A Broken Betrothal. A offense much more serious than a broken engagement, a broken betrothal is the public breaking of a moral contract – an assurance of matrimony. The family of the departing party can be legally held responsible for all costs associated with the abandoned wedding as well as shunned from the community.


Edward Cullen sat behind the desk of his small office and looked over the commodities exchange that was open on the Internet before him. The import-export business was booming and Edward's business was growing faster than he'd expected.

Just out of habit, Edward looked up the statistics for the grape industry, just to see if he saw any negative trends, for his family's sake. He was happy that he didn't.

The Cullen family was known throughout the Pacific Northwest for its small family owned and operated vineyard. Edward's mother, Esme had inherited the vineyard from her parents when Edward and his brothers were young. They had always gone to their grandparents' home and helped cultivate grapes and make preserves with their grandmother. So when it came time to take over, there was more than enough know-how in the family to provide the labor force.

Even though Carlisle already had a solid medical practice, he supported his wife and sons in their endeavor in agriculture. However, because Carlisle, himself had separate ambitions, he didn't deny Edward when Edward requested to set out on his own and start up his own venture.

Initially, it was never Edward's intention to branch out from his family. He'd studied business at the University of Washington with the expectation of handling the business side of the vineyard: marketing, accounting, human resources, etc. After he graduated, Edward had been ready to start the next phase of his life, settling down and starting a family. But before he could do that, he needed a place to have a family dwell. He'd hired a contractor, with the help of his family, and was set to begin building his home in what the family jokingly called 'Cullen Estates'.

Each male of the Cullen clan owned a two-acre parcel of land that surrounded the vineyard. Jasper's home was there, as was Emmett's. Edward had been happily looking forward to aligning his address with his brothers' by placing his home on a nearby plot.

But things had taken a turn in an unexpected direction and Edward's life was flipped upside down. The only remedy for the blow he'd experienced was time and space. The building project was abandoned, and an unfinished foundation lay as a symbol of its broken owner. Edward had withdrawn into himself, and though he remained living in is father's house, where his body was present, his heart was not.

It had been three years. Three years ago Edward had thrown himself whole-heartedly into the Cannabean lifestyle. Though he had been raised in the theology of his parents, it had never truly been his own belief. As teenagers, he and his brothers took great pride in breaking all of the rules and considered it a victory when they could make their many admirers blush at their lewd jokes and innuendos.

But it had been thirty-six months…one hundred fifty-six weeks since Edward had thrown himself into the Cannabean way.

During one of the darkest periods of his life, Edward had happened upon a book in his father's library by a man named Amos Bradley. Amos was a Cannabean elder that feared the watering down of his faith's foundation. Therefore he took it upon himself to pen what was now known at the Handbook of the Cannabean Society.

Edward sat riveted to a chair in his father's study, feverishly reading doctrine and beliefs that brought him comfort and peace. For the first time in his life, he understood, not just what his parents had been telling him for years, but why they had been saying such things. Strict adherence to the Cannabean lifestyle would have prevented the ache and void in his soul that he was feeling. It would not have allowed the massive injustice done to him.

No, it was a loose interpretation and flippant disregard for the rules that caused such wrongs to run rampant in what should have been a peaceful, loving and humble society.

And so from that day, one thousand ninety five days ago, until the present, Edward had adhered so strictly to the Cannabean lifestyle that oftentimes he found himself in disagreement with his friends and family.

"Edward, you don't have to take things so literally," his father, Carlisle, would often say.

And in response, Edward would always counter, "If I wasn't meant to interpret it that way, it wouldn't be written that way."

Back and forth, they would go until one of them, rarely Edward, would acquiesce and let the other have his way.

So unrelenting was Edward, that in time, friends he'd had since childhood stopped coming around. Women stopped pursuing him, and the only family members that bothered to strike up conversation were his parents and his nieces and nephews, who's age kept them from knowing any better. So estranged was he, that at the family dinners after church, Edward rarely spoke of anything outside of business and he strongly discouraged any forays into his personal life.

Over time, people just got used to him being a silent, brooding fixture at church and occasional functions within the community.

One Sunday after church, Edward walked into the kitchen to find his mother making chicken and dumplings, his favorite meal.

