Author's Note: Hi peoples, here's another flashback. Just a reminder, these are just glimpses into Renee and Edward's past, so they're short on purpose. And muchos thanks to all for reading :)

Nice reviews are better than chocolate, unless maybe you're licking that chocolate off someone.

16 Months Ago…

Renee was back at her childhood home, but this time Phil was with her. They were trying to make a new tradition, getting away from Florida every few months to spend some uninterrupted time together. They were finally at a point where things were settling; they had their routines, a little extra money, and time. So Renee brought him to Washington, nervous as if she were introducing him to family. But there wasn't any need, he loved the house.

Renee was a bit of an early riser, so at seven the next morning she went outside, coffee in hand. She pulled her robe closed tightly, having gotten much too comfortable with the hot coastal weather, and made her way out to the dock. There she found Edward, a mess of papers laid out meticulously in front of him, like he knew in exactly which order they belonged.

"Morning," she called, shuffling over in neon green slippers. "Research?" She sat down next to him and sipped at her coffee.

"Yeah," he sighed.

"Trouble?"

He ran his fingers through his copper hair and set a handful of notes down, putting a glass weight on them a little more forcefully than necessary. "No…,"

Renee watched him, looking for that eagerness she'd seen when they met, but it wasn't there. He pulled at his hair again, frowning at the dock. "Ah," she said, "girl trouble."

He looked at her from the corner of his eye like he was sizing her up. On a sigh he said, "yeah well, that's part of it."

She set her coffee down. "I'm a good listener," she tried to put on a disarming expression.

He was still staring downward as he started talking. "My book isn't going…anywhere…, I don't know, I might shelve it for now."

"The one on Thelonious Monk?"

"No, that's finished. This one isn't a biography."

"What is -,"

Before she could finish her question, the door to the guest house slammed. Renee turned toward the sound and saw a huffy blonde woman stalking down the porch steps. Her arms were loaded down with clothes and other things Renee couldn't make out; it looked like she didn't want to make a second trip inside. "Girlfriend?"

"Ex."

"As of?"

"This morning."

"How long?"

"Five years."

Renee took a sip of her hot coffee, but didn't ask anything more. She knew he wanted to talk and that if she waited long enough, eventually he'd fill the quiet.

"She cheated for two of the five, said that it was my fault, I stopped having time for her…,"he shifted, leaning back on his hands.

They both stared out toward the water, listening to the sound of the car driving away. Renee thought about her own divorce, how Charlie stopped having time for her and how the fact that they really did love each other just wasn't quite enough to fill all the gaps.

"You know," she said finally, "I never really went for blondes."