Jacob's visit had upset me so much that I made my way to the compound on the morning of June first, entirely forgetting that the public Authenticity lecture was scheduled for today, and I had a moment of sheer confusion when I got there and found long tables set up serving ice water and lemonade and an assortment of breakfast muffins, and dozens of strangers milling about chatting with the regular members.
"Oh good, you came," Alice said, seizing me by the arm and drawing me into the crowd. "I wasn't sure if you'd bother with the public lecture-some of the Authentic skip these-but I know Edward is hoping you'll be there." She gave my arm a conspiratorial little squeeze, and smiled at me.
"Alice," I asked impulsively, "is Rosalee married?"
Her smiled turned a bit bewildered. "Of course she is. She and Emmett were part of last year's celebration. Why do you ask?"
Oh, great. I wasn't sure what "last year's celebration" meant, but suddenly Jacob's tales of group marriage no longer seemed quite so far-fetched. "It's nothing," I lied. "I just misunderstood somehow. I thought they were brother and sister." I tried to laugh, but even to my own ears it sounded forced.
She frowned slightly. "I suppose technically they are," she said, and I gaped at her in horror. "I mean, Edward's parents kind of adopted us all, and treated us as their own kids. So in a way it's not incorrect to call them brother and sister. It's just...misleading." She squeezed my arm again and laughed a little, cheerful once more. "It's not important anyway, Bella. What's more important, really, is that now they're brother and sister in Authenticity, and are being true to their love for one another, just as they're meant to."
Yeah, that was a whole lot of not-even-a-little-bit reassuring, right there. I tried not to let her see how perturbed I was.
"So, what did Edward want me here for?" I asked, as casually as I could manage. "Anything in particular?"
She gave me a serene smile. "Coincidentally enough, he wanted to talk to you about how we in the Authentic view marriage, so you can start preparing yourself for your role here among your new family. After the lecture, of course."
The smile froze on my face. "Of course," I mumbled, shocked into a state of near catatonia, and I let her drag me through the crowd and position me behind a table to hand out pamphlets.
Now I kind of regretted sending Jacob away so quickly. It would have been really, really reassuring to know he was waiting in my apartment to talk this over tonight.