Mabe's Burden by Kelly Abell Page B

the ass. But she
wouldn’t trade the weather come winter. Those cool, low humidity
days were just pure heaven when December rolled around. Once
hurricane season was over the best time of year began. Hopefully,
this whole mess would be behind her by then. She had no idea where
she’d get the money to pay off those loan sharks, but find it she
would. She’d call a family conference when she got back. They would
work out how to pay back the debt. If she had to go to the bank to
beg, borrow, or steal the money, she was not about to let some real
estate jerk have her bar. Not ever.
    Mabe jogged down the sidewalk, turning
right on Washington Street. Her route took her down by the
courthouse, around by the Hanging Tree, to Jefferson. She’d pass
Shenanigans, cross Washington up to Palmer Mill Road by The Hope’s
and Dreams Inn, owned by her friend Hope McDonald.
    As she passed the white Georgian
Mansion, she noticed the same BMW from the night before was parked
in the drive. She thought about dropping in to tell Hope what a
snake she had for a guest, but decided she was being truly surly
this morning. The man had deceived her, true, but he was just
looking for a cheap real estate deal. He’d have no way of knowing
what the pub meant to her. Normally, she wasn’t a rude person, but
the fact he’d just assumed she’d be willing to sell because she
couldn’t run the place with her father gone, banked her anger all
over again.
    She rounded the tall green hedges
flanking the inn and ran full on into Aaron Shaw. The collision
force knocked them both backward on their butts. She yelled out,
breaking her fall with her elbow on the hard concrete. They both
sat for a moment, Mabe cradling her injured arm, and Aaron shaking
his head. He stood slowly, held out a hand for her.
    “ I’m so sorry. I didn’t see
you or even hear you coming around the hedge. Are you all right?”
He stared at her for a second. “Oh, it’s you,” he commented,
withdrawing his hand, leaving her to struggle to her feet
alone.
    “ Thanks for the assistance,
asshole. The least you could do is help a lady up once you plow her
over in the middle of the sidewalk.” She twisted her arm gingerly
to examine the damage. It had already begun to swell, and blood
dripped from her elbow.
    “ I’d hardly call you a lady,
but your arm looks pretty bad. Why don’t you come into the inn? Let
me see if we can get you some ice. I’ll drive you to the ER if
you’d like.”
    She lifted her chin. “I can drive
myself to the ER if I need to go, but I wouldn’t say no to some
ice.” She limped toward the front of the inn.
    He hustled around her and opened the
gate. He wore a tight T-shirt which hugged a nicely toned body. She
didn’t miss the muscular thighs extending from his black running
shorts. His hair was pulled back into a short tail, but most of it
waved about his face in wild damp curls. His brown eyes showed some
concern, but she didn’t suspect for one moment he regretted
knocking her down.
    When he caught her staring,
she fought desperately to keep the heat from rising in her cheeks.
She positively hated this man, yet she found herself attracted to
him at the same time. Why does he have to
be so sexy? Why couldn’t he be some short, balding, pudgy man who
was easy to bully and ignore. Shit.
    “ I think Hope went to the
store, but she showed me where everything is, so I can put an
icepack together for you.” He led her into the charming yellow
kitchen from the back door. Hope’s basset hound waddled up to her,
licking at her scraped legs.
    “ Hey, Portly. How ya doin’,
boy?” She rubbed the dog’s head. He chuffed out a greeting, his
tail waving back and forth. “Hope’s a friend of mine, I know where
everything is. I’ll take care of it. You go finish your run. Try
not to plow down any old ladies while you’re at it.”
    “ Jeeze, I said I was
sorry.”
    Grabbing a dishtowel out of the cabinet
by the sink, she went to the freezer. She tried