I DREAM OF RAINBOWS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

Bella had answered her cell phone, curious about why Mark was calling her, but once she heard him mention the Cullen name, she refused to discuss anything else with him. So, she never learned that Emmett was in Seattle with the contract and ready to discuss the situation with her.

CHAPTER 29: FATHER AND DAUGHTER TIME

Bella was adamant about not wanting to talk business. She wanted a couple of days to spend in the peace and quiet of being home with her dad. She was just as happy to be home with her dad as Charlie was delighted to have her since she was so busy lately with her touring and writing, and he didn't hesitate or miss any opportunity to let her know of his pride at all she had accomplished for herself.

In the course of the conversation, Bella mentioned that her agent had called and told Charlie all that she had told Mark. Charlie laughed heartedly since he knew how outspoken his daughter could be most of the time. She took after him in the area of standing her ground on things she believed in or believed she was right. But there were situations, and Bella recognized them, when compromise was required. When those occasions arose, she was ready to be reasonable.

And, Charlie was very happy to hear that Bella wasn't going to allow any business to interfere with the time she was here to rest and spend the time with her old man. He hadn't told her yet, but he had decided to take the time off while she was here so they could enjoy each other's company. It had been too long since they had had that kind of freedom together because of work demands from one side or another always seemed to get in the way.

Father and daughter spent the rest of the evening relaxing and spending the time just enjoying each other's company. It was a good ending to the day.

XXXXXX

Mark had called Emmett back immediately after trying to talk with Bella to explain why it wasn't possible for Bella to meet with him for a day or so. "She refused to even hear the reason why I was calling and said that she refused to discuss any sort of business at the present time. As soon as she heard the Cullen name, she shut me down and refused to let me continue.

"Sorry, man, but if you give her a day or two, I'm sure that she'll be in the mood to listen to me about meeting with you." And, just before Mark hung up, he informed Emmett that he would be back in Seattle by the end of the week. "If you haven't spoken with Bella by then I'll see what I can do about setting up an appointment for the two of you to get together." Of course, that was the first that Emmett knew that Mark wasn't even in Seattle.

So, Emmett wasn't able to question Mark's whereabouts since Mark had hung up, Emmett sat staring at the phone in his hand pondering what his next move should be. Should he try calling Ms. Swan himself or just wait until her agent returned to town before making any further attempt to discuss business with her?

Not coming to an immediate decision, Emmett decided to call room service to have some dinner and then he would call home to update them about the current set of circumstances.

XXXXXX

Both Rosalie and Alice were sitting, more or less, as a figure of speech, on needles and pins since they were very anxious to hear about what had occurred in Seattle between Bella and Emmett. Rosalie wanted to call Emmett to ask him about the details but hesitated because she didn't want to chance interrupting any discussions that might be taking place at that moment.

While Rosalie was mentally trying to decide what to do, Alice had decided that she was going to get ready and go see Jasper. She wanted to try to cheer him up and let him know that no one considered him to be a failure at his job; that as far as she and Rosalie were concerned the whole fiasco hung on Edward Cullen's shoulders alone, no one else's. She needed to get him to understand that Bella was a law unto herself and wasn't necessarily faulting Jasper.

XXXXXX

Edward had remained at his parent's home until late in the evening and surprisingly he had found it was an enjoyable time spent with his parents since no one spoke any further about the Swan situation. However, from time to time Edward did wonder how his brother was making out with the meeting with the Swan bitch as he called her in his mind. And, it still surprised Edward that Emmett took charge of the contract and made the decision to go to Seattle to get it signed.

Once Edward arrived back home, even though it was after ten in the evening he wasn't tired, and by L. A. standards, it wasn't all that late. So, with that line of thinking, Edward decided to give a call to one of the ladies he had on speed dial. However, as he was searching to see which woman he could call that would scratch his itch, Edward hesitated, not really understanding why none of the women inspired him to make the call. He realized that only one face appeared in his mind and his thoughts: that face was of one Isabella Swan.

Just the thought of her aroused his senses while setting his nerve ends on fire. He realized that he was thirsting for this woman like a man looking for water in a desert and only by conquering her, to force her complete surrender to him, would he have quenched that thirst to where he could move on to another new honey.

He became more and more frustrated with himself for letting that woman take up so much of his thoughts to the point that he can't even find it possible to contemplate finding satisfaction with another woman. Just the thought of being with any of his regulars left him unstirred and the thought of them made them undesirable. He just felt disappointed that he would lose interest in even calling them almost as soon as he thought of calling anyone of them. It's all because of that she-devil!

"Well, since none of the wanting and willing females seem to hold my interest at the moment and I can't get to Swan, at least not yet, I might as well go out and see if I can get someone new." Edward thought aloud as he reached for his car keys and walked out of the house to his car.

Edward made the rounds at all of the elite clubs in town, but nothing caught his interest. Edward acknowledged to himself that he was indeed picky about whom he hooked up with; the lady had to have certain qualities that would catch his interest for that moment. That isn't to say that he didn't catch the interest of the women, both available and unavailable. They just didn't stir his senses in the least; he remained unmoved. He remained unmoved that is until his thoughts would roam from time to time to that damn she-devil.

