The Whispering Woods
Chapter Sixteen
Bella dropped her bag on the couch, rolling her shoulders. The pain of the last few hikes still lingered despite there being no bruises or abrasions on her skin. Classes would resume the following day, the holidays long over. She wondered if Edward would ignore her, considering how quick he was to deny what they'd experienced in the woods again. Or that they whispered to him, too.
She'd never seen someone put up mental walls so damn fast. They had to talk because they had a lot more in common than he thought. She wanted to know why. First, she had to know just where his parents were from, it would shed some light. Or possibly create more questions.
She went through her nightly routine: dinner, laundry, and getting things ready for the following day. With only one bathroom and similar departure times, she and her father had to learn how to avoid rushing and tension-filled mornings.
The front door opened, her father calling out to her. He always did it, as if he expected someone else. Like her mother. In all the years since her disappearance, he had yet to find someone new. When she'd been younger, she would've resented anyone he brought around, but now, she only wanted him to be happy.
"That Edward boy okay?" Charlie headed to the fridge to grab a bottle of water.
"Last I saw of him, he looked fine."
Her father hummed as she served up an enchilada casserole. "It's a bit strange they decided to move in the middle of his senior year."
It was, and she wanted to know why. However, the fact that Edward ran away from her twice, she wouldn't find out the reason from him. She'd prefer to find out from him, but she wasn't the most patient person.
"Did you follow him home or something?" Charlie seemed to stay on the topic.
"Yes, you know me."
This time her father smiled. "You had to be sure he made it home."
She nodded. "It can't be a coincidence that the little boy I used to dream about moved here."
"No, it's not."
She looked at her father, her eyes narrowed. "Is one of his birth parents from here?"
Charlie sighed, nodding. "His mother Elizabeth and Renee were inseparable, Esme used to babysit them both." There was more, but Bella focused on something from the past. It wasn't a secret that her grandfather, Willman H. Platt, had remarried ten years after losing his first wife, Esme's mother, to a woman who claimed to have no memory of who she was or that she disappeared shortly after giving birth to Bella's mother.