Place and Time

A/N: I was going to write this as a one-shot, but then I remembered I can't write anything short. So here's the start of a multi-chapter fic instead. It might be kind of short. For me. And the chapters might be short-ish too. Hopefully the wait between chapters will be on the short side as well.


Chapter 1: The Traveling Envelope

By the time the envelope landed in Bella Swan's hands, it was looking a little worse for the wear. That was understandable as it had spent the past forty-plus days traveling from one corner of the continental United States to the other.

And then back again.

The envelope had been mailed off from Bellevue, Washington, almost six weeks ago, addressed to Ms. Isabella Swan, care of Mr. and Mrs. Phil Dwyer, at Bella's mother and stepfather's old address in Phoenix.

Unfortunately, being their old address, Renee and Phil Dwyer were no longer living there when the envelope arrived. And neither was Bella.

After seven years working as an assistant coach at Arizona State University, Phil had taken a coaching job with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp—the same minor league baseball team he had once played for, back when they were the Jacksonville Suns. Phil was as thrilled about the new job as Renee was about living in a more tropical climate near the beach. So the Dwyers had quickly sold their house, packed up, and moved to Florida.

Naturally, the Dwyers had notified their Phoenix post office of the move. All further in-coming mail had been held up until notification of their new address was received. That being the case, the envelope for Bella had waited for two weeks before a bright yellow change-of-address label was slapped onto it and it was forwarded to the new address in Jacksonville.

Unfortunately, Bella hadn't made the move to Florida. She had been in the middle of an internship at the time, and had remained behind in Phoenix. As soon as the internship was over, Bella's plans would be leading her elsewhere. In the meantime, Samantha Larkin, a friend from college, had offered up her fold-out couch as a temporary living solution, and Bella had gratefully accepted.

Renee Dwyer had fully intended to send the ivory envelope right back to her daughter at her friend's apartment when it arrived in Jacksonville. Somehow though, between receiving it and purchasing a larger manila envelope in which to return it, Renee had managed to misplace it. Calling Bella to notify her of her misplaced mail, and attributing its unknown whereabouts to the chaos of moving into a new home, Renee had promised to mail it off as soon as it turned up.

A week later, the envelope was still missing.

Miraculously, it resurfaced the following week amongst some placemats in a drawer. Renee immediately put it in the larger manila envelope, took it to the post office, and mailed it off.

The one thing she didn't think to do was tell her daughter it was finally on its way.

The manila envelope reached Samantha Larkin's apartment mailbox a couple days later. But Bella was no longer there. Just one day earlier, she had loaded up her car and moved out of the apartment, the city, and the state.

The reason for her move was mostly career-driven. Jobs in her chosen field were hard to come by in Phoenix and usually required two years' prior experience. Which left Bella wondering how she was to gain that experience if no one would hire her without it.

But that wasn't the case in Seattle, she'd learned. The job prospects there were excellent. Business was booming and building was non-stop. Construction cranes were perched on emerging high-rise apartment and office buildings all over the city. More importantly, there were ample job listings for accredited personnel in Bella's field, often requiring no more prior experience than an internship.

So, Bella had decided to move to Seattle.

There was an added bonus to living in Washington: Bella would be closer to her father.

Charlie Swan lived in Forks, a few hours outside of Seattle, in the same house where Bella had begun life twenty-five years earlier.

After her parents' divorce, and multiple moves with her mother, Bella had even returned to that childhood home in Forks, spending her high school years with her father.

Now, until she could find work and an apartment in Seattle, Bella had once again headed for her father and that childhood home in Forks.

And that's where Bella's mail finally caught up with her the day after her own arrival…

*O*

"Bells? I'm home," Dad calls out as he walks in the door, returning from his shift at the police station.

"Hi, Dad. I'm in the kitchen." I give the spaghetti sauce a stir and turn on the burner beneath the pot of water.

"Sure smells good in here," Dad says as he joins me in the kitchen, setting the day's mail on the counter. "I forgot how nice it was to come home to a home-cooked meal. Thank you for making dinner."

I smile. "You're welcome, but you'd better not get too used to it. You know this is only temporary."

"I know, kiddo, but I'll gladly take whatever I can get." Opening the fridge, he grabs a cold beer.

"Doesn't Sue ever cook for you?" I ask, wondering about his girlfriend, who also lives in Forks.

"At her house. Not here."

I nod as he pops the top and takes a drink of his beer.

"It'll be a few minutes before I can throw the pasta in to cook, so you have time if you want to change first."

"Yeah, I want to get out of this uniform. Be back in a jiffy." He starts away but then turns back. "I almost forgot… You got some mail from your mom." He gestures at the small pile on the counter.

"Oh, thanks."

As he heads upstairs, I check on the water, but it's not boiling yet. I move over to look through the mail and find a manila envelope from Mom, forwarded to me from Samantha. It must have gotten to Phoenix right after I left. Inside, a note is folded around an elegant but travel-worn, ivory envelope.

I read the note first.

Dear Bella,

I'm sorry it took so long to find your mail, but here it finally is!

Thank you again for being so understanding about our abrupt move. Phil is so happy with the new job, and the house is a dream! It's so nice being near the beach and just a short walk from the pool and clubhouse. I can't wait until you can come visit!

Let us know when you leave for Washington. I worry about you driving all that way alone. Good luck with the job search and apartment hunt in Seattle. I know you'll find something fast.

Love you and miss you,

Mom

I probably should have let her know when I left, but I figured things were stressful and hectic enough. This way she missed out on her worrying, and I was in contact with Dad anyway.

Setting the note down, I pick up the envelope. There's a change of address label covering our old Phoenix address, and the return address is smudged, but the postmark is from Bellevue, right here in Washington. Then I see the date. Holy crap! This was sent a month and a half ago!

Opening it, I pull out a card with several smaller enclosures and began reading.

"Anything interesting?" Dad asks, startling me when he returns moments later.

"Oh. Um… Yeah..." I glance back down at the card in my hand. "It's a wedding invitation… from Rosalie Hale."

"Little Rosie's getting married?"

"She's a year older than me, Dad. But yeah. She's getting married in a week and a half. In Seattle."

"You planning on going?"

"No. The deadline to RSVP already passed, and I think this was more of an announcement than an actual invitation anyway. Rose had no idea I would be here."

His eyes narrow as he looks at me. "Did you know she was engaged?"

"No. It's been a long time since we've been in touch."

"You two used to be such good friends."

"Yeah. But things change, people grow apart."

He nods, still studying me with his cop's eyes. "You still ought to send your regrets. And maybe let her know you're back."

"I will. I'll do that after dinner."


A/N: As always, I hope you'll share your thoughts. :)