Caution

Smooth … over … Chip … over … Smooth … over … Chip … over …

I roll the river stone in my pocket as I get the bartender's attention. "I'll have an Old Fashioned," I say with a wink. She grins before grabbing a mid-range bourbon. With my drink in hand, I turn to watch the crowded room. Emmett and Rose's engagement party is full to overflowing with well-wishers. I watch Jasper, my old roommate from college, swirl his beautiful wife, Alice, past me, lost in her eyes. These are my friends, and I'm happy for them.

As I switch to beer, Emmett sidles up to the bar, slaps me on the back, and nods at my hand in my front pocket. "Playing with your stones again?" and laughs as I pull my hand from my pocket.

"Shut up and go dance with Rose." I savor the first sip of my cold beer as a curvy redhead catches my eye.

"Get off the sidelines and get in the game," Emmett says with a nudge.

My hand slips back in my pocket and closes around the smooth stone. "Naw, I'm good."

Em barks out a laugh as his fiance dances past in the clutches of Uncle Saul with his roaming hands. "I better go save her."

I nod as the hall's doorway opens, and my heart stops.

I grip the stone in my pocket and close my eyes.

Sitting on the boat dock under a yellow moon- enamored

The splashing of her long tan legs- spellbound

Her sun-kissed nose wrinkling when she smiled at me, just for me- enchanted

Our last kiss, suntan lotion, and Bubble Yum- breathless

My reverie is broken as my eyes lock on Bella, my Bella across the reception hall.

Luscious curves and sway have replaced the coltish young beauty.

Emmett leans in and chuckles, "Two years divorced, man."

He smacks me on my back, wandering off to rescue his girl.

I watch as Bella's eyes wander the room until they land on Alice.

I watch her laugh and dance all night, but I never approach her, and she never looks my way. I tell myself it's better that way.

Later in the night, the girls' shoes come off as they dance in a circle to old seventies music.

Jasper and Emmett sit with me as we watch the girls giggle and slip over the floor on stocking feet.

"Those three go all the way back to grade school," Jasper says as he pours the last of his beer.

Emmett stretches his arms over his head. "Didn't Rose beat up Bella for stepping on her fingers?"

Jasper laughs, "Yeah, and Alice climbed on Rose's back and pulled out a fist of her hair."

I came late to the gang. Since eighth grade, Jasper and Alice had gone steady, and Emmett met Rose at a high school football game their junior year. That summer before we all went off to college, I tagged along with Emmett when we all chipped in to rent a cabin by the lake. Bella was perfect, and I was completely gone. A year younger than the rest of us, I was careful with her, taking it slow, thinking we had time.

But one perfect summer was all we would have.

We all went to U-Dub, and Bella would come the following year after her graduation. I looked across the room at the woman giggling behind her hand as she bumped with Rose to K.C. and the Sunshine Band's Get Down Tonight.

My hand found the river stone-Smooth … over … Chip. She never made it to college. Her dad died two weeks before her graduation.

Alice stops dancing to blow Jasper a kiss, and my heart seizes as Bella's eyes follow the kiss to our table and me. Her smile falters before she turns away, and my hand fists around the rock. She married James Snow six months later.

I realize I've tortured myself enough for one night and stand. The girl beside me on the dock is gone—I pull my hand from my pocket—and she's not coming back.

"I'll see you later, guys," I say and make my way to the door. The room seems to lengthen with each step, and I feel like I'm walking through water. When I finally reach for the door, Alice smacks my arm.

"You're not leaving, Edward Cullen."

I push the door open, "Alice, I'm working tomorrow, so, yeah, I'm calling it a night."

She follows me into the brightly lit hallway. "But you didn't even say hello to her. Not even a wave in her direction."

I drop my head, suddenly bone-weary, "Alice, I was here for Rose and Emmett, that's all."

She punches my arm and steps into me. "It's always been so easy for you to shut doors and walk away. You're a dumbass, Edward Cullen—a first-class poopy head."

Even the humor of her elementary school cussing can't buffer the sting of her words. I step back and push my hands deep into my pockets. "Yeah, well, she closed the door and walked away first." I kiss her forehead before stepping around her and walking away.

~o0o~

Days turn into weeks, and weeks knit into months as I stay focused on work. Now I stand in my apartment holding Emmett and Rose's wedding invitation. I glance at the RSVP card with the glaring 'plus one' box next to my name and drop it on the table. I grab a beer and step out onto the balcony. I can hear the muffled noise of the city below.

Will she bring a 'plus one?'

For just one night, I allow myself to remember.

