Chapter 3: My Embry?
Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight.
When I got up the next morning, Leah was in my face, as I was trying to make my bed. "So . . . you and Embry, huh? You can't deny it; the two of you left together. What happened? Did he get fresh with you?"
I couldn't believe what she said. I shook my head at her. "No—nothing like that! We're talking Embry here—not Quil. He was a perfect gentleman."
Leah leaned in closer, waiting for the details no doubt.
I finished pulling up the bedspread, and stood up straight. "You're just dying to hear this aren't you? Okay . . . yes we kissed . . . and yes it was good—incredibly good." I let out a breath of air.
Leah glared at me and blurted out, "But . . ."
I plopped down on the bed. "Yeah, but . . . how am I supposed to feel about this? He was Jake's friend, Leah. And what about the pack? Are you all going to hate me now?"
Sitting down beside me, Leah, snorted, "Are you kidding me? We're all in the bleachers applauding! Look, Bella, no one can choose who they will love. Love chooses you."
"So, no one in the pack is upset about this—you're sure?"
"Not a one—well maybe Quil—but he's jealous of every guy in La Push. I think Quil would rather live in a harem instead of a pack. He could buzz from flower to flower, like the busy bee that he is."
We both giggled over that image— a honey bee with Quil's face. I finally added, "Maybe we should nickname him, The Busy Bee—or better yet—how 'bout busybody?"
We sat on the edge of my bed laughing our fool heads off.
Lunch time rolled around and I was getting increasingly uneasy that Embry hadn't shown up at all today. I actually missed him. I guess my concern was showing in my eyes because Sue piped up, "Don't worry, Bella, he'll be here after dinner. He, Paul and Sam all went hunting. I hope they bag a deer. I've been craving venison for weeks." It's funny how women intuitively sense things that are unspoken.
Sure enough—at six thirty—Embry was seated at Emily's table, along with the whole pack, and even Billy. Sunday dinner was always at Emily's home. You could say it was a Sunday tradition.
I patted Embry's arm as I sat down in the chair beside him. I noticed that he winced a little where I touched him.
"What a baby," Paul snarked, as he chewed a mouthful of food. "It can't hurt that bad!"
"What do you mean? What happened?" I asked.
Emily explained, "There was a hunting mishap. Embry moved up further to get a bead on a stag, and Paul accidentally shot him."
Paul helped himself to more potatoes. "Right in the tattoo," he chimed "I didn't do it on purpose! And anyway it would never have happened if lover boy here would have kept his mind on the hunt and not daydreaming about a certain girl. It wasn't that bad a wound either; it was getting the bullet out that was the trick. Good thing I had my new hunting knife with me. Sure bled like a sonovagun. Hey Embry, I guess you're no longer a full blooded Quileute, huh? Damn, I really had to dig to get that sucker out. You could hear his screams echoing through the canyon."
Sam put down his utensils and spoke up then. "Shut it Paul—I was there too, remember? Embry never made a sound. It's kind of hard to yell when there's a pine branch clenched between your teeth."
I pushed the chair out from behind me and stood up. I leaned over slightly and pulled up the sleeve on Embry's tee shirt. His upper arm looked like it had been flayed open. It was now held together with steri strips.
Feeling my temper rising to the surface, I shouted, "Oh my gosh! I could just kill you, Paul. How could you shoot him? He's your own pack brother, for Pete's sake."
"Oh, he's fine," Paul retorted, rolling his eyes.
I held the fabric pinched between my fingers, exposing the damage. "Does this look fine to you?"
Shaking with rage, I glared at him.
Paul shrugged his shoulders. "I guess not—that tattoo will never be the same," he guffawed. Nonchalantly, he speared another potato and popped it in his mouth.
"My god, Embry," I cried. Letting go of his shirt, I stroked the left side of his face and placed my right cheek flush against his.
"Wooh, Bella!" I heard Quil and Jared exclaim. I pulled away, startled, and looked over at Billy. My face was a sheet of solid crimson. Embry was blushing too!
Paul smirked at me. "So that's how it is, huh?"
I took my seat again and ate the rest of my dinner silently.
