Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer. The plot is mine. Chapter four
Esme's pov
Billy was a friendly man who definitely knew what he was doing as he took in the damage on the house. His son on the other hand kept winking at me and when his father's back was turned he would whisper crude suggestions in my ear. I told him every time he should stop it, but he didn't listen. I was starting to get enough of it when the kid actually dared to put a hand on my bottom and his father caught sight of what he was doing.
"Jacob Black, get your hands off Mrs. Cullen!" he bellowed as he hurried over to us.
I stepped away with a sick feeling in my stomach. I wished Charlie was here, but as soon as that thought registered I berated myself for it. The fact that he was the first man who popped into my mind when I felt threatened, was ridiculous. If anything my instinct should still rely on Carlisle for that after all these years.
"Mrs. Cullen I apologize for his behavior. I will make sure that if you still choose to take us on for the job, my son will not be included in the crew that work here."
"Let's just get this inspection over with and I'll see what I'm going to do when I see the estimate, okay?"
Billy nodded, gave Jacob another tongue lashing and sent his son out to the car while he finished with his work. I followed him through the house and was pleased to find that besides the living room, the other rooms in the house were actually water damage free and I felt a lot better when Billy assured me that things looked worse than they actually were. I gave him my phone number and e-mail address so he could contact me when he had his offer ready.
After he drove off I was alone and I suddenly felt exposed and unsafe. It probably didn't help that due to the heavy rain clouds, it seemed like it was dusk already. I slipped into my car and decided to drive into town to see if I could find a place to stay and some food, because I was hungry and tired and in dire need of a hot shower.
After a short drive, I arrived at the local diner. It was small but looked very cozy and the waitress was sweet and very handy when it came to getting information. Apparently the one motel that had been present in the town had gone bankrupt only two months prior and there weren't any other places to stay, unless I decided to rent a house.
Thanking her I turned to look out the window. What was I supposed to do? I wouldn't know for another two to three days how long the work on the house was going to take and I didn't want to rent a house when it wasn't necessary.
As I closed my eyes I saw Charlie's face. His warm eyes, his sexy smile. I knew I wanted to take him up on his offer, but I also knew it was a bad idea to entertain. Shrugging it off I decided to call an estate agent I knew from college to ask her advice on my situation.
"Victoria Lang," she answered after two rings.
"Victoria, it's Esme. How have you been?"
"I'm doing great. I'm actually on my honeymoon right now."
"Weren't you married for fifteen years already?"
"I was," she laughed, "but James wanted to get a divorce two years ago. I met Felix when I needed a lawyer and here I am, happily married once again."
"Wow, has it really been that long? I'm sorry I never contacted you sooner."
"Please, Esme. It's fine. I'm just as much to blame as you. But you probably called for a reason, other than getting the latest gossip from your old roommate."
"Actually I wanted to ask your advice. Carlisle bought a house in Forks, Washington. I'm here now, but the house needs a lot of work before I can stay there. I'm not sure how long the renovations are going to take, so I need to know whether or not it's wise to rent a house until I'm ready to move in."
"If you can get a house that is rented out without a longterm contract, I'd say just rent the house, but most likely you'll have a minimum term to rent the place and if the work on your own house goes better than you expected you'll be stuck with a rental you can't get rid of."
I sighed. "Okay, I will see what I can find."
"Esme, why isn't Carlisle with you?"
"We're getting a divorce."
Vicky gasped. "No! You're not serious. You two were perfect for each other."
"Yeah, well Carlisle thought a girl half his age was better suited to share his bed with and I wasn't about to let him do that to me."
"Good for you! I must admit it doesn't sound like you to just pack up and leave, but I'm proud of you."
"What do you mean, doesn't sound like me?"
"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but you're easily convinced to do things Carlisle's way. I never said anything because he treated you right and whatever her tried to coerce you into, was for your benefit, but I always feared that when he wanted, he could also drive you into the wrong direction and you wouldn't be strong enough to fight back."
I sat dumbstruck, the phone still pressed tightly to my ear. Was I really that blind? Did I really allow Carlisle to dictate my life?
"Esme? Are you still there, honey?"
"Yeah. Listen, I'm going to hang up. Thanks for the advice and have fun on your honeymoon."
"Thanks and if you ever need anything, I'll only be a short drive away when I'm back in Seattle."
"I know. Thank you."
When I dropped the phone back into my bag I was still replaying my memories with the knowledge Victoria had just given me. And with every single thing I remembered letting Carlisle take over for me, I felt myself get angrier. I was angry with myself for my lack of self esteem and my total surrender to Carlisle and I was angry with Carlisle for never once stimulating me to do things the way I thought was right.