She had written me letters almost every day, and, on the weekends, I couldn't wait to call her. I took a long tug of my bottle. In the second semester, I was struggling with balancing work and school. I felt like a failure and couldn't share that with her, so I missed a few weekend calls.

I rub my face with my hands. Bella asked me to take her to prom but, I was working to bring my grades up in two classes to keep my scholarship and couldn't be bothered. Her letters dried up after that. I called, but she didn't answer. I was in the middle of finals when I heard her dad had passed. Alice and Rose drove to be with her. I think I sent flowers.

Sitting on the dark balcony, I understand how much I had failed her. Alice was right.

Emmett's voice echos in my mind— "Two years divorced, man."

I take a deep breath in the apartment as I slip the RSVP card into its envelope to return. I smile at the thought that now a month seems like forever.

~o0o~

As she walks down the aisle ahead of Rose, she is beautiful in lavender with her thick brown hair pulled to one side showing her slender neck and bare shoulders. My hungry eyes never leave her.

At the reception, I follow my heart across the room.

"Bella?"

"Edward!" she smiles but with wary eyes.

You look lovely."

Bella tucks her hair behind her ear and shrugs. "Thank you."

"Um, would you like to take a walk? I think it will be a while before they cut the cake."

When she smiles, and it reaches her eyes, I take my first deep breath of the night.

We walk the garden paths lost in our thoughts before I pluck up the nerve to say, "Alice told me you're working at an art gallery in Portland."

She smiles, "Yeah, I found I'm better at appreciating art than making art." She steps around an overgrown fern before adding, "Emmett told me you're coaching little league."

"Yeah, I play on a local league during the year and coach the little guys in the summer."

"I like that."

I stop under the lamplight. "Bella—I'm sorry."

She places a hand on my chest. "Don't—it was so long ago. We were so young."

I lead us over to sit on a park bench. "After I heard you—married, I wouldn't let myself remember. I … Bella, why did you marry him?"

She turns toward me until our knees are touching, and she takes my hand. "My senior year, I was lonely. Rose and Alice were too busy for me with college and boyfriends. You were struggling with school and baseball. I tried to keep things light for you.

"When Dad got sick, I started getting migraines and nose bleeds. I met James in an emergency waiting room. I had someone to talk to and eventually cry with when Dad died."

Hearing her words, I hate myself. She was hurting and alone, and I missed all the signs.

"Did you love him?" I whisper.

"No, I needed him. There was a time when I was thankful for him and his presence, but that was short-lived."

Her tear hits the back of my hand, and I ask, "What happened?"

She sniffs and takes a deep breath. "I—I got pregnant." My hand tightens on hers out of reflex, and she continues. "I had just found out it would be a little girl the night he backhanded me for not picking up the dry cleaning."

"No," I breathe.

She soothes her hand over mine. "I knew I wouldn't bring my daughter into that, so when he went to work, I packed my car and left. I drove to Portland and stayed with Seth Clearwater. He was my classmate in Art History."

A familiar bolt of jealousy shoots through me. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No, I don't make it a habit of running from man to man."

"I'm sorry."

She sighed, "He's my friend, and his boyfriend, Sammy, protected me when James came looking for me."

"I'm glad they were there for you."

She sits back, and I run my arm behind her. "So, your daughter is what three now?"

"She'll be three in about four months."

"Do you have a picture?"

A tender smile graces her face as she pulls out her phone. I lean in to see a tiny Bella with ice blue eyes.

"She's beautiful, Bella. She's—you."

She leans into me and flips to other pictures. "She hasn't asked about her father yet."

"He's not in the picture?"

"Not even child support." She closes her phone. "What about you?"

"I stayed focused on building my career. No, no one."

We sit silently for a long time.

"I'm sorry I hurt the boy on the dock. I've missed him."

I pull her into my side and rest my cheek on her soft hair. "I'm sorry I hurt my sunshine girl. I've missed you. All my life, I've missed you."

"She squeezes my hand, and I look down, catching her eye, "You were supposed to be the house behind my picket fence, you know."

I blink as my breath hitches and work the lump in my throat to say, "Maybe we ran ahead of our dreams."

She nods and whispers, "I ended up all alone, but I keep hoping."

We make our way indoors in time for the toasts, and with every sip of wine, I feel hope building between us. When the dance floor opens, I look into her warm brown eyes and place our river stone in her hand, "Dance with me."

She wrinkles her nose and smiles as she brings the stone to her lips.

As we sway with the river stone snug in our joined hands, I whisper, "We can start again."

She stops dancing and lays a slender hand along my cheek, "I think we're ready."

I hold her close and run my nose over warm perfume before dipping my lips to hers.

We both smile at the rightness of the moment, and as her little nose wrinkles for me, I know this time I'm falling without caution.