Chapter 29
Strings of Fate
29- Rewards and româcoms âI am so sorry Ryann, I came as fast as I could an- ohâ¦â she stares up at Darrien. She seems a little intimidated, Iâm not sure if itâs because of his size or just his generally severe demeanour but she freezes and stops mid sentence.
âLet her through Darrien, itâs just Maggie.â he steps aside and she tentatively enters. I notice a bit of effort to her breathing and frown. We traded floors so she could avoid coming up these stairs so often, but she seems to be struggling even more than she used to. Or maybe itâs just because she was in a hurry. I hope for the latter.
âMaggie, this is Darrien. Heâs friends with Bellamy, the Shifter guy who scared Paul off. You met him yesterday morning briefly.â I explain. Maggie seems a little suspicious.
âRight⦠you seem to be having a lot of Shifters over recently. Not that I have any objections to that of course dear. I am a little curious how you all met, and what this young man is doing here. Forgive me sweetheart but you have never been one to entertain often. I have to wonder if this has something to do with those men that attacked you the other night, the ones the other young man fought off.â She says casually. The blood drains from my face.
âYou saw that? I was hoping you wouldnât notice, I didnât want to upset you.â Iâm freaking out a little.
Maggie might be my friend but if she thinks Iâm endangering her precious grandson she will ask me to leave, no doubt about it. Maggie shrugs.
âDear, it did take place just outside my window. Iâm old, not blind, or deaf.â she reminds me with a kind smile as she waits for me to explain.
âUhm⦠Bellamy, the first Shifter you met before⦠he is actually the feline Alpha. I donât really know the details but the men who attacked were after him, they just thought that I would be an easy target to try and get him to cooperate. The men are gone now and everything, but Bellamy thought it would be a good idea to have someone keep an eye on me and this place until heâs sure that no one will try anything like that again.â I decide to omit the fact that the men were Vampires. Maggie didnât mention it and in the dark, she might not. have noticed. Besides, itâs unlikely that the Vampires were the ones who planned the attack, which I guess explains why I have to have a day guard as well. Maggie looks thoughtful for a moment as she considers what Iâve told her.
âWell, Iâm glad youâre okay and that the boy from the other day is taking good care of you. You deserve to be taken care of for once.â Darrien gives me a look that says âyes, it is that obviousâ I sigh and hang my head. Maggie continues, not noticing my reaction.
âSpeaking of taking care of, I should fetch my grandson.â I nod and head into my room to get him. The poor kid is fast asleep. He doesnât even stir when I call his name. I close the door.
âHeâs fast asleep, I think it might be best not to wake him. He can stay here a bit longer. I donât mind.â I offer. Maggie nods.
âIf itâs okay with you dear. Iâll take him downstairs once he wakes up. Another thought occurs to her.
âAnd donât worry about your sheets sweetie, Iâll sort them out before it gets too late. Itâs the least I can do. In fact I think you need some chocolate chip cookies too.â She declares. I grin, I absolutely adore her chocolate chip cookies. Score! She turns to Darrien.
âAnd youâve been here helping all day too havenât you. What kind of cookies do you like?â she demands. Darrien glances at me helplessly. I shrug. Eventually he responds.
âI prefer honey biscuits maâam.â He admits, Maggie looks horrified.
âMaâam? Youâre making me feel my age. You call me Maggie!â It is hilarious to see the little old lady lecturing the bulky Shifter, I stifle a giggle, trying to be quiet and not wake Logan.
After peeking in on Logan to make sure that he is indeed okay, Maggie heads back down to her own home to begin making cookies. She makes me promise to call the moment Logan. wakes up. The next hour or so is pretty peaceful. Darrien sneaks into my room and fetches my laptop and we sit and watch a movie. A pretty cliché romantic comed When the movie finishes, we sit and discuss how unrealistic the romance is. Personally, I think the couple would have been doomed, Darrien is a little more optimistic.
âShe spent the whole movie trying to decide between two guys, if the decision was that difficult then she really canât like him that much, not to mention he took her back way too easily.â I point out. Darrien shakes his head.
âBut the fact that he took her back despite her flaws is just evidence of how much he loves het. Plus the fact that she took her time deciding shows that she wasnât just blown away by some romantic gesture, she thought it through, even compared him against another guy and ultimately found that she loved him. Some people need to mess up in order to understand when they actually do find the right person.â he argues. I frown, I am the one who usually argues that people need to be allowed to screw up a little because fate always balances out in the end. It suddenly hits me how similar the scenario is to Darrien and Meganâs relationship right now. Sheâs with the wrong guy, but when she eventually does end up with Darrien he would accept her in a second, I should probably just hand this argument over to him.
âMaybe youâre right.â I concede. I open my mouth to say more when I notice Logan shuffling out of my room. His eyes are sleepy but he does look a little better than he did a few hours.
ago.
âHey sweetie. Your Nana came home but we didnât want to wake you. Iâll just call her and let her know youâre up. I call Maggie who tells me not to come down, she wants to collect my sheets and such so she can wash them for me anyway, I reluctantly agree. For someone who moved to avoid stairs, she sure climbs up them a lot. Maggie is up a minute later and sets about removing the sheets from my bed. She wonât let Darrien or I help her. She spends the whole time complaining about her daughter.
âThat girl, she gets home from work in an hour or so and I am going to give Carrie a serious. talking to.
She should know better than to drop Logan off without checking that anyone is home first. Itâs true that he usually comes here after school while he waits for her to get off work but this is completely different.
She assumed that I would be home and didnât even make sure before driving off!â She continues on like this until she has gathered my bedding âIâll bring this back up when itâs all cleaned sweetheart and Iâll fix up your bed for you. Iâll also make sure to bring up your cookies.â She promises. With that she guides Logan out the door and down the stairs. I watch from the doorway until Iâm sure sheâs made it all the way down. I would feel awful if she tripped down the stairs because sheâs carrying my blankets. I head back inside and consider what I should do with the rest of my day now that I no longer have work. My phone goes off to tell me I have a text. I donât think my phone has ever gotten as much use as it has in the last week. The message is from Bellamy, Bellamy- Darrien messaged that the kid is gone.
Ryann- Yeah, Maggie took him down to her place.
29âRewards and româcoms BellamyâDoes that mean youâre available to come out for dinner?.