Hello Everyone. Here's a new story for you. It's just something that has bounced around in my head that I finally decided to put down on paper. I hope you all enjoy it.
I don't own anything.
Chapter 1:
"Welcome, I'll be with you in just a moment." A voice called from the back room as I entered the little boutique two doors down from my newly rented retail space. I still couldn't believe I made the move to Forks Washington. I was born here but when my parents split up I moved to Arizona with my mom. I always came back to visit my dad, but it was never my home. Now I'm living here and opening my very own shop.
"Sorry about that." The woman said as she walked out of the back room. She was very stylish looking, a little on the short side, but I'm not one to talk. She had short black hair and just seemed so happy it was hard not to smile at her.
"Is there something I can help you find?"
"Oh, um I was just looking for the manager or owner."
"You are in luck that would be me. I'm Alice." She held her hand out which I looked at for a moment before shaking her hand. After everything I have been through I really just wanted to keep to myself. My Dad however has convinced me that it is no way for a person to live. That's another reason I am opening my store, to force me to interact with people.
"Hi, I'm Bella and just rented the empty place two doors down. I just wanted to come by and meet the neighbors so to speak."
Alice started jumping up and down and squealing.
"This is such great news. I've been waiting for someone to rent that place out. What are you going to put in there?"
"I am going to open a coffee shop with a few deserts that I will offer each day."
"Wow, that's a great idea. I know I'll be coming by for my daily coffee."
"Thanks that would be great. Well, I don't want to take too much of your time so I'll just let you get back to what you were doing."
"Oh that's just nonsense. I'm a little slow now and there is nothing else for me to do now, why don't you just hang out for a bit and we can get to know each other. It's not very often a new person moves to town."
I could tell she really wanted me to stick around I just wasn't sure if it was really to get to know me or to find out gossip about the new face in town. I really didn't want to be the talk of the town. I knew it was going to happen I just wanted to avoid it as much as possible.
"Let me just check in with my father to see if he needs me to come back soon."
She looked a little puzzled at my comment, probably trying to figure out why I would need to check in with my Dad, but I figured it might give me a chance to get away.
"Hello" I heard my Dad say as he answered.
"Hey Dad, I'm down here at the clothing store a few doors down from my new spot and the owner Alice wanted to hang out so we could get to know each other and I just wanted to make sure you didn't need me back right away." I really hope he could read between the lines and understand what I was really asking.
"Oh, that's a great idea Bella. I know Alice and her family, she's a great girl. Not like those gossiping hags that are all over this town. She would be a great friend to have and I think it's really important that you stay as long as you want. Tony is doing just fine and we don't need you back any time soon."
"Are you sure?"
"Yep, now go meet a friend and have some fun for once."
Before I could even respond he hung up. He probably knew I would try to find some reason to leave. I turned back to the counter where Alice was watching me with such hope in her eyes. Well here goes nothing.
"I'm good for a bit."
"That's GREAT! Let's go and sit in the back, there's a couch and some chairs back there. I'll hear the bell if someone walks in. Do you want anything to drink? I've got water and some pop in the back."
Wow, she must have some great lung capacity to be able to say so much without stopping. I don't think she took a breath during all of that.
"Some water would be great."
The back room had been set up with some tables that had what looked like new clothes on it, a couch and three chairs were around the room. There was a little sink, fridge and microwave. It actually felt real warm and cozy back here.
"So, where are you from?"
"Oh, um… I actually was born here. My parents split up when I was just a baby. My Mom took me to Arizona where I've lived until now."
"Arizona? Wow. I've never been there before."
"It's not like here, that's for sure."
"I bet. Your Dad still lives here then? I wonder if I know him."
"I'm sure you do, he's Charlie Swan."
"The Chief is your Dad?"
"Yeah"
"He's such a great guy. I'm proud to say he has never had any trouble from me."
"That's good to hear." I could tell she really liked my Dad.
"I can't say the same for my brother Emmett though. He was a bit of a trouble maker in school. I think your Dad had brought him home a few times before. Did you ever visit your dad? I don't remember ever seeing you around town before"
"I did, it was only in the summer for about a week. We usually spent most of that time at his house or down on the reservation fishing."
"How come you decided to move here now?"
"I really needed to just get away from Arizona. I have been through some bad things down there and really needed to make a change. I see this move as a way to start over." I looked down at my lap not really wanting to talk about my past. I really hope she doesn't push for anything more.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Nope, I'm an only child. What about you?"
