I hid behind a tree and waited, my eyes locked on the sight before me. A white house, the siding sagging a bit with age, with a wooden porch and a rusty red truck in the drive.
"Is he back yet?"
"You'll know before I will." That rankled.
He chuckled and stayed silent.
I heard it before I saw it. The police cruiser pulled into view minutes later and parked alongside the truck. A tall man got out and walked around to the other side. I drank in the sight of his dark hair, more silver than my cloudy memories said it should be. He looked tired but happy. My heart clenched. Charlie wore his uniform, of course. This was an important day.
My father reached out and opened the car door. A woman stepped out wearing a simple dark blue dress, a string of small freshwater pearls around her neck. She grabbed Charlie's hand and squeezed, her smile lighting up a face that might have been familiar once. I saw gold glinting on each left hand in the dim sunlight, reminding me of the old-fashioned diamonds and gold I now sported.
"What's he thinking?"
"That he wishes you would come home to meet your new stepmother."
I frowned. "I told him why I couldn't in my last email. I have a lot of studying to do, and classes have just started."
"He remembers, and he's proud of you for making it on your own in L.A. He still wishes you were here."
The fabrication I had fed to my human family for the past year felt as hollow as ever. There was no G.E.D., not yet, and no starting college somewhere bright and sunny. I had barely passed Jasper and Carlisle's last test before they let me come here for this, only eleven months after my change.
"I don't really remember Sue," I confessed. "I really only know what he's told me the last few months."
"She's in love with him, although she regrets that at the same time. She's trying not to feel as if her love for your father is a betrayal of her love for her dead husband. She keeps repeating words from her grief counselor every time he talks to her."
"Can she make him happy?"
"That's what Alice says, and I saw some of her visions. They'll have a good life, Bella."
I nodded and then sighed as the two humans moved into the house. I could still hear them, but once they were out of sight, the moment seemed too private to spy on.
"Let's go home. Esme said the plaster should be dry soon, and we still need to paint."
I took his hand and let him lead me away. This time I didn't glance back.
The end, my friends. I hope you've enjoyed this journey into "what might have been" with me!