I do not own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.
Fran, thank you for taking your time to edit for me. Any mistakes that are left are mine.
A/N: This story starts a few months before the prologue.
CH. 1
Today was a beautiful fall day; it startedoff cool and crisp, but by late morning, the air had become warm. The day was perfect to go for a tractor ride then apple picking at a farm in Northern Washington State.
I paused on the path and placed the bag of apples at my feet so I could slip off my sweater and tie it around my waist. I took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of apples and fresh cut hay.
"I have another one, Auntie Bella." My niece, Alicia, held up a large red apple in her hand. She sat on her mother's shoulders, so she could get the ones from the higher branches. Her twin braids bounced as she turned her head looking for me.
"I'm coming." I picked up the bag and swung it lightly as I caught up with them.
When I reached her, I held up the bag and she dropped it in with a big grin on her face. Rose dropped in another with a similar facial expression. Alicia was a miniature version of her mom, from her long, golden hair and bright blue eyes to the freckles across their noses. Alicia's twin brother, Alec, was a couple of inches taller and his hair was about two shades darker.
Alicia and Alec were Rose's five-year-old twins, and even though they were good kids, they were still a handful. Alec especially seemed to be a magnet for trouble.
Our other friend, Alice, along with me, shared a house with Rose so we could help her daily. The twins' father wasn't in the picture; he had raped Rose at a college party, and she ended up pregnant. I admired that she found the strength in her to love her kids, even though they were conceived under horrible circumstances.
"Can we make some caramel apples when we get home with chocolate chips on them, please?" Alicia batted her eyelashes.
"I'm sure we can make a few." Rose agreed with a small smile. She looked passed me, and her smile waned.
"Where are Alec and Alice?" she asked.
Rose tended to be on the overcautious side as a parent. However, after a health scare from Alicia when she was two and then Alec ending up in ER a few times, her worries seemed expected.
"I saw them one row over." I pointed in the direction we came from.
Alice appeared a moment later stumbling slightly through the tall grass between two trees. Her face was pinched in disgust. She carried a second bag that looked about half-full.
"I stepped on a crushed rotten apple, and it's just gross." She wrinkled her nose.
Alicia giggled at her aunt's reaction. I shook my head as I watched her stumble her way towards us. Rose and I both told her that suede, high-heeled boots wouldn't be a good idea for apple picking. However, she insisted, saying that they would look cute.
"Alice, where is Alec?" Rose asked looking concerned.
Alice looked at us and then spun in a small circle. "He was ahead of me, just a moment ago. When we spotted you guys, he asked if he could show Bella his apples. I thought he would be with you." Alice paled, as she backtracked to look from where she had just walked.
"Alec!" Rose yelled.
"There he is." Alicia pointed to a tree two over from where Alice was standing a moment ago.
Alec was sitting on a branch halfway up the tree with a half-eaten apple in his hand. He grinned and waved down at us.
"Alec Charles Hale, you get down right now." Rose scolded him.
"But, Mom, all the good apples are near the top." Alec's lower lip stuck out in a small pout.
"I am sorry, but they have rules here that say no climbing trees. This isn't our house, so we have to respect that. Please, climb down." Rose held her ground.
She left out reminding him about the last time he climbed a tree. The result was a broken arm. This only happened a few months ago at the beginning of the summer.
"Yes, Ma'am." Alec turned to start his way down.
His foot missed a lower branch, and he slipped. His apple dropped out of his hand as he made a grab for another branch. I heard Rose's sharp intake of breath as we watched in horror as he started to fall, along with a few apples.
I dropped the bag in the grass and ran forward trying to reach him in time. My foot rolled over an apple, and I began to slip. A pair of arms came out of nowhere and caught me. The owner pulled me up and steadied me.
At the same time, a large man sped past me; he dove to his knees, and caught Alec in his arms just in time. He set Alec on his feet and then crouched down in front of him.
"Are you all right," he asked Alec. He pushed his hat back over his curly, dark-brown hair.
He was wearing a blue shirt with the farm's logo, so I figured that he was a worker. I hoped he wouldn't yell at Alec, and scare him. I didn't believe that yelling at a young kid got your point across very well.
