I knew I had about three seconds before he would sigh and slide me deftly away, saying something about how wed risked my life enough for one afternoon. Making the most of my last seconds, I crushed myself closer, molding myself to the shape of him. The tip of my tongue traced the curve of his lower lip; it was as flawlessly smooth as if it had been polished, and the taste
He pulled my face away from his, breaking my hold with easehe probably didnt even realize that I was using all my strength.
He chuckled once, a low, throaty sound. His eyes were bright with the excitement he so rigidly disciplined.
Ah, Bella. He sighed.
Id say Im sorry, but Im not.
And I should feel sorry that youre not sorry, but I dont. Maybe I should go sit on the bed.
I exhaled a little dizzily. If you think thats necessary. . . .
He smiled crookedly and disentangled himself.
I shook my head a few times, trying to clear it, and turned back to my computer. It was all warmed up and humming now. Well, not as much humming as groaning.
Tell Renée I said hello.
Sure thing.
I scanned through Renées e-mail, shaking my head now and then at some of the dippier things shed done. I was just as entertained and horrified as the first time Id read this. It was so like my mother to forget exactly how paralyzed she was by heights until she was already strapped to a parachute and a dive instructor. I felt a little frustrated with Phil, her husband of almost two years, for allowing that one. I would have taken better care of her. I knew her so much better.
You have to let them go their own way eventually, I reminded myself. You have to let them have their own life. . . .
Id spent most of my life taking care of Renée, patiently guiding her away from her craziest plans, good-naturedly enduring the ones I couldnt talk her out of. Id always been indulgent with my mom, amused by her, even a little condescending to her. I saw her cornucopia of mistakes and laughed privately to myself. Scatterbrained Renée.
I was a very different person from my mother. Someone thoughtful and cautious. The responsible one, the grown-up. Thats how I saw myself. That was the person I knew.
With the blood still pounding in my head from Edwards kiss, I couldnt help but think of my mothers most life-altering mistake. Silly and romantic, getting married fresh out of high school to a man she barely knew, then producing me a year later. Shed always promised me that she had no regrets, that I was the best gift her life had ever given her. And yet shed drilled it into me over and oversmart people took marriage seriously. Mature people went to college and started careers before they got deeply involved in a relationship. She knew I would never be as thoughtless and goofy and small-town as shed been. . . .
I gritted my teeth and tried to concentrate as I answered her letter.
Then I hit her parting line and remembered why Id neglected to write sooner.
You havent said anything about Jacob in a long time, shed written. Whats he up to these days?
Charlie was prompting her, I was sure.
I sighed and typed quickly, tucking the answer to her question between two less sensitive paragraphs.
Jacob is fine, I guess. I dont see him much; he spends most of his time with a pack of his friends down at La Push these days.
Smiling wryly to myself, I added Edwards greeting and hit send.
I didnt realize that Edward was standing silently behind me again until after Id turned off the computer and shoved away from the desk. I was about to scold him for reading over my shoulder when I realized that he wasnt paying any attention to me. He was examining a flat black box with wires curling crookedly away from the main square in a way that didnt look healthy for whatever it was. After a second, I recognized the car stereo Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper had given me for my last birthday. Id forgotten about the birthday presents hiding under a growing pile of dust on the floor of my closet.
What did you do to this? he asked in a horrorstruck voice.
It didnt want to come out of the dashboard.
So you felt the need to torture it?
You know how I am with tools. No pain was inflicted intentionally.
He shook his head, his face a mask of faux tragedy. You killed it.
I shrugged. Oh, well.
It would hurt their feelings if they saw this, he said. I guess its a good thing that youve been on house arrest. Ill have to get another one in place before they notice.
Thanks, but I dont need a fancy stereo.
Its not for your sake that Im going to replace it.
I sighed.
You didnt get much good out of your birthday presents last year, he said in a disgruntled voice. Suddenly, he was fanning himself with a stiff rectangle of paper.