"Oh yeah, I've got two older brothers. The oldest is Emmett. He runs a construction company. They do a lot of the road work for the highways around here and most of the remodels on houses in town. He's married to Rosalie and they have a little girl Hanna who is 8. Rosalie runs a garage here in town with my other brother Edward. After high school they decided to go into business together. Not only do they work on the cars or tractors around town but they get a few high-end requests from Seattle. Edward is single as he is always too busy with his toys to find time for a girl. I hope he finds someone soon, I want to be an Auntie again and he really isn't getting any younger."
I was laughing by the time she was finished telling me all of this. You could tell that was a bit of a sore topic for her.
"What about you? Do you have a man in your life?" I could tell she wanted to keep going off on the Edward subject so I thought maybe I should redirect her.
"Oh, yeah I'm married. My hubby is Jasper. He's so great. He works at the high school as a history teacher. We don't have any kids yet, but have been talking about trying. Jasper has one brother named Peter and he works with Emmett. He's single and a bit of a ladies' man if you ask me."
"Sounds like you've got a big family."
"Yeah, it's a great big crazy family. Jasper and Peter's parents live in Texas and never really make the trip out here to see them and Rosalie's parents live in New York. My parents are still here though. My dad is a doctor over at the Hospital and my mom is an interior decorator. She has a show room in Port Angeles but most of her work is mostly done in Seattle and not around here. With my Dad's Hospital hours and my Mom traveling between here and Seattle we don't end up seeing them very often. We always manage a family dinner on Sunday's though."
"That's pretty cool. Growing up it was always just my Mom, her boyfriends Phil and me. Now it's just my Dad, Tony, and I."
"Who is Tony? Is he your husband or boyfriend?"
"Um no, he's my son."
"Oh, how old is he?"
"He will be 7 this year."
"Is he with your Dad now? I'm assuming because you didn't say another name, he's Dad is not around?"
"Yeah, he's with my Dad. His father is not in the picture and if I have anything to do about it he will never be in the picture."
"Gotcha"
We were quiet for a moment. I was trying to decide if I wanted to tell her more about Tony's dad or not and she was probably hoping I would continue.
"So, when do you think you will start work on your store?" She thankfully changed the subject.
"I don't know, I actually just got word from the bank that it's all been taken care of and I can start working on it at any time. I just need to find someone to turn my vision into reality now."
"Hey, why don't I call up Emmett and see if he has any time for a new project?"
"Really? That would really help me out. I'm not the type of person who should hold a hammer let along try to hammer something. I really don't even know where to start."
"Let me call him real quick."
She yanked out her cell phone and to my surprise put it on speaker phone. After a few rings he picked up.
"Hey sis, what's up?"
"You know that shop that's been empty for a while now?"
"Oh yeah, isn't it real close to your store?"
"Just two doors down. I just meet the new owner and she needs some construction done so she can open it up, do you have some time to take on a new project?"
"It's a girl, from town? Who is it? I'm not helping Jessica out with anything anymore. After that last bathroom remodel she had us do she kept coming on to all my workers. She's been blacklisted. If she thinks by going through my sister to get a job she is sorely mistaking."
"No Emmett, it's not Jessica. It's actually a new comer, she just moved to town."
"Really? Wow. Ok sure I can come by and take a look. Hey, is she single and hot? Maybe we could get Edward laid? He really could use some tension relief from something other than his hand. He's been real cranky the last few weeks."
I started to giggle. I tried to stop but I just couldn't. I could tell Alice seemed a bit embarrassed by this but once she saw me giggling she started too.
"Actually Em, she's right here, on speaker phone. She's single, hot and way too good for Edward."
"Oh shit. I think you are suppose to tell me these things when you start a conversation Alice."
"Oh stop, it's not like you wouldn't have made a fool of yourself anyways."
This has me full on laughing. It really felt so good to laugh. I can't even remember the last time I laughed this hard.
"Well, if she's there now, why don't I come by and we can talk about everything."
"Can you hang out a bit longer Bella?" Alice asked me.
"Yeah I can."
"Wait your names Bella. Doesn't that mean something like pretty or something?"
"Yes Em it means Beautiful in Italian." Alice said with an eye roll. "Sorry, he might be the oldest in age but youngest in the mind."
"Hey. I resent that. I'm very smart. I help Hanna with her home work all the time."
"She's only in first grade, how hard could her homework be."
"Whatever. I'll be there in about 10 minutes."
With that he hung up.
"Do you want some more water?" Alice asked.