Monday after school, I went to visit Billy. I felt awful about flaunting my affection for Embry so publicly. I had to know what he was thinking. Was he hurting because of it?
Hesitantly, I knocked on the door of the little red house. Would Billy even answer the door? Would he want to see me—or speak to me? I stood there nervously waiting.
The wheels of his chair squeaked as he came toward the front of the house. The door opened. "Well, hello Bella," he said. "What can I do for you?"
I was biting my bottom lip—that horrible habit that I couldn't seem to break. "Do you have a minute to talk to me, Billy?"
"Sure, sure." I cringed as I heard those familiar words. That very expression fell from Jacob's lips often.
I followed Billy to the couch and sat down. "Billy, I came to apologize for my behavior last night. I don't know what I was thinking."
His warm brown eyes were filled with sympathy for me. He knew I loved Jacob dearly. "You don't need to apologize, Bella. Life has to go on. Jacob would want you to. We all know that you and Jacob had something special together, but that doesn't mean that you can't find love again. You know, Sarah and I had a great marriage before she died. If the right person had come along, I'm sure she would have approved. She wouldn't have wanted me to be alone. That's what love is all about—wanting the best for the other person."
I held Billy's hands in my own and peered into his dark eyes. "I want you to know that if Jake was here, I would still be with him. We would probably have gotten married eventually. I loved Jake, and I'm so sorry that he's gone, but the past can't be undone. A part of my heart will always be his. My love for Embry sort of crept up on me. He can never replace Jake. I wouldn't even want him to try. It wouldn't be fair, because Jake is a really tough act to follow. He's Embry—sweet, compassionate, quiet spoken Embry. It just happened . . . and by some miracle, I believe he loves me too."
"Everyone here loves you, Bella. If you decide that Embry is the one, nobody will stand in your way—least of all, me. I think even Jacob would give you his blessing. Who knows, maybe he sent Embry to you so you could finally let him go."
I gave Billy a big hug, and thanked him for his comforting words. I wiped away tears from my eyes, and looked forward to the future once more.
That night, Leah was busy making some kind of a list.
I got curious, and walked over to the table. "What are you so busy writing, Leah?"
She tapped her pencil on the wooden surface. "I've gotta get stuff organized for the horse races this Saturday."
"Holy Crow! I didn't know that they had races here in Washington. Where are they held . . . Seattle?"
Leah laughed and waved her list in the air. "Wake up, little sister! Didn't Jake tell you about our yearly La Push Derby? Oh . . . I guess you were tangled up with the Cullen Gang at that time. Jake won first place last year. Damn, I can't believe he didn't tell you. He was always such a braggart."
The next day on the way to Peninsula College, I asked Embry about the race.
"Yeah, I'll be in the race. I didn't enter last year because I knew Jake had it in the bag. I guess Paul's the one to beat this year."
I inched closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. "I hope he eats your dust. It would serve him right for shooting you." Then I added as an afterthought, "What's the first prize anyway?"
He leaned his head down close to mine kissing my temple. "It's a date with the current Miss La Push. I hope I don't win; I wouldn't want to hurt her feelings when I turn her down. I guess I'd be following in Jake's footsteps—he turned it down last year too."
"Giving up a date with a beauty queen—I'm amazed! Gosh, I never got too excited about horse races before, but this one sounds like a blast. I'll be cheering for you Embry."
The rest of the week went by uneventfully. Embry was quieter than usual though. It seemed like he had something on his mind.
The day of the race arrived. Leah and the women of the pack—me included—got the food ready and placed it out on tables that were already set up in the shade, away from the makeshift race track.
Leah had ribbons made for the ladies to wear. There was a different color for each of the riders. Embry's color was yellow.
Those rowdy wolfboys came in whooping and hollering, climbing bareback onto their assigned steed. They all lined up in a row. Billy sat on the sideline with the starting gun ready to fire. Seth led a riderless horse onto the track. There was a black ribbon hung from its neck. A hush fell over the crowd, and everyone bowed their heads.
Leah leaned down and whispered, "That was Jake's horse."
The boys looked up after a few minutes, and the hum of the people began again.
