I own nothing.

As always, thank you for your patience with me. I feel like life is finally settling into a routine for me again and I'm working hard to find time to write something every day. I have a couple of wonderful ladies in my corner - my prereader, Driving Edward, and Sunshine 1220 who makes my words pretty. Ladies, you are precious and I consider myself beyond fortunate to call you friends.

I always loved winter mornings. Waking slowly in a cooler room while bundled beneath warm comforters and quilts. Soft morning sunlight drifting through the bare tree limbs, into the windows and painting patterns on the walls. The warmth and security of Edward wrapped around me as I slowly woke.

That was new, and for a moment, I kept my eyes closed and savored the feeling of rightness.

"Well, that didn't take long." There was no mistaking Jasper's soft drawl.

"The boy doesn't waste any time, that's for sure." I could hear the humor in Carlisle's voice.

"Oh, they're so cute!"

At the sound of Alice's squeak, I came fully awake. Tucked snugly against Edward's chest with his arms wound firmly around my body, it wasn't difficult for me to figure out that their commentary revolved around us. I tensed and Edward's arms tightened minutely as I heard Esme enter the conversation.

"Shhh! Get in here before you wake them up."

Hushed voices and the sound of shuffling feet were quickly replaced by silence. I kept my eyes closed for a moment longer, knowing the embarrassment that would come at having been caught, for all intents and purposes, in Edward's bed.

It was gentle movement of his fingers tracing along my lower spine that gave me the courage to open my eyes and meet his gaze. His lips curved slightly at the corners as he blinked sleepily.

"Hi," he whispered, tucking an errant strand of hair behind my ear. "Two mornings in a row. I could get used to this."

I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. Whether it was embarrassment or his tender attention, I couldn't tell.

"They're gonna give us so much shit about this."

He grinned and nodded.

"I can spare you a little of it. Give me five minutes before you get up. I'll make sure they save you some coffee."

Pressing a kiss to the top of my head, he lithely pushed himself up and slid off the end of the couch. Stretching his arms above his head, then twisting his torso in both directions to work out the morning stiffness, gave me a moment to appreciate the lean muscle and definition he had developed over the last three years. The thermal he wore clung to his broad shoulders and arms while his flannel pajama pants hung low on his hips, drawing my eyes lower…

He had stopped moving. Glancing up, I was met with his knowing smirk and a raised brow. Unable to defend myself or my wandering eyes, I shrugged, earning Edward's wide grin and a wink before he disappeared into the kitchen.

It took all of 5 seconds before I heard roaring laughter.

I suppose it could have been worse … Emmett could have been here.

When those first few bouts of laughter died down, I summoned my courage and got up, making my way into the kitchen. Alice was the first to greet me.

"Hey, sleeping beauty, want some coffee?"

Before I could respond, Carlisle was already filling a cup with the steaming brew. When he placed it in front of me on the counter, Edward was quick to add sugar and cream. The room was silent as he slid the cup closer to me and smiled softly. No one said a word, but the grins and raised eyebrows spoke volumes.

"So, what's the plan for today?" I asked, hoping to keep discussion away from Edward and me.

"Well, the line trucks are already out and working on restoring power. They should have it back up by the afternoon," Carlisle answered. "I'm going to refuel the generators and check on the studio space."

Alice, Jasper, and Esme confirmed that they had nothing pressing for the day and just planned to relax around the house. Edward hadn't offered his plans, but I knew he would need to take me home at some point.

"I should make the rounds through the orchards. Ice is hard on the trees sometimes."

He was nodding before I finished speaking.

"I'll take you home and we can make the rounds together," he offered as he rinsed out his cup and placed it in the dishwasher before turning to face me across the kitchen island.

"I can't ask you to do that. It's freezing and if anything is splintered, it will take some work to try and save it."

"You didn't ask. I offered," he responded. Pressing his palms on the countertop, Edward leaned forward, lowering his head just enough so that we were eye to eye before continuing. "It's been a while since I've seen most of the farm. I'd like to get a good look at the state of things. Last night, you said you trusted me. Are you retracting that statement?"

"N-no. Of course not," I answered, my breath catching at the intensity in his gaze.

"Good. I'm gonna go get dressed and I'll be ready when you are."

Pressing a kiss to my forehead, Edward rounded the island and suddenly I was left alone in the kitchen with four smirking adults whose eyes were all on me. It was Jasper who finally had enough compassion to redirect everyone.

"Well," he began, slapping Carlisle on the back, "how 'bout I give you a hand with those generators?"

"I thought you said you weren't able to pay for the removal of the trees."

We were sitting in the Ranger looking out over what had been a grove of peach trees. It was now an empty field, currently blanketed in sparkling, white snow.

"I didn't. We …" I cleared the thickness from my throat, remembering those days. "We burned it. The whole grove."

I felt Edward shift suddenly, clearly startled by my admission. I knew he'd be wearing a mask of shock and horror, so I kept my eyes focused on the barren land in front of me.

"God, Bella…"

"We didn't really have a choice. You have to cut it out of the trees immediately. So many of them were infected and already dead, we just couldn't keep up. We'd spend the week pruning it out of one part of the grove, only to find it had infected several more acres. By the time we'd cleared those trees, it was back, destroying the ones we'd already pruned. If we hadn't burned it, I would have lost everything. Sam coordinated with the Fire Marshall for a controlled burn, and within a week it was over. A few healthy trees were damaged on the edges of the fires, but they recovered quickly."

