A/N: Thanks to all of you who are reading, and for all the great reviews -- they really keep me motivated to write! Special thanks to prettypinkbookworm, as always, for the beta read. I found this chapter really hard to write, hope you like it...hopefully it addresses some of the questions a few of you had earlier in the story.
CHAPTER 7
It had never occurred to me how difficult getting the weather to cooperate could be.
Carlisle and Edward usually left the house quite early – before dawn, in fact – just in case the sun chose to curse them with its brilliance. If clouds failed to materialize over Rochester, they would be safely wrapped in the shadows of Carlisle's office before any damage could be done. There they could stay until dusk's half-light allowed them to make their way home.
Traveling away from Rochester to find a new home was another issue altogether. The Packard afforded some privacy, especially since Carlisle had paid to have fancy curtains installed, but curtains couldn't shield the driver completely from the sun. An entire day could be lost if the weather wouldn't cooperate. And lately every day was like a cold crystal shot through with light – clear, brilliant, and entirely unsuitable for our travel.
"Useless superstition," Carlisle sighed, setting aside the well-worn Old Farmer's Almanac he'd been consulting. "I don't know how anyone plans their planting and harvesting by this."
"If it is so inaccurate, why do you even bother reading it, Carlisle?" Edward asked.
Carlisle picked up another, similarly sized book and turned open a page at random. "Scientific method. See this?" He held up the book and pointed to rows of neat, tiny script in the margins of the manuscript. "I've been tracking the actual outcome of the weather against the predictions for almost as many years as they have been publishing this book. It gives me great pleasure to see my opinion borne out by the evidence." He carefully closed the book.
I sharpened my gaze and noted with a start that the date on the cover read 1802.
What a waste of time, I thought to myself.
Edward shot an annoyed look at me. It was the most notice he'd given me since the night I'd run to the warehouse. Since then he'd studiously ignored me. He hadn't even risen to the bait of the deliberate and increasingly malicious thoughts I'd been directing at him.
"Ever the scientist," Edward noted, smoothing over the look of irritation that had marred his god-like features before turning his attention back to Carlisle. "Now that we have established your correctness, Carlisle, I wonder if we can determine what we should do? We still haven't figured out how to get out of Rochester to find our new home."
"You're making it more difficult than it needs to be," Esme suggested as she swept by to light the lamp at Carlisle's side. I don't know why she bothered; he didn't really need its light. "Do what you did when we left Wisconsin."
I perked up. They'd never really discussed their pasts with me. "What did you do then?" I asked.
Esme shrugged, absentmindedly moving around the study tidying up after Carlisle's abandoned reading and experiments. "Chose a place known, based on word of mouth, for its cloudy weather. Hired an attorney to buy a house for us, sight unseen. Traveled by night and hid during the day. When we couldn't make enough progress without putting ourselves at risk, or when we needed to hunt, we'd camp outdoors. We could always hear anyone coming before they had time to see us."
"You slept outside?" I couldn't hide the disgust that crept into my voice. "How did you bathe?"
Edward rolled his eyes. "It's not like we get sweaty, Rosalie. Especially you – you're hardly performing hard labor these days."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I hissed. Edward's eyes – they were dark now – trailed down to where I gripped the armchair. You're actually enjoying this, aren't you? I thought.
His upper lip curved crookedly, a glint of malicious glee in his eyes. "It wouldn't hurt you to actually help Esme around here instead of worrying about your hair and sulking because you can't go outside."
I sucked in my breath. At least he was noticing me. "Just because I am trapped in this house doesn't mean I can ignore my appearance, Edward." I straightened in my chair and smoothed down the skirt of my new dress, carefully chosen from the Sear's annual catalog. I looked at him through my thick lashes, affecting what I hoped was an innocent, blank look. "It wouldn't be respectful of all the effort that Carlisle and Esme, and yes, even you, go to to appear respectable."
"Plus," I added smugly, crossing my arms, "there isn't much to do in a house this small, even if we don't have help."