I didnt answer, for fear my voice would shake. My disastrous eighteenth birthdaywith all its far-reaching consequenceswasnt something I cared to remember, and I was surprised that he would bring it up. He was even more sensitive about it than I was.
Do you realize these are about to expire? he asked, holding the paper out to me. It was another presentthe voucher for airplane tickets that Esme and Carlisle had given me so that I could visit Renée in Florida.
I took a deep breath and answered in a flat voice. No. Id forgotten all about them, actually.
His expression was carefully bright and positive; there was no trace of any deep emotion as he continued. Well, we still have a little time. Youve been liberated . . . and we have no plans this weekend, as you refuse to go to the prom with me. He grinned. Why not celebrate your freedom this way?
I gasped. By going to Florida?
You did say something about the continental U.S. being allowable.
I glared at him, suspicious, trying to understand where this had come from.
Well? he demanded. Are we going to see Renée or not?
Charlie will never allow it.
Charlie cant keep you from visiting your mother. She still has primary custody.
Nobody has custody of me. Im an adult.
He flashed a brilliant smile. Exactly.
I thought it over for a short minute before deciding that it wasnt worth the fight. Charlie would be furiousnot that I was going to see Renée, but that Edward was going with me. Charlie wouldnt speak to me for months, and Id probably end up grounded again. It was definitely smarter not to even bring it up. Maybe in a few weeks, as a graduation favor or something.
But the idea of seeing my mother now, not weeks from now, was hard to resist. It had been so long since Id seen Renée. And even longer since Id seen her under pleasant circumstances. The last time Id been with her in Phoenix, Id spent the whole time in a hospital bed. The last time shed come here, Id been more or less catatonic. Not exactly the best memories to leave her with.
And maybe, if she saw how happy I was with Edward, she would tell Charlie to ease up.
Edward scrutinized my face while I deliberated.
I sighed. Not this weekend.
Why not?
I dont want to fight with Charlie. Not so soon after hes forgiven me.
His eyebrows pulled together. I think this weekend is perfect, he muttered.
I shook my head. Another time.
You arent the only one whos been trapped in this house, you know. He frowned at me.
Suspicion returned. This kind of behavior was unlike him. He was always so impossibly selfless; I knew it was making me spoiled.
You can go anywhere you want, I pointed out.
The outside world holds no interest for me without you.
I rolled my eyes at the hyperbole.
Im serious, he said.
Lets take the outside world slowly, all right? For example, we could start with a movie in Port Angeles. . . .
He groaned. Never mind. Well talk about it later.
Theres nothing left to talk about.
He shrugged.
Okay, then, new subject, I said. Id almost forgotten my worries about this afternoonhad that been his intention? What did Alice see today at lunch?
My eyes were fixed on his face as I spoke, measuring his reaction.
His expression was composed; there was only the slightest hardening of his topaz eyes. Shes been seeing Jasper in a strange place, somewhere in the southwest, she thinks, near his former . . . family. But he has no conscious intentions to go back. He sighed. Its got her worried.
Oh. That was nothing close to what Id been expecting. But of course it made sense that Alice would be watching out for Jaspers future. He was her soul mate, her true other half, though they werent as flamboyant about their relationship as Rosalie and Emmett were. Why didnt you tell me before?
I didnt realize youd noticed, he said. Its probably nothing important, in any case.
My imagination was sadly out of control. Id taken a perfectly normal afternoon and twisted it until it looked like Edward was going out of his way to keep things from me. I needed therapy.
We went downstairs to work on our homework, just in case Charlie showed up early. Edward finished in minutes; I slogged laboriously through my calculus until I decided it was time to fix Charlies dinner. Edward helped, making faces every so often at the raw ingredientshuman food was mildly repulsive to him. I made stroganoff from Grandma Swans recipe, because I was sucking up. It wasnt one of my favorites, but it would please Charlie.
Charlie seemed to already be in a good mood when he got home. He didnt even go out of his way to be rude to Edward. Edward excused himself from eating with us, as usual. The sound of the nightly news drifted from the front room, but I doubted Edward was really watching.
