Chapter Music: Love Doesn't Last Too Long by The Weepies
A/N: Thanks to miztrezboo for sitting at the counter with me, and to annanabanana for making my words look pretty.
LINK TO CHAPTER UNDER THE COMMENTS BAR
:: Edward ::
"Hey, Masen, you back here?" Jasper's voice called out through the cellar as I lifted another crate onto the stack in front of me.
"Hey, Jas."
"Hey man, thought I said you didn't need to come in today?" Jasper bent to lift one of the crates and started a third stack.
"Yeah, I know." I paused to wipe my brow with the back of my arm. "But I also knew you had this shipment coming in and thought you could use the help."
Jasper Whitlock and I had been firm friends since we could toss a ball, he was one of the few people I could rely on. He had bought his own bar two years ago, learning the ropes from the ground up, and I helped out where I could—keeping the cellar in line, working behind the bar, and tossing the drunks.
"Um...yeah, thanks. I forgot all about it," he said sheepishly, as he scratched at the scruff on his jaw.
"Thought you might." I laughed at how disorganized he could be. It wasn't the first time I'd taken a delivery without him, and it probably wouldn't be the last. He was great with people and the bar ran smooth as buttermilk, but if Alice was in a distracting mood in the morning, deliveries didn't have a hope in hell's chance of being checked.
"I hear the Chief's daughter is back in town." Jasper knew Charlie about as well as I did.
"Yep. She got back about a week ago."
"Didn't she get married?" Jas asked.
"Yeah, she did." I lifted another crate and started running inventory on the liquor bottles lining the shelves.
"Jacob Black, right?" he pressed.
"Think that's what Charlie said," I replied, my tone sounded more clipped than I'd like.
"He here with her?"
"Nope." And from what the Chief had said, it was just as well. I didn't like Jacob's chances if Charlie got his hands on him.
"Finally let her out of his sight, huh? God, that guy's a possessive asshole."
"Yep, sure is," I mumbled, squinting at the bottles in front of me. Bella's marriage had been news to me, but I could still remember what Black had been like in high school. So when Charlie mentioned Bella had married him, I had been surprised to say the least. They were both a year younger than Jasper and me, but we'd still all known about the games Jacob had played, and the way he'd treated the girls.
"You know that Charlie hasn't seen his daughter since she got married, right?" Jasper asked as he leaned against the newly stacked crates.
I knew that Bella hadn't been home to Masen, but I'd never given any thought to the fact that Charlie hadn't gone out to Phoenix. "No, I guess I hadn't thought about it."
"How long's she stayin' for?" Jasper quizzed. I didn't want to betray Charlie's trust, but if Jasper continued with his damn questions, it was going to get harder for me to avoid telling him what was happening.
"Not sure exactly, the Chief left it open."
"Huh." Jasper shrugged as the conversation closed, and I followed him up the steps and out of the cellar.
Four hours later, Jasper's bar was fully stocked, I had repaired the old plumbing on the Miller's ranch, and the broken shutter at Doc Garrett's was no longer hanging by a rusty hinge. Once I was finished, I walked across the town square to McCarty's Diner.
The bell above the door chimed as I walked in, and I smiled over at Maggie as she wiped down the counter. Sliding into the booth in the back, I took off my hat and set in down on the worn leather of the bench seat next to me. As usual, I picked up the menu from the end of the table and began to scan over the same listings I had looked at for at least the last seven years. I don't know why I bothered—I always ordered the same thing.
"Hey, Edward." Maggie bounced on the balls of her feet as she stood next to my table, tapping her pencil on her order pad. "Do you want to hear today's specials?" Her dark red hair was pinned back off her face, and the smattering of freckles across her cheeks made her appear younger than she actually was. I laughed at her question. She asked the same thing every time I sat in her section, and she always ended up with the same answer.
"Just the usual, please, Maggie."
"You know one of these days you're gonna wanna try the cherry pie instead of the peach cobbler," she smirked as she walked away toward the kitchen.
Less than five minutes later, Maggie returned and placed a tall glass of iced lemonade in front of me. "Here you go, Edward. The usual." She smiled and wiped off the already clean table. "You been busy today?" she asked, making small talk like always.
I raised the glass to my lips and took a long drink before answering. "Pretty much. It was nonstop this mornin', but my afternoon is good. I'm gonna go out and see Charlie after lunch." My fingers slid down the condensation beading on the glass as we talked—me about my morning jobs and Maggie about the diner's morning customers.
"Mags, this ain't gonna serve itself," Emmett hollered from the kitchen window. With a quick smile, Maggie spun away from me and went to grab my steak and fries. It wasn't until later, when I was eating my cobbler, that Emmett joined me with a slice of his sister's homemade apple pie for himself.
"Hey, Eddie."
