Assumptions Chapter 5

Family

I was exhausted from being up so late and all I really wanted to do was to finally close the store and go crawl in my bed, but I still had another hour before I could do that. At least my headache had gone away. I couldn't remember the last time I drank that much tequila. I was never so glad that I closed early on Saturday and didn't open at all on Sunday.

I was sitting behind the counter, torn between trying to convince myself to walk through the store and straighten up the shelves or picking up the book that I had been reading and chilling until closing time. I looked over at the book again, sighed, and got up and wandered over to the children's section of the store. I started cleaning up the toys and stray books when I heard the bell over the door chime. I walked over where I could see the door and smiled when I saw Mrs. Webber, Angela's mother, walk in with her twin boys, Adrian and Andrew. They were seven and both of them loved coming into the bookstore to get new books.

"Hello, Mr. Edward," the boys greeted me as the three of them walked into the area that I was cleaning.

"Hey boys! What adventures are you looking for today?"

"PIRATES!" Adrian yelled as Andrew yelled, "COWBOYS!" I laughed as I started helping them find books about pirates and cowboys.

We were still trying to narrow their stacks of books down to a maximum of three each when I heard the bell over the front door again, "I'll be with you in a moment!"

When I finished with the Webber boys and took them over to the register to ring up their purchases we found Bella sitting on my chair behind the counter, "Mrs. Webber, this is Bella Swan."

"Oh, Bella, we are going to miss Charlie so much! I'm sorry. I'm Mrs. Webber. My husband is Reverend Webber." Mrs. Webber cried as she pushed me to the side and grabbed Bella to hug her. "Angela told me about the accident, I'm so sorry dear. My daughter and son-in-law don't have much money but my husband and I are willing to cover anything that the insurance doesn't."

"That's not necessary. You and your husband are already being more than generous by helping with the funeral and I am more than capable of handling the cost of the repairs."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Is the guy that hit me alright? I think his name was Michael, right?" She looked to both of us for confirmation that she had indeed gotten his name right.

"Yes. It's Michael. He's really fine, just a couple bruises. We were all more worried about you. He feels really bad about it and wanted to apologize, but we thought it best to keep his distance for now. You're going through enough without adding more stress to your life."

"Tell him not to worry about it. But you did just remind me that I have to call about my car today. With everything going on yesterday I totally forgot to call. " I quickly finished my transaction with Mrs. Webber and walked her and the boys out.

"She's so sweet."

"She has her moments."

"Edward don't judge her because of your fears. That is not fair to her."

"Is the way she treated Charlie fair?"

"Only the two of them know what happened there. Remember to never judge anyone until you've walked a mile in their shoes."

"I know. I still remember that lesson from your Sunday school lessons."

"Then act like it. I'll see you at church tomorrow." She warned me before hugging me and walking away with her sons in tow.

Bella was back to sitting in my chair with a big smile on her face. It took me a second to remember that I had left the book that I was reading on the counter. Actually, I was reading it for the third time.

"This is my favorite of series so far." She said picking up the book and thumbing through it.

"Mine too."

"I can see that. It's nice to see one so worn out….The words just seemed to flow so easy with this one," she sighed putting the book down.. "I wish it was that easy with everything."

I walked over to her and sat down on the counter, "The writer's block that bad?"

"It's not just the book. It's my whole life. I can write sex scenes like crazy but when it comes to communicating in real life…I suck."

"I can't believe that you are a bestselling novelist and you just used said that." I laughed at her.

"Oh shut up!" She said slapping my arm.

"So, did you come here for a reason or are did you just stop by to invade my privacy and beat me up?" I asked with a smile.

"I definitely came to beat you up. That is too much fun to pass up." She stopped and took a deep breath, "Seriously, I just wanted to apologize again for my behavior since we met the other night. I'm not usually a raving bitch or a sobbing lush. It's just that I…I…this trip has been so surreal. I just don't understand—"The bell over the door rang out announcing another customer had come in and we turned to see a family walking in, "You're busy. I should go and leave you alone." She jumped up and bolted out of the store before I had the chance to say anything.

It was so aggravating that way that one minute she could be a real bitch and the next she seemed so lost. One thing was for sure, Bella Swan meant drama and I had had enough drama in my life over the last couple of years to last a lifetime.

BPOV:

I practically ran out of Edward's bookstore and returned to my truck. I couldn't believe that I almost started whining to him about my dad. He'd made it plainly clear that he didn't give a shit about me. I just didn't know what I did to make him hate me like he did. We were practically strangers. Maybe hate was a strong word, in truth he was so hot and cold with me all the time. One moment he refused to look at me and the next we were getting drunk in a truck in the middle of the night.

I started the truck and headed back to the gas station and the ATM machine at the bank before heading back to Charlie's house. When I pulled into the driveway I immediately noticed that the front door was open when I know that I closed it. I didn't lock it because I was tired of fighting with that damn lock and key, but I figured this was Forks. The crime rate was in the negatives here.

