Chapter 40 – Do Better

EDWARD

It's been four days since Jacob's latest threat. As soon as I saw it, I was on the phone with Jasper, asking for his advice. He reminded me I knew what I had to do – call the police and report his ass, and check my security cameras. The cameras only captured the person approaching and placing the package on the porch. Whoever it was kept there head down, like they knew were the cameras were and how to avoid them.

The police had canvased the neighborhood asking for any and all security footage. There was very little. All that was captured was a car stopping in front of the house and the package being delivered. No license plate, no face of the delivery person. Even though the message was signed, anyone could have dropped it off. What was worse was the fact the package looked official in every way. Address label. Return label. Postage.

Bella still didn't know, and I hated keeping this from her however it was her protection. Emmett and Charlie were on my side. Bella thought the detective stopping by was about an incident I witnessed and he was following up. Not that I liked lying to my darling wife. I didn't see any other choice.

Pacing in my father's office, I waited for him to finish with his last patient, then he was off the clock. I hadn't a clue why I decided to come to the hospital to talk to him. What I needed to ask him could have easily been done over the phone. Maybe it was fear having me coming to talk to him in person instead of calling or stopping by the house. His reassurance has always helped me in the past, so perhaps that was why I asked Emmett to stay longer and had him tell Bella I had to work late. Another lie, I hated.

"Edward," Dad said, coming in his office after I had been there for about twenty minutes.

I had my back to the door when he came in, and I turned to face him. My face revealing probably way to much.

"What's happened?" he asked, motioning to the couch.

As best I could, I explained what was delivered Friday and what the police canvas turned up. "I'm at a lost of how to protect Bella, Dad. What in the world do I do?"

Dad leaned forward his hand going to his lips, rubbing as he lowered his head to look at the floor. He was silent for a long while, mulling over what I said. With an exhale, he looked up, his eyes hard.

I swallowed, fearing I wasn't going to like his advice.

"Tell Bella," he said, as if it was that simple.

I gaped at him. "I… I… I don't think that is a good idea."

He returned my stare, his hard eyes softening in sympathy. "Edward, I know you want to protect your wife, however keeping secrets will only hurt her once she finds out. Hearing it from you will be better."

Swiping a hand down my face, I thought about his advice. Trust was a two-way street. If I wanted Bella to come to me, I had to go to her. "Either way, she is going to be upset. My not telling her then and now telling her... it's not going to go well for me."

Dad raised his eyebrow, as if saying quite the pickle you are in.

"How do I tell her?"

He has the audacity to chuckle. "That's for you to figure out."

My hands went up as if I was saying gee, thanks!

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Edward. You have to be honest with her or you'll lose her. Lies have a way of compounding."

Like I didn't know.

"Think about it this way. Would you want to know if she found the package?"

"Yes."

"Then why haven't you told her?"

I didn't have an answer.

"Son, you have to tell her. If you don't, you'll beat yourself up if she's taken. It's clear Jacob won't stop even if there is a restraining order in place."

"I know. That's why I hired Emmett. And finally started using the damn security system you and mom advised me to get when I moved in."

Dad leaned back, saying nothing.

"Any suggestions on softening the blow?" I asked, admitting defeat. It wasn't the advice I wanted, but it was what I needed to hear.

"Whatever you do, don't buy her flowers. It a sure sign you did something she's not going to like."

Hmm. I thought about that a moment. What he was saying about flowers didn't sound right? More than once he had brought Mom home flowers. "And the half a dozen times you brought flowers home?"

Laughing, he smirked at me. "Caught."

"So?"

"Don't make it a habit," Dad advised.

~~ Reaching for Love ~~

Pink roses in hand, I walked through the front door. The alarm went off, and Emmett came running from the back of the house.

"What the hell, Emmett," I remarked, inputting the code switching the alarm off before rearming the house. "Didn't you get my text saying I was ten minutes away."

"Yes, and that was six minutes ago. We got to set you up on Find My Friends with text alerts."

Staring at him, I resisted pointing out I had no clue what he was talking about.

"I'll set it up for you," he said, eying the flowers. Lowering his voice, he went on. "Decided to clue her in, did you?"

I could take pretty much anything from Emmett, however he had agreed with my Friday and now… I gave him the stink eye. "You agree with how I wanted to handle things."

