Chapter 10: Missing Jacob
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Jacob was scratching his head, "How did he get a wrong number? He knew that number by heart. He entered it again.
The cell went off and Derek reached for it. Uh-oh, maybe that wasn't a wrong number after all. He better let Bella answer it. If his guess was right, that was Jacob Black on the phone.
He gently jostled her. Bella turned back over again, snuggling up to him. As he pulled away from her, she suddenly startled and blinked at him, letting out a surprised gasp.
"Hey," he remarked. "this wasn't my idea, remember?"
She jerked up quickly, her face taking on the rosy color of embarrassment.
"Here, I think this is for you." He put the phone in her hand.
She cleared her throat to dispel the sleep induced thickness in her voice. "Jake?" she croaked.
"Oh, thank god. Bells, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, but I was so scared. And the house; it's a disaster. Part of the roof is gone, there's a flood in the dining room, and a palm tree laying on the floor. There's glass everywhere. When Renee and Phil get back from New Port, they're going to have heart attacks. It's going to take forever to get this place back in shape."
Jake stood up quickly, nearly dropping the phone. "Wait a minute, you were in the house all alone?"
"No, luckily Mom called the neighbors and they sent Derek over. He kept me company."
I'll bet he did. He bit his tongue, but the silence on his end conversed on its own. After a few seconds, he asked, "So, did he spend the whole night with you?"
Bella's eyes did their little circling act. "I know what you're driving at, but nothing happened."
So her new friend did spend the night. He wasn't stupid; he could read between the lines. God, why did he have to be so jealous?
"Define nothing."
He heard her sigh deeply. "Please, Jake, let's not argue. I'd be in the hospital right now, if it weren't for Derek."
"I don't wanna argue either. It's . . . it's just that . . . it makes me crazy knowing there's another guy, watching over you, when it should be me. Damn, girl, I miss you. On top of that, I've been worried sick about this hurricane business."
Derek motioned to her, got up, and walked into the other room to give her some privacy. He didn't blame the guy for being jealous; he'd feel the same way if she was his sweetheart.
"I've been a good girl, Jake. There's nothing to be jealous about. I'll be home soon, and we can make up for lost time."
Jacob smirked on hearing those words. "Is that a promise?"
"That's a promise."
Jacob was dying inside; as this call was coming to an end. "Well, I gotta go. Billy's gonna kill me for runnin'up the phone bill. I love you, honey. Hurry home."
"I love you too. Bye."
"Bye Bells." His heart started aching as soon as he hung up the phone. Ugly thoughts ran through his mind. He trusted Bella but what about that friend, Derek. Jacob remembered everything he himself employed to win her love. What was stopping this guy from doing the same? He ran outside, ripped off his clothes and phased, heading into the woods.
Derek was already in the kitchen, making up some scrambled eggs, and toast on a camp stove he found on a shelf above the washer and dryer.. He couldn't find any bacon or sausage, so he made do with what he already cooked.
After breakfast, he and Bella surveyed the damage. Her stomach rolled at the sight of it.
Derek ruffled his fingers through the top of his hair. "Well, let's get started. Where's your broom?"
Bella went to the laundry room and grabbed two brooms. Derek rolled up the bottom of his pant legs and she did the same. They swept the water, mud and broken glass onto the patio—well onto the downed patio cover, anyway. Even after all the water was evacuated, the floor still sloshed under their feet. By that time, the electricity was restored, so the wet/dry vac was then dragged from the utility closet to remove the remaining slivers of glass and other debris.
The huge palm tree was another problem. Derek went home to borrow his dad's chain saw. He cut the palm into smaller pieces so they could be carted outside. Bella was going to store them in the shed, but as Derek suspected, it along with its contents was no longer there.
Mrs. Miller was kind enough to bring by some lunch, and after eating, they went back to work, sawing and removing the splintered wooden support beams from the flattened patio roof. At about 3:30, Phil and Renee showed up.
Renee came through the damaged area, hysterical, her arms flying every which way. "Oh my God, why didn't you call me, Bella?"
Bella continued the task of sweeping up the wood chips and sawdust. "There was nothing you could have done, Mom. Anyway, you were right, Derek knew what to do."
Renee hugged her daughter. "I'm just glad you're okay at least."
Phil came in from the living room with his cell in his hand. Thank goodness he was a calming influence on Renee. He didn't seem the least bit rattled. "Our insurance agent can't come out for a couple of days. They are swamped with claims. She says not to touch anything until we take some pictures."