Alec nodded; he looked shook up, and tears glittered in his wide eyes. "Am I in trouble?"
"Do you know why we have rules here about no climbing trees?" the man responded in a calm voice.
"So I don't fall and get hurted?" Alec answered in small voice. He twisted his hands in front of him.
"Well, that is one reason, and it's a good one. Because no one here wants to see any kids get hurt. However, there is another reason; apple trees may look like good climbing trees, but they're not. The branches can be easily damaged by someone climbing. A damaged branch affects the trees ability to grow apples." The gentle giant explained giving Alec a smile.
"Did I hurted the tree?" Alec looked up, with concerned eyes.
The man stood and glanced up at the branches. "The tree looks okay to me. However, please, don't climb anymore, let's leave that to the squirrels and chipmunks. Okay, Chip?"
"Yes, sir. But my name is Alec." Alec nodded, and his shoulders relaxed.
"What about the birdies?" Alicia asked.
The tall man tilted his head to look at her; his brown eyes twinkled with amusement, and he laughed. "Birds are fine too, little robin." He winked at her.
Alicia giggled and ducked her head into Rose's hair.
Rose stepped forward and placed one hand on Alec's shoulder while Alicia grasped her other hand. "Thank you so much for saving my son from getting hurt. I am sorry about him climbing the tree."
The eyes of the man in the blue shirt widened slightly, and his ear turned pink. "No thanks necessary, Ma'am. The name's Emmett." He grinned, and dimples appeared in both cheeks making him look like a little boy himself.
"I'm Rose. This is Alec's twin, Alicia." Rose introduced them. "Also, my friends, Bella, and Alice." She turned to introduce us, but she paused with her arm outstretched and gave me a weird look.
It was then I realized that whoever saved me from falling still had his arms wrapped around me and I pressed up against a firm chest. Startled, I stepped away and turned around.
Another tall man wearing jeans and a tight T-shirt with the farm's logo was standing behind me. He smiled sheepishly; however, there was a slight sparkle in his green eyes, shaded by the brim of his hat.
"I am sorry. Thank you for catching me…" I blushed.
"It's Edward, and no thanks necessary, Miss. I'm glad everyone is okay." He grinned tipping his hat.
I became momentarily distracted looking into his eyes and forgot everything else around us. So when Alice spoke, I jumped.
"She wouldn't have almost fallen if they weren't apples all over the ground. I slipped on two in the other row and stepped on a crushed one, it ruined my boots," Alice complained.
"This is an apple orchard, of course there are going to be apples on the ground. You should be wearing sensible footwear, and not some fancy, high-priced foolish boots. If you can even call them that." A new voice responded.
Another man was standing a few feet away wearing a cowboy hat with his arm crossed staring at Alice with an incredulous expression.
"Well, I never. That's an extremely rude thing to say. I ought to speak to your manager so that he knows what kind of help he's hired." Alice turned with hands on her hips and had a face-off with someone nearly two feet taller than her.
"You do that." He rolled his blue eyes and looked at Edward. "I'm going to take the tractor back to the mill and drop off a load of apples. Radio me if you need me."
"We will." Edward nodded.
He started to walk away, but instead he walked over to Alec, who was still looking slight shaken.
He crouched slightly to look him in the eyes. "Do you and your sister like apple cider, Alec?"
"Yes, sir," Alec answered politely.
"Well, as long as it's all right with your mom. Either Emmett or Edward here can give you all a tour of the cider mill when you're done picking apples, and you can even check out the animals in the barn if you'd like." He offered with a friendly smile.
"Can we, Mom?" Alec's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Yeah, can we?" Alicia chimed.
"I am not sure; is it safe?" Rose hesitated.
"Very safe, Ma'am. We give school tours all the time. It wouldn't be any trouble." He promised her.
"You know, buttering us up isn't going to get you out of trouble," Alice huffed.
He turned to her and smirked. "Lady, I wouldn't butter you up, cause if you can slip on an apple, I would hate to see what would happen by adding butter to the mixture."
He stood up and disappeared into the trees. I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips as Alice's mouth dropped open in shock. Rose's started to shake with silent laughter too.
"I want to know his name and where's the office?" She looked at Edward.