After forcing down three helpings, Charlie kicked his feet up on the spare chair and folded his hands contentedly across his distended stomach.
That was great, Bells.
Im glad you liked it. How was work? Hed been eating with too much concentration for me to make conversation before.
Sort of slow. Well, dead slow really. Mark and I played cards for a good part of the afternoon, he admitted with a grin. I won, nineteen hands to seven. And then I was on the phone with Billy for a while.
I tried to keep my expression the same. How is he?
Good, good. His joints are bothering him a little.
Oh. Thats too bad.
Yeah. He invited us down to visit this weekend. He was thinking of having the Clearwaters and the Uleys over too. Sort of a playoff party. . . .
Huh, was my genius response. But what could I say? I knew I wouldnt be allowed to hit a werewolf party, even with parental supervision. I wondered if Edward would have a problem with Charlie hanging out in La Push. Or would he suppose that, since Charlie was mostly spending time with Billy, who was only human, my father wouldnt be in danger?
I got up and piled the dishes together without looking at Charlie. I dumped them into the sink and started the water. Edward appeared silently and grabbed a dishtowel.
Charlie sighed and gave up for the moment, though I imagined he would revisit the subject when we were alone again. He heaved himself to his feet and headed for the TV, just like every other night.
Charlie, Edward said in a conversational tone.
Charlie stopped in the middle of his little kitchen. Yeah?
Did Bella ever tell you that my parents gave her airplane tickets on her last birthday, so that she could visit Renée?
I dropped the plate I was scrubbing. It glanced off the counter and clattered noisily to the floor. It didnt break, but it spattered the room, and all three of us, with soapy water. Charlie didnt even seem to notice.
Bella? he asked in a stunned voice.
I kept my eyes on the plate as I retrieved it. Yeah, they did.
Charlie swallowed loudly, and then his eyes narrowed as he turned back to Edward. No, she never mentioned it.
Hmm, Edward murmured.
Was there a reason you brought it up? Charlie asked in a hard voice.
Edward shrugged. Theyre about to expire. I think it might hurt Esmes feelings if Bella doesnt use her gift. Not that shed say anything.
I stared at Edward in disbelief.
Charlie thought for a minute. Its probably a good idea for you to visit your mom, Bella. Shed love that. Im surprised you didnt say anything about this, though.
I forgot, I admitted.
He frowned. You forgot that someone gave you plane tickets?
Mmm, I murmured vaguely, and turned back to the sink.
I noticed that you said theyre about to expire, Edward, Charlie went on. How many tickets did your parents give her?
Just one for her . . . and one for me.
The plate I dropped this time landed in the sink, so it didnt make as much noise. I could easily hear the sharp huff as my father exhaled. The blood rushed into my face, fueled by irritation and chagrin. Why was Edward doing this? I glared at the bubbles in the sink, panicking.
Thats out of the question! Charlie was abruptly in a rage, shouting the words.
Why? Edward asked, his voice saturated with innocent surprise. You just said it was a good idea for her to see her mother.
Charlie ignored him. Youre not going anywhere with him, young lady! he yelled. I spun around and he was jabbing a finger at me.
Anger pulsed through me automatically, an instinctive reaction to his tone.
Im not a child, Dad. And Im not grounded anymore, remember?
Oh yes, you are. Starting now.
For what?!
Because I said so.
Do I need to remind you that Im a legal adult, Charlie?
This is my houseyou follow my rules!
My glare turned icy. If thats how you want it. Do you want me to move out tonight? Or can I have a few days to pack?
Charlies face went bright red. I instantly felt horrible for playing the move-out card.
I took a deep breath and tried to make my tone more reasonable. Ill do my time without complaining when Ive done something wrong, Dad, but Im not going to put up with your prejudices.
He sputtered, but managed nothing coherent.
Now, I know that you know that I have every right to see Mom for the weekend. You cant honestly tell me youd object to the plan if I was going with Alice or Angela.