Mabe's Burden Read Online Free PDF Page A

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