They all left early for school. Carlisle started his new job today as well. This left me alone in the house with Esme. She went outside, to work in the yard, and I retreated upstairs to read. It distracted me, for a while.
I finished Dracula by eleven o'clock and put it away with a sigh. I didn't feel like reading any more.
I got out my guitar, but didn't feel like playing. The house was empty. I was lonely, and I missed Alice.
I wandered through the quiet house, looking for some sort of distraction. I sighed again.
I was being stupid. She was happy. She wanted to go. She wanted to be there. I didn't want her not to do this just because of me.
I was miserable without her. Never mind that she would be home in a few hours. Never mind that she was coming back. Never mind that she was enjoying herself.
Esme must have heard me wandering about, because she chose that moment to peek inside.
"Are you alright, dear?" She asked, concerned. I nodded politely.
"Yes, ma'am." I replied, trying to at least sound cheerful. It didn't work. Her worry increased.
"You miss her." She said softly. I nodded again. She smiled and tentatively reached up to touch my shoulder. She was trying to comfort me without pushing herself on me. "It can be hard to be left behind." She murmured gently. I started. She had been left behind as well, I realized.
"Do you-" I paused, hesitant to pry "-miss- Carlisle too?" She nodded slowly, and I could feel her own loneliness.
"I don't want to be selfish, though." She told me. "I can't have him to myself all the time."
"But how do you manage?" Alone in the house, day after day, waiting for him to come home. He worked such long hours sometimes.
"I have the rest of my family. They need me too." She said. "And Carlisle needs his work." She was quiet for a moment. "It helps to stay busy. Come." She requested, leading me outside.
She drew me to the place that would be her new garden. She had been busy turning up the earth and preparing the soil to grow things.
We stood there, looking at that patch of dirt, and Esme began describing what it would look like with plants growing in it. She enjoyed her garden, and drew me into it almost effortlessly.
We spent the afternoon working in her garden, and I found comfort in both the work and the company as Esme talked about everything and nothing at all, her conversation broken up by long comfortable silences.
It was enjoyable, and helped me focus on something other than Alice's absence.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight in any way, shape, or form.
