Thirteen Months Ago…

Renee didn't realize she was calling so early until the phone was already ringing; she'd forgotten about the time difference between Florida and Washington. She counted backward, it was seven in the morning. She almost hung up, but then figured if she was going to wake Edward up, he had a right to know why. Even if her reasons weren't exactly time critical. She took a sip of her coffee and counted the rings; it was at five when a groggy voice answered.

"Hello?"

Renee was surprised to hear that the voice was female. "Um, yes, sorry for calling so early. May I speak with Edward?" Renee listened to what sounded like blankets shuffling and Edward's voice in the background.

"Hello? Is this Kate?"

She could hear his feet walking across the wood floors into another room. "No, it's Renee."

He paused and his feet stilled. "Oh, morning."

She did some quick deducing, "so, there's a Kate now? And whoever that was in bed with you?"

She could hear him yawn into the phone. "That's…kind of personal."

Renee chuckled, "Edward, please." She held respect for many things, but personal comfort zones were rarely one of them. How else were you supposed to really get to know someone?

He sighed into the phone, but said nothing.

"So, listen, I was calling to ask you to box up some of the stuff in the house. The smaller things, books, Marie's collections; you can use your own discretion. There should be some dust cloths in the upstairs linen closet, go ahead and cover the furniture too, please." She took another sip of coffee and reached into a cupboard to pull out some aspirin. She heard something closing and imagined Edward was rooting through his own cupboards as well.

"I thought you and Phil were coming up here next weekend?"

"Yeah, but I think I'm coming down with something, so we're going to postpone for a little bit." She thought about taking the pills with her coffee, but then set it down and grabbed a water glass.

"Oh…," was all he said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Renee shrugged to herself, "just the flu or something."

"It's pretty early for flu season."

Renee shrugged again. "What are you gonna do?" She asked rhetorically.

"Well," Edward paused, "I'll work on the house today then."

"Thanks, Edward," she smiled into the phone.

"No problem, and…I'm around pretty much all the time so…feel free to call for…whatever…," he trailed off.

"Ok," Renee felt for a moment that Edward was so much like a little boy in some ways, and so much like a jaded adult in others. "I will."