Previously:
"I'm still marrying him, of course, just not right away. You understand, right?"
Brady nodded and gave her a subdued smile. "Right."
Bella breathed a sigh of relief. "So we're all good?"
"We're good." Brady confirmed.
Later that night, Bella fell asleep in Edward's arms thinking about her little wolf.
Chapter 6: Barbecue - Part 1
Bright and early the next morning, Bella started cooking for the barbecue to celebrate her and Brady's imprint. All the pack and imprints were invited, but Brady promised it'd be a low-key affair.
"The elders won't even be there," he'd assured her yesterday.
Still, Bella was nervous. This was the first time she'd seen a lot of the pack since the fight with Victoria. So much had happened since then, and she knew some of the wolves—namely Quil and Embry—blamed her for driving Jake away. The idea of a public confrontation made Bella queasy, and she took her nerves out on whisking the cookie dough.
To Bella's complete surprise, Edward had been very understanding about her spending a second day in a row in La Push. He didn't even admonish her to be careful. She took it as a sign that Edward was finally trusting her when it came to the wolves.
Bella stuck the cookie dough in the fridge to chill and pulled out the ingredients for the potato salad. Sam and Emily were taking care of the meat, and Bella was bringing several side dishes and desserts.
"Dang it!" Bella mumbled angrily. The mayo had expired.
She contemplated skipping the potato salad, but then she realized she needed mayo for the coleslaw too. Groaning, Bella headed out to the store to pick up some new mayonnaise. It was apparently the worst day ever because her car wouldn't start. She quietly screamed into her steering wheel and then decided to call Charlie.
"Bells? You ok?" Charlie answered anxiously. It was no wonder considering she never called him while he was at work.
"My car won't start," Bella explained morosely.
"That fancy new car Edward got you?" Charlie asked in surprise. It almost sounded like he was enjoying this.
"Yes," Bella answered through gritted teeth.
"Alright, no need to get testy," Charlie chuckled. "It's probably just the battery. I can swing by on my lunch break and give you a jump."
"Really?" Bella asked excitedly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Bella heard someone trying to get Charlie's attention in the background.
"No problem, kid. I got to go, ok?"
"Sure sure. See you at lunch." Bella hung up and did a little victory dance. She was that happy.
When Edward called a moment later, Bella answered the phone with a smile in her voice. "Hi Edward. How's your trip going?" He and the boys were out hunting.
"Hello, my love. The trip is progressing well and it's only improved by hearing your voice. How are you?"
"I'm great!" Bella answered as she headed back inside. "Actually, I haven't had the best morning but things are looking up."
"Oh?" Edward sounded intrigued so she assumed Alice hadn't told him what happened.
She gave him the run-down on her morning and exclaimed, "Thank god for Charlie! Everything will be alright once he comes home."
"Why don't I ask Rose to take a look at it?" Edward suggested. "That way Charlie doesn't need to be bothered."
Bella hesitated and then admitted, "Thanks, but to be honest, I'd rather bother Charlie than Rosalie. I'll let you know if he can't make it though."
"Then why don't I take a look at it? I can be back in Forks in an hour," Edward said.
Bella smiled. "That's so sweet, but really, please don't cut your hunting trip short on my account. Charlie and I have it handled. I'm just glad I found out when I did and not when I left for the barbecue. I could've missed the whole thing!"
"Yes," Edward replied dryly. "Wouldn't that have been a shame?"
Bella rolled her eyes. Apparently Edward wasn't quite as supportive of the wolves as she'd thought. "Anyway. Thanks for the offer, but I'll be ok. See you tonight?"
"Of course, my love. I'll see you tonight when I return."
Bella completed as much as she could in the kitchen while waiting for Charlie to arrive. The double batch of brownies was done and set out to cool. The barbecue beans were simmering on low and the potatoes were boiling for the potato salad. Bella was just about to julienne the cabbage when Charlie walked in.
"Wow, Bells! Smells good." Charlie came into the kitchen sniffing deeply. "You sure I'm not invited?"
Bella panicked. They'd probably be talking about wolf stuff. No way was Charlie allowed to be there. "Uhh..."
Charlie laughed and smacked Bella on the back with a friendly smile. "I'm just joking, kid. Billy's going to come over to watch the game."