Derek put up his hand. "Don't worry Mr D. I already took a ton of photos with my camera phone. Like Bella said, I know what to do, and I did it."
Phil took the luggage into the master bedroom, while Renee put his things away. Then he helped Derek and Bella clean up as much as possible.
Derek finally begged off and went home. Phil took Renee and Bella out for dinner. It was embarrassing watching them eat. The couple was making goo goo eyes at each other throughout the whole meal. When they arrived home, Bella decided to give them some time alone, and took off to the beach with a pen and stationary in hand.
The beach was deserted. She found an area that had been cleared that day, and sat down to write to Jacob. As she put down her feelings on the paper, she reminisced about their conversation that morning. That made Bella more homesick than ever, and missing that dark haired guy of hers. Suddenly she couldn't see, her eyes were so misted over. She pictured him in her mind's eye, smiling her smile—that irresistible Jacob smile. She could never live in Florida, her heart had planted roots in La Push. Unlike that toppled palm tree, a hurricane could in no way uproot it; they ran too deep.
She stayed away long enough to let the two love birds have their intimate encounter, then headed home.
The next morning, she awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking. Phil was home so that meant the food would be edible. But even so, her stomach was protesting. Ugh! Must have been all the excitement from yesterday. She got dressed in her sweats ready for her run with Derek and ate a couple of dry crackers.
A week went by, and every morning she would wake up nauseated. This couldn't be a coincidence. She counted the days since her last period—she was late. Don't panic, maybe it's just the stress of the house being ripped apart by that stupid hurricane, or the repair men coming and going.
She tried to rationalize her fears, but what if it was true. She couldn't call Jake, she just couldn't; he would tell by her voice that she was hiding something from him. She wanted to be absolutely sure before upsetting him.
In the meantime, Jacob was beside himself when he didn't get her scheduled call. Billy attempted to calm him down by saying, "She'll be home in a few more days. Maybe she figured she didn't need to call you since you two will be together by next weekend. And no, you're not using our phone. One long distance bill is enough. You'll just have to practice a little patience, Son."
The day before her scheduled departure, Derek came by for their daily run. He had Ben and Geri with him. It seems that Frank was grounded for some infraction, and it fell to Derek to walk the dogs. Bella took Geri's leash from him and they were off to the beach.
They were on their way back when Geri sped up. Bella tripped falling backward onto the sand. Derek came to help her up when Geri ran around him, catching his legs in her leash and he landed right on top of Bella. The two of them were laughing when unexpectedly, the mood in the air changed. Derek leaned closer, picking a piece of seaweed out of her hair.
His grey-blue eyes gazed intensely into hers. It wasn't fair, she was so beautiful. Why did she have to come here, belonging to someone else? Why did she have to ruin his heart? Those chocolate pools would haunt him for the rest of his life. It was now or never. He made up his mind in an instant. She was going home tomorrow. In the next moment his lips were pressed against hers, his hands threading through her long hair. It all happened so fast that they were both surprised and more than a little embarrassed.
Derek drew away, an apology written across his face. "Bella . . . I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. I don't know what to say. I can't apologize enough.
"No, that's not true. The thing is, I can't let you go tomorrow without knowing that I'm in love with you."
He took her hand, pulling her to her feet, and brought it to rest over his racing heart. He looked at her with a pained expression. "Say something, please. Yell at me, slap me. Do something, anything."
Bella swallowed loudly, and replied, "I'm not going to slap you, Derek. You were showing your true feelings. I'm just sorry that I can't return those feelings. You're a good friend, but I'm in love with another boy. I'm going back to him tomorrow. I'm sorry."
They walked back to the house in awkward silence.
Bella was all packed and Phil put all her bags into the car. Derek showed up in the front yard to say goodbye. Renee called Phil into the house. She knew it would be a tearful goodbye.
Derek spoke up. "Before you leave, I've got to know. If Jacob wasn't in the picture, would I have had a chance with you?"
Tilting her head to one side, Bella answered. "Yeah, I think maybe you would have grown on me."
"Well, thank you for that." He lowered his eyes shyly for a moment. "Can you do me one favor? Will you kiss me goodbye?"
Bella touched her lips to his, and he kissed her sweetly, with a hint of sadness. When he broke the kiss, he whispered, "Goodbye, Bella. If Jacob ever lets you go, I'll be here waiting."
Phil and Renee came out of the house. Derek backed up. Bella got in the back seat and Derek closed the door. He waved sadly as she drove away, back to her home, to the brown eyed boy from La Push.