I could feel myself emotionally detaching from the memories of that week. The soot and ash, the orange skies and smokey haze that seemed to seep into my pores and never leave. We sat, staring for several minutes, lost in our own thoughts until Edward shifted the Ranger into gear and then reached for my gloved hand, threading our fingers together and holding it tightly against his thigh.

We made the rounds of the entire farm, relieved to see that nothing was damaged due to the snow and ice. A few tree blankets needed to be adjusted and refastened, but nothing that we couldn't accomplish quickly. There were fresh tire tracks in some places, so I suspected that Sam or Jacob had been checking up on things as well. By the time we returned to the house, the power had been restored. While Edward built a fire, I adjusted the thermostats and started a pot of coffee. He stepped into the kitchen as I was pouring us each a cup.

He was quiet for a moment, staring into his coffee as though it held the answers to life. I waited, knowing there was something he wanted to say.

"I know I'm asking a lot, but you said you would trust me."

I nodded, not knowing where this was going, but encouraging him to continue.

"Are you willing to let me see the financials for the past few years?"

I swirled my cup, watching as the caramel-colored liquid spiraled with the movement. He wasn't asking too much of me, but I also couldn't let him hope to find something useful when I knew it didn't exist.

"I don't have anything to hide so I have no problem with you looking at the accounts. I just don't want you to go into it with some kind of false hope that you'll find the key to saving the farm."

Edward grinned.

"Well, in my line of work, we rarely use a key. We either bust down the door or find a back-way in. I'm just wondering if there might be an unlocked window somewhere that I can crawl through. Metaphorically speaking, of course."

Rolling my eyes, I topped off our coffees, handing him both and beckoning him to follow as I led the way to the couch, grabbing my laptop as we passed through. Edward settled beside me, placing our coffee on the table in front of us while I pulled up the spreadsheets from the past few years.

"This book contains the data from the last three years. Here are the books for the twenty years prior." I pointed at a list of files on the screen. "They are organized by years in two-year increments."

His eyes were wide as he lifted the laptop from my lap and set it on the table in front of him, opening the most recent set of years.

"You organized all of this? I know it wasn't Renee."

I smiled and found I couldn't suppress the giggle at the thought of my mother doing anything related to numbers.

"Yeah, I started it when she was sick. I could work on it while she was sleeping, which was most of the time near the end. Once I had the template in place, it was just a matter of plugging in the numbers. It took about six months to get everything transferred from the old ledgers into digital files. I have all but the last twenty years saved on an external hard drive."

"Impressive," he murmured with a nod, his eyes already scanning the screen. It was the last sound he'd make for the next hour as he devoured the information in front of him. Settling in with my coffee and a book, I felt a rush of warmth at the level of comfort between us. If I'd ever imagined a quiet afternoon together for us, this could have been it.

"Bella?"

I opened my eyes and met Edward's warm gaze as his fingers brushed the hair from my cheek.

"I fell asleep?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Sorry I wasn't better company. I get lost in the numbers sometimes."

I shook my head and sat up. "It's me that should be apologizing. Do you want some more coffee?" I asked, gesturing toward his cup.

He shook his head stood up, picking up both of our cups and walking toward the kitchen. "I warmed up some of the food Mom brought. It should be ready now if you're hungry. I thought we could eat and talk through some of the farm business."

I followed him and together we plated Esme's homemade chicken pot pies and roasted vegetables. Edward poured the wine while I carried the plates to the table. We were both quiet as we began to eat. When most of his food was consumed, Edward sat his fork on his plate and picked up his wine glass, swirling it as he watched me.

"What?" His eyes were speculative and yet probing, and my mind began to race with worry over what he was thinking. "What's wrong?"

Without taking his eyes off me, he took a healthy swallow of his wine and set his glass back on the table as he answered.

"Nothing's wrong. I just …" Pushing his plate forward, he crossed his arms on the table in front of him and leaned forward. "Bella, if finances were never an issue, would you have wanted to run the farm?"

There were so many answers to that question. I wanted Mom to run the farm. I wanted to build a life with the man I loved and come back to the farm on holidays and for family visits. I wanted to pass it down to my children someday as a gift from generations before them. The reality was that Mom was gone and this thing with Edward was so fragile I didn't know if we'd have any kind of future after today or tomorrow or even next week. Kids weren't even a consideration since I couldn't even manage my own life.

"Hey." Edward's hand covered mine and squeezed gently. His eyes were tender as he watched me. "I'm not asking you to sort everything out right this minute. I'm just asking if this was the life you wanted, here on the farm. There are some possibilities for a way through this if you want it, but it will take some work."

I turned my hand in his grasp, entwining our fingers. He smiled softly and squeezed, waiting for me to gather my thoughts. I kept my eyes on our hands, too vulnerable to meet his gaze as I told him the truth.

"I always thought I'd get my degree and then go with you, wherever you ended up. I could teach anywhere, but I couldn't imagine my life without you." I paused with his sharp intake of breath. It was obvious he hadn't expected this much honesty with his question. "When Mom got sick, I was heartbroken that I'd lost you. She needed me, and that was the only thing that kept me getting out of bed every day. We spent so many hours talking about the farm, about the day to day running of it and the possibilities for the future. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about you, but the farm gave me something to focus on. After a while, the land became a kind of therapy for me and I came to love it like Mom did. It became a part of me." I took a deep breath, hoping he understood the absolute truth of my next words. I couldn't have my mother back, but she wasn't all I lost back then.

"I'd give it all up to get back what I lost."

His response was immediate. "I'm still yours."

Lifting my hand, he pressed a kiss to my fingertips and then looked back up at me with eyes full of wariness and determination as he spoke.

"I'd like to buy the farm."