A/N This chapter was Beta'd by sniperocker123 and Michelle from Project Team Beta. They did an amazing job of helping me put everything in order. One beta suggested that I cut this chapter into two parts, which I considered for quite a time and would have if I could have figured out where to divide it... I couldn't. This was one of the reasons I had considered posting it as a drabble fic. Sorry... *bounces head of table* I just can't decide... uhg.

Anyway everyone, I hope you enjoy it. I'm trying to get the next chapter off. Wish me luck because real life keeps interfearing...I hope to hear your thoughts and comments... I really do look forward to them.

Home, Not Home, Home

Chapter 3

Left Behind

Edward remained behind, instead of chasing after her immediately like he had wanted to. He couldn't let her dreams go up in flames. He didn't know when it had happened, but it had. Her dreams had become his. And it was going to take everything he had, and then some, to bring their dreams to fruition.

After that happened, he'd make his move. He would go to New York and bring her back—kicking and screaming if necessary. But a month was a long time to wait.

"You're nuts! You know that, don't you?" Edward said, frustrated.

"It will work! I know it will!" Bella replied, defensively. "I've done the research, the math. I even got the bank to back my business plan. This will work!"

"Your plan is so going to fail. This is a Colorado working dude ranch, not some high and mighty pampered guest hotel."

"You watch, listen, and learn, bucko." Bella was too angry to continue. Who was Edward Cullen to tell her what would and wouldn't work ? Nobody.

"Fine by me! I'll watch you fail and listen to you cry. Then, I'll finally watch you learn that you do not belong here. When it's all said and done, you'll run back to wherever it was that you came from with your tail ticked between your legs. Then we'll see who's laughing. And when my two years is up, I'm out of here, because there will be nothing left of the ranch, or Phil, because the bank will own everything."

The Wheels on the Bus

With Alice's and Emmett's help, Edward worked from sun up to sun down. He put on his most charming smile every morning and took it off every night. Even the small community pulled together and helped.

Esme Johnson, the local school bus driver, offered her services. Every Friday that month, she waited in town for the weary travelers to arrive and escorted them to the ranch. She laughed and giggled as the passengers loaded the aging school bus, shocked and surprised by their reception.

"Welcome to Georgetown," she would greet. Then she would pull the lever, shutting the glass doors after the last passenger rested in their seat. By the time they reached the ranch, Edward was amazed at the smiling faces that stepped off the bus singing.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round...Thank you, Ms. Johnson...Sorry, Esme. See you Monday morning..."

If only Bella were here to see it. With that thought, Edward put his mask back in place, adjusted his Stetson, and stepped out of the shadows.

"Welcome to the Dwyer Lake Ranch. I'm sure y'all are tired and hungry. So, if y'all will grab your bags, I'll show you to your quarters where you can freshen up before dinner."

Follow that Girl

"Edward, it's been almost six weeks," Alice whined. She missed her friend Bella and wanted her home almost as much as Edward did. "You still haven't found her?"

"Alice, it was a month before I could leave to find Bella, and it took me a week to drive to New York. So, technically its only been one. And no, I haven't found her...yet," Edward grumbled. "Who knew New York was so big?" he injected, trying to move the conversation forward.

"By the way, how are things back at the ranch?" Edward asked. Edward already knew that he couldn't find more capable hands than Jasper's to leave the ranch in if he had tried.

"They're um... good. Jasper's doing a great job for you and Bella," Alice mused. Edward could once again hear the lighthearted girl he'd grown up with and laughed at the not-so-sly tone of her voice. Maybe, once he and Bella returned, she and Jasper would have a chance at a future.

"Thank you, Edward. You have no idea how nice things are, getting to know him again after all this time."

"I'm glad things are working out for you, Jasper, and the ranch. I love you, Alice, but I have a mission to accomplish. I'll be back as soon as I can." Edward waited until Alice said her thank you and good-bye before he hung up.

He still wondered why Alice thanked him when they spoke. Getting Jasper back to the ranch wasn't his idea.

"Hey, Jasper. How long are you back in town for?" Edward asked his old friend as he took a seat next to him at the diner. It was just another day trip into town from the ranch.

"That's still to be determined," Jasper said flatly, never taking his eyes off the dark-haired waitress at the other end of the counter.

"Ah...I see," Edward said, noticing Alice pretending to fill salt shakers. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Actually, I think there is. Want some company for the ride back to the ranch?" Jasper asked, finally looking at Edward.

Edward glanced across the room at Alice and shrugged.

"Sure, why not. Anytime you're ready," he replied, draining his coffee cup and plopping his hat back on his head. Edward was curious as to what Jasper wanted. No better time like the present, he thought to himself.

Once the tires hit the pavement, Jasper wouldn't shut up. Edward realized just how much Jasper had stuffed and hidden over the last four years. He hated his job, he wanted to make things right with Alice, and he wanted to come home. But he couldn't do that without a plan.

The bank was "footing the bill" for his trip to Georgetown until he could locate his client's Power of Attorney, who was now in default of her agreement and could be forfeiting her inheritance as well.