"Em." I nodded my head in greeting. "How's business?"
"It's good, usually busy, but we could afford a quiet spell or two." He forked a large piece of pie into his mouth and chewed slowly, closing his eyes in appreciation.
"You need anything looked at?" I asked, washing down a mouthful of my own dessert with more lemonade.
"Nah, we're good for now, man. But you're my first call if it all goes to shit." The dimples in Emmett's cheeks became more pronounced as he grinned over the table at me. We sat in comfortable silence for a while, the click of our forks on our plates, and the hustle of other patrons the only sounds around us. The McCarty's had owned the diner since we were all kids. Five years ago, Emmett had taken over the day to day running of the place, and so far, he was doing a great job.
"I hear Baby Bell's back."
I grimaced a little behind my glass, but hid my reaction as I drained the last of my drink. "Yeah, she's stayin' with the Chief," I answered, before filling my mouth with some of the sweet peach filling, hoping to avoid more questions about Bella.
"Billy was in this morning. He told me she just up and left Jacob. Asked for a divorce, just like that. Any idea why?" Emmett settled his fork on his plate at the same time I did, and within moments, Maggie was clearing away our empties.
"Can I get you boys anything else?" Her smile was warm and infectious. Maggie was a few years older than us, but she was still pretty. Emmett shook his head and she once again wiped the table.
"Just a bottle of McCarty's lemonade to go, please, Maggie, and the check." I replied, smiling back at her before she left.
"So, any idea?" Emmett probed.
"What's it to you?" I wasn't trying to be difficult, but I didn't understand why he was so interested.
"Because when Alice finds out, she's gonna wanna know." Alice was a year younger than Bella, and two years younger than the rest of us, but as far as I knew, the two of them had always been close friends. I sighed, resigned to the fact that Emmett seemed to know more than he probably should anyway.
"I'm not a gossip, Em."
"I know that."
"I don't know much more than you."
"But you know something," he reasoned. I sighed.
"Charlie said that Black asked for the divorce first. Asked for it three months ago in fact. Bella tried to work things out, I guess, but…well you know the rest. I guess Golden Boy didn't pass on that gem to his dad when he was paintin' himself as the hard done by husband," I scoffed. Emmett stared back at me for a moment, his blue eyes lost in thought.
"You know, I didn't even know she was married until she'd left for Phoenix."
"I didn't know until the Chief said," I mumbled.
"All the times we were out with the Chief, and we never asked him about her. She's all he's got, and we…not once." He shook his head in disgust.
"I know."
We both sat with our heads in our hands. Charlie treated each of us like family; in hindsight we were almost surrogates, perhaps in place of his absent daughter. He was sweet and gentle with Rose and Alice, who usually kept his freezer stocked, and I couldn't remember a weekend when Emmett, Jasper and I hadn't spent time watching the game or gone out on the lake with him. He was always there for each of us, and not once had we given him the opportunity to discuss the one person he couldn't be there for.
"She's in pretty bad shape." The image of Bella rocking back and forth flashed through my mind and I felt a pinch in my chest.
"Bella?"
"Yeah. Charlie doesn't know what to do with her," I confessed, giving more information than I probably should have.
"I'll bring Alice and Rose. At the weekend. We'll make things right." Emmett nodded firmly, determined now his decision was made.
"Jasper will bring Alice," I teased, grinning at him.
"Whatever, man."
~oOo~
As I walked up the drive with Charlie's lemonade under my arm and a slice of Alice's apple pie in my hand, I glanced up at the balcony, expecting to see Bella. The old rocker was empty. I smiled briefly at the thought of her picking herself up and dusting herself off. She was too good for Jacob Black, anyone who knew either of them—even a little—could see that.
The front door was open when I got to it, and I knocked quickly before walking past the crate on the porch and into the house. "Charlie? You in here?"
"Edward? Is that you?" he called back from the end of the hallway.
"Yeah, your door was open. I brought over some lemonade and a slice of pie." I laughed under my breath. "Thought I would replace the pitcher we drank the other day." There was no reply as I closed the fridge, and I walked back out to the hallway. Charlie was frantically pulling on his boots, looking harassed and concerned in the dim light. "Chief?"
"Bella's missing."
"Missing? What do you mean missing?" My entire body stiffened and the hair on the back of my neck bristled. Charlie was like family. That meant Bella was too.
"I came home from town and the house was empty."
"Did she leave a note?"
"No note, and no message on my cell." Charlie brushed passed me and headed toward the front door. I followed quickly behind him, out into the yard.
"Her car's still here; she can't have gone far." Charlie's steps faltered for a minute and he seemed to be considering what I had said. "Maybe she just went for a walk. Why don't you check the orchard and I'll check the back paddock?"
Charlie scoffed, "Told you before, son, six trees don't make an orchard."
