And while a few stray tears ran down her face, Maisie refused to let them paralyze her. Instead, they energized her to get back in front of her laptop and create a business plan.
Something new.
Something fresh.
Something her parents had no part of.
She’d always been artistic and creative, so she worked on a logo first. Her name was unique, and it would be very easy to use it as her business name, but she wanted to separate herself from her family.
Ultimately, she caved a bit and went with MAQ Interiors. Her logo came out amazingly. Next, she set up a website. It was basic, but after watching several YouTube videos, she had it looking decent enough to get her started. By the time she finished with it, it was after two in the afternoon!
Standing, she stretched and decided it was a good time to take a break.
Her stomach growled right on cue.
There were a few places right in town to grab something to eat, but she was feeling like she was on a roll and didn’t want to be gone for too long. That’s when she opted to use her app and have something delivered. The fees made everything so much more expensive, but right now, she felt like she deserved it. And if all this work led to a few more jobs besides the Lakeview Harbor Resort, it would all be worth it.
With her lunch order placed, she sat back down and checked her emails and squealed with delight when she saw a response from Walker!
Hey, Maisie!
Thank you so much for the contract and for sending your presentation along with it. We’re all looking forward to having you get started. As the head of our company, I’ll be the one signing and will be your point of contact moving forward. Just let me know how you want the initial payment sent to you, and I’ll get that over to you today.
Thanks again, Walker
For a moment, she simply blinked at the screen because it seemed too easy. Like…she wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but this just seemed so much easier than it was in her head.
“Okay, then,” she said, feeling relieved, happy, and like she wanted to celebrate.
Later.
The check wasn’t in her account, the rooms weren’t decorated, and there was still pretty much everything to do first.
But more than anything, she needed to take a minute just to be proud of herself.
She was doing it.
She was making it happen.
And she was going to keep going forward no matter what because this was her life, and she wasn’t going to let anyone dictate how she was supposed to live it ever again.
Chapter Eight
Drilling the last screw into the drywall, Axel stood back with a sense of pride. The rec center was now ready for the finishers to come in and mud, sand, and paint. He felt a little unsteady and blindly reached behind him to sit on a five-gallon bucket. With his head hung, he let out a long breath.
The sun was going down, and the light was fading in the wide-open space. He was the last guy here, and he probably should have called it a day when everyone else did. But what was the purpose? It wasn’t like he had anything to do or anyone to hang out with.
It had been three weeks since Maisie left, and he was slowly working himself to death.
Not that anyone noticed. They were all busy with their own shit.
Walker and Harlow had come back a few days after the road opened back up, and since then, they’d been handling more of the administrative stuff like permits, marketing, websites, or whatever. Axel had no idea and he didn’t really care. He knew they were doing the things that needed to be done, so who was he to question it?
Slater had gone to Alaska to fill in on a tour for the company he used to work for. He was going to be climbing some mountain and then camping and fishing and whatever else he did on those tours. Either way, he wouldn’t be back until next week.
Connor was house hunting. He’d finally moved Annabeth here with him, but they were living in one of the cabins and were eager to find a place of their own. Harlow was helping with that—just like she was planning on doing for all of them. She was the top real estate agent in town, and she was constantly on the lookout for houses for all of them. It was something he was going to do eventually, just not yet.
Either way, all it amounted to was Axel being alone as usual. It never bothered him until after his weekend with Maisie. Now he almost loathed the silence. He missed having someone to talk to, someone to laugh with, someone to sleep with.
