A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts. :)

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine.

Chapter 12 – Fishing

"Is it me, or is it a lihhh-ttle too quiet here today?"

A satirical grin accompanied Emmett's over-dramatized question, one that earned him a glare from me.

"Since this is my first time here, I can't say."

"Take it from me; it's real quiet," the fucker persisted, unfazed. "Like, a heavy sort of silence." With a professional actor's theatrics, his knees momentarily buckled to illustrate said silence's weight. "The kind of silence that makes birds hide in trees; squirrels squirrel away; deer-"

"I get it, Emmett," I smirked. "It's quiet."

Yet, he kept at it. "I mean, even the fish ain't biting this morning. It's like they're afraid to come near-"

Before I could lunge for his throat, the Chief cut into Emmett's rant. "Emmett, the fish ain't biting, and the forest creatures are hiding cuz your mouth is running. Since when do we fish to jabber away like a parrot?"

I pressed my lips together to keep from yelling out, 'Hah! Good for you, fucker.'

Yet when I looked at Emmett, his mouth twitched. "You're right, Chief. You're right." Nonetheless, his voice was still full of humor.

A wilderness painted in more shades of green than I'd ever known existed surrounded the Sol Duc River. I'd arrived to what was a typical early morning mist in this part of the northwest. It coiled like thick gauze between trees and hovered like low-lying clouds over the river banks. It was one of those mystical fogs from those old-time novels. However, a muted sun eventually appeared and pierced the evergreen canopy, sending dappled rays like searchlights delving deep for gems sparkling atop the water's surface.

I snorted silently. When the hell had I become such a descriptive poet?

For that matter, despite the Chief's side-glances and enforced silence of the morning, when was the last time I felt so relaxed, so laid back? Again, the Chief's wayward smirks aside, when was the last time I met a group of people I felt such a sudden sense of kinship with?

Perhaps the better question should've been how had this little northwestern corner of the world remained unknown to me for so long? For such a small town, situated in the land that time forgot, Tristan's and my list of things to do was unending. And no matter how the Chief felt about me at the moment, neither he nor the anonymous writer of the Seattle Times article had exaggerated the siren call to the Olympic Mountains and its environs.

What neither the Chief nor the anonymous writer bothered to mention was that the siren was an actual, flesh-and-blood woman. Nor did they hint that, like the lush, mountainous backdrop, this flesh-and-blood siren would become the framework in the background of my busy days and my quiet nights.

Worst…or best of all, I'd received no warning that, with each passing day, both my son and I would find ourselves increasingly drawn by her call, so much so that I'd breezily disregard her godfather's frustration, regardless of its hazy reasons.

Because in a small town overflowing with draws, she was the biggest lure.

OOOOO

"Guys, I hate to be the one to break up the fun, especially since I'm not even the one on the clock," I smirked, "but I'm going to have to be on my way in a bit if I want to make sure I'm not late to the rec."

"Relax, son, still got plenty of time," the Chief said sedately. "'Sides, Tristan's in good hands."

"Being late for Tristan's pick-up ain't what Ed's worried about," Emmett grinned. "He just wants to make sure he gets some time with Tristan's pretty couns- Ow! You hit me with that rock!"

Said rock bounced off Emmett's giant arm and plunked into the mirror-like water.

"Sorry, my aim was off. The rock was meant for your big fucking mouth." I mouthed the last three words, making Emmett chuckle heartily.

"Yeah, but you're gonna scare away the fish near me!"

"The fish near you already want nothing to do with your bait," I scoffed.

"Look who's talking," he retorted. "And I ain't talking 'bout fish. Hah!"

When I threw a bigger rock his way, he pelted me in return. This devolved into an admittedly amateur game.

"Will you two stop?"

"Chief, he started it!" Emmett tattled.

"You're scaring away the catch for miles is what you're both doing!" the Chief scolded.

"Sure seems to be what Ed's aiming for. All right, all right, I'll stop," Emmett grinned, "for now."

Ninety minutes into our morning fishing expedition, the Chief was yet to come to whatever point he wanted to make. Meanwhile, he, Emmett, and I waded in the low, calm waters off the Sol Duc River's rocky, crystalline banks, our angling lines rippling softly with the water's gentle flow and nothing more. I silently wondered how an activity meant to ease stress could quickly turn anxiety-inducing.

