Ready for You
Beta-Kitchmill
37
I try not to look over my shoulder. I try to be in the moment, enjoy my time with my parents, my girls...Edward, but it is difficult.
"Bella, talk to me. Why are you so on edge?" Edward asks the next morning while just the two of us are driving to get some groceries at the local market. The girls wanted to stay home with my mom and dad.
I shrug. "It just feels weird to be home, I guess."
"Hmmm," he says, clearly not convinced with my answer, I've never been a good liar. I've been debating whether to tell him about Jacob being here ever since my phone call with Billy the other day. If I don't say it outloud it isn't true. I hold onto that theory once more, making the decision to not tell Edward again.
"Bella," Vicki, a girl I've known my whole life, greets me as I walk into the store. "Long time no see, girl." She gives me an air hug. Her eyes shift to Edward, and they widen as she looks him over from head to toe. I grab Edward's hand.
"Edward, this is Vicki. We grew up together here," I say, stepping closer to him.
"Nice to meet you," Edward says, reserved but polite.
"You too, honey," she says, taking Edward's free hand in both of hers.
"Bella, you done good, girl. First Jacob and now this one...you know how to pick 'em."
I pull Edward away and down the aisle, yelling over my shoulder. "Gotta go, Vick. See ya around."
"Sorry," I mumble to Edward as we start putting things in the basket.
He chuckles. "It's fine. She's a handful, isn't she?"
"She always has been, since we were in Kindergarten together. Always in trouble for speaking her mind. She's not malicious, just…"
"Obnoxious," Edward adds, making us both laugh. Being with Edward, I momentarily forget I could run into Jacob at any moment.
"Bella, Bella," Vicki yells, running up the aisle toward us a few minutes later. She stops in front of me, winded. "You should know that Jacob has been around. He's been spewing some pretty bad shit about you. I didn't believe him at first, but seeing this one," she says thumbing toward Edward, "I can see why you would stray. Same old, same old, gets boring. We know that, don't we?" She winks at me.
"Wait. What?"
"Jacob is telling everyone about you cheating, going a little crazy, and taking him for all his money. He even said your baby isn't his. Like I said, I didn't believe him, but whatever."
I stand there, shocked, angry—I don't know what I'm feeling.
"Bella, baby," Edward says, calmly touching my arm. When I don't respond he steps to me and wraps his strong arms around me. "Bella. We should go." He tries to lead me out of the store, but I stop him.
"No. No. This is my hometown too. I told my parents I would get stuff they need and I'm going to do it." I turn to Vicki. "Thanks for letting me know, Vicki. And you're right, don't believe what you hear from Jacob. If you want some truth maybe ask him where he's been for the last few months, or about his job, or better yet, ask him about the restraining order I have against him. And see if you get any truth from him then."
"Okay, will do, Bella. Just thought you should know," she says, waving and walking away like it's no big deal.
Edward and I are both quiet for the rest of our time in the store, only talking when necessary. There's tension between us, but I'm so caught up in my own head I don't notice he's angry.
Once the bags are loaded in the trunk, we get into the car. I notice he's off…his hand gripping the steering wheel tightly, his red face, his tense posture.
"You knew he was here, didn't you?" he asks, looking straight ahead, no emotion in his voice.
"Yes, Billy told me, but he assured me Jacob had changed. I don't know what I was thinking. I thought that maybe, just maybe, we could avoid him, and Billy promised not to tell him we were coming."
"What if I hadn't come with you? Would you have come anyway knowing he was here?"
"I don't know, maybe." I shrug. "I wanted to see my parents."
"Bella, how can I protect you if you don't tell me things?" he asks, looking at me sadly. "I'm a cop, Bella. I protect and take care of things. That's what I do. You and those girls are the most important thing to me. Knowing Jacob is this close to you and I can't do a thing about it is killing me. The things he could do, the things he's capable of. After hearing what that woman said, he could even be more dangerous than before." He lets out a sad sigh.
"I'm sorry. Billy swore he was better and that he wants to see the girls. I'm not ready, of course, and neither are the girls. I can't believe he has Billy that fooled."
"Can we just agree that Jacob is dangerous? That we don't know what he's capable of? Please agree with me on this so I know you're taking this seriously."
"I agree. He should be nowhere near the girls."
"Or you. Nowhere near any of you. Agreed?"
