PSA: There are no lemons in this chapter. I noticed that some ppl were getting their lemon goggles out and were excited and I didn't want you to start getting anxious reading through it LOL He will claim that...territory eventually but not right now. They're just not there yet : )
Edward slept in my bed that night. And the next night. We kissed…a little. We talked a lot. About almost everything except what I wanted to know.
"I can't, Bella," he said.
"Why? Why is it so hard?"
"Something happened in my past, okay?" He ran his fingers through his hair and snuggled into the pillow. "It was fucking hard and in a small town, everyone knew. Nobody talks about it anymore."
If something hurt an entire town, I couldn't imagine it being a little thing. It was big.
The thing with Mike had helped our relationship…or whatever this was. And as frustrating as he was, I couldn't deny that I was developing feelings for Edward. Strong, hard, deep feelings.
The library was supposed to be open today so I was hoping to go into town and do some research. Edward couldn't tell me what happened to force this town into silence, but it didn't necessarily mean he didn't want me to know. He told me that himself.
"I have to go to work," he said, hopping out of bed.
"The Wharf?" I glanced at the clock. "This early?"
"Not The Wharf." He stumbled towards the door, pulling his pants on along the way. "We have to get the boat ready. We're leaving again soon." He lingered in the doorway and looked back at me with a smirk. "I'll see ya." He bit his lip and left.
I stayed in bed long after I heard the front door close and his car leave the driveway.
When I finally got up, I pulled on some jeans and headed into town. I spotted a lot of activity down at the docks. It looked like Captain's boat wasn't the only one preparing to head out.
I slowed and pulled over to the side of the road so I could watch. I smiled as I spotted Edward hauling boxes onto the boat. His white tank was dirty and grease stained above his dark cargo pants. Bon Jovi was blasting over the speakers as he looked over his shoulder and yelled something to Jasper, who was standing on deck. Captain was standing on the dock, observing and running through a list on his clipboard.
I rested my arms across the window frame and laid my head down. I blushed a little as Edward pulled his shirt up a little to wipe the sweat off his face. I bit down on my lip and whimpered, relishing the show.
"Hello, Bella!" Emmett said, suddenly beside the truck. He laughed and leaned against my door. "See something you like?" He wagged his eyebrows.
"You smell bad," I said.
"Thanks." He smiled. "So you and my brother, huh?"
"I don't know what you mean." I smirked and glanced over his shoulder to watch Edward again.
"Alright. Don't talk. I know already." He started to walk away, but turned back to narrow his eyes at me. "I've seen things."
"Okay, creep." I laughed as he jogged down to the dock. He said something to Edward and his eyes immediately went to me. I waved a little and he motioned for me to wait a minute.
He loaded the last box by his feet and told Carlisle he'd be back. He smiled when he reached my truck.
"Finally up and dressed, I see," he teased.
"What time did you leave?"
"6 AM."
"No wonder I went back to sleep." I smiled and reached for his hair. "Do you have sunscreen on, you're going to get a sunburn." I pushed his sweaty hair back off his face as he rested his head on the door.
"No, Mom," he teased.
"You better not push me to tell Esme. She scares the shit out of me."
"You have no idea," he said.
"Edward!" Captain yelled. "Let's go!"
"Listen, I have to go." He licked his lips. "We'll be stopping for lunch soon. Do you want to join us?"
"Just heading back to the bar?"
"Probably."
"Yeah sure." I nodded. "I'm heading to the library for a bit, but I'll stop by in an hour or so?"
"Sounds good." He hesitated a moment before he leaned forward and pressed his lips to mine. Emmett hollered down from the dock and I felt him smile against my lips. "I'll see you in a bit," he whispered.
I nodded and watched him walk back down to the dock. He punched Emmett in the shoulder and glanced back at me as I drove away.
I parked at the library and was happy to see it was finally open. I stepped inside and noticed an older woman sitting at the front desk.
"Can I help you, Miss?" She asked, looking up from her paperwork.
"Yeah. I'm interested in looking up some of the town's history. Maybe some newspaper clippings or something?" Seeing that Edward was so young, I figured whatever he was hiding wasn't going to be in a history book.
"Of course. Do you have a membership with us?"
"No. I'm fairly new to town."
"Alright. Let's get you all set up." She pulled out some paperwork and handed me a pen. I noticed a painting of the lighthouse hanging behind her and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask about it.
"Do you know much about the lighthouse?" I asked casually as I started filling out the paperwork.
"Oh yes!" She smiled and I could tell she must really love her job. I always thought it'd be kind of cool to be a librarian, but it was obvious that she didn't get out much. I was about to get introduced to a walking encyclopedia. "It was built when I was just a girl, in the 1930's." I nodded. "The original owners were the Masens, one of the oldest families in town. When the family didn't want it anymore, they sold it to Mr. Cullen."
"Excuse me, did you say Cullen? As in Esme and Carlisle?"
"Well it was Carlisle's father who purchased it actually. He was the lighthouse keeper until he died about…" She tapped her chin as she calculated. "About seven years ago now, I think. There was no one interested in running it after that so it closed down."
"Do they still own it?" I asked.
"Well I believe so, yes."
"I see it sometimes…still lit up."
"Oh yes. That would be Edward. He was always very close with his grandfather." She laughed. "I remember him as a young fellow, begging his mother to let him stay out there with his grandfather at night, just to watch the boats come in." I handed her my paperwork and she checked over it. "I can imagine it hit him hard when Eleazer died. He begged his parents not to sell it because it was his favorite place. Always believed that even with all this new technology that lighthouses still had a place. Guess he's an old soul in that way. Always believed it would lead the lost sailors home." She shook her head. "There was talk about converting it into a museum of some sort but that was before…" She trailed off.
"Before what?"
"Oh nothing, dear." She smiled and laughed. "Here's your library card and guide to where things are located here. Newspapers are stored in scrapbooks and can be found in the back room here." She pointed to the small map on the paper she'd handed me. "Just be careful not to take any out of their books, they're very fragile you see."
"Thank you."
I grabbed my things and headed back to the room she'd pointed out. There were shelves and shelves full of scrapbooks, all dated by the year. I figured whatever had happened occurred after Edward's grandfather died. If that was seven years ago, I guess I'd start there.
I perused through two years of newspapers, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. I did spot an article about Edward being crowned Prom King. His Queen was someone named Jane and they were apparently high school sweethearts. It made me wonder where she was now.
I was almost ready to give up as I started my third book, but I noticed something strange. In the corner, towards the bottom of the page there was a headline. Local Woman Dies…
I frantically flipped the page, looking for the rest of the article but there was nothing. It just stopped, almost like someone had cut it out. Something about the way my heart was racing told me that this had something to do with what I was looking for. And now that I'd found it, I hit a dead end. There was nothing else.
I scanned the papers in the days following the headline but found much of the same. Incomplete pages, missing parts. The people of this town had gone a long way to bury whatever happened here.
Bitches.