"Oh," Bella sighed with relief. "Sounds good."
"I'm glad you're spending more time with your other friends. Have fun but not too much fun." Charlie gave Bella a knowing look.
Flustered, Bella tripped over herself to deny whatever he imagined. "Of course! I don't... I'm not... It's just a barbecue, Dad."
Charlie's mustache twitched. "Mmhmm. Whatever you do, don't drive under the influence. If you can't get a sober ride, you call me. Ok?"
Bella's eyes widened. "Dad! I'm not going to drink!"
Charlie stared and raised an eyebrow.
"Ok, ok, I promise." Bella's face heated. She couldn't believe Charlie thought the party was an excuse to drink with her friends. She'd never had alcohol before—not even a sip—and it certainly wasn't the sort of thing Edward would encourage her to do.
"Alright then." Charlie's mustache twitched with a smile. "Let's take a look at your car, yeah?"
To Bella's huge relief, Charlie successfully jumped her car and got it running. She gushed with praise and even gave him a spontaneous hug. He was clearly uncomfortable with the attention, so Bella made an effort to rein in her enthusiasm.
"Do you have an idea what caused it?" She asked out of curiosity.
Charlie shrugged. "Maybe you left the light on overnight and drained the battery or could be the battery needs replacing. If this happens again, you should take it to the shop so they can run diagnostics and see if it needs replacing." After a moment's pause, Charlie continued, "Jake's still missing, then? He'd usually be helping you with this sort of thing."
Bella looked away at the mention of her former best friend. None of the wolves ever gave her any updates about Jake and after a while she'd stopped asking. She didn't even know if he was aware of the imprint.
"He's still gone," she confirmed to Charlie. "I haven't heard anything new."
Charlie grunted in acknowledgement and adjusted his gun belt. "I should be getting back to work. You all good here now?"
"Yeah, thanks." Bella forced a smile.
Charlie went back to work and Bella went to the store to buy the mayo. When she got back, she spent the next few hours finishing her preparations. Cooking so many dishes and such a large quantity required a good deal of coordination, and Bella was happy to do it. It kept her mind off things she'd rather not dwell on.
Everything was finished right on time and Bella didn't have any excuse to delay leaving, as much as she wished to. She packed up the car and headed to the beach. If Bella was being honest, she wasn't looking forward to the party. She was never great at socializing and her status in the pack was tenuous at best. After her engagement and everything that followed, she knew they only tolerated her for Brady's stake. The stress over it made her stomach churn with nausea.
She worked herself up so much on the ride over that once she arrived at the beach, she was seriously considering faking an excuse to leave. Then Brady showed up.
He jogged up the steps to the parking lot and was clearly looking around to find her. The second he spotted Bella sitting in her car, his face broke out in a wide grin and he waved enthusiastically. Bella gave him little wave back and that was all the encouragement he needed to hurry over.
Just as Bella stepped out of the car, Brady wrapped her up in a warm hug. "It's good to see you," he confessed.
Bella sighed as all of her nerves melted. "Yeah, you too."
After a long moment, Bella pulled away. "You mind helping my with the coolers in the back?"
"Food? No problem!" Brady grinned devilishly and rushed to open the trunk.
"Hey!" Bella laughed. "No eating until it gets to the table."
"Oh come on! Think of it as payment for my services." Bella heard Brady rooting around and a sealed container pop open. "Cookies! Yes!"
Bella walked around the car to see him shoving a cookie in his face. He gave her a guilty smile and she shook her head in amusement. "Just save some for everyone else, alright? I don't want to be accused of favoritism."
They got the car unloaded with minimal losses due to wolf appetites and Bella proceeded to set up her stuff on the folding tables Emily brought.
"What should I do with the cold stuff?" Bella asked Emily. "Should I pull everything out or leave it in the coolers for now?"
"Good question," Emily replied, thinking about it. "Let me ask Sam how long the grill's going to take."
Emily moved to the other side of the picnic area where Sam was adding charcoal to the barbecue grill. Their picnic area was one of several along the walking path next to the beach but all the others were empty. Bella could see some of the pack—Quil, Embry, Seth, and Collin—playing soccer on the beach.