I offered a smile in return, happy I was able to distract him for a minute. I clapped a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. "I'm sure she's fine, Chief."
"You're probably right, but she should've left a note."
"Meet you back here in twenty?" I glanced at my watch as Charlie grunted in agreement, and we both took off in our respective directions.
The grass in the paddock was long and swayed in the warm breeze. In an hour or so the sun would be getting ready to set and the air would start to cool. The stars would shimmer in a cavernous sky, and the fireflies would dance and play over the grass and among the trees. I wondered how long it would be before Bella would start to appreciate the simple things again, and I hoped, for Charlie's sake, as much as her own, that Jacob hadn't succeeded in destroying her completely.
I climbed the fence and scanned the small field. It was empty and the grass was undisturbed. Bella hadn't even been here. I quickly made my way back to the house, only to find Charlie there alone and still looking distressed.
"No sign of her?" he asked. I shook my head.
"She'll be back, Charlie. She can't go far on foot—besides, she has nowhere else to go. Why don't you wait in the house, and when she gets home, call me. Just to let me know, okay?"
"Sounds like a plan. She probably won't be long," he said, absently scratching his head. I smiled in reassurance, and Charlie reached down, handing me the small crate full of clean jars. Rose and Alice would be busy filling them with fruit preserves in the next couple of weeks.
I started to head back to my truck, and as I secured the jars on the floor, I called back, "Call me; don't forget."
"Will do. Now go on, get." Charlie smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes, and he closed the door between us.
~oOo~
The sound of ringing and a heavy vibrating noise pulled me from an uncomfortable sleep, and I reached automatically to the end table, next to the couch, and grabbed my cell.
"Hello?"
"She's not back yet."
"Charlie?"
"She never came home. I waited up, and she's still out there."
"I'll be right over."
Less than fifteen minutes later, I was pulling up outside Charlie's house with my flashlight in hand. He was already pacing across the yard, one hand gripping his hair while the other hung loose at his side.
"You could have called earlier, Charlie," I said, approaching him, suddenly feeling bad for leaving him alone earlier. He stopped abruptly, and the whites of his eyes gleamed as he stared at me.
"I was trying not to worry. Maybe she just needed her space, but it's dark now, and late, you know?"
"I know, Charlie. It's okay."
"Sounded like I woke you. Sorry, son."
"I dozed off waiting for your call; I was only on the couch." Guilt flashed over Charlie's face as I spoke without thinking. "Don't worry about it, I'll catch up tomorrow. Let's go find Bella."
"I already called Yorkie. He's got a couple of his deputies out looking for her. I'm gonna take the truck and cruise out along the highway—"
I shook my head. "You should stay close to the house in case Bella or Eric call." Just as Charlie looked like he was going to protest, I gripped both his shoulders firmly. "Listen, if Bella comes back and the house is empty, how do you think she'll feel?" I had no idea. I didn't know Bella well enough, but if I had to guess, I'd say she would feel hurt and a little deserted. Either way, Charlie seemed to get what I was saying because he finally agreed to stay put.
"What about you? Where are you headed?" he quizzed desperately.
"Did you check the lake after I left?"
"No, I didn't think there was any point. The keys for the boat are still on the hook in the kitchen, and Bella can't row."
"I'll check the lake then. I've got my cell if you need me." I took off toward the dock and, after what Charlie had said, was surprised to find the smallest of his three boats missing. Did that mean that Bella was on the lake? I considered the possibility of the rope working loose and the boat floating out by itself, but Charlie was careful with his boats. It would have been secure.
The moon was high, though not quite full, and cast silver white slivers across the rippling surface of the lake. I hoped that, between my flashlight and the moon, I would have enough light to not only see where I was going, but to look for Bella as well.
I untied the remaining row boat and climbed in, fixing my flashlight between my knees. I pushed off from the dock and lowered my oars. With my back facing the direction I was headed, to say that rowing in the dark was awkward, was an understatement.
A dull clunk resounded though the night as something hit off the side of the boat. Raising the light in my hand and aiming it over the water, I was able to see I had been struck by an oar, slightly smaller than my own. Pulling it from the water, I tucked it under the bench seats and let it lie in the bottom of the boat. Yes, Bella was definitely out on the lake, and she was out here with only one oar.
Cutting through the water, I periodically swept the light out around the boat and over the glassy surface. The only disturbances to the quiet night were my breaths, the steady splash of the oars as they sank and surfaced, and the occasional frog croaking by the shore.
I paused, letting the gentle current carry me while staring back at the house, lit up in the distance, and wondered if I was wasting time: mine, Charlie's, Bella's.
That's when I heard it. The even lap of rolling waves sloshing against the side of another boat. I twisted on my bench and lifted my flashlight over my head, scanning the immediate area for what I hoped would be the last time.
