21. Callum
callum
After a day of being pissed off, I just can’t hold it in anymore. It’s late, far too late to be bothering my Nan, but I know I won’t be able to sleep until I get this off my chest.
Greer and Lain are completely fucking besotted by the Omega, but I can’t let my Nan be bewitched by her too.
I let myself in and I’m shocked when she’s sitting in her simple purple robe, sipping tea in the kitchen.
“Christ, Nan, you scared the shite out of me,” I say, and she clears her throat.
“You’re the one coming into my kitchen late at night. I imagine to give me an ear full. I figured I’d save your Grandda and let him sleep through it. Go on then,” she says, sipping from her teacup.
“That’s not—”
“No? Callum, I know you better than you know yourself. Now, get it out,” she says, clearly fed up with my bullshit.
“You and Grandda need to slow down, not trying to drum up even more business.”
“Take a seat,” she says, pouring me a cup of tea. “Do you not think that I could have had Graham do this years ago?”
I blink at her, because I had that thought. If they wanted to be on social media, Graham could have easily set them up and have done everything Maisie is doing right now.
“Do you also think I don’t know how to cash a check or work the PayPal?”
I hold my tongue as she calls it the PayPal.
“You’re also forgetting who gave you your love for cooking.” She sighs dramatically, leaning forward in her seat and pats my face twice.
“Do you remember when you were thirteen, you were a pissed little thing, and who could blame you? Everything you and Graham lost, it was unfathomable,” she says, tears flooding her eyes when she thinks about her son, my da, and my mum.
“You were getting in trouble all the time at school and it’s then I learned how bored you were. What did I do?”
I clear my throat. “You got me in the kitchen.”
“That’s right. You started helping me cook for guests, you became enthralled with it, and God, Callum, it’s your gift.
When Graham was sad and didn’t know how to contain it, he met Jamie and fell in love with animals.
Everyone has different things that they need to feel better.
I’ve been keeping you so busy because ever since Fiona left, you’ve been listless.
So much like that young teenage boy who was mad at the world over the cards dealt to him. ”
“You’re keeping me so busy here because you think I need it?”
“What else would you be doing when you aren’t working at the tavern? It’s not so different with Maisie. It’s not that I need more business, sure I’d love to have more guests, but we don’t need it financially. Maisie is the same, you know? She’s lost, and this is what she needs.”
I scratch the side of my cheek, feeling like an ass, not an uncommon feeling for me as of late.
“She’s not Fiona, Callum. She’s a kind girl, she’s just figuring herself out. If you actually took the time to get to know her, maybe you’d realize it too.”
“She’s leaving in a few weeks, Nan. Why does no one seem to understand this?”
“I’m not saying you need to fall in love with her, Callum.
What I’m saying is, maybe show her the same kindness that eleven-year-old boy needed when his parents died.
You remind me so much of him, you know?” she says, like she’s picturing my da right now.
“Always so serious, ferociously independent, but at the center of it all is a good man.”
Now I’m feeling myself get emotional, because I don’t feel like a good man; I feel like a disappointment.
“Now, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t leave any more comments on our whatever it’s called page. Maisie will help as I see fit. This is still my business and unless you or your brother plan on stepping in, which I don’t see that happening, then I’m going to need you to mind your own.”
“Yes, Nan,” I reply and she stands, kissing the top of my head like I’m a little boy again.
“I’m proud of you, grandson.”
She leaves me in the kitchen to my thoughts and I think back to all the nights Graham and I would sit at this very counter eating treats late at night when we weren’t supposed to.
It was weird when your grandparents became your guardians because they had to balance being stern caregivers versus the no-rules grandparents they used to be.
Graham and I were pretty good at skirting the rules, though.
My empathy for Maisie grows. Even though she’s an adult, it’s never easy to lose your parents and here I’ve been a fucking prick to her the moment she got here.
I’m not sure if it’s because Greer and Lain were instantly drawn to her while they didn’t feel that deeply for Fiona the whole year we were together. Maybe it’s because I know that I’m going to lose my pack if I don’t change and she’s a symbol of that.
I’ve been unfair and judgmental but I don’t know how to stop. I’m not sure how to not feel resentment toward her, because I know how it feels to lose an Omega you care about and I don’t want Greer and Lain to have to go through that.
With a groan, I take my phone out of my pocket.
This weekend is just what I need.
Graham
Siblings trip!
I roll my eyes with a slight smile and put my phone away. I can’t think about Maisie while I’m on the coast with my brother. Maybe some fresh air and a new perspective will help things.
Not wanting to go home and face Greer and Lain, and likely a half-naked Maisie, I take one of the vacant rooms at the B I know that. If I can’t get on the same page as Greer and Lain, then we won’t actually be a pack anymore. Even if I’ve been saying we aren’t a pack anymore, that was out of hurt, which I’ve only just caused more of.
“I think I’d like to try dating again,” I tell him.
He looks shocked as he turns to me. “You want to get to know Maisie?”
“What? No. I mean, when she leaves, we could start dating again. Or you and Lain could end things now before you’re too invested.”
He rakes a hand through his hair, before letting out an un-humorous laugh.
“Do you know how long Lain and I have waited for you to be ready? How patient we’ve been since Fiona left?
I get you think that we’re being reckless, that this is a bad idea.
Honestly, it probably fucking is because I already have feelings for her that I can’t explain.
So while I’m glad to hear you’re ready to move on, I’m not.
It’s your turn to be patient,” he says, standing up off the couch and staring at me with his hands on his hips.
“I think maybe we need to reevaluate the pack.”
“What?” I say, getting up on my own feet to nearly match his height.
“I just think maybe we’re forcing it. Maybe we’re just meant to run the restaurant together and be friends.”
“Because what? I’m not falling in love with the pretty Omega like everyone else in this fucking town is?” I raise my voice.
“You can’t put this on her, Callum. It’s been two years of fucking tension in this house. Lain has been wanting to date this whole time and you’ve been dismissive. You don’t want to spend time with us anymore. You aren’t who you used to be, and I miss who my best friend was.”
“I’m still me,” I retaliate and Greer looks at me with pity.
“You’re not, mate. I can’t remember the last time I heard you crack a joke or play a prank on Lain.”
“This fucking Omega is getting between us.”
Greer looks up at the ceiling for patience before he speaks. “It’s not Maisie, it’s the big picture, Cal. You’ve been telling people we aren’t a pack for how long now? Maybe it’s what you really need.”
I’m breathing hard, because I didn’t intend for this conversation. I thought it would go the opposite way, that it would excite him that I’m ready to move on.
A sleepy shirtless Lain steps into the living room.
“What are you two going on about? It’s fucking late,” Lain complains.
“Greer wants me out of the pack,” I tell him, and Greer shakes his head.
“You what?” Lain says to Greer who shakes his head.
“I was just suggesting that maybe pack life isn’t for Callum, that maybe we’ve been forcing this on him,” Greer says and Lain groans, waving us off, like the conversation is pointless and pads back to his bedroom.
Greer looks back at me, and I see a lot of hurt; hurt I probably put there.
“Can we wait to make any decisions?”
He knows I mean when Maisie leaves, but he doesn’t directly say that, and neither do I.
“You know I love you, Callum, and I want us to stay pack mates, but if that’s going to happen it can’t just be empty promises. There’s going to need to be some serious changes that need to happen for this to work.”
“Alright,” I say, looking down at the floor, my chest aching.
I’ve lost myself, and in doing so I might lose the people who mean the most to me. I can’t keep living like this.