Mara paced the waiting room while the
rest of them sat in nearby chairs. Eventually, she sat down next to
Mabe.

“
I’ve got some money saved,”
she declared, “but not too much. Maybe we could use it for a down
payment until the life insurance money comes in.”

“
Assuming the policy is
still in force. It would be just like our father to have let it
lapse. He never was one to really believe in life insurance. I’m
the one who made him get the policy. It was a wonder he ever got
approved with his pickled liver.”

“
Hey, Mom, isn’t this the
place we came to the other day?” Emma asked.

Meg shifted uncomfortably in her seat,
glancing around nervously. She jumped when the nurse at the
reception desk called her sister’s name.

Mabe drew her brows together as she
looked at Meg. “You’ve been here recently?”

“
They’re waiting,” Meg
urged. “Hurry up.”

Mabe walked to the impatient nurse. She
looked back at her nervous sister, who smiled, offering a finger
wave.

A few minutes later, Mabe was being
wheeled down to X-ray. She waved at Emma. “Be back in a minute,
squirt.”

“
What will they do to her,
Mom?” Emma asked, her eyes round.

Meg sat back in the chair and sighed.
“They’re going to take a picture of her bones to see if anything is
broken. If it is, they’ll put a cast on her arm.”

“
Cool. Mary Harper at school
got her arm in a cast. We all signed it. Do you think I could sign
Aunt Mabe’s cast?”

“
I’m sure she’d be very
happy if you signed it.”

Emma was quiet for several minutes.
“I’m bored.”

Mara smiled down at her impatient niece
and then looked at her sister. “You look exhausted. Are you not
sleeping?”

Meg shrugged, handing her daughter her
phone. “Here, you can play Temple Run.”

“
Really?” She brightened and
snatched the phone.

Mara studied Meg. “You feeling okay?
You look a little pale. I know these last few days haven’t been a
picnic.”

“
I’m okay. Did you talk to
Jacques this morning?”

“
Yes, he’s already pestering
me to return to New York. I told him I’m planning on staying at
least a week or more. He wasn’t very happy, but I assured him I’d
be home before too long. Men.”

Meg smiled. “I know. I’m glad I haven’t
had to deal with one.”

She lowered her voice so Emma sitting
on the floor a few feet away wouldn’t hear. “Why didn’t you ever
tell Rod about Emma? He really should know.”

Meg glanced at her daughter then back
at her older sister. “I guess. It just seemed easier not to back
then. As time passed, it got more awkward. I didn’t know how to get
in touch with him. I didn’t want anyone to find me or tell Dad, so
I just kept quiet.”

“
How about now? The whole
town knows she’s your daughter. She was the center of attention at
the wake last night. His parents were even there. I saw you talking
to them. You don’t think they may have noticed a
resemblance?”

“
I hope not.” Meg looked
alarmed.

“
Why don’t you want him to
know? It’d be great for her to have a dad. You don’t have to marry
him, you know.”

Meg laughed. “For all I know, he’s
already married.” She shifted in the chair, letting out a long
drawn out sigh. “It’s better this way. Let’s just leave it alone.
They’ll be plenty of time for truth or dare later. Besides, he’s
still off in the army. He doesn’t need stuff to worry about at this
late stage.”

Mara raised an eyebrow. “What do you
mean?”

Meg ignored her. “Look, here comes
Mabe.” She rose to greet her. “What’d they say?”

“
It’s broken, damn it,” Mabe
said, disgusted. “They’re going to have to put a cast on it for six
damn weeks. I’m going to kill Aaron Shaw.”

Mara exchanged a smirk with Meg over
their sister’s head.

“
I know you two are smiling,
so cut it out.”

Emma came running over to her aunt’s
side. “Can I sign your cast?”

Mabe looked into her niece’s bright
blue eyes. The sweet expression and love she harbored for her niece
caused her irritation with Aaron to fade a little. Who could resist
such a precious face? “Of course you can, sweetie. You can be the
first.”

They followed her down the hall. Just
as they got to the door, another doctor strode through the set of
double doors at the end of the corridor. Mabe spotted a look of
recognition on the man’s face when he spotted her sister. Meg
shoved her daughter into the examining room.

“
Hey.” Emma
complained.

“
Meg?” the doctor called,
increasing his pace. “Why are you here? Are you all right?” The
trim man’s brown eyes were full of concern.

Mabe glanced at Mara who arched a brow.
She pushed the wheelchair through the doorway to Mabe’s protests.
“Wait a minute. I want to see what’s going on.”

