The Whispering Woods

Chapter Twelve

"Dad! That's from the water you spilled all over him."

Charlie threw his hands up in defense. "I spilled it to stop him from hurting himself!"

Edward sat up, rubbing his temples. "Can you please stop yelling?"

Bella mumbled an apology; her father at least looked apologetic, too. "Let's get you into a booth."

Despite her father watching them, Edward draped his arm across Bella's shoulders in an act of defiance, besides she smelled really good. Like spun sugar and some kind of spice, it made his mouth water.

Or was that from the migraine forming?

"Why did I pass out?" Edward had never done such a thing, other than during the accident that claimed his parents and made him an orphan.

Bella was just as confused, sitting beside him in a pale blue vinyl booth. "I don't know—you shook my dad's hand and then your eyes rolled back." She dabbed his forehead with the clean, damp towel. "You were also burning up for a minute there, but that's gone now. Weird."

Every time Edward tried to remember that moment, a blinding pain that whited out his vision hit him hard. He pinched his nose. "I don't remember actually shaking your hand, sir."

Charlie looked outside the café window. "I'll have to tell your parents about this, because if they hear it from someone else, Esme will come in and accuse me of hurting you on purpose."

Edward's eyes narrowed in on the man, a supposed murderer, according to Esme. "You didn't kill her." He didn't know how he knew, but he did.

Charlie's eyes softened. "No, I didn't."

Bella cleared her throat, a bit surprised by her father saying that aloud to a stranger. "We didn't get to talk the other night before you…" Ran away, Edward felt the guilt inflame his face again. "My aunt Esme…why did she come back now?"

Edward shook his head. "I've been trying to find out myself. She only said it was time to come home." He met Charlie's gaze. "I don't think you should mention this to her at all, sir. It'll only fuel her hysteria."

"Her timing is impeccable, as usual." Charlie sighed, looking out onto the main street. "It looks like no one caught what happened. If we can keep that between us, that's fine. I have too many things going on with the upcoming festival, the last thing I need is a hysterical mother accusing me of assault."

"I'd like to keep my street cred, too," Edward joked, but Bella and Charlie leveled him a look. "I won't tell my parents."

"Unless you're still feeling off, then tell them," Bella added, giving them both a look that said, "Don't fuck with me."

So, his wellbeing meant something to her? Nice.

"I'm fine." Except whenever Edward tried to remember, he felt like his head was about to explode.

What the fuck was that about? Yet, it felt oddly familiar.

AN: Charlie is not a bad guy, but his daughter talking about a boy probably makes him a bit nervous and he knows Esme made Edward believe he may have killed her sister. Thanks to MC for helping with the story. School starts next week which is usually a lot of taxiing the family, but there will be hours to write too. I'm excited about that. If you'd like to help out on getting me to the cafe, you can find links on my Twitter profile and I'm under ericastwilight on Venmo and Ko-Fi.

See you Tuesday