He held up his hands. "I still do. She's you're wife. If you don't want her to know something, then she won't hear it from me. It's your decision."

"And I was glad you had my back. Hiring you to protect her was the best decision I made, but now I am not so sure."

Walking away, I went in search of Bella.

"Upstairs, Edward," Emmett said from the entry hall, when I was almost to the kitchen.

Swinging around, I stared at him. He could have told me before I past the stairs.

Once upstairs, I stand in front of the closed bedroom door, rethinking telling Bella. Dad's words hit me again about honesty. She was six months pregnant. This latest sighting, or rather lack of sighting, of Jacob might be too stressful for her. Shit. Why didn't I think to ask Dad about that?

"Edward?"

Looking up, I came face-to-face with Bella. When had she opened the door?

"Are you okay?"

Was I? I wasn't so sure.

"You're starting to scare me, Edward. Did something else happen with your client?"

Client? What client? Oh boy, I was in trouble.

"No," I answered. "There something I need to tell you, and it would be best if you sat."

BPOV

When Edward sent Emmett a text informing us he was working late, I was a bit worried. He rarely worked late, and given how he was acting before the police arrived on Friday to talk to him made me wonder if he wasn't telling me. I didn't mind secrets, per say, but the fact it seemed to be bothering Edward had me restless.

"Emmett, you would tell me if something was going on with Edward, right?"

He glanced up from his computer screen, his lips pursed. "It depends on the nature of the problem."

Oh, that didn't help me out. "What exactly did his text say?"

"Only he was going to be late. I sure it's nothing but a client meeting going over."

There was nothing in his demeanor telling me his was lying. I just had this feeling whatever had the police coming over had to do with Jacob and not a client.

"Fine," I said sarcastically. "I'll be upstairs."

~~~ Reaching for Love ~~~

Something was going on, and I was being left in the dark. Snooping wasn't me, however if anytime called for doing so it was now. Going over to Edward's side of the bed, I left through the his book and looked in his nightstand's drawers. Nada.

Thinking back to when I hid things from Grandma Swan, I ran my hands under the mattress. Still nothing.

Standing and looking around the room, I tried to decide where to look next. I was making my way to the closet when the alarm went off, making me jump. Since living with Edward, the alarm had never gone off.

Taking a deep breath, I coached myself to relax while repeating Emmett's downstairs.

The alarm hadn't been going off long when it shut off. Voices drifted up from downstairs, and hearing Edward's voice had the tension in my shoulders diminishing when my coaching hadn't.

Footsteps coming up the stairs had me rethinking searching the closet for answers. When they stopped outside the door, I was concerned. If it was Edward, he would have come in immediately. Slowly, I counted two minutes and still the door hadn't swing open nor had a knocked sounded.

Whoever was on the other side, whether Edward or Emmett, they didn't seem to want to come in. Logic lead me to believe, the were definitely hiding something from me.

Wanting to know, I went to the door and opened it, finding Edward on the other side.

"Edward?"

His eyes moved up and connected with mine. Uncertainty shone in them.

"Are you okay?"

He didn't answer.

"You're starting to scare me, Edward. Did something else happen with your client?"

His face scrunched up and he shifted his weight from one foot to another

"No," he answered. "There's something I need to tell you, and it would be best if you sat."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I stood there staring at him. "What are you hiding from me?" I asked, trying to stay calm as my eyes strayed to the flowers in his hand.

He lifted his free hand, bringing toward me. I stepped back out of his reach.

Edward sighed, dropping his hand to his side and seemingly knew not to offer me the flowers.

I was stunned when he told me what he found. In some ways, I was grateful he hadn't told me Friday. Although, he should have told me.

Suppressing my anger, I spoke. "While I understand your desire to protect me by not telling me, you are putting me in danger. What if Jacob or whoever he had deliver the package is still watching the house. Waiting for me to be alone, not that Emmett would leave…"

Edward cut me off. "I know, sweetheart. And I should have told you."

A smile was threatening to appear. "And had I been the one to find it and been the one to keep it from you."

Guilt washed over his face. I hit the heart of why he was telling me. "I wouldn't be handling it as well as you, Bella." He raised his hand, stepped forward, and brushed the back of his finger along my cheek. "All I can do is promise to do better, but I will protect you in every other way I can."

The smile appeared. I stepped closer, kissing his cheek. "Thank you."