Finally, tiring of the merry-go-round with nothing happening, but the desire to kill one certain female, Edward decided to go home and drink himself into a stupor since he had nothing planned for work the next day.

XXXXXX

Bella got up the next morning with the full intention of making a good cup of coffee for Charlie and a decent breakfast for the both of them. However, as soon as she opened her bedroom door the scent of coffee and bacon hit her nose. She smiled as she made her way to the bathroom to take care of her morning business before heading down to the kitchen.

As she got down to the kitchen doorway, she was brought to an unexpected halt. Before her was a sight that she had never seen before in the time she had lived with Charlie Swan. He was lost to the '50/'60's rock music playing at a semi-blast volume as he swayed and danced around while trying to make breakfast. And, at the same time her father had the biggest assed smile on his face that she had ever seen. Bella could tell that he was extremely happy about something and she thought that she knew what it was.

It took all of the control that Bella could mustard to keep from bursting out laughing at seeing her father behaving as he was and scaring the shit out of him as his hips swayed from side to side and then changing to him doing a bump and grinding while staying in rhythm with beat of the music. But it might have embarrassed him as well and that was the last thing that she wanted to do. Charlie Swan was too dear to her for her to want to cause him that kind of stress. It was a joy just to stand silently and watch him display his happiness in the manner that he was doing. So, when the temptation and the near loss of control were beginning to overtake Bella, she quietly walked back into the living room and made some noise as she said, "Something is smelling awfully good in there. Dad, is that you cooking? Do you think it will be as edible as it smells good?" She laughingly teased Charlie as she got to the kitchen doorway.

"I do manage to feed myself since you're no longer at home. How do you think I manage to stay healthy?"

"Dad, you tried to cook even when I was living here, but it always ended up being thrown into the trash because you managed to burn it." Bella teased him still.

Charlie did chuckle at that as he nodded, but continued to inform her, "Well, I got tired of burning everything since that was just wasting good money. And, eating all the time at the diner was finally getting old as well after you left home. So, I decided to take a cooking class in Port Angeles."

"Well, damn! Good for you, old man." She told him as she walked up next to him and gave him a hip bump as she bent over to have a good look at what he had been cooking.

Charlie Swan had managed to cook sausage, crispy bacon, French toast and scrambled eggs. He had even made maple syrup to go with the French toast which was sprinkled with powder sugar and cinnamon. The table had been set and orange juice already poured into the juice glasses.

"Dad, you're going to make me fat and spoilt with all of this special treatment." Bella continued on in her teasing manner in an effort to hide the tears of joy she felt at seeing her father behaving this way with such a lighthearted happiness. She bent forward and gave him a hug before turning away and making her way over to the table.

What she didn't realize was that her tears had managed to leak a bit onto Charlie's shirt, and this gave him cause for concern. So, while he was plating breakfast, he pondered how to broach the subject of what could be the cause her having such stress.

As both took their place at the table, they began eating in silence at first. Finally, Charlie cleared his throat and asked, "Hey, kiddo, why don't you bring me completely up to date going all the way back to how your book tour did and then once more include all that has happened before and then include the happening once more in L. A.?"

So, Bella did. She told him how well the book tour had gone and included little bits of happenings that took place here and there that she had found to be humorous. Then told about how Jasper Cullen had shown up at her home shortly after she had just returned from the book tour and was trying to get relaxed. She continued talking and telling him all of the incidents that had taken place up to the time she decided to return to Forks for a few days.

"I wish someone had phoned to let me know about your visit to the hospital. But my question is, do you know for sure that it was this Edward Cullen that had caused you to go flying into the wall where you got knocked out?"

"Positive. The only thing that really remains a mystery is how I got into Mark's room. Did Cullen pick me up and put me in there, or, was it someone else that might have seen the incident and reacted quickly after Cullen beat a hasty retreat?"

"You may never get that question answered, but is it really worth the time and worry?" Charlie asked before taking another bite. Both continued eating, but the subject changed to lighter subjects. It was towards the end of breakfast that Charlie proposed an idea to Bella. "I was thinking that since we have so little time together anymore that it might be nice if we got away for a few days and leave all electronic devices behind. What do you think?"

Bella gave the topic some thought and then agreed that he had a good idea. "What did you have in mind?" She asked with a small smile.

"Not what you're thinking." He commented back. "I thought we would fly up to Alaska and charter a boat to go out amongst the glaciers and ice floats. In other words, play the tourist for a short time like we used to do when you were younger. What do you think?"

"I think it's a marvelous idea, Dad. When do you want to leave, and can you really take that much time off from work?"

"Good. I've already told them that I was taking a few days leave to spend with my daughter while she was here. And, I want to leave as soon as we can get the kitchen cleaned up and we get packed."

With that said, both father and daughter worked together to get the dishes done and the counters wiped down. Next, they each went to pack warmer wear for the trip to Alaska and Bella left her phone behind just like Charlie.

They were out the door and into the car without being aware that Bella's phone was ringing.

A/N: Things aren't moving as fast as Emmett would like. Edward is haunted by the thoughts of Bella. Jasper is down in the dumps feeling like he's losing his touch in business. What do you think has Charlie feeling so happy and carefree? Who could be calling Bella as she and Charlie are leaving for their trip?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to hearing from you.