I drove toward Grandpa Charlie's house, rehashing the day in my mind. What a day it had been. I wished it was a bad dream that I could wake up from.
My first fear was that we were going to have to move again. I hoped that wasn't the case. My mother would be terribly upset if that were to occur. However, I wondered how we'd go from here. Growling alone wouldn't raise suspicion, I suppose, but what if the guy talked about the images? He looked like a drifter, though – hopefully he was in the next county by now.
I wondered what they had wanted. It wasn't important now, but I was curious.
I couldn't afford curiosity right now, though. I had to talk to Jake later and straighten out whatever misconceptions he had. I could tell he wasn't happy. Times like that I wish I had my father's gift instead of my own.
I pulled into the drive of my mother's former home. The old house looked weathered, almost haggard. The lawn was neat, a solid sea of green. The police cruiser sat in front of the house.
I sighed, exiting the car.
I wondered what mood he'd be in. He had taken Billy's death rather hard. So much so that he had taken a few days off from work – the first time he had done that in anyone's recent memory. He and Billy had grown closer since his friend Harry had died. My mother said that he had secretly hoped that she and Jake would have married so they could all be "official" family. She said he was disappointed to learn that she and Jake were just good friends.
Strange thing was, Jake had been there when she told me that. He was sitting in our living room reading the paper. When she told me about them being friends, he snorted fiercely – much like he did earlier with me.
I didn't think to ask that question then. Maybe I should ask that when I see him.
I turned the handle of the wooden door, the smell of cooking hitting me violently. I wasn't prepared for it. My breath caught sharply, causing me to cough.
"Renesmee, is that you?" I heard my mother call from the kitchen. I followed the smell into the small room. Grandpa Charlie was sitting at the table, munching on something that looked like a cookie.
"Hi Mom," I said. I went over and kissed Grandpa on the head. "Hi Grandpa."
He finished chewing and swallowed, hugging me at the same time. "Hey there, Ness."
I turned to my mother. "I didn't know you'd be here."
"I wasn't going to be," she said. "Grandpa called me earlier and mentioned that his freezer was getting low. I took that as a sign that my services were needed."
Occasionally she'd come over and cook for Grandpa. It was something that she had said she missed about her old life. She told me that she never wanted to be a chef or anything, but it made her feel good to cook for him. It gave her purpose in her old life, and it gave her the same feeling in her new one.
I pulled a wooden chair away from the table and sat down, the chair making a loud noise as I scooted it toward the table.
"You hungry, Ness?" Grandpa asked. He didn't know about our special….dietary needs. Another one of those "need to know" things.
"No, thanks, Grandpa." Actually, the smells were making me a bit ill. It didn't always bother me so. Maybe it was my jumbled nerves. I tried not to think about it.
"How was school?" asked my mother. I looked over where she was standing. She was at the stove, stirring something that looked like scrambled eggs.
"Fine," I lied.
"Make any new friends?" asked Grandpa, taking a sip of milk.
"Not really. I met a couple people."
"Good. You're too much like your mother, you don't socialize much." He took another bite of cookie. "I like Jake, but you need more friends that just him."
"Yeah, I know."
I heard the oven door creak as my mother bent to check on some sort of casserole in the oven. "Dad," said my mother, "leave her alone. We just moved back."
"I know, Bells," said Grandpa. "But she's still young. She needs to not be so sheltered all the time. You told me yourself that…"
The ring of the phone interrupted him. My mother wiped her hands on her apron and cross the wooden floor to the phone on the wall.
"Hello? Edward! Why—what?" Her eyes flashed to me. "Why should Nessie come home? Jake? Is he back? He should come down for dinner and...What? Edward, you aren't making any sense. Yes, she's sitting right here." She handed the receiver to me. "He wants to talk to you. What's this about?"
I swallowed hard. I picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"Reneesmee," my father growled, "I've just had an interesting talk with Jake about your day at school today. Do you have something that you want to tell me?"
"Uh..not really." Well, I didn't want to tell him.
"I think you do. I think you should come home know so we can…discuss it." I could hear the steel in his voice. It sounded as if he was trying to keep his voice under control…and was failing.
"Uh…" I thought about stalling for time. I looked up and saw that Mom and Grandpa were staring at me with inquisitive eyes. If I stayed here, I'd still have to explain, and then face my father later. He wouldn't forget. He'd wait as long as it took. He had eternity to wait. I might as well get this over with.
"OK."
"I'll be waiting." Click.
I rose and put the receiver back on the hook. I turned around to face my waiting family.
"Well?" asked my mother. "What was that about?"
"Oh, Jake's there. He…helped me at school today," I said, looking at Grandpa meaningfully. I didn't know how artful I could be with the explanation with Grandpa there. Plus, he was the Chief of Police – he was likely to form a posse and round up the drifters himself. He was as protective as the rest of them.
My mother was perceptive, as usual. She didn't press further. "As soon as I'm done here, I'll be along myself."
"Sorry to cut our visit short, Grandpa," I said. I went over to hug him again.
"Well, now you'll just have a reason to stop back by. It gets lonely around here without my girls." He gave me a squeeze in return. "Come back soon."
"I will, I promise."
At least, I hoped I would be back…if my father didn't put me under lock and key.