Hello again my dears! Y'all seemed to love Rosalie last chapter! She can be a hoot.
Yes, my love for Charleston runs deep. Along with a couple other places that are in this story. I used to go there with my mom, a lot, and those memories are precious to me since I lost her.
Also, lillianolivia , yes, my dear, She crab soup is very big in Charleston. But, if anyone visits the south, particularly Charleston, you HAVE to get shrimp and grits. It's literally an unwritten rule. Both are staples there. And plantations are everywhere down there, as well. Some are still working plantations, too. Like the tea plantation you mentioned. Just not with the slave aspect of it.
As for who was at the door... I had two people get it right. Let's get to mama Es.
Chapter 8 - Woes
BPOV
"Esme! Oh my gosh, I've missed you!" I cry as I take in the woman in front of me that I haven't seen in years. But, much like Alice, I've missed her more than I realized.
She pulls me to her in a crushing hug and sways me back and forth.
"Oh sweet girl, I've missed you so much! I'm so glad I caught you before I left." She says, then pulls back to look at me. "Come in, come in! Edward's in the kitchen, cooking. I've gotta head home and do the same for Carlisle or he'll start complaining that I'm starving him like he's some refugee." She rolls her eyes at that, and grabs her things to head out. "Kitchen is right through there," She points off to the right, "And I'll leave you two kids to it. I don't wanna be the crazy mom, in the way. Y'all have already been there, and done that. Have a good night, my dear. I hope I'll get to see you again soon." She kisses my cheek and takes her leave.
I turn and walk towards where the yummy smells are coming from.
Looking around as I go, I see the influence of historic Charleston everywhere I look. It's so comfy, cozy, and welcoming.
The front hallway is wide and open, with lots of ornate details around each of the doorways. Columns, archways, transoms, and a big, wide staircase leading to the second floor.
Walking into the kitchen, I see Edward at the stove, stirring something in a pot, and I hear a timer going off. He leans over into, what I assume is, the oven and pulls out what looks like cheese biscuits.
Ooooooooooh, homemade Red Lobster biscuits! Yuuuuuuummmmmm!
Edward knows I love food. Not just food, but good food.
Looking around the kitchen, I'm really impressed. It's very southern, with the aged brick wall on the two sides, aged white cabinets that look antique along the right side, with a huge chef's stove and copper hood vent. There's a huge, dark cherry wood island in the middle. The ceiling has some beautiful, intricate moldings, and lovely antique glass and black pendant lights. There's even a second staircase in the back corner with black metal railings.
He's also got a large scale black and white picture of, what looks like, 1600's ships out in the port of Charleston.
It's all so gorgeous and well put together.
Edward looks up and sees me enter the kitchen and smiles widely at me.
"Hey gorgeous! You made it!" He says, excitement apparent in his voice.
"Psh, you think I'm gonna turn down good food? Please…" I quip and walk further into the kitchen, that is just so inviting. "I brought some wine." I tell him as I set it on the counter.
"Oh great! Thanks!" He says as he grabs the bottle and sets it in the fridge to continue cooling. "I hope you brought your appetite tonight. We got some of the good stuff." He teases as he starts showing me what's cooking.
"Oh my god, is that liver nips?" I ask as he opens up a pot and my mouth automatically starts watering.
He laughs and says, "That's exactly what it is. I remembered you used to love nana's recipe that we used to cook around the holidays. So, I figured it might be a nice treat tonight."
There's also homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, pineapple casserole, along with the biscuits and liver nips.
All comfort foods, and I love it.
"You sure know how to get to a woman's heart." I smile at him as he turns off the burners and covers them back up to let them set and cool some.
"That's what I'm counting on." He laughs and turns to me and grabs my hand, pulling me towards the way I came in. "Let me give you a tour of the house, real quick."
As we work our way through the house, I see the dark wood banister of the massive staircase, the curved walls of the front room, the carvings around the fireplaces. Walking up the stairs, I see the open railing looking down to the foyer and hallway below and wrapping around to other rooms of the house. I see some work is being done up here, where there's a ladder and some other tools and such on one side.
