Smoke and Mirrors
Chapter Two
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He chuckled as his phone buzzed. 'Chocolate or peanut butter?'
'Peanut butter.' He glanced at Jasper who was busy looking under the hood of the Tahoe. 'Read anything interesting lately?'
Jasper gave him a nod of approval. He looked towards the older couple and their shiny new Denali. "I'll give you thirty-five hundred." He held up an envelope full of cash.
"Done," the old man agreed. Edward filled out a bill of sale for him to sign. He shook his hand, accepting the extra set of keys.
He followed Jasper back out to the farm in the Tahoe then drove him back into town in his truck to drop him off at his home. "Alice wants everyone over for dinner, soon. Probably next Friday."
"Won't miss it." He promised. His phone vibrated against the console.
Jasper cleared his throat, "and don't play games with Bella. She's a friend, who's been through a lot. We all went to high school together; the girls went to college together. It'd be awkward."
"I'm not, chill," he shook his head as Jasper climbed out of the truck.
He grabbed his phone and unlocked it, 'Actually yes. I've been rereading my favorite from my childhood bookcase. You?'
'I recently read an interesting article about the Kardashians.' He smirked as he hit send.
He drove to the edge of town and backed up to the front door of an old farmhouse; the four bedroom, two bath house his grandfather made him work on most Saturdays since he had arrived nearly five years ago.
"You want me to do what?" Edward looked between the large rundown house and his grandfather.
"I want you to gut it," Edward Senior gruffed, passing him a large toolbox. Edward blinked at him, "that means you tear out everything but the foundation, pull out all the appliances, wiring, walls."
"Shouldn't you hire someone to do this?" He had asked nervously, and he jumped at the sound of his grandfather's gruff laughter.
His grandfather shook his head, "that's what I hired you for boy. I want you to do something, you get it done. Don't matter if it's milking Millie or harvesting corn, feeding Sam, vaccinatin' the cattle, or gutting a house. You do what I ask, and if you don't know how you figure it out."
He walked through the farmhouse and into the kitchen where he needed to finish putting down the hardwood floors. 'I have no idea how to respond to that.' Bella's response made him laugh. He sent her a laughing emoji.
'Please tell me that means you're joking.' She replied quickly.
He grinned to himself, 'I am,' he promised, 'actually, I just checked out a book on how to build cabinets. Cats or dogs?'
He eyed his phone every few moments as he gathered everything he needed to start working, waiting for it to ding. He practically leaped on it when it finally chimed. 'Give me all the animals.' Followed by another message. "What was the last show you binge-watched?"
'Breaking Bad. I'm contemplating a career change. You?'
He worked the rest of the morning, his earbuds blaring in his ears. He looked up as Emmett dropped a Subway sandwich in front of him. "Hey," he said as he turned off his music.
"Hey," Emmett nodded, tossing him a bottle of water. "Making progress," he stated, sitting in a patio chair.
"Yeah," he agreed, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He pulled his cell from his back pocket, 'Downton Abbey. How many siblings do you have?' He unwrapped his sandwich and took a huge bite, "thanks for the food."
Emmett shrugged, "you always forget to eat when working on this project. Plus, I was starving, Rose cooked breakfast," he rubbed a hand over his face, "and that's usually code for 'she wants to talk.' "
"Oh?" He asked around a mouthful, itching to return her text.
"Oh indeed," he grunted, breaking a cookie in half and offering part of it to Edward, "Juliette called, they want to place a pair of siblings with us. A baby girl and her older brother. Two kids, already is in-fucking-sane, especially on my salary. But, four. I ain't sure if it can be done."
"Say no," Edward shrugged, "if you can't do it, you can't do it."
Emmett shook his head, "I can't say, no. I'll just find a way to make it work."
He gulped down his water and tossed his sandwich wrapper in the trash, 'Ohhh… getting personal, are we? ;) I have two. A brother and a sister. Both younger. You?'
'Only child.'
The rest of the day they spent answering and asking each other questions, ranging from playful to personal.
"Your phone has certainly been active today," Emmett chuckled as Edward clicked away. "Who's the girl?"
"Bella," he smirked as Emmett leveled him with a look.
"Rose and Alice's Bella?" He asked him, staring as if he thought he was a touch mental.
Edward gave him a nod, "that's the one, genius."