To distract myself from the monotony, I instead focused on the novelty of the waterproof rubber pants I'd been handed upon arrival. They were fitted up to my chest and strapped on overall style. Tristan and Alice would get a kick out of seeing me in these, which reminded me that I had to call my sister back soon. I'd been so immersed in Forks' small-town life and its siren that I'd sent Alice to voicemail or texted short replies the last few times she'd reached out. If I didn't reciprocate soon, I wouldn't put it past her to show up at my summer doorstep, ready to feed Tristan Pop-Tarts in all flavors. Naturally, Tristan would be thrilled. He adored Alice. As a matter of fact, despite how much he loved his grandmothers, Alice was probably his favorite woman in the world.

That is, she was his favorite until…

From thoughts of my sister and curious appreciation for my outfit, I moved on to the slightly disturbing sight of the Chief and Emmett sporting the same rubber pants, but theirs strapped over their "Forks PD" uniforms. Only in a community as tightknit as this one would that fly. I wanted to rib them about it, but the Chief didn't seem to be in the mood for my ribbing.

Of course, from there, my thoughts naturally progressed. In all honesty, she'd been there all along, right at the perimeter. I'd wanted to see how long I could keep them from straying completely to that quarter—sort of like a man holding his breath. Again, I snorted inwardly, lost in internal musings while fringed by only sounds attributed to nature. When the Chief's two-way radio crackled, I gave a slight jump.

Emmett snickered. "Relax, Civilian Cullen."

The Chief smirked at me before answering.

"Yeah, Cora, what's up?"

"Not much, Chief. Just checking in to see if you've caught the station's lunch yet."

While the Chief and his station manager carried on that conversation, Emmett moved closer to me and clapped my shoulder.

"Congrats, Ed; you've survived. If the Chief was gonna drown you, he would'a done so already."

I scowled his way. "I wasn't worried about him drowning me."

"Admit it. You were a little worried."

"Nope. I can swim. Besides…she's a grown woman, Emmett."

"She is," Emmett agreed, sobering. "And if she finds out he had you out here, tryin' his silent intimidation tactics, she'll tell him off, and he knows it. But he'll take that chance."

"Why?"

"Cuz he worries."

"Because of her condition?"

Emmett's gaze panned to the Chief, who'd moved on to a discussion regarding paperwork for off-season bear hunting.

"It's partly that, but…Ed, it's not even about you. Has…Bella told you…?"

"No," I sighed, "but she said she would, and I promised I'd wait until she told me herself."

Emmett nodded. "That's how it should be."

"Regardless," I hissed, nostrils flaring, "I think I'm more or less putting two and two together, and it's adding up to an urge to kill someone, though I don't even know who or for what exactly."

"You'd have to get in line."

More than by the words, I was startled by the venom in Emmett's tone, more bile than I'd ever heard in his voice, a wave of anger made all the more ferocious by his massive size. For a moment, he went silent.

He sighed. "Ed, the good thing is, once this summer is over, you'll go back to New York, and while you and Bella may keep in touch, that urge won't be your constant companion. You'll have your son, and…well, your real life to distract you. Likewise, I've got my Rosie and Esme to love and nurture and care for." He paused. "In the case of the Chief, this is his real life, his family…his kid for all intents and purposes."

I swallowed hard, bewildered in more than one way by that statement. While the first half seemed meant to offer me some sort of comfort, it didn't. As for what he'd said about the Chief…

I vaguely pictured Tristan at age twenty-five, a full-grown man, an adult who'd likely look and act very much like me. Then, I imagined a faceless, nameless person harming him in some undefined manner. The entire image lacked clarity, flashing through my mind in an absolute haze and full of unknown variables.

Yet, despite all the inconclusiveness in the image, the unbridled fury that suddenly roiled within me wasn't indistinct. And regardless of Tristan's age, I knew that would always be the case when it came to my son.

The Chief finished up with Cora.

"Well, we're counting on a big catch this morning, Chief, especially considering how your Deputy eats."

With another pat on the shoulder, Emmett moved in closer and dropped his voice all the more.

"Shake it off for now, Ed. Enjoy the day, enjoy the summer and your time with one of the sweetest, kindest, and yeah, prettiest women this town's got. And wait for her to give you her story before you determine whether you want to cut to the front of that line…or leave it altogether."

