20. Maisie
maisie
I’m attempting a second walk of shame into the B I do.
It’s just this shame I can’t seem to shake when it comes to my job.
It was everything I worked for; it was also something I was hard on Birdie about in the past.
Before I can think about what to say, Lain steps in.
“Maisie is pretty incredible at being good at just about everything,” he says.
“Well, alright, I suppose a little makeup wouldn’t hurt. I’ll go make sure the kitchen is spotless before you take any photos,” Effie says, getting up in a rush.
“You sure you’re okay staying here all day Maisie?” Birdie asks.
“Yeah I’m sure. You guys have a good time,” I say.
“I’m going to go shower and get changed first, if you don’t mind,” Birdie says and I give her a smile as Graham follows her up the stairs to our room.
As soon as they’re out of earshot Lain raises an eyebrow at me.
“She doesn’t know?”
I shake my head and plant my face against the table.
“I’m a horrible sister. A failure, oh, and a shitty Omega, too.”
“Oh Maisie, come here,” he says, tugging on my elbow and drawing me against his body. He’s warm and solid and…no. There’s no way I can scent him right now?
There’s no way.
The moment after I think it, the scent fades and I’m back to smelling nothing. My body must just be overwhelmed. I rest my face against his chest as he pets my hair.
“Tell her, get it off your chest. You’re not a failure, she won’t think that.
” He’s really good at this whole petting thing, because somehow his words are working at making me feel better.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he whispers against my hair and I just simply nod.
“You’re the least shitty Omega I’ve ever met. ”
That earns an unfeminine snort from me as I pull away from his warm comfort and look at him.
His eyes crinkle around the corners when he smiles, and I’m totally thinking about dragging him into one of the free rooms and having my way with him.
These Alphas have completely revived my sex drive in a way I didn’t think was possible.
“Can I tell you a secret?” I say back.
“I’d make an oath to protect all your secrets, Mais.”
“You’re one of the least shitty Alphas I’ve met too.”
He grins again before leaning down and kissing me.
“I’m not even going to try and convince you to come on the tour with me today, because I know how much helping Effie means to you. That is how least shitty I am,” he says, and I can’t help myself and kiss him again. “Message me or Greer if you need anything, yeah?”
“Anything?”
“Anything. If you need a cuddle at night, if you’re feeling needy, you come to your Alphas, isn’t that right?”
I swallow thickly and damn, I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t wearing medical grade deodorizers, I would be perfuming all over the place. Instead, I wiggle a little in my chair.
“Don’t go tempting me when you can’t pay up,” Lain says.
“Have a good tour,” I tell him.
“It will be alright. The best tours are when I have my favorite girl sitting shotgun.”
With those two sweet words, he leaves me sitting in the dining room and I know that I’m in way over my head with these Alphas and I need to come clean to my sister. Since I don’t really want to think about either of these things, I do what I do best.
I get lost in work.
I fill in Effie’s brows lightly, and talk her through every step as I put on the rest of her makeup.
“You can keep these products,” I tell Effie, and she scoffs.
“I couldn’t accept it.”
“Honestly, now that they fired me, I’m going to be boycotting their products, so you taking them off my hands saves them from the landfill.”
Effie huffs but nods. I didn’t use much on her, just a few products to even her skin tone, a light shadow to showcase her blue eyes along with mascara and as I place the last stroke of an eyebrow hair, I hand her the mirror.
As she holds it in her hands, she begins to shake as she looks at herself.
“Now, I can’t go crying and ruin your good work. Goodness, I haven’t felt this beautiful in ages,” Effie says, her eyes watering.
Gently, I rub her arm as she continues to look at herself. She clears her throat. “Alright, now what do you need me to do?”
I have Effie and Angus out in front of the property. The old man hasn’t been able to keep his hands off his bride, or stop staring at her. It’s obvious that she loves the attention, and it gives me a sense of fulfillment I haven’t felt in a long time.
“Alright, Effie, I think let’s do a clip of you explaining the home’s history a little. Let’s keep it sweet and short. Angus, you just continue to look handsome,” I say.
He beams and we take a few takes of Effie. My phone is in need of a charge and I’m about to go put it on the charger when a familiar form makes its way through the garden gate. Internally I groan, outwardly I do my best to control my face.
“What’s all this?” Callum asks.