"Be careful," Emmett warned, clearing his throat. He paused for a second, weighing if he should tell him or not. "Listen, once, Jake," he frowned realizing Edward hadn't gone to school with them, "I mean, Officer Black, once he knows she back for good, he'll start trying to woo her. They were serious throughout high school and college. Everyone thought they'd get hitched, until she bolted off to Europe."
He raised his eyebrow, "And?"
"And," Emmett rolled his eyes, "we all sort of figured they'd rekindle things."
He nodded brushing the dust off his hands, "I appreciate the warning, but I'm not going to stay away from her." He went about laying the last line of flooring, cussing, "son of a bitch," he chunked the last piece across the room at Emmett. "Doesn't fit," he cut and measured again, and again, finally placing the last corner piece. "Imagine how much money Pops would've saved had he just hired someone who knew what the hell they were doing."
"No shit, right," Emmett laughed, "the old fucker is always thinking of shit for us to do."
He laughed, putting the tools away with a shake of his head. "Monday we're building a shed for his lady friend. I'm ready to get back into the tractor. Later Emmett."
"You're not coming over for supper?" He asked surprised, dropping his toolbox in the back of his work truck.
He shook his head, locking up the house, "Nah, I need to go to the grocery store. But tell the boys I'll buy them a box of candy bars."
"A whole box?" Emmett asked, "you know that's like fifty bucks."
He shrugged. He knew the financial struggles his friends had. Jasper and Alice wouldn't be able to afford some this year, not with her illness draining their savings. "What can I say, sweet tooth." He wouldn't tell Rose or Emmett he had no intention of eating the chocolate bars. He knew they'd feel guilty.
"All right, thanks, man," Emmett said, getting into his truck and heading on home.
He pulled into the grocery store parking lot, checking his phone for messages and feeling a bit disappointed to have no new ones. He walked into the store, separating his purchases for himself and the items for his siblings; things his mother would skimp on because of the added cost. Fruits, berries, sugary cereals, chocolate milk, after-school treats.
'Would you like to talk on the phone later?' He grinned at the incoming message as the checkout clerk scanned his groceries.
He swiped his debit card and picked up his bags as he typed, 'Yeah. Give me an hour.'
He placed the bags on his mother's kitchen counter and ruffled Evan's hair on his way out to the garage. He climbed the stairs to the loft above and put his groceries away, showered, was slicing up his thawed chicken breast when his phone rang. He placed it to his ear, "hey."
"Hey," he smiled as her sweet as honey voice reached his ears.
He opened his fridge and cracked open a cold beer, "so, what do you want to talk about?" He asked, pleased his deep voice stayed level and didn't give away his nerves.
"I don't know," she admitted, "I guess I'm just a bit lonely. My dad's sister is here and his night nurse. I can't seem to distract myself from everything." Her voice was soft, laced with a bit of sadness. He found himself wanting to change her tone.
"Ah," he said slowly, "have you eaten dinner?" He asked, the words spilling from his lips as an idea struck him.
The line was quiet for a few seconds, "no," her voice rose just a touch with curiosity.
"Come over, I'm making chicken stir-fry," he offered, pulling out more ingredients from his fridge. "Don't overthink it. I swear this isn't a play for a hookup; all I'm offering is a good meal, a few beers, and some conversation that can be as meaningful or as playful as you want."
His heart thudded against his ribcage as he held his breath, "hold on a moment, I need to talk to my aunt," he swallowed and waited impatiently for a few moments before her voice drifted back on the line, "sure, send me your address." She barely had her request out as her phone beeped alerting her of a text message. "I've got it. I'll be there in forty, got a few things to sort out."
"Look forward to it," he glanced around his place as he hung up and placed his phone on the charger. "Shit." He rushed around the small loft, tidying up and starting on the meal. He pulled on a clean pair of jeans and a plain black t-shirt. He waved at her and opened the garage door, "now I'm going to warn you, it's not much," he said as he led her up to his little apartment.
He stood back and watched her take in everything he had worked hard to get or make for himself.
"It's nice, very bachelor-y but clean and functional," she complimented, turning to look at him after studying his bookcase full of carpentry and mechanics manuals with a few cookbooks thrown in here and there. "You weren't kidding about the cabinetry book?" she flipped through the book that set on his coffee table, surrounded by rough sketches.
"Nope." He smirked at her; he wiggled an eyebrow and asked playfully, "what, did you think I was trying to impress you?"
She laughed, putting the book back down, "maybe a little. Why?"