I gave up working after Emmett was born, because Carlisle had wanted me to. I moved to Alaska, despite the fact that I despised being so far away from my parents while they both were struggling with their health, because Carlisle had insisted.
I let him dictate my every life choice and I ended up here, with a cheating husband in a dingy house and totally alone. Any close friends I had, I had long since lost contact with and my sons would not get here until the last week of their summer holiday, four weeks away.
The waitress placed my order in front of me and with that I returned to the things I needed to focus on first.
"Excuse me," I said when the girl passed my table again.
"Yes?"
"Do you know of any houses that I could possibly rent for a couple of weeks?"
The girl furrowed her brow and twisted one of her jet-black strands of hair. "There is a house on Calawah Way that's empty at the moment. I'll just call my friend Rosalie, because her parents probably are the ones who are subletting that place."
"That would be nice. Thank you….uhm what's your name?"
"It's no problem and I'm Alice Brandon, nice to meet you."
"Esme Cullen, nice to meet you too."
We shook hands and chatted for a little while until she excused herself to go call her friend about the house. I dug into the sandwich that was still waiting for me while I waited for her.
"Look who we have here," I heard someone behind me say.
I turned in my seat and saw Billy standing behind me. "Hello, Mr. Black."
"Mrs. Cullen. I hope you are okay after what happened with my son?"
"Yes, I'm fine. If it doesn't happen again I will forget all about it."
"Do you mind if I join you?"
I was a bit shocked at his forwardness, but figured it couldn't do any harm so I nodded. I regretted the decision when my eyes landed on Charlie. He looked away when he caught my gaze, but I could clearly see the difference in them compared to this morning. His eyes were hard and distant and he didn't even acknowledge me or his friend.
Billy chatted away, oblivious to the fact that I wasn't even listening. I nodded politely, but every couple of minutes my eyes slid back to Charlie's back. He was dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a loose black t-shirt and I just couldn't keep my eyes averted for long.
Alice came back to the table, giving Billy the evil eye while she was at it.
"Mrs. Cullen, I talked to Rose and the house has just been rented by a young couple. I'm sorry. She asked her parents if there were any other options, but they said that right now there were none. They do have some flats available in Port Angeles."
"Thank you Alice. I will think about it."
"Sure. Can I get you anything Mr. Black?" she asked curtly.
"I'll have a burger and some fries, Alice."
She nodded and stalked off towards the kitchen.
"What was that all about?"
"What do you mean?"
"Why was Alice so cool towards you?"
Billy simply shrugged and gave me a wink that reminded me too much of his son.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with Charlie."
Billy looked frustrated at what I said, but nodded as I stood and left the table. I sat down next to Charlie, but I could feel the angry stare of Billy on my back.
"Charlie can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure. Here or out of earshot of the curious townfolk?"
I hated the cool tone he used with me. "Outside, please."
He nodded, polished off the last bit of his sandwich and threw a couple of dollars on the counter.
"Alice, thanks again for the advice. If I need any help with the decorating of Bella's room, would you be willing to help out for a couple of bucks?"
"I'd do it for free, Chief. I'm looking forward to meeting her."
"I'm sure you two will get along just fine. I'll talk to you later."
Alice smiled a dazzling smile and then with a dreamy sigh turned to serve another customer. She was clearly smitten with the Chief. I couldn't blame her, but I was surprised at how jealous I felt.
When we got outside, Charlie stomped down the parking lot until we reached the edge of a park. He whirled around, crossing his arms over his chest and telling me with his stare to start speaking.
"Charlie, does your offer still stand? The one about the spare room?"
"What? You weren't interested in the offer Billy made you?"
"What offer?"
"He called to tell me he asked you to stay with him for the time being. The thing is he doesn't have a spare room."
"He never asked me anything of the sort. And besides do I look like the kind of woman who would take him up on that, knowing he doesn't have a spare room?"
"No. But then again I never expected you to kiss him either."
"Kiss him?" I nearly shouted.
"Yes. He told me you were quite proficient."
"That bastard! I didn't kiss him. I'm not even attracted to him. His son was being a foul mouthed pain in the ass and he even dared to grab my ass. Billy told him to piss off and that was all that happened. Other than that everything was only about the house."
He still looked at me with suspicion and anger and I could no longer stand it.
"I'm attracted to you," I said before I reached up and pulled his face down to mine.
The moment his lips touched mine I got lost in the sensation. He was warm and when his strong arms enveloped me I felt like the most beautiful woman in the world. His lips parted and with a groan he slipped his tongue into my mouth and found mine. I marveled at his masculine smell that clouded my mind and the taste of him on my tongue.
A/N: :) I would love to hear what you think about this chapter. Review are like chocolate chip cookies :)
Love,
Mo