Read Online Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly - Free Book Online Page A

you figure out what it is you want. There’s no need to hurry. Do you see that?”
    “You mean, sort of put my life on hold and just be?”
    Ellen smile. “Maybe. Have you ever done that?”
    Maura shook her head. “I never had the chance. But I guess you’re right. If I can switch that plane ticket, I suppose there’s no reason I can’t just hang out here in Leap until I figure out what comes next.”
    “Exactly. And I’ll see to it that Jimmy and Mick pay you enough to cover your room.”
    “You can do that?”
    “Sure. I know Mick’s sister, and my cousin taught Jimmy’s girl Rose in school. We go back a ways.”
    “I’m not asking for charity, you know,” Maura said dubiously.
    “It’s not charity—it’s helping each other out.”
    She was talking about simple kindness, which had been all too rare in Maura’s life. That was going to take thinking about. “Should I talk to Mrs. Nolan about it?”
    “You’re off to see her again?”
    “I’m planning on it, and I think she’d enjoy another visit. Look, about this car of hers—I feel funny just taking it like this.”
    “She wouldn’t have offered if she didn’t want you to have the use of it. She hasn’t driven in years, and it can’t be worth much. Just enjoy it, will you?”
    Enjoy. Relax. Have fun. These were concepts Maura was having trouble wrapping her head around. And the fact that people wanted to do things for her, make her life easier, took getting used to. Was it that the people here were extraordinarily nice, or were the people in Southie, or even Boston, just less friendly in general?
    “Thank you for being frank with me.”
    “So you’ll be staying on?”
    Maura smiled at her. “Maybe. I need to have another talk with the guys at the pub. That place is a pigsty, and I don’t know if I want to be spending a lot of time there.”
    Ellen waved a hand at her. “Ah, it’s got good bones. Old Mick, he was used to the dirt. But the place has some life in it yet.”
    “Hey, I’m just a temporary bartender who can’t stand dirt. Well, I should go get ready for the day. I’ll let you know what I decide after I speak to Mrs. Nolan and drop by the pub for a chat, if that’s all right with you.”
    “No problem. I’ll be here.”
    Maura stood up, then waved at the child in Ellen’s lap. “Bye-bye, Gráinne.”
    Gráinne looked silently at her, then raised one starfish hand and waved back.

Chapter 7
    M aura collected her bag and her car keys. Dressing had proved challenging, since everything she had squashed into her one bag was still as hopelessly wrinkled as it had been the day before. She could almost hear her gran’s voice:
Ah, Maura, sure and you’re not in such a hurry that you can’t tidy up?
She put the bag down again, shook out the rumpled clothes on the bed, and put them one by one on hangers. She was not happy with the results. If—still an “if”—she chose to stay around longer, she’d have to do some wash. Worse, she’d need more clothes: she was not going to make it working at the pub with only two pairs of jeans. She wondered briefly whether she should ask Ellen where to shop for inexpensive clothes, but that could wait, along with the “where to do laundry” question. She’d makeit through one more day with the clothes on her back, and right now she wanted to get to Mrs. Nolan’s house.
    She slid the house door shut behind her and wrapped her jacket around her against the rain, hurrying to the car. She climbed in quickly, then sat, taking it in. “Hello, car,” she whispered, feeling foolish. “Are you going to be nice to me? Because I don’t know a whole lot about manual shifts, you know.” The car did not answer.
    Maura inserted the key in the ignition, checked to see if the parking brake was on, depressed the clutch and the brake pedals, sent up a brief prayer, and turned the key; the car started immediately.
Oh, yeah!
Next, she located the controls for the windshield wipers—essential