Suspicion stirred deep in Edward's gut. It couldn't be, could it? Fuck, it had to be.

"That wouldn't be Isabella Swan, would it?" Edward just needed confirmation.

"Um, yeah. How'd you guess?" Jasper asked, perplexed when Edward finally reacted.

"Fuck, I swear when I get my hands on her... " he said, leaving the obvious threat hanging.

"Do you know where she is?"

"Yes... and no," Edward admitted, defeated.

"Edward, you don't understand. If she doesn't come back, she'll lose everything. So-"

"Oh, she's coming back, all right. As soon as I can find someone to run the ranch for me."

Edward hit the brakes and looked at Jasper. Jasper wore the biggest fucking grin this side of the Rocky Mountains. They both knew what needed to be done.

The next Friday, Edward was almost in New York as the bus pulled up to the house and unloaded the passengers.

"Welcome to..."Jasper's voice rang out Edward's standard greeting. He was sporting an old Civil War officer's hat instead of Edward's white Stetson.

Jasper's parents had named him after his great-great-grandfather, Major Jasper Whitlock. The hat was a family heirloom that had been passed from father to son and eventually him.

Major Jasper Whitlock, who looked like his younger heir, had been highly admired by those that served him. He'd been decorated with medals of valor, and the name Whitlock were some big shoe's to fill. That's why Jasper had left the hat with his one true love, Alice, when he'd run off to the city to prove himself worthy.

If he'd known the heartbreak he was leaving behind, he may never had left.

Meeting the Mother

"Hey, Emmett," Edward greeted before he replied to Emmett's question about whether he'd found Bella yet or not. "No, it's not going so good," Edward spoke in frustration. He was sitting in his truck parked outside of a Wal-Mart somewhere in New York City.

"No, she hasn't contacted her mother, at least that's what her mother said," he started to explain, but how did one explain Renee, the woman that was supposed to love and care for Bella. "Man, Emmett... if that was my momma, I'd get the hell out of Dodge too. That woman is as mean as they come."

"Mrs. Swan gave me a few names but... Emmett, it's like Bella just disappeared into thin air."

"Who's knocking on my door like some raving maniac?" Renee yelled from behind the door.

"Mrs. Swan, my name is Edward...Edward Cullen. I need to talk to Bella."

"Well, Bella doesn't live here," she yelled back through the door.

"Do you know where I can find her?"

"She moved to some podunk town in Colorado. You want to see her, go there!"

"Mrs. Swan, please—Bella hasn't been at the Dwyer Lake Ranch in over a month."

Edward turned to leave when he heard the locks of the twisting from inside. When the door finally opened, an older version of Bella, minus Phil's features, stood there eyeing him from head to toe.

"Oh, great. Now I have rednecks coming to my door." Her disdain for him or anything country was evident in her tone and clearly written on her face—Edward felt the urge to step back.

Bella's mother was barely covered in a silky robe, and it was obvious that she'd been drinking. Reflexively, he wrinkled his nose as the smell of booze assaulted him.

"I already told you, she isn't here. If she's not in Colorado, I don't know where the fuck she is. Try getting a hold of her ex Tyler, or that blonde bimbo she use to run with, Rosalie."

"Ma'am as you can obviously see, I'm not from around here. Could you be more specific?" Edward asked.

"Tyler Crowley and Rosalie King, or Hale, or whatever she goes by these days. Look them up in the phone book," Renee spat as she stepped back from the door. "And when you find her, tell her Sam finally left me, and she's dead to me. I don't have a daughter." Then the door was closed with a loud ringing of wood colliding with wood.

At least Edward had a few new leads, but more importantly, he once again had hope.

I Owe You One

"The names? Um..." Edward stuttered, caught off guard by Emmett's question. He quickly searched the dash of his truck for the piece of paper he'd written the names on.

"Rosalie King or Hale and Tyler Crowley," Edward finished once he had found his note. He would have asked about spelling, but Renee had slammed the door in his face.

"Give me a few days," Emmett said, pausing to look around his desk. "I'll see what I can find out from my end."

"Thanks, Emmett, but isn't that like breaking the law... or something?"

"Not if I file a missing person's report or slap a warrant out for her arrest, it's not."

"Okay," Edward said, drawing out the word and shaking his head. "But you know Bella's gonna flip if you do something like that, right?"

"At this point, Edward, I don't care what kind of tantrum she throws. Can't be any worse than running away now, can it?"

Edward could hear the emotion in his friend's voice. He'd known Emmett too many years to miss it, and he knew just how protective his friend could be.

"I'll wait for your call then. And Emmett... thanks, man, I owe you one."

Three young men stumbled from the bonfire, the two younger men dragging a very drunk Emmett. If Emmett got caught drunk again, he would be suspended from the football team. And if he was suspended, he would lose the football scholarship they had been out celebrating.

"Edward, I think we need to find smaller friends." Jasper snickered as he and Edward pulled and pushed the passed-out linebacker into the bed of his truck.

