CHAPTER FIVE

CARPE DIEM

The next day everyone was up early for the hike. Over breakfast, Renesmee handed to Renee a small white box.

"I made this for you." Renesmee said as she handed it to Renee.

"You didn't have to do that, sweetie!" Renee cooed. She opened the box and inside was a beaded bracelet. "How beautiful! Where did you get this?" Renee asked as she lifted the bracelet from the box. It was flat, about an inch wide, with an intricate working of tiny beads laced on thin leather braids woven together. The ends were tied off in knots with a ring on one end and a clasp on the other. It looked like a delicate piece, but I could tell it had sturdy craftsmanship.

"I made it." Renesmee said. "Jacob taught me. He actually makes jewelry."

"That's great! Oh look at all the little beads! This is really too sweet. Thank you, Renesmee." Renee said.

"Here, let me help you put it on." Renesmee offered. She clipped the bracelet around Renee's wrist and Renee gazed at it in wonder. "I didn't know you made jewelry, Jacob. I thought you owned an auto repair shop out on the reservation."

"I still do, I just don't work there as much. The guys can handle the work load, and I go in there periodically to help out when they need it. It mostly runs itself. I started working with jewelry as a sort of meditation therapy. The intricate work was calming. Once I mastered leather and beads, I did carvings. Last year I started working with metal."

"Well, you have definitely done well for yourself." Renee smiled.

Jacob blushed, "Thank you."

"Okay, I have the picnic all ready." Alice said as she placed the basket on the table.

"I wish you could go with us, Alice." Renee said.

"I do too." Alice said, "But these dresses won't design themselves, and unfortunately my deadline has been pushed up. I'm so sorry."

"I understand, Alice." Renee said.

"We'd better head out if we want the good spots." Emmett said. He was going with us so that Phil would have someone to fish with. It really wasn't my thing. Rosalie had decided to stay home. Fishing wasn't her thing either. Renee planned to sit back on the shore and talk with Bella. It would just be me, Bella, Renee, Phil, Emmett, Renesmee, Jacob, and Seth.

I could hear Seth and Jacob talking outside. Their tone caught my attention so I moved closer to hear what they were discussing.

"What is with you, Seth?" Jacob asked.

"What do you mean, Jake?" Seth asked.

"You know what I mean. For a while now you have been following Renesmee around like a lost puppy. What gives?" Jacob demanded.

"I just like being around her. There's nothing going on. I swear." Seth said.

"There better not be." Jacob threatened and then turned to leave.

"You don't own her." Seth said.

Jacob stopped and turned, walking back to Seth slowly as he said, "What did you just say?"

Seth seemed nervous, but he held his ground. "You heard me, Jacob. You don't own her. If I want to hang out with her, and it's okay with her, then you can't stop me."

"Can't I?" said Jacob as he stared at Seth, anger washing over his expression. Seth tried his best to hold Jacob's glare, but as the alpha, Jacob had the power to make Seth back down, and he was using it now as Seth dropped his gaze and cowered slightly. "If I tell you to leave, you will leave."

Renesmee, glancing outside at their body language, stepped outside and said, "Jacob, what are you doing?"

Jacob looked at her and backed away from Seth. "Seth and I were just talking."

"That's not what it looked like." Renesmee chastised. "Seth, are you okay?"

Seth did not look up at Jacob or Renesmee as he said, "Yeah, I'm fine, we were just talking."

Renesmee looked at Seth and then turned to Jacob and said, "May I have a word with you?" as she stormed off into the trees. Jacob followed her and when they were some distance from the house, she rounded on him.

"Jacob, what is going on?" Renesmee demanded.

"Nothing is going on…" Jacob began before Renesmee interrupted.

"Don't lie to me, Jacob!" Renesmee yelled. She stepped closer to him and held his eyes with hers and said, "Tell me right now what you two were talking about."

Unable to resist Renesmee, Jacob said, "It makes me nervous the way Seth always wants to be around you."

"Nervous? Why?" Renesmee asked.

"I think he likes you. As in, romantically." Jacob said.

Renesmee gasped and took a step back, "Jacob! Not you too!"

