4. Greer
greer
“Just go drop off the burger and say hi,” I tell Callum and he glares at me, wiping his hands on his apron.
“Why bother? What would be the point of investing any time into some tourist?” he asks.
I take a deep breath, cause he’s not wrong. We’ve been burned before. It’s the reason he refuses to call us a pack, even though that’s how Lain and I refer to ourselves.
We courted an Omega; she found her scent matches, and she dropped us like we were nothing. We haven’t been open to dating anyone for two years now.
I thought Lain might just be feeling the itch to bond riding him when he brought up the Omegas he saved on the side of the road, but now that she’s sitting at my bar, I can’t deny I feel something too.
It’s unprecedented. It’s not like plenty of beautiful women, tourists or not, don’t find themselves at my bar. But when she touched my arm? It was like my skin was electrified, and I’m not sure I’ve felt that with a woman ever.
“Can you just go give her the food, at the very least?” I say back to Callum.
He rolls his eyes, but grabs the plate and takes it out to the bar.
I watch through the windowpane as he walks behind the bar and hands her the plate. She gives him a smile, that he doesn’t return. In fact, he doesn’t say a word, and walks right back into the kitchen.
“You didn’t need to be a prick,” I chastise him, and he just shrugs his large shoulders.
“You told me to drop off the burger. I did what you asked.”
“And?”
“And she’s pished off her fucking arse.”
Okay, I can’t deny that she’s indeed intoxicated, but that’s why I cut her off and ordered her food.
“She’s having a bad day,” I tell him. Not that she’s told me directly. I’ve just overheard some of her conversation with Alan.
Why, of all people, she’s chosen the oldest Scotsman in this damn town to confide in, I don’t know.
“She’ll be up and gone before the lettuce goes bad in the fridge. You and Lain need to stay away from that Baobhan Sith,” he says, calling her a mythical creature of the Highlands. A beautiful vampiric fairy that lures men to their demise.
“Yeah? Is she going to lure me in and drink my blood?”
“Probably something worse. She’s temporary, Greer. If you want to go fuck her and get it out of your system, be my guest, but don’t get attached.”
I frown at him. I’m not a casual guy and he knows this. He turns his broad back to me. His sous chefs give me looks that say I’ve poked the bear too much and if we want to get through tonight, the best thing I can do is let him be.
When I come back to the bar, Maisie has eaten her entire burger, but she’s resting her forehead on the bar top.
Alan is rubbing her back and points down at her.
“Sorcha, can you take over the bar?” I ask, as my cousin nods and takes over.
I round the bar, grabbing Maisie’s jacket and handbag before lifting her into my arms.
“Alright, damsel, it’s time to get you home,” I tell her and she rests her face against my collarbone.
“Have a goodnight, Maisie!” Alan shouts after her.
Rory is between sets and opens the door for me as we step out into the colder night air. The autumn breeze sends a chill through Maisie and I place her jacket on top of her.
“I can walk,” she says, but doesn’t open her eyes or do anything to move herself out of my arms.
“I don’t doubt you have the ability, but probably not at this very second.”
“Ugh. I never drink like this,” she says, groaning.
“Not the smartest thing to do on your own, let alone in a place you’re not familiar with,” I scold her gently—I can’t help it.
I try to get a whiff of her scent. Nothing. Whatever deodorizers or scent blockers she’s using must be high-grade. There isn’t a single hint of what her scent could be.
She takes a deep breath as I walk down the street toward Heather Beag. Hopefully, in her drunken stupor she doesn’t find it odd that I know where she’s staying—Lain told me.
She sighs dramatically and pulls away from my collarbone. Her eyes are filled with tears, making her irises look the most gorgeous unnatural shade of bright green. The gold round glasses she wears are charming as she presses them straight on her face and sniffs.
“I got fired because I was an Omega today. I’ve worked so hard for that job, and it’s not even that,” she says, a tear falling free.
“Work was my highest priority. I put it above everything, even my family. Now my mom’s gone and I’ll never get that time back,” she says and I hold her closer to my chest.
Surprisingly, she nestles in even more, and I wonder if she’s touch starved.
Callum’s words ring around my head about not getting attached. That she’s just a tourist, but I promptly ignore them, like I do with most of the things that come out of his mouth.
“They’re wrong for firing you and I’m sorry about your ma. But your sister is still here, you still have time,” I tell her, not knowing what else to say.
“I don’t know who I am without a job,” she whispers.
“The best thing about the Highlands?” I say, garnering her full attention.
“They’re full of magic. Some would say it’s the fairies that roam the mountains, but I think it’s the land itself.
Sometimes the beauty of it all is enough to make you realize just how precious life is.
If there’s anywhere to figure out who you are or what you want, I reckon Scotland might just be the perfect place to do it. ”
She stares at me for a long minute, and then her face goes pale.
“Oh, God. Put me down,” she says, scrambling out of my arms, running to the nearest bush, where the burger I forced her to eat is promptly relieved out of her stomach.
I approach her, and she holds out an arm to keep me away as she finishes. When she’s done, she takes a steadying breath, and when she turns to face me, I can tell she’s completely mortified.