Then, turning away from me, Emmett chuckled breezily, his demeanor doing a one-eighty much quicker than mine could. Then again, he was a cop, and I was an attorney who reviewed corporate documents for a living.

As Emmett leaned closer to the chief, his voice went from a hissed, angry whisper to happy-go-lucky, make-myself-heard over the two-way.

"Hey, hey, hey, Miss Cope! Where's the respect for the uniform?"

"It's gone fishing," Miss Cope replied, making Emmett burst into laughter.

"Good one, Miss Cope. Good one!"

OOOOO

I checked my watch. "I really should get-"

"So, Ed, my wife tells me you're helping her look over that business plan for the town's tourism start-up," Charlie said.

The statement was some sort of opener because Charlie already knew this.

"Yeah, Chief. I wanted to show my appreciation to her…and to you," I added, "for how your family has welcomed my son and me."

He merely nodded. "The Rec's a big part of that business plan. It's been greatly expanded over the past few years. Started as your basic park, with wooden see-saws, metal swings, and slides."

"I remember the wooden see-saws." Emmett's mouth quirked upward in a wistful smile. It was almost comical to observe on the face of such a Herculean man if I weren't getting to know him so well that I knew he could go from furious bear to soft teddy in the space of five seconds.

"All of a sudden, kids getting smacked in the head or falling off of see-saws became an issue. Likewise, a bit of a burn on kids' behinds as they flew down the metal slides turned into a cause for concern," he said, rolling his eyes. "How come none of that was a problem when I was a kid?"

"Maybe it should've been?" I suggested with raised brows.

"Then, there were the metal swings," he continued unabated. "Man, no one in this town could swing higher than me on those things when I was a kid."

The first hint of a smile all morning seemed to materialize under the Chief's mustache. "There was one person who could swing higher than you."

"Pfft," Emmett snorted. "I meant a permanent resident of this town. She was only here in the summers when she was a kid."

An inane conversation concerning old-time parks suddenly piqued my interest.

"She? You mean Bella?"

"Only one who ever beat me on the swings, but she don't count," Emmett insisted. "I still hold the record!"

"You knew her when she was a kid?"

Emmett flashed his eyes toward me, frowning. "'Course I knew her when she was a kid. What, you think cuz you just met her we all just met her? Our parents all grew up together! Bella's been my buddy since we were what, this tall?" He skimmed a hand below the water's surface, mumbling more to himself, "Well, since she was that tall. I was never that small." His eyes widened. "Which is what gave her the advantage on those swings!"

The Chief rejoined the conversation. "Yeah, that one's been trying to give me a heart attack since before she was even that tall."

I chuckled, vicariously enjoying their mutual reminiscing. "Chief, how'd you become Bella's godfather, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well, Renee – Bella's mom – and I were…really good friends back in high school."

"You dated her, Chief. It ain't no secret," Emmett smirked.

Now, my eyes grew wide. "Really?"

"What is a secret 'round these parts?" Charlie muttered. "Fine, fine. We dated. But it was a high school thing, and it was long before I met Sue."

Emmett chuckled. "Just busting your chops, Chief."

"Renee was, or rather is much like Bella, in many ways," the Chief continued quietly. "Smart, carefree, and…full of life. A thrill-seeker. That kind of personality can be contagious, especially to someone more introverted. Believe it or not, I was never what one might call…the gregarious sort."

"Gee, you don't say?" Emmett ribbed.

The Chief shot him a sidelong glower.

"I think I know what you mean, Chief," I said. "I've been called somewhat reserved myself."

"And the shocks keep coming," Emmett volunteered. "I'll stop, I'll stop. Continue, Chief."

"Anyway, the romance thing between Renee and I didn't last long. We were kids, and as I said, she was way more outgoing than me. Started dating Phil Dwyer toward the end of senior year. Now, Phil was very much like her – popular, easygoing, and laid back. They were voted king and queen of the prom. She married him almost straight out of high school."

"Poor, jilted Chief," Emmett said, then pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key when it earned him a glare of final warning from the Chief.

"So, I went off to the academy," the Chief went on, "but Renee and I remained good friends. Kept in touch. That's something I'll always be grateful for," he nodded.

"How come?" I asked.

