Stephenie Meyers owns all things Twilight.

Thanks to xrxdanixrx for being a great beta and a great friend.

Chapter Two

It had been almost six weeks since Tanya had met with Bella Swan, and she kept coming back to the same conclusion: the best match she could find for Bella was Michael Newton. Tanya was afraid that she was going to have to call Bella and tell her the best she could find for her was a man she wasn't interested in.

He and Bella had a 92 percent compatibility score. That was an excellent score. On paper they made a great pair. Michael came from a successful family and was going to take over running Newton Sporting Goods when his father retired.

Tanya didn't know what to do. Six weeks was a long time for someone with Bella's background to be in the Matching. She pulled her hair up in a ponytail and went back to her computer.

She entered Bella's name in the Matching search engine and waited. Several results popped up after a few seconds.

Over half of the results were eliminated right away because they lived far away and weren't willing to relocate. Bella had made it clear she was close to her family and wanted to be near them. Tanya was able to weed out ten men based on low compatibility scores. Three more were gone due to age. Two men had indicated children weren't something they wanted, so they were out.

"And that's it," she said to no one but herself. "The only choice left is…" Tanya stopped herself in mid sentence. There was a name she didn't recognize left on her computer.

Not knowing if it was too good to be true or if she had made a mistake, she read over his information. After reading everything there was to read about him for the fifth time, she knew it.

They might not have been as good a match on paper as Michael and Bella. They might not have had an excellent compatibility score. But Tanya knew, felt, and believed that this was the man Bella had always dreamed of. And as Tanya made some phone calls to inquire further about this young man, she smiled to herself.

She was going to be able to keep her promise to Bella after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been six and a half weeks since Bella left Tanya's office, and she had heard nothing from her since then. She had been tempted to call Tanya several times to ask how things were going. But fear stopped her every time she almost picked up the phone.

What if Tanya informed her the reason it was taking so long was that no one wanted anything to do with Bella? Not even Michael. Bella shuddered at the thought.

Glancing at the clock, she saw it was well after ten, which meant her mother would be in bed. Bella didn't feel like dealing with her mother's theatrics that day, so she had been hiding in her room all night.

It had taken both her sisters less than three weeks to be matched, a fact Renee was fond of sharing with Bella over and over again. Renee would then complain about how Bella had brought shame upon the family when she was slapped with the Romantic label. Sometimes Renee would even burst into tears mumbling things to herself about her spinster daughter.

Life was a whole lot easier for Bella when she steered clear of her mother altogether. So she spent her days with her sisters at the bakery the three of them co-owned, Just Desserts.

Grabbing her cell phone, Bella headed downstairs to the kitchen. To her surprise and disappointment, her mother was still there. Renee was sitting at the kitchen table talking on the phone. She was using her fake I'm-so-happy-for-you voice and glaring at Bella.

I knew I should have stayed at Rose's tonight, Bella thought.

"That's so wonderful," Renee was saying to the person on the other line. Bella went to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water and tried to leave the kitchen quickly before her mother could say anything to her.

"Could you hold on one second?" Renee asked whoever she was talking to. After covering the phone with her hand she addressed Bella, "Isabella, I need to speak with you when I get off the phone. Sit down."

Bella slowly turned around and walked over to the table. She took a seat next to her mother and slumped down in her chair.

Renee got off the phone soon after Bella sat down, promising whoever she was talking with that they would get together soon and once again offered her congratulations.

"Well, can you guess who that was Isabella?" she asked.

"No," Bella said. She wanted to make a smart remark about how Renee should check the caller-ID next time if she forgets who she's talking to, but it was late and Bella didn't really feel up to a fight.

"That was Sarah Black, Jacob's mother. She was calling with some happy news. Jacob was matched today."

"What?" Bella nearly shouted sitting up straight in her chair. "To who?"

"He got the call last night, and he met the girl today. They hit it off right away, and everything is settled. They'll be getting married soon."