Seth led the horse off the field and handed the ribbon to Billy. The riders nodded their respect, and then watched as Billy raised the gun over his head. The shot went off and the riders went wild. It was the craziest race I had ever seen. The boys were absolutely fearless. How they would ever get to the finish line was anybody's guess. They cut in and out recklessly. At one point I had to shut my eyes. When I opened them again, Embry was in the lead, but Paul was closing the gap rapidly. I ran to the railing yelling for Embry. Paul shot past him to the finish line. The next thing that happened was not in the script.
Embry turned his stallion in the opposite direction, urging the beast to gallop at an even greater clip. I held my breath as I watched the horse jump the railing. The animal sped toward me—and with one arm—Embry hoisted me onto the back of the horse. The crowd whistled and cheered. I heard shouts of: "Way to go, Embry . . . Go get her, man . . . Atta Boy!"
I wrapped my arms around his middle and pressed the side of my head against his shoulder. We took off amidst the encouraging yells of the spectators. Was I dreaming? Was this a fairytale? I guess I would soon find out.
First Beach came into view and Embry slowed the horse down to a walk. He climbed down and reached up to help me as well. He carried me in his arms effortlessly and set me down on the driftwood bench.
He looked at me with that longing in his eyes. Then he began to pace back and forth, disturbing the stones beneath his feet. "I need to tell you something, Bella, and I don't know where to start." He hesitated, letting out a long breath. Finally the words began to pour out of him. "Okay, here goes . . . Remember that day that Jake introduced us? You were sitting on that dirty old wooden crate, and I thought—this is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. I fell in love with you at that very moment; but I was Jake's best friend and I would never hurt him. So I did the next best thing—I stayed away as much as possible. But . . . I . . . I couldn't look at another girl; I didn't want any other girl. That was a huge problem. My girl was the love object of one Jacob Black. How could I compete? The answer was . . . I couldn't . . . It was a hopeless situation."
I reached out for his hand, but he backed away. "Embry . . ." I began.
"No, Bella, let me get this out. I'll never be able to do this again if I don't do it now."
He stopped for a moment, staring down at the rocks. "Yeah, I kept my feelings to myself. I had to be careful when I phased. I couldn't bear the thought of Jake finding out. It would break him, and it would destroy our friendship." His head tipped up, as he faced me again. "But, here's the thing, Bella—that day in the meadow—the day that Laurent nearly killed you, I gazed at you with my wolf eyes, and imprinted. I already had these deep feelings for you, and the imprint almost drove me insane. It was the worst kind of pain whenever I saw you with Edward or Jake. And now I feel guilty because my best friend and brother is gone, and I still want you so badly.
His face wore a weary expression. "I don't expect you to forget Jake. I won't either. We both cared about him. He will always be a part of who we are."
He walked slowly toward me once more, and leaned against the bench. "I realize that I can never take the place of Jacob in your heart, but do you think that you can spare a little space there for me? I don't even expect you to love me the same way that you loved him. I have adored you Isabella Swan ever since that first moment in Jake's garage. I guess what I'm trying to say is . . . Bella, do you think that someday you might love me . . . not as Jake's friend . . . but for myself—Embry Call?"
I reached out running my fingers along his arm. My answer came in a whisper while I took his hand in mine. "You're too late." His face fell as the words left my mouth. "I don't know why or how, but one day I found myself falling in love with you. Yes, you, Embry—you quietly crept into my heart and slowly imbedded yourself deep inside. I can already feel you beating within me. I am in love with you! I'm yours now and yours alone."
When he smiled at me, it was as if Jacob was standing there in spirit, smiling too. Embry lifted me off the bench, hugging me tightly to his chest. He blazed a trail of kisses, starting at my neck. He moved on to my ears, my cheeks, my hair, all the while murmuring, "Bella . . . Bella . . ."
His eyes filled with tears as he gazed at my face. This time when our lips came together, I fisted his hair. He grabbed my hips, pulling me impossibly closer. This time, there were stars in my eyes and comets in the night sky. This time, fireworks roared overhead, and the rockets glared red. This time, love burned within me from a flame that grew from tiny glowing embers. This time I knew for certain that there was an abiding love in my future, a future with my Embry—Embry Call.