"I'm still doing some restorations and repairs up here, but I'm almost done with them. Just these last couple of rooms and the third floor to finish. But I made sure I had my room and the downstairs done first." He explains as we make our way towards his bedroom.
"You did all this yourself?" I ask, completely in shock.
"Well, I got into working with my hands in the Coast Guard, and then when I came home, I decided I wanted to do something I've always wanted to do, and that's restorations on our city's historic homes. So, that's what I've been doing, all around town. When I got this house, I started working on the restorations it needed in my off time. A couple times I've had some of my buddies I work with come help with a few things I couldn't do on my own. But yeah, most all of it has been me doing it." He tells me as we walk through the door.
It's massive and open, painted a very light blue with that hint of green. That color where it could lean either way depending on how you decorate, and the lighting in the room. There's lots of dark cherry wood furniture around the room. The bed is covered in a grey, yellow and blue comforter and pillows, and it looks comfy as hell.
The upper balcony is accessed through the master bedroom, and it's big and wide with rocking chairs and a few plants hanging over the railings.
He shows me the bathroom and my jaw drops.
The tiling stands out to me, first off. It's not all white. Through the whole coved shower and around the massive stand-alone claw foot tub, then along the bottom side of the rest of the chair rail, is both square and subway sized tiles. Square along the bottom, and subway on top in the shower. It's mismatched off whites and creams, where it looks very aged, all randomly dispersed with a gold colored tile chair-rail. It sounds weird, but it's so pretty in person, and it works so well.
There's a beautiful, subtly ornate, dark wood, his and her vanity across from the tub and shower. The toilet is tucked away behind a swinging barn door in its own little thrown room. And the walls above the rest of the chair rail in the bathroom is the same blue that's in the bedroom.
There's also a set of three square pane windows stationed above the tub, letting in an amazing amount of natural light.
"Oh my gosh… Edward, this is stunning." I whisper reverently as I take it all in.
"Thanks. It's taken a while to get it all done, but I wanted to get these two rooms right. Along with the kitchen and living room. Those are the places I'll spend most of my time in. But I wanted to make sure I had the historic aspect kept in mind and not making it completely inauthentic." He explains, taking pride in the work he's done.
"No, this is all perfect. It's just enough to be modern comfort but having the historic feel throughout the whole place. I absolutely love it." I tell him honestly, because it just feels so homey and welcoming, like the homes of old Charleston.
We head back downstairs to the kitchen and fix our plates and head into the beautiful navy and white dining room, again with the gorgeous dark cherry wood furnishings.
Sitting across from each other at the oval dining table, we dig into the yummy food Edward has made.
"Geez Edward, you've gotten better at cooking since we were younger." I tell him as I take a bite of the macaroni and almost moan.
He laughs and says, "Well, you know I used to cook with my mom, growing up. Once I was on my own after my enlistment, I got a lot of the family recipes and started cooking them and learning some new things, too. I'm not the typical bachelor." He smirks at me.
So that's confirmation he's not seeing anyone…
"It's delicious. It's hard to get liver nips right, but you definitely got it." I tell him as I pop one in my mouth.
"Lots of trial and error."
We make small talk for a little while as we continue eating. Once we're through, I grab the dishes and take them into the kitchen.
"Bella, I'll get the dishes later. You don't have to do that." He says as he gets up and follows me.
I just turn and arch a brow at him, and shoo him from the kitchen sink. "You cooked, I think I can figure out my way around this kitchen to do the dishes. It's only fair."
He purses his lips, but relents, only to sit on the other side of the island, keeping me company while I put things away and load the dishwasher.
Once that's done, he leads me out to the porch with a couple of drinks in our hands and sit in the rocking chairs, and take in the salt water air that's coming off the Atlantic that's only a couple blocks away.
"How in the world were you able to get ahold of this house, Edward? If you don't mind me asking? I mean, right near downtown, the water is just down the street, it's a historic home… this couldn't have been an easy buy." I ask, because I never thought he'd be able to buy something like this unless he became a doctor or lawyer.