“
Let’s get you seen to
first.”

“
But—”

The door swung shut, leaving Meg in the
hall with the doctor.

“
Why are you here?” he asked
again.

Meg pointed at the door. “My sister
broke her arm. We’re here for her not me.”

The doctor blew out a breath. “Oh,
good. I was afraid you’d had another episode”

“
No, I’m fine.”

“
I’ll call you when Dr.
Stevens comes in next week. We can decide what you want to do,
because I don’t want to wait much longer.”

She nodded. “I don’t either, but I have
to take care of a few things first.”

The man leaned forward, held her gaze.
“You’ve got to tell them, Meg. They will be your best support
through this.”

A tear leaked from the corner of her
eye. She swiped at it angrily. “I know, but it’s just not so easy.
I show up on their doorstep after ten years, attend my father’s
funeral, and you want me to dump this at their feet?”

“
It’s not dumping,” Dr.
Walker reminded her. “It’s building a support network for when
you’re going to need it most.”

“
Look, when I got Dr.
Steven’s name from my friends in Little Rock, I didn’t know you
were going to come with the package. Just leave me alone. I’ll
handle this in my own good time.”

“
I’m not the one who
strolled in here off the street two days ago in so much pain you
could hardly stand up straight.”

She sighed. “I know. I appreciate your
help. It’s much better. But after sharing my diagnosis with you, I
certainly didn’t expect you to say anything in front of my
family.”

“
I won’t. But you need to,”
He offered her a pointed stare, then left her.

“
Mom, are you coming in?”
Her daughter asked, her head poking out the exam room
doorway.

She forced a smile. “Yep. What color
cast are they going to give her?”

“
Ooh, do you think they have
pink?”

“
Let’s find out.”

Meg entered the room with her
daughter.

, “Okay,” the doctor spoke to Mabe.
“I’m going to have to set this elbow. It’s not off by much, but
this isn’t going to be pleasant. Do you want them to
leave?”

Meg nodded. “Yes, we should leave,” she
agreed hurriedly.

“
But, Mom, I want to
watch.”

“
We’ll come back when he’s
ready to put on the cast, okay?” She pulled Emma out by the
hand.

Mara followed, grumbling, “I surely
don’t need to see that.”

They strolled down the hall a short
distance. Mara stared pointedly at her sister.

Meg drew her hand across her throat in
a silencing gesture, tilting her head toward Emma. Mara got the
message, but her expression clearly betrayed both curiosity and
concern.

When Mabe cried out in pain, their
attention was drawn back to the examining room. Emma’s eyes grew
wide again.

Meg ruffled her daughter’s hair. “She’s
okay. It just hurts when they set the bone, then it feels
better.”

Emma looked doubtful. “I don’t want
them to hurt her, Mommy.”

“
It’ll be okay. Do you still
want to see them put on the cast?”

Emma hesitated, her expression
doubtful. Meg could imagine the wheels turning in her daughter’s
mind. Emma glanced up, offering her mother a brave smile.
“Cool.”

Meg returned the smile, nodding her
head just slightly. “Okay, let’s go back in.”

When they entered the examining room,
the nurse had just started to wrap Mabe’s arm. Emma walked over,
took Mabe’s hand. She smiled, glancing into her aunt’s teary eyes.
“It’ll be okay,.”

Mabe touched her forehead to Emma’s. “I
know, kid. I’m okay. Hey, what color should I get?”

“
You get to pick a
color?”

She nodded.

“
Pink! Get Pink!”

Mabe glanced up at the doctor. “You
heard her.”

The doctor, whose name read Dr.
Anderson on his name tag, smiled. “Pink it is.”

He finished casting her arm and signed
a release form. “We’ll see you in two weeks.”

She rolled her eyes, annoyed. “Okay. In
two weeks.” The nurse handed her a card with the doctor’s office
address written on it. “Thanks. Okay,” she declared standing, her
arm in a sling against her chest. “Let’s go home.”

Mara drove the group home in Mabe’s
SUV. Before she’d driven too far, Emma was asleep, her head on her
mom’s lap in the back seat.

“
This sucks,” Mabe
commented. “I’m not going to be able to work with just one
arm.”

“
I’ll help out,” Meg
offered.

Mabe twisted in the seat, eyeing her
sister curiously. “Who was the doctor you spoke to? When would you
have been at the hospital in Tallahassee?”