"Hey, we'd do the same if it was you," Edward commented as they finally got Emmett's feet adjusted so they could close the tailgate.

"Yeah, maybe. But you guys wouldn't have gotten a hernia tossing me into the back of a truck." Jasper laughed, freeing the truck keys from the front pocket of Emmett's jeans.

"Let's just hope his mamma doesn't find out about this. If she finds out, he won't need a scholarship because he'll be dead." Both boys laughed as they settled into the cab of the truck.

"Well," Jasper said, weighing the choices. "Should we take the high road, or the low road?"

One road was well traveled, smooth, and led to the highway. The other road was filled with ruts and took forever to get back.

"The low road," Edward commented, slapping Jasper on the back. "Maybe someone will learn his lesson about drinking and making us clean up the mess."

"Hell with that! We'll drive him home; he can clean up his own messes."

Starlight, Starbrite

It's not that Edward was a stranger to big city living; he'd attended college in Houston, Texas for four years. He just wasn't used to feeling closed in, like he did, as he drove through the metropolitan area called Manhattan. He wondered how Bella had survived growing up there living in the shadows of inanimate, cold buildings and never really seeing the sun, moon, or stars. For Edward, New York City was like a living death of sorts.

He wondered if Bella took any comfort in the contrast of home compared to New York, because he didn't. There was too much concrete, too many people, and you couldn't see the stars.

"Bella, what are you doing out here this time of night?" Edward asked, sitting on the ground and joining Bella as she gazed at the stars. Somehow, after the last fight they'd had, they had come to some sort of silent truce.

"That's Orion over there... and that's the big dipper... and the little dipper is right there. She said, lying on her back and pointing up at the sky. "It's not that I've haven't seen the stars before, I just don't remember them being so big," she finished and fell into silent wonder of how magnificent the heavens were.

"That's Draco, the dragon, over there and right there next to that big bright one there is-"

"Aquarius," Bella spoke, filling in the title, smiling. Edward looked at Bella and noticed her smirk.

"Know-it-all," he said playfully.

"So, you finally agree with me?"

Edward and Bella laughed before slipping back into a comfortable silence watching the stars, together.

But Edward was watching more than the stars. He was watching the woman next to him watch the stars, and now that he was paying attention, he saw her. He saw the naive little girl locked in a woman's body. He saw the woman who was greedy for the things around her, not the flashy lights or the night life of the city.

Central Park Fountain

Edward tried to put himself in Bella's shoes, being from the big city. But it wasn't like Bella had never been to the country before. But why would she have felt so overwhelmed?

How did someone get into somebody else's mind? With nothing else do to, Edward decided he'd go to Central Park and try to see things from Bella's perspective. Maybe... just maybe, he'd feel a little closer to her and not so lost.

As Edward strolled deeper into the park, he noticed the contrast of the grass, concrete, and asphalt trails. He watched people flock to the wide open areas and relax, taking in the day's sunshine.

He concentrated on the older people and couples sitting at park benches feeding birds day-old bread and connecting with something that would help answer his questions. Deeper into the park, Edward followed the squeals and screams of children's laughter. Setting within round concrete curbs and elaborate metal fencing was a large frog statue, water pulsing skyward from its back and falling down like rain, droplets of water covering the expanse of the fountain.

Standing behind the people surrounding the fountain, Edward watched as children of all shapes and sizes raced back and forth under the umbrella of water, laughing and simply being children.

As the smile tugged at the edges of Edward's lips, he understood why Bella had shown him pictures as he remembering one of their first fights. "What do you mean, you don't get it?" Bella asked as Edward looked at the picture she had handed him.

"Why in the hell would you bring a 'piece of the city' to a natural rural area like Dwyer Lake? I thought that's what you were trying to get them away from. Exposing those big city snobs to something more natural, beautiful."

"It's not like I'm trying to recreate Central Park or something. Jesus, Edward, it's just a fountain, a centerpiece so to speak. It's just so different here. I don't want them to feel completely lost and overwhelmed."

"It isn't? You don't? Oh wait, Bella. It's an abomination, that's what that thing is! An abomination. If you want the city so bad, why don't you just go back? Ow! What the fuck was that for?" Edward asked, blocking the things that were suddenly flying across the room. "Stop throwing shit at me! Ow! Damn it, woman-"

"Out, get out! Get the fuck out of my house!" she screamed with an emphasis on my. "And stay out!" she ordered, standing in the door way.

"You're crazy... You know that right?" Edward pulled at his hair with both hands, hard.

"And you're... you're just an ass, Edward Cullen," she screamed, slamming the door.

Outside, Edward smiled, rubbing his chest where the book she threw had hit as he walked away.

"At least she got one thing right. I am an ass," he mused lightheartedly. Edward was starting to enjoy getting Bella riled up more than he should. "And she has one hell of an arm for a girl," he laughed, moving on.

Eventually, Bella shoved her drawings into the bottom of a box and then placed the box in the back of a closet she never used. Bella didn't speak to Edward for a week after that. And then when she did, it was short and business related.

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