Page 53 of Talk About… History

“I’m fine, I promise,” she said.

It was as if, for the first time, I realized my mama was an omega. My entire life, I don’t think I’ve ever heard about one of her heats or anything else about her instincts.

As if she ceased being an omega the day my fathers died and was solely our mother.

My heart ached for her because I couldn’t imagine a life of such solitude. Especially for all of these years.

I could understand not wanting to talk about this in front of all of us, but clearly something was off. I tried to give her a look that conveyed that I’d be asking more questions later, and she nodded once, almost imperceptibly.

“So, what’s the plan until party time at Whitaker Brews tonight?” she teased. It was enough to get the brothers to switch gears, talking about specials and considering what shots to make.

“It might be time to pull out that old blackboard in the back. We used to put the specials up on that, but none of us have good enough handwriting.”

All three of them turned my way. Maverick raised an eyebrow, and I just rolled my eyes.

“I’ll be in before opening to make your board all pretty,” I teased. “But until then, I actually have to get my equipment packed up. I need to shoot some videos for the mayor this week. I’ve been trying to work on the website in the background, but I want at least three businesses under our belt before I begin to launch the site. I don’t want them to lose faith in me in the meantime.”

“Let us know if you need anything,” Nash said as he put an entire biscuit in his mouth like a psycho.

I swear, alphas were a different species altogether.

“Just keep making videos with those pretty smiles, and we’ll be okay,” I joked, snagging a biscuit off the table before heading back upstairs. I was hungry, but I had way too much to do.

I could almost feel Cohen’s disapproving look, but I didn’t give it a second thought as I pulled on an outfit and packed up all my equipment. I’d stop for lunch later, maybe even bring him some.

It was a gorgeous day. The breeze was cool, blowing in from the mountain and laced in the fresh scents I’d missed. Bright sunshine was beating down on me. I knew the shots I got would be beautiful.

I wanted to do a walk-through of Main Street, showing off a few of our main businesses before doing any more interviews. An introduction of sorts.

I’d sent out word, and I knew the mayor was spreading it, too, so the businesses shouldn’t be surprised when I stopped in asking to shoot videos. Though, I was positive I’d meet some resistance. Not everyone loved social media or cameras in their faces. For those, I could simply showcase their shop and do aesthetic videos.

I had picked the perfect time of day to shoot the video. There were only a few people on the sidewalks, it was fairly empty—the lull between breakfast and lunch.

Needing to keep the video from being shaky, I picked up a stabilizing tripod. This one I was shooting on my phone, knowing it would ease some of the editing load later.

Using my back-facing camera, I started my walk at the beginning of the street. I could do a voiceover later and spice it up.

For now, I just wanted to make sure the shot was good.

Halfway through the walk, I realized that I probably should have planned this better and had someone watching over my shoulder in case a car drove by. Thankfully, the only time someone honked, I stepped aside, and it made a pretty good shot. I’d have to blur out their license plate, but it would be a cool effect.

The walk only took me about ten minutes of shooting from start to finish. Simple, but effective. A little editing, a few filters, and it’d be the perfect video to introduce the account.

I don’t think I’d ever felt so content with work as I did taking photos of the town. It was funny— as a teenager, I always wanted to see the world.

Now, as I got older and saw how cruel that world could be, I just wanted to stay here in this small town forever.

“Fancy meeting you here.” The voice was close enough to startle me, but thankfully, I didn’t drop my camera. I turned around to see Ford giving me a grin.

“We were worried when we didn’t hear back from you.” Even as his smile remained, his eyes showed a hint of concern. Reading Ford’s emotions was easy and I found that reassuring. I didn’t have to guess and walk on eggshells around him.

“I had to tell my other mate about you guys, and I did. It was a late night, and then I woke up to some exciting news with work, and now I’m working again. It’s just been a lot all at once. Sorry about that.”

“Hey, I’m only teasing. No need to apologize,” he promised. “Anything I can help with? I’m bored and unemployed, and at your service.” Then his grin fell as if he realized what he said. “Shit, that made me sound like such a loser, didn’t it?”

I snorted out a laugh and shook my head. “I’m the reason you lost your job, how could I judge?”

“Nah, Kent was the reason we lost our job. It was our choice to walk out, not yours.”

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