"No I'm good. Um, would you be able to come over to the shop with us when your brother gets here? I just don't really feel comfortable around guys I don't know." I tried to hide my face from her but I notice she was staring at me as if trying to find some sort of secret that I just didn't want to give up.
"Of course I will go with you, but you don't have to worry about Emmett. He is a big guy, but really he's just a squishy teddy bear. "
I just nodded at her trying to find something to do while we waited for him to show up.
"I'm sorry to ask and please don't feel like you have to answer, but is there a reason?"
"It's ok to ask. There is a reason, but I don't really want to talk about it just yet…if that's alright?"
"Of course its alright. Just know I am always here if you need someone to talk to ok."
"Thanks Alice."
Just then I heard the door open.
"I'm here, where's this new girl."
"Oh gosh Emmett would you just shut up." Alice yelled walking out from the room we were in. "Just calm down Emmett. She doesn't know you and you are so intense."
I noticed with this he looked right at Alice and it looked like they might have had a silent conversation with each other. After a minute I swear it looked like he shrunk in size a bit. He looked over to me with a huge smile on his face.
"Hi I'm Emmett Cullen." He said with a little wave. I guess he understood by Alice's look that handshakes might not be in order just yet.
"Hi I'm Bella Swan." I waved back. I notice he paled a bit at my name.
"Oh shit, are you related to the Chief?"
"Yep, that's her Dad." Alice answered for me.
"Oh crap, don't listen to anything he say's about me. I was framed." He looked so serious but I noticed Alice started to giggle.
"Which time Emmett? There's no way you could have been framed each time he caught you doing something stupid." This had me giggling too.
"Whatever. It's nice to meet you Bella even if your Dad has it out for me."
"It's nice to meet you too Emmett."
"So what are you thinking of doing with the space?" He asked me. We all started to walk to the door.
"It's going to be a coffee shop slash bakery. I'd like to have a small kitchen in the back so I can make the few deserts that I'm going to have on the menu, a counter in the front to show off the treats and a place to make the coffee. I'm not looking for any fancy coffee thing, really just a scaled down Starbucks maybe. I figure most people around here are going to looking for more of a drip coffee with a treat than something like a caramel macchiato or something like that." As we walked into the space I started to point around to try to explain my vision a little better.
"I was thinking of tables and chairs, maybe a couch or two. I don't want to have any booths, but I would also like to have bookshelves put on this wall. I want the counter to come out to about here, that way there would be enough room for the tables."
"I see what you mean, yeah that could work." Emmett said and he started to walk about taking a few measurements and writing them down.
"What would the bookshelves be for?" He asked.
"Oh, I was going to put a bunch of used books on them for people to who might be interested in reading them while they are here at enjoying their coffee or pie."
"That's such a great idea. I think you are going to make a ton of money with this."
"I agree with Alice. It's just what Forks needs. It's Mom's kitchen without the Mom."
Both Emmett and Alice were beaming at me. I'm just so glad someone understands my vision.
"Ok, I've got everything I think I need for now. I'm going to go to my office and work up a few ideas and we can then go from there."
"That sounds good." I said as he started to hand me a business card.
"Here's my card, it's got all my numbers on it and that way you can call if you think of anything. Could you write your number down so I can let you know when I'm done?"
"Oh, yeah that would probably be a good thing to have."
"Have you thought of a name yet?" Alice asked as I wrote my number Emmett's note pad.
"No, I was thinking of something simple like 'Bella's' or 'Bella's Coffee' but I haven't found anything that I love yet."
"What about 'Mom's Kitchen' like what Emmett said. It sounds like it's going to be so cozy in here." Alice asked.
"Yeah it's a good idea. I could see that working."
"Well ladies, I'm headed back. I left Peter in charge and who knows what he has the guys doing while I'm gone."
"Thanks Emmett for taking a look." I said as he gave his sister a quick hug. He looked over at me and waved as he walked out the door.
"Thanks Alice for giving him a call. This is really a huge help to for me to get this started."
"That's what friends are for."
"Well I should probably get home, I'm sure the boys have no idea how to cook something for dinner and if I'm not careful I'll be having pizza again for the second night in a row." I said as I was locking up the store.
"Yeah, I should probably close down the shop and head home too. Oh hey give me your phone real quick and I'll put my number in it."
I quickly handed her my phone and she called her phone so we would have each other's numbers. We said our goodbyes and I headed over to my car.
A/N: Well there you have it. The first chapter is all done. Woo Hoo! What do you think so far? Please review and let me know. I'm going to try to update every few days. Thanks for reading.