Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of its characters. They all belong to Stephenie Meyer.
Sorry for the delay on this one. You know how this site can be...grrrrrr, LOL.
Thanks to Juliegirl18 for beta'ing for me and Bella's Executioner for prereading.
Renee stood on her front porch, watching her daughter pack the few belongings she had brought with her into her rental car. She had seen the way Bella and Edward had been looking at each other over the past few days. They had looked at each other like that practically their whole lives. They loved one another, even though they were both too stubborn to admit it.
Renee knew her daughter. She knew exactly what Bella was doing when she got up early this morning and began to gather her belongings quickly. She was running away... again. Renee couldn't help but think they wouldn't be in the mess they were in right now if she had stopped Bella from running away the last time.
"Bella, honey," she said as she walked down the steps and stood by her daughter's side, "are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes, Mama. I'm sure. Riley makes me very happy. I could do much worse than marry someone who makes me happy, you know?" Bella said as she slammed the trunk of the car down.
"I know that, baby. But Edward, he made you happy too. He still makes you happy. I can see the way..." Renee said, before being interrupted by her daughter.
"Stop it. I don't want to hear about the way you think we were looking at each other. It's all I've heard all morning. I get it. You think we belong together. But obviously Edward doesn't. He said as much when he told me to go home," Bella said sadly.
Although Edward hadn't actually told her to go home to New York, she was pretty sure that was exactly what he meant. And he was right. The longer she stuck around here, the more she was going to continue to hurt the both of them. He didn't deserve it. He deserved the chance to move on just like she was trying to.
"Well, okay then," Renee said before hugging Bella and watching her climb into the car. "Just make sure you go and say goodbye to your Daddy. He'll have your hind end if you leave without seeing him."
As she drove down the long dirt road to the hunting camp where her daddy was, Bella thought about her relationship with Riley. He was a good man who always treated her right. They hardly ever argued, and if they did it was quickly resolved. Although his mother left something to be desired, she had no complaints about Riley. As she told her mother before, she could do a lot worse than Riley Hunter.
As Edward pulled into the circular driveway of the Whitlock plantation, he slammed on the brakes just in time to keep from hitting another car. The fancy-ass, too-clean-to-be-from- around-here BMW, pulled ahead of him and parked.
Edward watched the driver get out of the car and laughed when he saw the way he was dressed. He was wearing clothes that looked liked they had come out of some magazine and a pair of shoes that probably cost more than what he made in a month down at the factory. The guy stood by his car and kept glancing from the piece of paper he had in his hand to the front door of the house. Edward silently wondered as he got out of the car if he was here to see Jasper.
He watched as the guy stepped on the front porch and the door swung open. Jasper talked to the guy a few minutes before they both walked toward him.
"Hey, Edward," Jasper said as the stranger stood off to the side of them. "Can you give us a ride down to the hunting camp?"
"Sure. No problem," Edward told them as he motioned for them to climb inside the truck. The short ride down to the camp was quiet and awkward. Edward didn't feel comfortable starting conversation with Jasper while a stranger sat inside his truck. Deciding he could no longer stand the quiet, Edward spoke up.
"So, what are you down here for? Vacation? Business?" Edward asked the stranger.
"Oh, I'm here to see Isabella Whitlock," the guy said. Isabella Whitlock? Hmmm, never heard of her.
When Edward parked his truck, the three of them walked together toward the small cabin.
"So, where are ya' here from?" Edward asked, trying to keep some type of conversation flowing so he didn't think about her too much. He was still having a hard time coming to terms with exactly how much he had shared with Bella the night before.
"I live in New York, but my fiance's family lives here. She has no idea I'm here, so it's a big surprise."
"So, this Isabella Whitlock is your fiance?" Edward asked and Riley nodded his head. "If she's a Whitlock, she's gotta be related to you, right Jasper?"
Jasper shrugged his shoulders, which made Edward even more suspicious as to who this guy is. He was pretty sure he knew everyone in this town, but the name Isabella Whitlock rang no bells.
Isabella... Isabella... Isabella... wait, no... it can't be, right?
Edward glanced over and saw Bella's rental car parked by her Dad's truck. The door to the cabin opened up and she stepped outside. Her steps faltered as she spotted the three of them walking her way.
"What are you doing here?" she asked the group. Edward smirked at her as she looked quickly between the three of them.
"Well I thought I'd come down here and..." Edward started, but was interrupted by the guy to his right.
"I think she was talking to me," the guy said as he stepped forward and pulled Bella into a tight hug. Edward's jaw dropped and he looked questioningly toward Jasper, who surprisingly wouldn't make eye contact.
"Riley," Bella said, "what are you doing here?"
Riley. Riley. Riley. That was the name Bella had moaned that night, right? The name of her fiance. Riley was her fiance. Riley was here. I was right. She is Isabella Whitlock.
"Well, what kind of fiance would I be if I didn't come down here and meet your parents? After all, you've agreed to marry me. It's the least I could do." Edward stood, shell shocked as the two lovers embraced before him. Suddenly snapped out of his thoughts, Edward shook his head and laughed a bit.
"So, Isabella Whitlock is it? How do you do it? How do you lead two completely different lives and not get lost? Oh, that's right. You don't. You are so completely fucking lost right now you don't know which way is up and which way is down," Edward said before walking away in disgust.
"Who was that?" Riley asked Bella, who stood by his side with tears in her eyes and completely unaware of where she was or even who she was talking to.
"My husband," she whispered to the man who stood by her.
"Your husband?" Riley practically screamed in astonishment. Bella looked over to Riley, her eyes wide as she realized what she had said and who she had said it to. Jasper stood off to the side, wanting to help out but having no idea how. His eyes grew wide as he saw Charlie making his way over to the couple.
"I mean, my ex-husband. Well, soon to be ex-husband," Bella stammered out. Riley shook his head in confusion.
"Isabella?" Riley questioned, trying to get some answers from his fiance.
"Hey there," Charlie said as he came up behind Riley and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm Charlie Swan, Bella's old man. You must be the new guy. Nice to meet you." Charlie stuck his hand out, waiting for Riley to shake it, but he did nothing but step away slowly.
"Bella? Bella Swan? Who are you? Do I even know you? Has everything you've ever told me been a lie?" he asked her as he stepped further away from her. Bella looked at her fiance, tears running down her face.
"Riley, wait. Riley, stop. Please, wait. Hear me out," she cried as he walked faster and faster away from her. Jasper grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to a stop.
"Let him go, honey. Just let him go cool off for a minute. He just got the shock of his life. Let it soak in some," he whispered to her as she clung to him, crying.
Charlie stood by and watched his daughter clinging to one of her friends, sobbing while the man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with walked away from her. At this moment, he wasn't too sure he liked this fella' one damn bit.