He looked at her, confused, and said, "What do you mean, not me too?"

"My dad is already acting nutty about me spending time with you, and now you are acting weird about Seth being around. What is going on with you two? Aren't you taking this protecting me thing a little far" Renesmee asked.

With this line of questioning, Renesmee was eventually going to ask something Jacob couldn't evade and the secret of his imprinting would be revealed.

I stepped into the trees. "There you are. We are heading out." I said.

"This conversation is not over." Renesmee promised. She looked me up and down as she walked off back to the house.

"Thanks, Edward. I thought for sure I was done for there." Jacob admitted.

"You likely were." I confirmed. "You need to be more careful if you want to let sleeping dogs lie."

Jacob sighed, shaking his head. "Easier said than done, man."

"I know." I commiserated. "Come on. Let's go walk it off."

We piled into the Tesla and headed south down Highway 101 until we came to an unmarked dirt trail. We drove down as far as we could and then we unloaded and headed toward the lake. It was about a twenty minute walk from the dead end in the road until the edge of the clearing that opened to the lake. We set down our stuff and began setting up.

"I'm going to check the perimeter, make sure we have the best spot." Jacob said.

"I want to go!" Renesmee said.

"Me too!" said Seth.

The three of them took off to explore while Renee, Bella, and I set up chairs and portable tables and Emmett and Phil readied their fishing gear.

"Hey, Renee, did you pack that bait I handed you?" Phil asked as he was digging through his bag.

Renee sighed, "Yes, I put that disgusting jar of worms in your bag Phil."

"Well, it's not here, Renee." Phil snapped.

"Maybe it fell out." Renee shot back.

"And maybe you didn't want me to be able to fish so you left it out on purpose." Phil accused.

"What? Why would I not want you to fish?" Renee asked.

"Because you like sucking the fun out of my life." Phil muttered.

"Whoa, hey now…" Bella said.

"Well, you didn't have to come, Phil." Renee shot back.

"I'm going to pretend like you didn't say that Renee." Phil said, walking off. Renee looked as if she might go after Phil, but instead she bit her knuckle, shook her head, and then sighed and sat on the ground.

Emmett looked to me and Bella and without speaking asked, "Should I go after him?" I nodded in the direction that Phil had exited as an affirmation to his question.

"I'm sorry you two had to see that." Renee said, tears brimming in her eyes.

"I'm going to go get firewood. I'll be right back." I said as I walked off out of sight of Renee. I knew Bella wanted to speak to her mother about what had just happened, and she was more likely to open up if I wasn't around.

"Mom, what's going on with you and Phil?" Bella asked.

"What do you mean, sweetie? Nothing's going on." Renee denied, trying to laugh away Bella's question as she got up from the ground.

"Mom, you are an awful liar. You and I both know that. You can talk to me. What's wrong?" Bella pressed.

Renee turned to see if Phil was in earshot, but he had walked farther down the trail out of sight. "I am going to divorce Phil."Renee admitted.

"What? But why? Did he hurt you?" Bella asked, her expression turning dark.

"Oh no, honey, nothing like that. It's not him, it's me." Renee claimed.

"I don't understand. You've been so happy for so long. What happened?" Bella inquired.

"Life happened, I guess." Renee said. "I started noticing it a few years ago. At first I thought we were just in a rut, you know? The seven year itch. All of the things that I used to find so cute and endearing were starting to really get on my nerves."

Renee heard rustling not far off, but Phil was still off trying to locate bait. Renee continued, "He used to be able to make me feel so alive and vibrant, and now, when I look at him, it's just not there anymore." Renee looked down at the ground and sighed. "I'm so awful."

"Mom, you are not awful, okay? You aren't. Everyone has rough patches. Maybe you just need to reconnect." Bella offered.

"He actually took me on a trip to Ireland a few months ago, you know, to be spontaneous. It was nice. I mean, we had a great time. I could actually see myself in a little cottage there as an old lady with a cup of tea and a rocking chair. It was so peaceful. But it just made it even more plain to me that I'm no longer happy with Phil because I realized I would leave him to be there if he didn't want to go, and that's just not right." Renee said.

