I donned my long khaki skirt and stepped outside of my house, where Edward stood leaning against his Volvo. My heart skipped a beat as his eyes met mine—melted, golden butterscotch that warmed my cheeks.
"My family is having a Fourth of July gathering today. It's the one time of the year that we all get together to play music. I know you love to hear me play the piano, so I thought that you might enjoy coming today." Edward opened the passenger seat of his car and gestured for me to sit.
"I can't imagine how beautiful it will be—all of you playing together," I muttered, painfully aware of how talentless I was compared to him. As we drove to his house, bright sparks of fireworks lit up the sky. He looked at me and placed his hand on mine, cold and hard, breaking me out of my reverie. I looked out the window and realized the car had stopped in front of his large family home.
"We're here," he whispered in my ear, having already opened the door before I could notice. I smiled and followed him inside. Rosalie was standing on the stairs, glaring at me coldly as I walked in. Before I could greet her, Alice came bounding in, wrapping me in a delicate hug.
"Bella! It's so good to see you! We have some burgers and fries ready for you if you're hungry," she gestured towards the kitchen. My stomach growled on cue, and Alice pushed me lightly into the kitchen. "Go eat—we'll be outside on the patio setting things up. Come out when you're ready!"
Edward nodded at me with a smirk as Alice pulled him away in the direction of the patio. I stepped into the kitchen and grabbed my plate. For a bunch of vampires that didn't eat, they were excellent at cooking.
When I finished, I stepped onto the patio just in time to hear Esme's voice break through the careful silence of the Cullen household. "Headed down south to the land of the pines..." she paused, and a few plucky notes rang out into the night air. "And I'm thumbing my way into North Carolina…" the rest of the family joined in, a symphony of sound that broke me out of the trance that Esme's voice had cast over me.
As Esme sang, I looked over the rest of the family. Rosalie was right next to her, singing the harmony—her voice giving a dark undertone to that of Esme's soft lilt in a perfect composition. Jasper was deep into the music, his shaggy hair hanging over his eyes as he looked down at his fingers ghosting over the strings of his instrument—a banjo. At his side was Alice, watching him with admiration as she rhythmically hit a tambourine with the palm of her hand. Carlisle held up a large bass in his arms, plucking at the strings to add a dark, sepulchral element to the family's tune. Emmett's gaze locked with mine as I glanced over them all with a calculated expression of surprise—a fiddle tucked under his chin and a bow lightly gripped in graceful hands, his foot tapping along to the beat.
Then I saw him—Edward. His eyes searching mine feverishly as I watched him purse his soft, careful lips and blow into a ceramic jug. The Cullen's launched into the chorus of the bluegrass tune they were playing. "So rock me momma like a wagon wheel, rock me momma any way you feel." My uncoordinated feet tapped along with the beat of the tambourine that Alice was brandishing, a tear in my eye at the beautiful song that the vampires were performing just for me.