Bella felt tears well up in her eyes. Jake was getting married, and he hadn't even bothered to call her. She opened her cell phone to see if she had missed any calls or had a new voicemail she didn't know about, but there was nothing.

"Why didn't he call me?" she whispered to herself, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Well, I suppose it's because the world doesn't revolve around you, Isabella. Now I'm going to bed. This has been a tiring day," she said, standing from her chair.

Bella frowned; she was happy for Jake but she just couldn't understand why he hadn't bothered to call.

"Good night, dear," Renee said, patting Bella on the shoulder. "And please don't frown up your face like that. You're going to get wrinkles."

Bella sat looking at her phone for what felt like hours willing it to ring. But it never did.

Even though it was late, she called Angela to see if she had heard from Jacob. She hadn't, but Sarah Black had called her mother to tell her the good news. Their phone call was cut short when Ben, the guy Angela had been matched with, called to tell Angela good night.

After ending the phone call with her best friend, Bella climbed the stairs to her room. She got under the covers and was asleep within minutes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next day Bella sat in the kitchen of Just Desserts staring at her cell phone.

Normally when she came into the bakery she helped her sisters bake or she ran the cash register. But today, Bella was going to help Rose decorate cupcakes with some children that were coming to the bakery for a party that afternoon. Rose had sent her into the kitchen to get icing, sprinkles, and candies for decorating.

Bella's task was forgotten when she thought she heard her phone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket but once again she found it to be silent. Bella sighed and sat down on a stool in kitchen. She opened her phone and found Jacob's number. Her finger hovered above the green send button. She had just convinced herself to press the button when Rosalie walked into the kitchen.

"Bella," she said crossing her arms. "Do you have everything ready? The kids will be here in five minutes."

When Bella was little she had been convinced Rose was adopted. She was tall, blond and beautiful while the rest of the Swans were on the shorter side and all had dark hair. Renee had wanted Rose to get into modeling while she was in high school, but Rose didn't want to have to travel all over and leave her little sisters behind, especially because their father died. Boys had always thrown themselves at Rosalie. Not that it did them any good. Rose had faith in the Matching system. She believed that if she had faith, she would be matched with a good man, and she had been. Emmett McCarty was Rose's other half.

Bella remembered being upset when Rose was first matched with Emmett. She didn't want him to take her sister away from her. She tried hard not to like Emmett, but his sunny disposition and sense of humor quickly won Bella over. Now Emmett was the big brother Bella never had. He was also the best, most attentive father to Grace, Rose and Emmett's four year old.

"Um," Bella mumbled looking at anything but her sister. "I thought I heard my phone ringing, and I got distracted. Sorry, Rose."

Sighing, Rosalie shook her head at her little sister. She walked over to the pantry and began gathering the things they would need for that afternoon's event.

Bella pocketed her cell phone and went to help her.

"I wish you would just tell me what's wrong," Rose said, clearly concerned about Bella.

"I already told you nothing is wrong with me. I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping well."

Arms full, Rose left the kitchen, Bella following behind her. They reached the room where the event was being held and dropped off the cupcake decorations.

Taking a quick look around the room, Bella proclaimed, "Alice did a good job decorating in here." She hoped that if she changed the subject, Rose wouldn't press her any further about what was bothering her.

"Yes," Rose answered, moving a vase of daisies around on a table. Bella breathed a sigh of relief when Rose began checking over the place settings on another table.

Alice poked her head into the room to tell her sisters that their first guest had just arrived.

Bella really missed Alice. She and her husband, Jasper, had only been married for about a year. They were matched almost immediately four years ago, but neither she nor Jasper were in any hurry to get married, a fact that annoyed Renee to no end. When Alice and Jasper finally got married, and Alice moved out of the house, Bella was miserable and left to deal with Renee all on her own.

"Has Renee seen your new hair cut, Alice?" Bella asked. She still couldn't believe that Alice had cut all her hair off. It suited her, but she could only imagine what Renee would say.