“I think I’ve got it from here,” she says.
“If you think I’m going to let you walk home in the dark alone while you’ve had too much to drink, you’ve underestimated what kind of man I am.”
She sighs, pushing back a curly lock of hair. “Sorry. I’m just embarrassed. This isn’t who I am, and I’ve made a horrible impression.”
“You haven’t. Let’s get you into bed,” I say, holding out her jacket, as she slips her arms in, before wrapping her arms around herself.
A few times I have to grab hold of her jacket and steady her when she hits an uneven piece of road.
We go through the backgreen, and I put in the code for the door. Maisie glances at me.
“Effie and Angus are like family to me,” I tell her, and she accepts that answer as we walk through the lounge.
Speak of the devil, Effie is sitting by the fire.
“Maisie, dear, there you are. Thank you for bringing her home, Greer. Such a braw young lad, don’t you think, Maisie?” Effie says, and I give her a look. “Let me go make you some ginger tea to take upstairs.”
“Thank you, Effie. I’m so sorry that I came in so late.”
“Dinnae fash, who hasn’t had a late night out? Greer, can you make sure Maisie makes it up the stairs?” Effie says.
Maisie’s face is bright red as we head up the stairs, I trail behind her to make sure she doesn’t fall. She fumbles with her key, and before she can unlock it, the door swings open.
A woman who looks similar to Maisie, with darker hair and no glasses, blinks at us.
“Mais, are you okay?” she says.
Maisie nods her head, and her sister’s gaze moves up to my face, and then back to her sisters.
“Oh, um…do you need me to hang out in the lounge for a little while?” her sister says and Maisie clears her throat.
“No. This is Greer. He was kind enough to walk me home,” Maisie says softly.
“Well, thanks for bringing her home. Maisie, are you okay?” her sister whispers the last part, which adds to Maisie’s statements that this isn’t something she usually does.
Her sister gives me a smile, and Maisie doesn’t turn back as she shuts the door behind her.
I head down the stairs and go into the kitchen where Effie has the kettle on.
“Might be the most bonnie women we’ve ever had at the Beag, don’t you think?” she says, being mischievous.
“Callum doesn’t think so,” I tell her, not commenting on what I think.
“That bairn hasn’t known what’s good for him his whole life,” she scolds.
She’s not wrong, but Callum hates it when she gets into his business.
“I’m not sure the Omegas renting your room would be too thrilled about you trying to play matchmaker either.”
“Ya ken their mother booked that room eight months ago? She sent me a rather endearing email too,” she says, not pulling out a phone or a computer, but digging through a drawer where she’s printed it out. “Lorna was always a sweet one, moved to America for a man.”
She hands me the letter that I probably shouldn’t read.
Effie,
Thank you so much for accommodating my daughters for the month at such a generous rate. I’m not sure how much more time I have with them, but I hope Scotland can give them some peace when I’m gone.
My daughters were my greatest treasure in this world and I fear I have failed them greatly. I’m leaving them alone in the world, not knowing that they’ll be cared for and the thought of this haunts me.
Please treat them as if they were your own daughters, giving them gentle guidance when needed. The Highlands are a magical place full of love and joy, and I want this to be my last gift to them.
Thank you for your kindness,
Lorna.
P.S. Please make sure Maisie doesn’t spend the whole trip working, and that Birdie doesn’t lose any of her travel documents.
I glance down at the paper and sigh as I hand it back to Effie.
“You read this letter and thought it meant that she wanted you to set her daughters up with the most eligible bachelors in town?” I question.
“Her biggest fear is her daughters not being cared for,” she says, pointing at that exact line in the letter.
“I consider myself a very progressive woman, but not even I can deny an Omega needs a pack. The poor dears are twenty-six and unbonded. I can’t imagine what that does to the body.
They’ve only got each other, but what if they had more? ”
I shake my head. “Effie, they’re leaving for the states in a month. Any man you set them up with will just be left broken-hearted when they leave.”
“Is that you or Callum talking?” she snaps back.
“You know what the pack has been through.”
“Aye, I do, and didn’t I tell you she wasn’t the one?” she says, raising a gray eyebrow.
“And you think Maisie is the one?”
“Whit’s fur ye’ll no go past ye,” she says. Whatever is destined to happen will happen.
The kettle screams, and she pours the hot water into the teacup.
“Let me go take this up to her. Have a good night,” she says, patting my cheek as she heads up the stairs.
I leave Heather Beag, my hands in my pockets as I walk down the same streets I grew up on. I traveled around Europe when I was younger, but no place compares to this, I wouldn’t leave for anything.
Yet, there’s something about Maisie, something I can’t put my finger on as I walk down the street.
A few locals give me a wave as I approach my restaurant, taking in my patrons from the large bay window. There’s a sense of belonging, of home and pure warmth, as I look at what I made here.
But I know my life is missing a huge piece. I thought maybe we’d found it with Fiona, but our feelings were always stronger than hers. What if it’s the same with Maisie? What if I’m just longing for an Omega so desperately that I’m making a connection where there’s not?
But what if this is fate?