He smiles sheepishly and says, "Well, you know my grandparents are gone. They left both Alice and me inheritances. Alice put hers into her clothing line. I put a majority of mine into some investments, and let it almost double. I've still got some in it, but took out what I needed to get the house and started doing the renovations. I only bought this house a little less than two years ago."
"Wow." I say, not knowing what else to say to that because, for him to get that done so young, blows my mind. "I was sorry to hear about you grandmother passing." His grandfather had died when Edward was young, and he always had a wonderful relationship with his grandmother. I'd seen on facebook where Alice had posted about her passing not long after I left for L.A.. I know he had to have taken it hard when she passed.
He smiles sadly, but says, "She always said she wanted to grab one of these houses and fix it up. So, I'm kinda making her wish come true, in her memory. I've always loved these houses, too, so that kind of helped me figure out what I wanted to do after my time in the Coast Guard was over." He laughs as he looks back up at the house.
"You've done an amazing job with it, Edward. You should be very proud of the work you've done."
"Thanks, Bella. That means a lot to me." He smiles, then gets a pensive look on his face. "I know it's hard to talk about it, but…"
I know what he's saying, and I don't know how he's gonna take this. "No, I think you should know. It wasn't pretty. It was scary and humiliating and just… heartbreaking, to be honest. You'd been the only guy I'd been with before he came along. I'm not sure why I ever trusted him. As I look back at it in hindsight, I should have seen the signs." I begin, and I hesitate telling him about that night, but my doctors said that getting it off my chest gets easier and easier.
So, I tell him what I remembered from that night. And the fallout that happened afterwards, along with the slow process of getting back to a somewhat normal life. Or as normal as you can get to after you have something like that happen to you.
I watch as Edward's face become more and more red as I go on, and I'm honestly afraid he's gonna have an aneurysm if he doesn't start breathing.
Once I've gotten that out in the open, he plunges his hands into his hair and starts shaking his head back and forth.
"Jesus, Bella… How… Why didn't you just come home? Why didn't you call me? I would've been on the first plane out there! I-" He breaks off as he gets up and starts pacing.
I look at him, a little shocked. "Edward, there was nothing you could've do-" I start but he turns and looks like he's a man possessed.
"I could've been there for you! It didn't matter that we left things kind of shitty and broke it off! I would've dropped everything to be there for you! I would've found that motherfucker and torn him limb from limb, starting with his dick!" He yells and starts pacing again.
I get up and block his path, stopping him in his tracks, and grab his face to get him to look at me. "Stop. Ok? Trust me, after it happened, I was a mess and wasn't pleasant to be around. You can ask Jasper and Rose. I was a total bitch to everyone. I still am, at times. My mom came out there and she felt helpless because I wouldn't let anyone touch me. I was always a shaking mess. I wouldn't wanna put you through that, unnecessarily."
Anguish crashes across his face and he drops to his knees and wraps his arms around my middle, burying his face in my stomach.
"I'm so sorry, Bella!" His voice was muffled, but I could hear his sadness loud and clear, along with the feeling of tears through my shirt. "I'm so sorry!"
I wrap my arms around him and hold him to me, running my fingers through his hair and trying to calm him down some.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Edward. Absolutely nothing." I say after a few minutes, in a soothing voice, hoping he stops beating himself up over something he had no control over.
"I have everything to be sorry for. I feel like I failed you, Bella." He says, and I can tell he's still upset.
I pull him up and put my hands on either side of his face. "Edward, you can't beat yourself up over this. I made a mistake. I trusted the wrong person. I'm the one that went to L.A.. I'm the one that should've stayed here when you asked. None of this is on you. It's all on me."
He shakes his head while I'm talking and says, "No, I pushed you too hard on wanting you to stay here and wait for me to come back. I ended up pushing you away. I was stupid…"
I run my fingers through his hair in a soothing way. His hair is shorter on the sides, and still has that length he used to have when he was younger on top.
