Baile Siochanta (Southern Vampire Mysteries)

Chapter 23 - Roving

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"I don't think you should make this decision until after you come back." Maryann and Sookie were sitting in the kitchen of the main house. There was only one couple staying at the B&B, and they'd be down in half an hour. "There's heat in the apartment. You could easily live here through the winter. There's no hurry to leave."

It was the first time Maryann had said anything that wasn't remotely Team Breandan, and Sookie couldn't hide her shock. "I thought you wanted us to get married," Sookie bit her lip. She'd been up, tossing and turning all night, questioning this very thing, and now here was her boss, expressing doubts as well.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Maryann shook her head, and then shook it again, as if she was trying to escape spider webs. "I don't think Breandan's bad, he's just not right for you."

"What brought this on?" Sookie asked.

"Again," and Maryann shrugged, "I can't explain it. Some part of me has been thinking this for a while, but I just couldn't... well, maybe I didn't want to say it out loud. It's not that you don't make a handsome couple, you do! I can see he makes you laugh but, the truth of it is, you're a strong woman, and he is not your match. Now, I know the whole business about opposites attract and finding those who fill your weaknesses, but this is different. Breandan is altogether too inclined to go along with the last person who spoke with him, which spells trouble. What's more, he's proud. He'll come to resent you and when that day comes, he'll make you a terrible husband."

"You've never said anything about this before." What was most distressing to Sookie was hearing her boss saying out loud all the faint whispers she had heard from her own self. Now, hearing the words out loud, it was all her worst fears being made real. "I promised..."

"And what is a promise, if it's made from ignorance?" Maryann scoffed. "You did the right thing, you took your time. Now, if you really think I'm full of it, then you can tell me to go stuff it, but I don't think you do."

"No, I don't think you are," Sookie shrugged. "I just don't know."

"Then, just as well you're taking this crazy adventure of yours. You'll be alone all day, and that will give you plenty of time to think things through." Sookie glanced at the hiking poles laying alongside the door. She had decided to celebrate the approach of her first year in Ireland by hiking the national trail that snaked around the peninsula here herself. It would take ten days. She'd start here at Seacoast Shores and end here, and when she returned, she'd pack and move in with Breandan, first to The Grand, then Killary once the cold weather started.

"What if I do decide not to stay with him?" Sookie asked. It was another first, the first time she'd allowed herself to say it out loud.

"You can continue to work here," Maryann assured her. "You had a dream about opening your own B&B. Your citizenship papers came through, so there's no reason you couldn't pursue that. With a word from me and Northman, you'd get another dozen book-keeping customers from town. You'd have to give up your waitressing, but you'd make a lot more money."

"I'm not sure I could stay in Slievemore if I broke it off with Breandan," Sookie told her boss. It had occurred to Sookie that as much as Breandan could be loving, he could also be cold. She hadn't seen it directed toward her in any meaningful way, but she thought that if he were to turn against her, it would be unpleasant.