"Nope," Alice said running a hand through her short spiky hair. "I'm waiting for you to get matched up with someone before I go over there. I figure she'll be in a good mood and won't care so much about me at that point."

"Okay, Alice," Rose replied, giving Alice a look that Bella couldn't decipher. "Give us two seconds and then send them in."

"Will do, chief," Alice said, saluting Rosalie. Bella giggled until she glanced at her sister. Her brow was furrowed, and she was studying Bella closely.

"I don't know why you're lying to me, Isabella," Rose said, raising one eyebrow. "Just know we will talk about this later."

Protesting with her oldest sister would do Bella no good. Rosalie was six years older than Bella and two years older than Alice. When their father had passed away, Bella took it extremely hard. Rose was there for her in a way their mother wasn't able to be. Rose was nurturing and maternal, and she took care of Bella and stood up for her when Renee was in one of her moods.

Bella nodded and put a smile on her face when two little girls walked into the party room. Rose helped them get set up at the table, and Bella passed out cupcakes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The party went well, and all the girls seemed to have a good time. Bella helped Alice clean up the event room while Rose was talking to a potential client about a baby shower. As the girls were leaving the room, Rosalie emerged from her office shaking hands with a young woman.

"Please let us know what you decide," she said.

"Are you two done cleaning?" Rose asked, looking between Bella and Alice.

"Yep, we just finished in there. Are we all ready to close up for the night?" Alice asked Rose.

"Not quite. Jessica is watching the front until we've finished up back here. Bella, are you ready?" Rose asked, her lips pursed as she looked at Bella.

Bella sighed, nodding and following her sister into the office. She and Alice sat down on the couch while Rose pulled a chair up.

"All right, Bella," Rose said. "It's getting late, and I want to get home to my daughter and my husband. So let's get right to it. What did mom do this time?"

"Mom didn't do anything, Rose," Bella exclaimed. "Well, not directly. She was just the deliverer of the bad news."

"Okay, so what was the bad news?" Alice wondered, taking Bella's hand.

"Jacob got matched yesterday," Bella stated while looking down.

"And…?" Rose asked. "Why is that bad news? Is this because he and Angela got matched before you?"

"No, well, not entirely," Bella said, shaking her head. "Mom was the one who told me he got matched. I haven't heard from Jake in over a week. We're supposed to be best friends, and he couldn't take the time to call me."

Not being able to talk to Jacob more often was hard on Bella. During The Preparation, she saw him constantly. They both decided to learn French and took their lessons together. When they weren't in lessons or trying on lots of clothes, they would take trips to visit Angela at school. Once Sorting began, the three of them went to all the same events. It meant a lot to her to have her best friends by her side while going through something as life changing as Sorting.

And she was extremely happy that both of her friends had been matched. From what she heard about Ben, he was a great guy, and anyone that was paired with Jacob would have to be wonderful, but a small nagging voice in her head kept wondering why they both got matched before her.

"Oh, Bella," Rose sighed. "You know how busy things get when you first get matched. You saw what Alice and I went through. Jacob loves you; he'll call you when he can."

"Yeah," Alice agreed, nodding. "And Bella, phones work both ways—you could call him."

"I know. If I don't hear from him by tomorrow, I will," Bella told her sisters.

Well, Bella thought to herself, maybe the day after tomorrow.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bella didn't have to wait long to hear from Jacob. When she got home from the bakery, there was note on her bedroom door stating Jacob had called and wanted Bella to call him.

She wasted no time calling him back.

"Hello?" Jacob said his voice groggy.

"Jake? I woke you up didn't I?" Bella guessed.

"Nah," he yawned. "I was just getting up. So, I guess you've heard the big news."

"Yeah, Renee told me last night after your mom called to let her know."

"About that, I'm sorry I couldn't be the one to call you, Bells. But things have been so crazy over the past couple of days. I haven't had much time to myself."

"It's okay, Jake. I understand," Bella said flopping down on her bed.

"You're being a lot nicer about all this than Ang was. She yelled at me for about fifteen minutes."

