Purling Road - the Complete Second Season: Episodes 1-10 by M L Gardner Read Free Book Online

asked.
    She snorted and then laughed. “Go home to what? A boring husband? A crazy mother-in-law? Screaming children and piles of dishes?”
    Arianna glared at Claire. “Why don’t you go home?”
    “Arianna, you’ve lost your mind.”
    Arianna found this hilarious, dropped her purse on the floor, and bent over in fits. Then she sobered her eyes boring into Claire’s.
    “If you only knew,” she whispered, and for a fraction of a second, she looked as if she might cry.
    If Claire thought there was any chance she could win, she’d slap Arianna senseless, tackle her, and drag her by the hair back to the truck.
    “We’re not leaving without you,” Ava said, stepping in.
    “Then have fun trying to keep up.”
    Arianna and Josh turned away, moving toward the staircase.
    “What are we going to do?” Claire asked in desperation. “She could kill herself tonight.”
    Ava spotted Arianna’s small beaded purse lying on the floor. She picked it up and fished out the keys. Her eyes flashed with the answer.
    “I’ll stay here and keep my eyes on her. You go get Maura.”
     
    ***
     
    “I had a fair idea of what this madness looked like from stories I heard ye tell.” Maura watched Arianna dancing on a tabletop, a sea of men surrounding her, cheering her on. It appeared that instead of dancing to the music, the band was playing for her. “But it’s quite somethin’ else to see it in person.”
    “Can you get her to leave?” Claire asked.
    Ava rushed up and grabbed Maura’s arm from behind. “Thank God you’re here. Another five minutes and she’d be topless.”
    Maura cocked a critical eyebrow. “She’s damn near there now. How much has she had to drink?”
    Ava lolled her head around, estimating. “Bottles. I don’t know. Enough to put a horse under along with a taste of everything else this place has to offer.”
    She patted Ava’s hand. “Aye, I’ll see what I can do.” She shoved her way past people without apology. When she approached Arianna’s personal stage, she whacked the back of a few heads with her handbag to get them out of the way.
    With her arms up in the air, her hips gyrating wildly, she caught sight of Maura glaring up at her. The smile slid, the show stopped.
    Maura beckoned with two fingers for her to get off the table. Ava and Claire held their breath, wondering if she’d comply. Much to their surprise, she did. Of course, they knew she’d eventually obey Maura. They just didn’t expect her to so without a fight.
    She climbed down, holding the hand of a stranger as she stepped from table to chair to the floor.
    “Yer husband will be waiting fer ye at home,” Maura said, meeting Arianna’s harsh glare.
    She blinked slowly and then walked with as much dignity as she could muster past Maura toward the door.
    “How…” Ava looked at Claire.
    “If ye think I’ve some magical powers, I don’t,” Maura said as the three followed a stumbling Arianna. “It’s all in the timing. She’s on the verge of passing out.”
    Arianna spun around at the door to face them. “I had a good time tonight,” she declared. “They loved me!” She threw her head back and it, along with the rest of her body, kept going. Maura, Ava, and Claire stared at her lying quite undignified, sprawled out on the floor of the grand foyer.
    “Well, I suppose we’ll have to carry her to the truck now,” Maura said with a sigh.
     
    ***
     
    Aryl took Claire’s hand. “I’m glad you told me,” he said. “I’m sorry the evening went so wrong.”
    “So far as Caleb knows, Maura went with us last night. She agreed to go along with it. It was the only way to explain why she was there to help Arianna home. He wasn’t thrilled to be woken up in the middle of the night to help carry his drunken wife into the house and then have to drive all three of us home.”
    “No, I don’t suppose he would be. He’s got a long day of building ahead of him.”
    “I had no idea she’d go crazy like that. Not