Edward rolled his onyx eyes again. He missed the quiet look that passed between Esme and Carlisle.
Carlisle let his gaze rest on me, uncertainty passing over his perfect features. Then he looked at Edward, and this time Edward noticed. Carlisle glanced at Esme again. She nodded.
I stole a glance at Edward. His entire face was folded into a frown. He was concentrating hard but nothing in his expression could explain what Carlisle and Esme were thinking.
Carlisle gracefully set his book aside and floated across the room, settling in the chair next to mine. My eyes were drawn to his hands, which he held lightly in front of him. They were beautiful hands, with long, delicate fingers.
"Esme and I were thinking that you might consider leaving here for a while. I mean, without waiting for all of us to move. You seem so tense; so preoccupied with those…men. A change of scenery might be just what you need."
I looked up, surprised.
"You trust me to go off on my own?"
"No, that's not what we meant," Esme said hurriedly. "We wouldn't leave you all by yourself. At your age, it wouldn't be safe."
"I don't understand. Are you sending me away? Honestly, Carlisle…."
My voice trailed off as Esme rose. She stared at me intently as she walked behind Carlisle and rested her hand on his shoulder.
Her soft voice seemed to echo in the silence of the twilight. "We thought that maybe Edward could go with you." She looked plaintively across the room at Edward.
"Esme, Carlisle, no!" Edward's beautiful face was stony, but the vibrating emotion in his voice was unmistakable.
Esme's words spilled out, faster and faster, a quiet hum that drowned out Edward's protest. "It doesn't have to mean anything more than it is. Perhaps with some space, it will be. But it doesn't have to be. It's just to get you away from….here."
She turned to me then, her golden eyes glittering in the lamplight.
"Even just a short distance, into the country for a holiday. Rosalie, anything would be better for you than staying here." She looked down into Carlisle's adoring face and a small smile of satisfaction lit her features.
"You need a chance to feel other emotions besides fear and shame and hate."
I watched as Esme and Carlisle's fingers intertwined. The bond between them was so strong.
But Edward and me? Could I have been wrong about him? A shudder of excitement and anticipation rose in the space that had once held my heart. It's true, since those days in the clearing, I hadn't thought he'd felt any attraction to me. But even then it hadn't made sense.
I couldn't honestly say that I was drawn to him myself, although even I had to admit he was almost too perfect to look at. And imagining him as an admirer – well, after all the admirers I'd had, that felt as comfortable as my old flannel robe.
Did Esme and Carlisle know something I didn't? Something I didn't even realize about myself?
I peeked up through my lashes, wondering how to show my modesty, my appreciation, when I could no longer charmingly blush.
The cold sadness of Edward's black stare pinned me back in my chair.
"I'm sorry Rosalie," he said, almost mechanically, his eyes never changing. "I cannot go away with you and I can never be anything but a brother to you. Deep down, you know I am right."
In one, swift movement, he was gone. Only a flutter of chilled air hinted that he had even been in the room.
I stared at my hands. Men had done horrible things to me. But many more men had adored me, had been so taken with me that they stuttered in my presence and contented themselves with glances and wishes. Most were happy enough for me to smile my approval and show them the favor of my attention. None had ever rejected me.
No one, in fact, had ever rejected me.
How dare he presume? Didn't he know to whom he was speaking? Anger burned in my eyes, but no tears came.
I lifted my head. The look of pity in Carlisle and Esme's eyes only made me angrier.
Esme began, "Rosalie, we didn't mean..."
"Of course I would never go away with him," I answered, cutting her off. "That was a ridiculous suggestion, Esme."
I swept up from my chair, wrapping a shawl around me.
"I couldn't let a simple country holiday, as you put it, interfere with my plans." My chin jutted a little higher as I pulled the shawl more tightly around me.
"Tonight seems like an excellent night to start."
I didn't let them see my bottom lip quiver as I headed out the door into the mercy of the waiting darkness.
A/N: So what d'ya think??? We're getting to the fun part now, death and mayhem, woo hoo :) Let me know your thoughts and thanks for reading!