"Agreed." I put my hand on his leg. "I really am sorry. I didn't want to bring up Jacob and have him ruin our trip by just being a ghost hanging around. Not talking about it made it not seem real."
"You can't do that...ever again. Nothing about Jacob should be kept secret from me. Please promise me that. I need to know, I need all the information."
"I promise, no secrets. I'm sorry," I say sadly, realizing we just had our first fight.
"Most importantly you and the girls are okay, and I'm here." He angles his body toward mine. "I will do anything to protect you. You and those girls are the most special, precious things in my life." He leans in, his lips brush against mine softly. "You can trust me, Bella."
"I know, Edward. I do trust you. I was just being stupid."
This time he takes my face in his hands, staring intensely into my eyes before kissing me deeply. It makes me feel special, just like he said.
The girls are helping my mom in the kitchen when we return. Well, Ellie is stirring some cookie dough at the table and Sophie is taking all of the pots and pans out of the cupboard.
"How did it go?" she asks. "Did you find everything?"
"Yep," I say, busying myself unloading the bags.
"Bella? You're a horrible liar. I always know when something is wrong," my mom says, hands on her hips.
I take a deep breath, really not wanting to talk about it, especially in front of the girls. "I talked to Vicki."
"Oh, that girl, such a busybody." My mom huffs.
"Yes, but she had some info about a certain...person," I say slowly.
My mom makes an "oh" face and nods in recognition. "Oh, yes, I heard that person was in town a couple of weeks ago," she says.
"That person is still here, and he's been saying some not so nice things about…" I point to myself while Ellie is not looking.
"I'm not surprised. That leopard will never change his spots. They never do."
"Yes, well, either way, I don't want to see him here or anywhere."
"Does he know you're here? With Edward?"
I shake my head. "He may know we're here, but he doesn't know about Edward...unless Vicki has told him." She probably will if she hasn't already. She did always have a thing for him. Plopping down in a chair, I suddenly feel exhausted.
My mom puts her hand on my shoulder. "It'll be fine. I mean really, what can he do? Your dad and I are here, Edward too. That...person will keep his distance. If he knows what's good for him anyway," she finishes, going back to helping Ellie with the cookies.
She probably is right, but I can't get rid of that feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me something bad is about to happen.
(*)(*)(*()(*)(*)(*)(*)
"Your dad and I want to take the kids to the zoo today," my mom says the next morning over breakfast.
Ellie's head pops up from her bowl of cereal. "Zoo?"
"If that's okay. I thought you and Edward might want to spend the day together." She winks at me.
"Are you sure, Mom? They can be a handful."
"Of course. Your dad and I can handle it, in fact we'll love it."
"Um, okay, if you're sure. I'll help pack everything the girls need and get them dressed after breakfast. Edward, will you watch the girls for a second while I talk to my parents?"
"Sure," he says, smiling at me then the girls.
(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)
"I would love for you to take the girls today, but I'm concerned about Jacob. He could be watching us right now. He could follow you. He could approach the girls, or even worse try to take them," I ramble.
"Bella, we would never let anything happen to our granddaughters...ever," my dad says, sounding hurt.
"I trust you guys completely. I just don't know if you understand what Jacob is capable of."
"I may not be a cop, but I know how to use a gun and I'm a pretty good judge of character. I never thought that boy was good enough for you. I always thought there was a little something off about him," he says.
"I know you guys would never intentionally put them in harm, but even I, after seeing all the crap he's done over the last year, tend to underestimate him."
"We'll take every precaution and never let them out of our sight. If we see Jacob or anyone close to him, we'll come right home," my mom assures me. "You and Edward need to have a day to yourselves. Have you even been on a proper date yet?"
"No, not exactly."
"Then it's settled," my dad adds. "Now go get my little princesses ready to go see some animals."
Although I know my parents would never knowingly put the girls in danger, Jacob is such a wildcard that relaxing and enjoying my day with Edward might be difficult, but I'll try.
A/N
We have yet to actually see Jacob...will he make an appearance? And what will E&B do with their day alone?
Sorry once again for not responding to reviews :/ I'm trying to get into the groove, but I have forces working against me right now, both with writing and responding. Things should mellow out soon.
Thanks again for all of your wonderful, kind words. It makes my day to come home to a batch of reviews :)
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