"Bella," I called out as soon as I saw her. She offered no response, and I began rowing quickly in her direction. She was nestled at the foot of the old willow tree near the center of the lake, her knees hugged close to her chest and her hair falling around her face.
I grounded my boat and tied it off to a thick root near the edge of the small island. Giving the rope a sharp tug, I inwardly smiled. It was secure enough, besides, I wasn't staying long. I pulled my cell out of my pocket, and sent a brief message to Charlie: I've got her. She was under the willow. Have her home soon.
"Bella," I half whispered, not wanting to scare her, as I put my cell back in my pocket and crouched down in front of her.
"The mist…" Bella's eyes fluttered open before closing again sleepily. "Is it dawn yet?" she mumbled. "Are my reflections here?" She was making no sense, and as I placed my hand on her exposed knee, I realized she was cold. I silently cursed the fact that I hadn't thought to bring a blanket and quickly shrugged out of my jacket, ready to offer it to her.
"Bella, can you stand up for me?" I coaxed.
"I'm not ready," she whispered, her voice thick with sleep as her eyes opened and closed again.
"You can't stay out here, Bella," I said softly. "Your dad is worried about you." A muted whimper faltered in her throat, and she shifted slightly.
"I don't know what I did. It all changed." Bella's eyes looked grey and lifeless in the moonlight, and I felt my chest pinch, again, at the sadness etched across her face. Black had done that to her. She was a shell because of him.
"Shhh, come on, Baby Bell." My hand automatically seemed to make its way to Bella's cheek, and I thumbed away the tear that was rolling down over her skin. "Let's get you home." With a little maneuvering, I was able to slide my arms under Bella's legs and around her back, lifting her easily and lowering her into my boat. I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders and untied the boat from the old root. I would come back for her boat tomorrow.
The journey back to the dock was made in silence, and as I watched Bella, she stared, unfocused, at the house over my shoulder. Once the boat was secure, I offered her my hand to help her up onto the dock, but she remained perfectly still—not moving or acknowledging me in anyway.
"Bella?" No answer.
"Bella, I'm going to pick you up and carry you up to the house, okay?" She remained still. With a small sigh of defeat, I pulled her to my chest and secured her in my arms. By the time I reached the end of the dock, Charlie was already heading straight for us.
"Is she okay?" His arms reached out to take her from me, but he was exhausted and could barely stand upright himself.
"It's okay, I've got her." Charlie fell in step beside me and began to brush Bella's hair off her face with his fingertips. "She's fine, just a little cold."
"Just take her up to her room, son."
"Will do," I replied, walking through the front door and heading for the stairs.
Charlie disappeared into the kitchen while I took Bella up to her room. It was only as I settled her on her bed that she finally spoke again. "Edward?" Her voice was a little hoarse and she sounded confused.
"Hey, Bella." I kept my voice low and soft.
"Edward Masen?"
"The very same." I smiled at her as she looked up at me and a small frown appeared on her forehead. Bella opened her mouth and closed it quickly without speaking, obviously deciding not to share what she was thinking. "You should sleep." She swung her legs up under the duvet and settled her head onto the pillow, without changing out of her shorts and t-shirt. I didn't think she would be comfortable, but it was none of my business what the woman slept in.
Bella's eyes began to fall heavily, and she rolled onto her side, facing me as I kneeled next to her bed.
"You used to make fun of me," she murmured. Her eyes were closed, but she was still awake.
"Yeah, I guess I did," I whispered back, remembering how Jasper and I used to tease her in high school.
"Don't do that anymore, 'kay?" Her voice slurred, succumbing to sleep at last.
"Okay." She didn't hear me, but as I brushed the hair off her forehead and smoothed away the little crease between her eyebrows, I knew that I would keep my promise regardless.
After I left Bella's room, Charlie passed me in the hallway with a glass of water in his hand.
"The guest room's made up for you. It's late; you shouldn't drive home. Thanks for your help, son." It was my turn to feel guilty as I thought about Charlie making a bed up for me while he had been worried about his daughter.
"You didn't have to go to all that trouble, Chief, but thank you."
"It's no trouble. You're family." Charlie nodded his sincerity. "I'll be in Bella's room if you need anything. I'm gonna sit with her for a while."
"Sure thing, Charlie. She's taking things pretty hard right now, but we're all here for you both. You know that right?"
"Thanks, son."
"Of course. We can always start anew tomorrow. See you at breakfast. Goodnight." We both slipped from the hallway and closed our doors on the long day.
Tomorrow the sun would rise and bring with it a fresh morning, and a new set of challenges. And just maybe, if we all pulled together, Bella would see herself clearly and start to try just a little bit harder.
A/N: Thanks for reading.
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