"That smells great, Mom," he smiled as he walked over to the pot to garner visual evidence of the enticing smells.

"Here," she offered him a bowl so that he could help himself to the contents of the pot. "There's plenty."

At her words, Edward glanced at the pot again and noticed the vastness of its size. His mother didn't usually cook in such mass quantities, unless…

"Is someone coming over?" Edward asked.

Before she could answer, a female voice rang through the entryway, followed by the booming voice of Edward's oldest brother, Emmett.

"The family is coming for lunch," Esme answered, eyeing Edward warily.

Edward sat his bowl down on the counter with a firm clatter. "I think I'll just go upstairs and get some work done."

"Edward," his mother touched her hand to his arm softly. "Honey, it's…please. It's my birthday and I just want to sit down and have lunch with my family."

Even a man with a stone heart couldn't deny his mother a wish on her birthday.

Edward picked up his bowl once again and took it with him to his place at the table, but not before giving his mother a look that communicated how big of an effort he was putting forth for her sake.

Emmett, his wife Rosalie and their children, entered the dining room. Their entrance had been so loud that no one was aware that Jasper and his wife Alice were also with them.

Without so much as a glance it their direction, Edward sat down and turned his attention to his two nieces and one nephew. He couldn't believe how fast time was passing. It seemed like just yesterday Emmett was speaking of his initial interest in Rosalie – and now, six years later, they had three children and were most likely headed towards their fourth.

"Can I sit by you?"

Edward looked over to see his oldest niece, Emma, staring at him expectantly as she pulled on the large mission-style chair. He simply smiled and helped her with the chair in answer to her question.

"It's almost my birthday," Emma reminded him.

"Nuh-uh," Elijah, the only boy and middle child, spoke up. "Daddy said it was going to be your half-birthday. You don't get presents on your half-birthday."

The two children began to bicker back and forth and Edward's eyes bounced back and forth between them as they spoke. In the past, a headache would have been the immediate result from such an interaction, but lately, whenever Edward had the opportunity to witness his brother's prized possessions, he found himself intrigued, invested…wistful in his thoughts of having his own children some day.

As the thoughts came to the forefront of his mind yet again, Edward suppressed them and turned his attention, instead, to the eddies of steam that rose from his lunch. Though he had been successful in quenching the desire for a mate for the past three years, his needs had now intensified, and the images in his mind were persistent against his resistance.

The sins of his youth plagued his conscious and unconscious mind. Mental pictures of the various girls who had willingly performed acts of physical gratification upon him and his brothers during their rebellious teen years flickered mercilessly through his head. It was as if he was experiencing sexual awareness for the first time, only this time it was multiplied by the number of years he had been denied sexual activity – as if his body knew that he should be married by now and partaking regularly.

For the first time in three years, Edward acquiesced to the silent mantra in his mind: he was ready. He was ready to get married. The acceptance both thrilled and terrified him. The thought of no longer being an outlier in his family, of experiencing the joy that they all knew…that he had once been within an arm's length of grasping, was exciting to Edward. But the notion of not ever finding the right "one"…a woman who appealed to him, wanted him and above all else, shared his beliefs, was terrifying. Because without the latter, Edward would not even consider any other attributes. A strong Cannabean woman would not break his heart or betray him. That was an experience he was not willing to subject himself to…again.

"I saw Brady at the hospital the other day. He said his brother told him that a Cannabean family is moving to the area. They're a small family though. They only have one child, a daughter," Carlisle said.

"A young family?" Rosalie asked. She fantasized about having a huge community of Cannabean mothers for support and to glean knowledge from.

"I don't really know," Carlisle admitted. "But they will be going to our church."

Emma giggled along with her younger sister, Abigail. "Maybe we'll get a new friend," the two girls whispered to each other loudly.

"Maybe," Emmett said as he reached out and tickled Abigail, the only one near enough for him to do so. "But she might be a lot older than you."

Edward didn't even have to look up to know that at least half of his family had glanced his way as Emmett spoke. No one ever said anything, but he knew they were wondering if he would open himself up to love ever again. The answer had previously been a firm no. But now, it was wavering between a maybe and a solid yes…with conditions.