"Why the book?" when she nodded, he continued, "it's the next step on my grandfather's project," he tugged at his ear, "and he has this motto."
"What's that?" She asked, her brown eyes cutting right through him, making him want to share everything with her. The feeling rattled him, made him both uncomfortable but also deepened his sense of affection for her.
He shrugged, giving her a little half grin, "If you don't know how, figure it out," he grunted, pulling down a couple bowls and placing them on the counter. He handed her a beer.
"Oh," she murmured with a quiet laugh.
He scooped them out good size portions and handed her a bowl as she settled at his small two-person table. His hunger won out, he let them settle into a comfortable silence as he dug into his meal.
She placed her fork next to her bowl and sipped her beer, watching him. His gaze met hers, he held it steady. "I was feeling sorry for myself, I guess," she spoke breaking their peaceful silence. "I miss my dad," she admitted. "The strong man he was, his loud laugh, his unwanted advice. I didn't realize how much I relied on him, even now, as an adult until I came back. He's still him, I know. But it's my turn to take care of him and I just, sometimes I feel like I'm failing him, failing my family."
"You're not. You could've put him in a home. Stayed in Europe." He said around a bite. "But you didn't, you came back. You brought him back to his home to get better. I'm sure he appreciates the hell out of that."
She blinked at him for a second before smiling, "I hope you're right." He gave her a crooked grin as he took a swallow of his beer. "This is really good, who taught you?" She asked, gathering another forkful.
"Myself," he shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable but he put on a grin, "one of those things I had to figure out. When I was a kid, my mom was a crap cook. If it didn't come from a box or a can, we didn't eat it." He scratched at his jaw, "so when I moved into this place, I binged a bunch of cooking shows, bought a few recipe books, and ate like a year's worth of burnt, overly seasoned food." He chuckled. He playfully shook his fork at her and winked, "so enjoy."
He rinsed their bowls and left them in the sink, "c'mon," he handed her another beer and led her out to his balcony, wrapping a fleece blanket around her shoulders. He pointed up to the night sky. "Let that view wash away your troubles for a little while. Normally works for me."
"It's magnificent," she breathed, her eyes locked on the stars above.
"Red or Green?" He asked her, warmth seeped into him as she laughed.
"Green," she replied quietly, "horses or motorcycles."
"Easy … horses." He sipped his drink and settled into a chair. "Pepsi or Dr. Pepper?"
"Pepsi." She snickered, "Hershey or Snickers?"
"Neither," he replied, watching the emotions play out across her face. "Tell me about your dad?" He requested, his curiosity burned through him. "You speak highly of him, with a lot of love." He shrugged glancing away from her, "you don't have to, sorry."
"No, no, it's all right." She said, looking back up at the stars, a smile formed as she mentally reminisced before speaking. "He was Fork's Police Chief for ages since I was little; I think I was seven years old maybe. He was friendly. Always helping everyone. Full of bad dad jokes. Super involved, coached my soccer team, never missed a parent-teacher conference or school performance, helped sell Girl Scout Cookies every year, and learned everything he could about raising a daughter so I wouldn't grow up completely awkward, unsocial. He tried harder than most probably do to make up for my mother's wanderlust. She popped in and out of our lives, but knowing he would always be here made that okay. He was wonderful." She sniffed, wiping her eyes. "He always pushed me to follow my dreams, what my heart wanted, never to settle. Forgave my mistakes, taught me so much."
He reached over and squeezed her wrist gently. "What about your dad?" She asked, turning to look at him.
She didn't miss how he stiffened at the question, his lips twisted into a bitter, fine line. "I'm just going to put this out there, bluntly," he warned her, "because I can't avoid it and you'll need to know, especially if this turns into anything at some point. He's a grade-a asshole. There's no way else to explain it."
She stepped forward, giving him a tender look as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him for a moment before pulling back to take another sip of her beer. She followed him back inside, "want to watch a movie?" He changed the topic, motioning towards the television, "I've got Netflix and Amazon."
"Sure," she agreed, settling next to him on his brown microfiber couch. He handed her the remote and tossed an arm around her. He chuckled as she started the first season of House. Halfway through the second episode, she rested her head against his chest.
Somewhere between episode three and four, they both fell asleep.
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Author Note
Thank you Sunflower Fran for beta'ing.
I hope you enjoyed, please leave a Review.
Evie :)