"Angela, yelled at you? I don't believe it."

"Yeah, she wasn't happy," Jacob laughed. "She called me early this morning and asked me what my problem was. I was still sleeping, so I was really confused. Then she went on and on about how I was no friend of hers for not calling her to let her know I had gotten matched. I tried to explain I was really busy, but then she got really angry. She told me she had found five minutes to call me when she got matched to Ben. When I tried to apologize, she told me to save it and hung up the phone."

"What? I can't believe it. I would have paid to hear that conversation. I don't think I've ever heard Ang so much as raise her voice."

"Me either. But then she called right back to apologize. I told her she didn't need to since it was my fault," he said, sighing.

"I'm really happy for you, Jake," Bella told her best friend. "Well, tell me all about her. I'm sure she's wonderful."

"She is, Bella. I think we're going to be really happy."

Jacob and Bella talked for the next hour about his future wife, Carlie. She was kind, funny, beautiful and smart. The way Jacob talked about her, Bella knew he was well on his way to falling in love.

They made plans to get together with Angela as soon as possible. The two friends probably would have talked much longer, but Jacob couldn't stop yawning so Bella told him to go to bed.

Feeling much better than she had in days, Bella got ready for bed. She fell asleep that night thinking about how happy her two friends were and how she hoped to find some of that happiness for herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, Bella was rather rudely awoken by her mother banging on her door. Groaning, Bella dragged herself out of bed to see what her mother wanted so early in the morning.

"What is it, Mom?" Bella asked. All she wanted to do was go back to bed.

"The phone's for you. It's your matchmaker," Renee said, beaming at Bella.

Mouth dry, Bella took the phone from her mother. "Hello," she whispered.

"Good morning, Bella," came Tanya's cheery voice.

Ugh, Bella thought, she's a morning person.

"Good morning, Tanya."

"I was just calling to see if you could come by my office this afternoon. I'm not normally open because it's a Sunday, but I felt I had made you wait long enough."

"Yes, I can come by this afternoon. What time did you want to meet?"

"How about two o'clock? Does that work for you?" she asked.

"Yes, I can be there then. Can you hold on for one second?" she asked looking at her mother. Renee had been waving her hands in front of Bella's face trying to get her attention.

"What is it?" she hissed at her mother.

"Well, has she found someone for you? She wouldn't tell me anything."

"I guess so," Bella said. "She just wants me to come by this afternoon to talk to her."

"What time does she want us there?"

Bella stared at her mother, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Sorry about that, Tanya. I just have a couple of questions."

"Of course you do, Bella," she laughed. "I'd be worried if you didn't."

"Um, well do you want to meet with me because you've found someone for me?"

"Oh, I didn't say that before? I'm sorry. Yes, I've found a wonderful young man for you. I think you two will really hit it off."

Bella's face broke into a huge smile. She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Tanya. I can't wait to hear more about him."

Renee was clearing her throat, obviously not liking being left out of the conversation.

"I have one more question. Did you want to meet with just me or is my mother supposed to come."

Tanya sighed, "Normally, I would say she was more than welcome to come, but there are some things you and I need to discuss alone."

"Oh, okay." Bella nervously glanced at her mother. "I don't think she's going to listen to me," she whispered.

"Let me talk to her," Tanya confidently stated.

"Are you sure?" Bella whispered.

"Yep, give her the phone."

"She wants to talk to you," Bella told her mother, handing her the phone.

Bella didn't know what Tanya said to Renee in the short amount of time they were on the phone, but whatever it was, Renee didn't like it. She hung up the phone with a huff and looked at her daughter.

"I expect a full report when you get back," she called as she walked down the hall to her bedroom.

Bella couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she walked back into her room. Tanya had found Bella, as Tanya had put it, "a wonderful young man." And if that wasn't enough, Tanya had just stood up to Renee and won.

Tanya Wilson had quickly made her way onto Bella's list of favorite people.

AN: Please let me know what you think. I think I'm more nervous this time than I was last time.

Thanks for reading!