I cautiously approached the door with my mace out, ready to spray and run like hell across the street and hope that Emmett was home. I heard voices in the kitchen as I walked through the door slowly. I was almost to the kitchen door when a little voice piped up, "Hi, Miss Bella!, making me scream. I turned to find Bree sitting in the easy chair and watching cartoons. My screaming caused Rose and Emmett to come running out of the kitchen.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just startled. I wasn't expecting to find anyone in the house."

"Sorry," Rose said, "people started dropping off casseroles, cakes, hams and other crap. We thought we'd put it in the fridge for you before they all got ruined in the rain. We probably shouldn't have let ourselves in like that. It's just a habit."

"Oh, that's alright but thanks for taking care of the food for me."

"Don't thank me yet. There is still a lot of things we haven't been able to find a place for."

"There's that much?"

"Yeah. You're set for the next decade."

I took off for the kitchen and found the table and counters full of dishes of food, "What am I going to do with all of this? You two have to take some. Esme too. And maybe Edward? I can't possibly eat all of this food!"

Rose was thrilled and celebrating the fact that she was not going to have to cook tonight as she took a ham, a pan of macaroni and cheese, and a chocolate cake home for dinner. They were also going to store several other casseroles in their fridge for me and we would take them all to Esme's for the reception after the funeral.

After they left I stood in my kitchen and stared at the counter full of food and sighed. I took a casserole out of the fridge and threw in the oven to start warming up while I went upstairs to run a hot bubble bath. I was hoping that a long hot soak in the tub would do the trick and clear my head.

Forty five minutes later I was just getting out of the tub when I heard someone knocking at the door. I threw on my robe and walked down the stairs, the aroma of the casserole getting stronger as I got closer to the kitchen. I could smell it from the bathroom and it had been making me hungry.

I opened the front door to find Edward standing there, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you… I just thought… I was sitting at home and couldn't get our conversation this afternoon out of my head. I was wondering what you were going to say."

"Oh. I guess it really doesn't matter, Edward. I've just found myself questioning a lot of things since I got here and I don't think that I'll ever be able to get the answers that I am looking for."

"I don't know. I think if you try hard enough you might."

"I'd have to learn to channel the dead or find someone who can, and outside my novel s I don't know anyone who can do that."

"Maybe I-" He was cut off by the timer on the oven going off. "Maybe I should just go," and he turned to go.

"Edward, wait! You know, the people of Forks have managed to bestow upon me enough food to feed a small nation. Wanna help me eat some of it? I mean, unless you need to get home."

"I have nowhere that I have to be."

I stepped back and let him in, "Let me just go get dressed and we'll eat."

I ran upstairs to my old bedroom, where I had left my suitcase, and changed into some old lounge pants and a t-shirt. When I got back down to the kitchen Edward had taken the casserole out of the oven and was getting plates out of the cabinet.

"You weren't kidding about the amount of food," he laughed. I smiled as I walked over to the fridge and pulled out a couple of cans of beer that had been Charlie's and turned to find Edward holding two plates of food and staring at a table that was filled with cakes, cupcakes, and pies.

"I know where Charlie keeps his TV trays," Edward said, heading toward the living room. I grabbed some forks and napkins and followed him.

We sat on the couch, eating and flipping through channels on the TV like we were friends. I got the impression from his family that he spent many nights here keeping Charlie company. I couldn't understand why his wife wouldn't care unless she worked nights. That had to be it. It also had to be the reason that I hadn't seen her, and she wasn't at the family dinner last night.

I got up after a while and took our plates to the kitchen and grabbed a cherry pie and two spoons and returned to the living room.

"No plates?"

"Nope. Pie should be devoured. Just remember to keep to your half."

When the pie was gone I went to the kitchen and started to run some dish water. I didn't realize that Edward had follow me until he spoke, "May I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"How could you hurt Charlie the way you did?"

"I don't know what you mean. I never did anything to hurt him."

"Are you kidding me? It practically destroyed him when you dumped him for your rich stepfather."

"I didn't!"

"Then why haven't you been here once in the last seven years? If you gave a shit about him you would have visited."

"He told me not to."

"He never would have done that. He missed you. He loved you."

"Bullshit! I was there on the phone with him, Edward. I can remember exactly what he said to me."

"And what was that?"

"He said that he didn't want me to come back to Forks. It would be better if I just stayed home. Then he said that he was late to pick up Billy to go fishing and then he just hung up on me. "

A/N:

I always wonder why people bring so much food when someone dies. They did it when my dad died and none had any appetite to eat for about a week. It confuses me.

My son started high school this week and will start orchestra rehearsals tomorrow so given my new schedule of having to get up early to drive him across town every morning before driving all the way back to get to my office I will not update next Saturday. I am finding it hard to write a quality chapter this week to send to Sweetpea123, my awesome beta, and need more time to get it the way I want it and not just post it to keep to a schedule. I'm sorry for failing everyone on that.

Thank you for reading and reviews will get a teaser.