“The lovely Maisie is getting us on the internet,” Angus says, and wow, the power of having an old man be proud of you nearly knocks me on my feet.
Fuck, do I have daddy issues and dead mom issues? I’m truly, overwhelmingly, not doing hot in life.
“That’s so?” Callum asks approaching me. “Can I have a word?”
The part of me that’s rather petty and mean wants to tell him no, that he’s said enough words and I think I’ve heard about enough. Then I remember he’s Effie’s grandson and Lain and Greer’s pack mate.
“Sure,” I reply instead, and follow him out of the gate toward the street.
“You can’t help them with their business,” he says.
“Why not?”
He scratches his beard, which makes a pleasing sound as he shakes his head.
“They need to be retiring. They can’t be taking on more business. They need to be slowing down.” His tone isn’t as rude as it’s been before.
“They don’t seem interested in slowing down at all. They seem to handle me and Birdie just fine.”
He blows out a breath.
“Because the two of you are hardly there and you’re only in one room. If they have a full house, there’s no way they’d be able to manage it.”
“How do you know that?” I ask, and it’s the wrong thing to say as he puts his hands on his hips.
“Because I’m the one picking up the slack.
I’m the one cooking half the time when they can’t.
I’m their maintenance man. I’m the one who deposits their checks and makes sure they pay their bills.
They can handle it because I’m the one managing fucking everything.
” He says it all in a rush and then blinks at me like he didn’t mean to confess all of that.
“Oh,” I say lamely and he groans.
“If they want to keep the place open, I can’t stop them, but they can’t handle more volume, they just can’t,” Callum says.
“It’s what Effie wants,” I reply, because, well, my loyalties are with her, not Callum.
Callum lets out a frustrated breath.
“She just wants this place to go on. Graham would be more suited to take over. He could easily do what you’re doing right now with marketing. I don’t mind doing the cooking and fixing shit as needed, but I’d rather touch the stove with my bare hand than deal with a place like this.”
“That’s true,” I say quickly before I catch myself.
He arches a brow at me and then shakes his head. “You can’t just come here and decide to insert yourself in everyone’s life, not when you don’t intend on staying. You think you’re helping them, but all you’re doing is getting their hopes up to only up and leave in a few weeks.”
I swallow thickly, because I can read between the lines. He doesn’t just mean helping Effie with her business.
“I’m just trying to help,” I say sharply.
“Yeah, well, sometimes people are better off not accepting help from people who aren’t fully invested in the outcome.”
The words feel like a slap to the face and I’m not really sure what to say.
“Do you know how hard it is to travel as a solo Omega? This place is the most comfortable I’ve ever felt traveling. I’m invested.”
“No, you’re invested in making yourself feel better and not giving a shit about how it will affect everyone else.
I can’t do this right now. Go ahead and get her on social media or whatever you promised, but you’re going to have a hell of a time getting their listings online when Nan doesn’t know their banking information, only I do.
” He doesn’t spare me another glance after that, he just walks off.
Callum is an asshole, that hasn’t changed, but is he completely wrong? Helping Effie does make me feel better, and I’m only here for a limited time. It’s not like I could stay on and help her with things. Though that conversation wasn’t just about helping Effie, was it?
He views me as this person who swooped in set on causing chaos in his pack's life and that’s far from what I came here to do.
“Maisie dear, would you like a snack?” Effie asks from the doorway and I give her a forced smile and head up the gravel walkway. As soon as I approach, Effie puts an arm on my shoulder. “I know exactly where the banking information is.”
I turn to face her quickly, nearly knocking off my equilibrium.
“You heard all that?” I ask her and she lets out a small laugh.
“Of course I did. That boy, he’s lost, so I give him direction. I don’t need him cooking as much as he does. I don’t need him to deposit the checks. The lad needs something to do. Keeping him busy is the best way to keep him out of trouble.”
“What about Graham?” I ask.
Effie smiles as she thinks of her other grandson. “He’s finding his direction, and I don’t want him to feel like he has to take on the family business. Him and my Callum are so different with what they need. Callum needs busy tasks, and Graham has just needed space to find himself.”
“So then we’re doing this?” I ask, holding up my phone.
“We’re most certainly doing this,” the older woman agrees.
I have to contain a smile, because I think I kind of love the old innkeeper.