"Here's the last of it," Brady said as he dropped a cooler and three more bags next to the tables. "I also locked up the car, so here's your keys."
"You're such a good kid," Emily remarked to Brady as she walked back over. "If only all of those animals were as helpful as you. I think you got the best of the bunch, Bella."
Bella and Brady both blushed at that.
"Hey!" Sam hollered from across the picnic tables. "I resent that!"
Emily smirked at him. "You have your uses," she replied suggestively.
Bella snickered and looked away from the couple's heated interplay. She saw Brady regarding the soccer players longingly.
"Go ahead and play if you want," she told him. "I'm good here."
Brady turned and looked thoughtfully at the bags of food. "Let me help you set up first, then I'll go."
"No way. I'm totally fine, really," Bella assured him. At his skeptical look, Bella pushed his shoulder encouragingly—not that it moved him. "Go! Seriously, I got this."
Finally, Brady relented. He gave Bella a quick hug before jogging to the railing and vaulting over it onto the sand. Bella couldn't help but be impressed by his athleticism. She would probably trip and break her face if she tried that move.
She finished setting up the tables and chatted with Emily. When their work was done, they sat on a picnic bench and watched the soccer players. Bella couldn't really tell what was going on, especially with an odd number of players, but they looked like they were having fun.
When Leah arrived walking down the sand, that's when things got really interesting. Collin abandoned the game and followed her around like a puppy. Based on her scowl, Leah was clearly not amused.
"What on Earth is he doing?" Bella whispered to Emily as Collin got on his knees. He hugged Leah's legs while she tried to kick him off.
"He's got a major crush on her," Emily said matter-of-factly, as if that explained his strange behavior. "You didn't know that?"
Bella shook her head. She'd only met Collin a few times. "They didn't imprint on each other?"
"No," Emily confirmed with a little laugh. "He's just a middle school kid with a crush."
Collin grabbed Leah's hand and gave it a sloppy kiss.
Bella shot Emily a skeptical look. "Brady's in middle school and I doubt he'd ever act like that."
"Brady's really mature and responsible for his age, especially compared to Collin, but I don't think I need to tell you that." Emily nodded to the food Brady helped unload.
Leah ripped her hand from Collin's grasp and wiped it on her jeans in disgust. Then she kneed him in the face and stomped off as he fell over in pain.
"Ouch." Bella cringed sympathetically.
Emily sighed and got up. "I better go make sure she didn't break his nose. They heal so fast, you have to catch these things before it's too late."
Emily tried to say something to Leah as they passed each other, but she brushed her off. Leah stomped into the picnic area and grabbed a handful of brownies. Bella didn't dare tell her to wait for dinner but she felt compelled to defend Collin, if only because he was Brady's friend.
"Couldn't you be a little nicer to the guy?" Bella said as Leah sat on top of the next table. "He's just a kid."
Leah looked over at her eerily slowly. She sized Bella up and sneered in disgust. "You think now that you're an imprint, you can act all high and mighty? You're such a hypocrite. Don't forget, we all know which side you're really on. We wouldn't be at your stupid party if we weren't ordered to be. No one wants you here."
"Leah, that's enough!" Sam shouted. "Come with me."
Leah probably said something, but Bella wasn't paying attention. All she heard ringing in her ears was that familiar phrase: "No one wants you."
Her mood quickly spiraled. The pain in her chest grew worse until she vaguely wondered if she was having a heart attack. Her throat closed up and she bit back tears. Why did this have to happen again? Why here? She thought she was over these attacks. She desperately wanted the pain to go away and knowing she was in the company of people who hated her only made it worse.
"Bella?" Brady looked a little frantic as he jumped over the railing. Could he see that she was upset?
He strode to the bench seat and immediately wrapped Bella up in his arms. She reluctantly let him comfort her even though it seemed backwards to her. Bella was older; she should be the one to support Brady, not the other way around.
Despite what logic told her, Bella let the younger boy comfort her. She hid her tearful face in Brady's neck and his thin frame was surprisingly solid as he held her up. Slowly, her racing heart went back to its normal rhythm. It took several minutes of Brady murmuring reassurances for Bella to feel like herself again.
"Bells?" A man called out from a ways away.
"Jake?" Bella whispered hopefully.