The Chief sighed. "Renee was…finding herself, trying to figure out what she wanted from life, and Phil seemed to be doing much of the same. Both wandered from job to job, searching for what suited them best, which was fine. They still hadn't figured out much beyond their enjoyment of life as it came when I returned and started working with the Forks PD. Only thing was Renee was getting ready to pop."

"That's where Bella comes into the story." My ensuing smile was somewhat melancholic as I recalled what Bella herself had confided in me the day before – that she'd been born to young parents still in their 'me' phase, which they never outgrew.

"Renee asked me to be godfather, and the day Isabella Marie Dwyer was born…well, I took a look at that bundle of dark hair and dark eyes, and it was like I became a father."

Abruptly, my mind revisited the scene of Tristan's birth: Kate's last push, my cutting the umbilical cord, the doctor handing him first to his mother…then to me. He looked like a wrinkled peach. Weighed probably as much.

But God, if he wasn't the most precious being on which I'd ever laid eyes.

I wondered what newborn Bella had looked like: probably a tiny girl with dark fuzz rather than peach on her crown along with those strikingly dark eyes. A baby girl like that would be mesmerizing.

"Wasn't long after Bella was born that they decided to move to San Francisco. Phil got an offer to play for some minor league bowling team or sum'n."

"Minor league bowling?"

Charlie nodded.

"As a career?"

The Chief's grunt confirmed what he thought of that. "Didn't work out, but they remained there. San Fran isn't too far, so they often visited, at least, those first few years. That's when my goddaughter would come up to Forks and beat Emmett here at both swinging highest and spinning fastest on the merry-go-round."

"Not the merry-go-round," Emmett growled. "Now, don't go spreading falsehoods, Chief."

The Chief snorted, but in the next moment, his levity evaporated.

"Now, one of the benefits of always being mid-self-exploration and lacking responsibilities is the freedom that type of existence affords you."

"Except…" The Chief's steady gaze panned to me, waiting as I hesitated. "Wasn't Bella getting to an age where she needed stability?"

The chief quirked a brow, and again, my mind wandered to my son. Still so young, it was pretty simple to pick up Tristan, in physical and logistical terms, and take him wherever we needed to go. Take this summer getaway, where my only real consideration had been my time and my responsibilities. Still, I knew that ease was temporary, something that would change once my son grew older, with school schedules added into the mix, with friends he wouldn't want to leave behind for long, with sports and extra-curricular activities. Some form of a routine was inevitable, and honestly, desirable for most individuals.

It was Emmett who spoke the words the three of us were thinking. "Who takes care of the kid when both adults still want to be the kid?"

"When they divorced," Charlie resumed, "the visits to Forks first became more sporadic, then stopped altogether. In the meantime, Bella became responsible for herself. By then, I was building my own family with my Sue. I was…distracted."

"Chief," – there was a warning in Emmett's tone – "you had a full plate, what with becoming Chief, with being a husband and a dad."

"Meanwhile, she was completely on her own," the Chief expanded, clearly ignoring Emmett's warning. "Still, from the little that I knew back then, she was doing well, going to college, had her own place, a job, friends…"

"Chief." Emmett's tone held a different sort of warning now, one which Charlie acknowledged with a sharp nod.

"As I said, Bella's a lot like her mom – outgoing, a lover of life, and had I been more involved, had I not neglected my goddaughter…"

Emmett sighed. "Come on, Chief. Don't do that to yourself."

Charlie sighed. "Afterward, her parents were more worried about how having a daughter who now needed the assistance that they'd never offered in her life might curb their damned, happy-go-lucky lifestyles." When his eyes reverted to me suddenly, they were full of so much remorse that my own eyes grew wide in shock.

"But you're right, Ed; she's a grown woman. And Emmett's right too; if Bella knew I lured you out here for a talk, she'd chew me out." Despite his words, the hint of a smile, one infused with pride, appeared on his face. "And I'll apologize, and I won't say more than that cuz anything else is hers to tell who and when she wants to tell, but it's not her condition, which I couldn't be more proud of how she manages, and it's not you, son, who got me riled up the other night."

"Then what was it, Chief?" I dared ask.

A long moment transpired. When the Chief looked away from me and returned his attention to his fishing line and the forested tree line up ahead, I assumed the subject was closed.

"It was a ghost, Edward, and not even a ghost who meant her harm."

A/N: Thoughts?

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