"Mom, I'm so sorry. Are you sure?" Bella asked.

"I think I am, Bella. You know, I just don't think I was built for forever." Renee admitted. "I know it's terrible to say that, but I think some people are just broken that way."

"Mom, you are not broken." Bella insisted.

"You are sweet honey, but I think you still have a lot of growing up to do." Renee said with a sardonic laugh.

"Do you think Phil knows?" Bella asked.

"I think he suspects. He keeps asking me what's wrong, and I say nothing because I don't want to get into it and then he gets grouchy, like he is now. It's not healthy for either of us, you know?" Renee said.

"When are you going to tell him?" Bella asked.

"Once we get to his parent's house. We aren't just going there to celebrate their anniversary. Phil came on this trip because he got sacked from the team. He found a job as a personal trainer in Phoenix, and his parents are going to let us stay with them until we get on our feet. Only, I won't be staying." Renee whispered.

"Mom, why don't you just tell him now and stay here with us." Bella blurted out.

"I can't do that to him, Bella. He'd be stuck here until tomorrow and then he'd have the whole travel home, alone. No, I'm going to wait until after his parents' anniversary and then tell him when his storage container arrives." Renee said.

"His storage container? Where is your storage container?" Bella asked.

"I had to pack everything while Phil went out and worked construction so that we would have the money to ship our stuff to Arizona." Renee admitted. "I packed all of my things separately from his and told him they only had two small pods instead of one big one. I had his shipped to his parents and I had mine shipped to you. I hope that's okay." Renee said, bowing her head.

"Of course that's fine, Mom, but why didn't you call me? I would have helped!" Bella said.

"I know you would have, Bella, but that is exactly why I didn't say anything." Renee said. "You have always taken care of me. Even when you were little, you were more of a parent than I was. But I'm not your responsibility, Bella. My life, my choices, they shouldn't be your burdens." Renee said.

"You are not a burden, Mom." Bella insisted.

"You know what I mean, Bella." Renee said. "It's time for me to deal with my own issues. I ran from your father without so much as a goodbye note. I don't want to do that to Phil. I'm going to go with him to his parents' house, and then I'm going to tell him what I have decided. He will have his parents there to help him." Renee said.

"And what about you?" Bella asked. "Who is going to help you?"

"I think it's time I spent some time on my own. I found a job just outside of Portland and a room for rent. And I'll be closer to you, Bella." Renee said.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Mom?" Bella asked.

"I know I can't keep doing what I have been doing." Renee said.

As Jacob, Renesmee and Seth were returning, Emmett and Phil returned as well. Phil went down to the edge of the lake, avoiding Renee, and Emmett stood under a tree near the edge of the lake next to Phil just as the sun began to shine through the clouds.

Bella and I made sure we were under the shade of a tree. Alice had warned us this would happen, but that it would only last a few moments. The rest of the day would be safe for us to be completely uncovered. Even with Alice's assurances, we had all dressed in pants and long sleeves despite the unseasonable warmth. Bella had even brought a large sunhat.

"Let's go swimming!" Renesmee called, as she pulled off her over shirt and shorts to reveal a two piece suit of shorts and a tank top. Seth and Jacob tugged of their shirts and kicked off their shoes and headed to the water.

"Great idea!" Renee shouted, also stripping down to her suit and heading to the water. Renee walked in knee deep and got splashed by Renesmee. They both squealed, and then Renee turned back to Bella.

"Come on, Bella, it's nice out!" Renee coaxed. Bella pulled her hat down a little farther and pulled her sleeves down over her hands.

"I'm good, Mom. I don't want to get wet." Bella said.

Renee trudged out of the river and up to where Bella and I stood in the shade of a large tree. "Isabella Marie, let me give you a little advice: you only get one life to live, and you don't know how long that life is going to be. Every moment is a treasure. And every opportunity to experience life to its fullest should be seized!" Renee said with a large grin.

The clouds shifted in the sky, covering the sun. Bella handed me her cell phone and reluctantly let her mother drag her into the river, and they all splashed.

***************CHAPTER END*****************