"His name is Jasper. The office is next to the mill on the right. You should have passed it on your way out to the fields." Edward cleared throat, and his lips twitched.
"Thank you," Alice smirked.
"Alice, I think you need to calm down." I nodded my head at the kids who were now frowning.
"Does this mean we can't see the animals and learn how they make cider?" Alicia asked.
Alice glanced at the kids, and the anger left her face. She closed her eyes for a moment; when she reopened them, she looked slightly ashamed with herself.
"You know, if you guys want to make caramel apples and pie, then we need to get more apples before we can check out the mill and the animals." Rose quickly got the kids back on task.
"Where did I drop the bag?" I turned to find it discarded in the grass a few feet away.
"I'll get it for you." Edward offered. He turned but wasn't able to take a step before Alec raced by him.
"I can do it, Auntie Bella." He picked up the bag with both hands and proudly lugged it over to me as the weight of the bag made him a little lopsided.
"Thank you, hon." I took it from him and ruffled his hair.
He smiled up at me then hugged my side. He looked over at Edward, and his smile dropped slightly.
"Alec, there are some beautiful looking apples over here," Rose called him.
He looked over at the apples then tugged on my hand to go in their direction. I was surprised that he was suddenly clingy and that he didn't run ahead to start picking.
"Go head, I'll be right there,"I promised. I wanted to speak to Edward for a moment.
Alec reluctantly let go of my hand and walked over to the others. When he reached them, Emmett picked him up, so he could reach the higher branches. Alec smiled and giggled at something Emmett said to him.
"I'm sorry that both you ladies slipped. We do try to get all the fallen apples we can off the ground. However, with a big orchard such as this, it is hard to stay ahead of them," Edward apologized.
"Please, don't be sorry that wasn't your fault at all. I am naturally clumsy. As for Alice, we did warn her about those boots. She doesn't usually get upset like that; I can only assume her reaction was due to Alec almost getting hurt. She is normally very friendly albeit hyper," I explained.
"That's understandable. I'm sure Jasper didn't help matters either. We usually have city folk come here all the time and complain about something that should only be natural."
"Well, we aren't city folk. We're from Forks, and you can hardly call that a city." I laughed.
"You don't say. I just moved to Forks this summer. I'm the new music teacher at the middle school. I'm only working here on weekends to help out." His smile became wider.
"So you're Mr. Cullen."
The rumors had even reached me in the preschool about how handsome the new music teacher was. My classroom was in the elementary school. The middle school was one building over.
"I'm legendary already?" His eyebrows rose, and he laughed nervously.
"I'm one of the preschool teachers. That's why I know of you, but we haven't met yet." I smirked.
"Well, now that we have met, hopefully, we'll see more of each other." His lopsided grin made my heart flutter in my chest.
"Auntie Bella, come on!" Alec yelled to me from one row down.
"I should go." I took a step in their direction.
"Right, I need to get going as well. I'll catch you later for the tour." He winked.
I met up with the rest and Alice linked her arm through mine.
"So what was that all about?" She grinned.
"I was apologizing to him for my friend blowing things out of proportion. I should be asking you what was that all about?"
Her grin faltered and she bit her lip. "I know I did. When I saw Alec nearly get hurt, I just snapped. It wouldn't have been their fault; it would have been my fault," she muttered under breath to prevent the kids from hearing her. She blinked back a few tears.
"Alice, it wouldn't have been your fault. We told Alec when got here not to climb the trees. He's the one that didn't listen to us. What happened was an accident and no one's fault." I gave her a sideways hug.
"You okay, Auntie Alice?" Alicia ran up with her braids flapping behind her then dropped some apples in my bag.
"I am fine, Sweetie. I think we need just a few more, and we will be done." She smiled and tweaked one of Alicia's braids making her giggle.
A/N:
Luckily, Edward and Emmett were there to save the day.
The idea for Alice's boots came from when I was at an Apple Orchard last year, and this one woman was wearing a pair of spike heel boots. She was complaining worse than Alice. Although, this farm used horses instead tractors, so I bet you could guess what she was upset about stepping in.
I will post a picture of the twins, Jake, and the boots on Facebook.
Thank you for all the reviews and for reading.