I pull him back over to where there's a bench seat on the porch and sit him beside me, holding his hands.
Looking at our joined hands, I tell him, "I regret ever leaving. But, I was dealt a hand when I got out there, and I chose to play it. And I lost. I lost a lot. More than I've even told you. But, I pushed my way through. Trying to get back to a new normal. I'm not completely better, but I'm sort of ok. I probably should've come home afterwards, but I wanted to stick it out. Let him see that he didn't run me off out of town. But I don't feel comfortable out there. I'm always looking over my shoulder, always waiting to see if he shows up, or one of his little friends from that party. Even his fans I have to keep an eye out for. I hate it. I've felt more comfortable here in Charleston over the last two weeks, than I have in the last five or six years out there."
He looks at me for a moment, then wraps his arm around me and pulls me to his side. "Then why don't you just come home?" He whispers into my hair.
"It's not that simple, Edward." I tell him in a low voice. "I've still got jobs, here and there, I'm doing in L.A., I'm a co-owner of a club. I've got a house…"
He sits back up, looking me in the eyes. "You said you were a silent partner in the club. You don't have to be there on a regular basis, do you? I mean, you can fly out to L.A. whenever you need to do whatever job you have lined up… It's gotta be better than staying there and feeling like you have to be on edge all the time."
Thinking about it, he's got a point. But I can't just drop everything that I've got there to… well, I did that when I went out there, in the first place…
I've got a lot of thinking to do…
Thank God I'm going on this vacation so I can think on this, too. Because Lord knows I'd rather be back here at home than dealing with the little shitheads in L.A. on a daily basis.
I don't need added run-ins with more Malibu Barbie's or deranged fans.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do. It's not gonna change what happened to me… But, I do always feel like I'm being closed in on. Like, almost claustrophobic. And I hate it. But, I don't wanna run away, either. It makes me feel like he's winning." I say, feeling defeated.
"He is winning if you're still living in any form of fear. You're scared you're gonna run into him again, especially since he was never arrested or charged for what he did to you. You're afraid his fans are gonna rip you to pieces on the streets if they come across you. Bella, you can't live like that. It's gotta be causing you anxiety." He tells me, fervently.
I purse my lips, because again, he's right. My anxiety is always through the roof. I hate feeling that I can never relax. And, I'm just now realizing that. I never just sat down and thought about the fact that changing scenery, permanently, would make all the difference because my anxiety and fear of James and his followers is, sometimes, crippling.
And James is winning in that respect. He's taken over every aspect of my life where I have to adjust what I would normally do because of the fear and anxiety. Nothing in my life isn't affected by his bullshit.
I'm just now getting to where I can say what happened to me without breaking down completely. Not every time, anyways. I mean, I still get emotional talking about it, but not to the point I have a breakdown like I did when I was in the bar the other night, realizing I should've stayed here with Edward and I'd have never met James Hunter.
"You know, you should've been a psychiatrist." I laugh a little, nudging his shoulder. "You know how to put things in perspective and make people realize things they never thought about before."
He smiles widely at me, blows on his nails and buffs them off on his shirt. "All part of the service, ma'am."
I just laugh, smack his leg and lean my head on his shoulder. He's always been able to make me laugh or feel better.
He's a huge part of what I miss about home.
What am I gonna do?
A/N: Alright, soooooo... before anyone asks... liver nips... they're basically a liver dumpling. They are delicious! It's really the only way I'll eat liver. It's broken down enough that it doesn't resemble liver at all, so I think that's part of my thing. Regular liver? Bleehhhhh! And then Red Lobster biscuits... if you've never had them, they're cheesy, garlic-y, buttery goodness. When we get together for the holidays, I make them and they get gone before I can even get one, myself... They're just that yummy.
Anyways, so, they've sat down and talked... next chapter is gonna be kind of a turning point. Wait and see!
Pictures of Edward's house is on facebook, in the groups. go look at them and see how stunning historic Charleston homes really can be.
Leave me some love! Muah!