When Bella woke up the next morning she stayed in her room for a while instead of going down for breakfast. She'd had a restless night and she really didn't want to see Emmett. She felt a bit guilty about going off on him the way that she had, but it needed to be said and he needed to hear it.

She loved her brother; she always would, but she couldn't excuse his behavior any longer. It still made her sick to think that Alice's heart was going to be broken, but it was better that her friend was unhappy now for a while rather than entering a life where she would never find real happiness. And, she knew that in the end, Emmett would have never been happy either.

Shifting around in bed she winced at the pain in her shoulder and sighed, closing her eyes again, perhaps she would spend the whole day in bed.

Just as that thought flitted across her mind, there was a knock on the door and Carmen came in without even waiting for an answer.

"Buenos días, niña. How are you feeling?" Carmen came in and set a tray on the bedside table and leaned over the bed, peering down on Bella. "Pobre, niña. I really am sorry about yesterday, none of that would have happened if I hadn't said so much."

Bella smiled a bit at her. "Oh, it's all right, Carmen. It certainly wasn't your fault."

Carmen leaned over and kissed Bella's forehead. "Now, let me help you sit up so you can have your breakfast. You are going to rest that shoulder today and stay in bed. No arguments." She smiled and helped Bella to sit up and then moved the tray, setting it on the large bed next to Bella so she could reach anything she wanted on it.

"I made you some tea that should help with the swelling and the pain. I'll also help you adjust that scarf you're using as a sling and get you some reading material from El Patrón's office so you can have something to do here for the rest of the day. He has so many books, more than anyone I have seen…"

Bella picked at a piece of tortilla that was sitting on the tray even as Carmen continued to walk around the room, randomly tidying up things, though she did take a few bites whenever Carmen stopped to glance her way.

When Carmen left the room to get the books she promised she closed her eyes and sighed. She'd come to love Carmen, but honestly, right now, she just wanted to be alone. She opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling a moment before she turned her attention back to the tray of food. She knew that Carmen would never let her get away with not drinking the tea or eating a bit more.

Somewhere in the middle of eating a bit more and waiting for Carmen to return with her books she had dozed off, when she woke up the tray was gone and it was obviously early afternoon judging from the way that the light was streaming through the windows.

She shifted in bed and groaned at how stiff she felt and a deep voice spoke softly from nearby. "Hold on there, beautif…uh, Bella. You're probably really stiff and sore though if Carmen gave you some of her tea that should help," Edward said.

She blushed a bit and started to sit up, though it wasn't easy with her shoulder the way it was and he leaned forward to help her. "Easy does it."

She couldn't help but blush and smile as he adjusted the pillows behind her before he sat down on a chair next to the bed.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said with a sheepish grin.

"I'm all right. Your uncle said I should feel better in a couple of days."

He nodded. "Good."

For a moment they just sat there, smiling at each other like fools, then he seemed to snap out of it and turned to the bedside table. "I brought you some books. Carmen asked me to pick them out and bring them up to you since she got busy with other stuff. I think they must be some of Em's favorites since the covers seem pretty well worn…"

She looked at the books that he set on the bed next to her and she felt her heart ache when she saw what books they were. "These…these were our momma's books," she whispered in a choked up tone.

Edward looked at her a moment and finally asked quietly, "Were they now?"

She nodded, running her fingers along with worn leather covers. "She used to read to us from these books when we were little." She swallowed back tears. "I didn't know she had sent them to Emmett."

Looking at them, it was obvious that Emmett had handled the books a lot.

"Did I do wrong by picking these out for you?" Edward asked in a worried tone.

Bella looked up at him and shook her head. "Oh, no! These'll do just fine. Thank you Edward."

He nodded and looked hesitant a moment. "Bella, I…"

But, before he could say anything else Carmen was coming in through the open door to the room carrying yet another tray. "I have your lunch, m'ija."

Edward sighed at being interrupted and moved to stand. "Maybe when you're up for it I can give you a ride to town so you can visit with Alice a spell." He looked like he wanted to say more but then he shook his head and glanced at Carmen. "If you need anything just tell Carmen and she'll let me know."

Carmen nodded in agreement and shooed him out of the room after she set the tray down, telling him that Bella needed her rest.

As Carmen moved around the room talking about how things seemed so quiet without Alice, Bella sat there in bed, wondering what Edward had wanted to say.

More of her appetite had returned probably due to the fact that she had lunch at a somewhat late hour. After eating most of the meal that Carmen had brought her and the tray had been taken away she lifted up one of the books Edward had brought for her.

She flipped through the pages of the book and tilted her head when she saw a letter fallout from between the pages along with two tintypes. She picked up the photographs first and felt like she was going to cry again when she saw that one was a picture of her mother, holding a chubby baby Emmett when he couldn't have been more than two years old. The next was a family portrait. Their mother was sitting down with their father standing behind her, his hands on her shoulders both with rather serious expressions that contrasted sharply with a ten year old Emmett's grinning face; he was holding a grumpy looking two year old Bella in his arms.

She laughed a bit at the picture and wiped at her tears. She remembered her mother telling her about the day that picture had been taken. Their father hadn't wanted to take a portrait, their mother had insisted, though her mood had soured considerably with the argument she had with her husband over it. Bella had been colicky at that time and only Emmett had really been excited at the idea of taking the picture. What their parents didn't know was that Emmett had really been smiling because he had come up with a plan. Later that afternoon when their parents had continued to argue, he had run away to join the circus, taking a crying Bella with him.

When he was found a block away, wheeling a crying Bella in a wagon behind him that also contained his favorite toys, he had explained to his parents what his plan had been. He was going to grow up to be the strong man and would train in the meantime and Bella could play a midget until she got older, then she could become the beautiful lady that rode around standing on a running horse.

Bella couldn't recall if her mother had told her whether or not Emmett had gotten punished, but she did remember her mother saying that Emmett always included Bella in his grand plans.

As she sat there, looking at the portrait, she wondered when things had gone wrong. Had the separation over the years made it so he no longer trusted her? Had he changed so much that he no longer had morals and scruples?

She sniffled and put the pictures back between the pages of the book and picked up the letter, wondering if it was one her mother had written to Emmett, but when she unfolded it she recognized Emmett's own handwriting…

Dear Momma,

…..