I do not own Twilight. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

SEVEN

The time came for the farmer's market again and Jacob was glad for the distraction. It had been a shitty week because he'd been beating himself up over what happened with Leah at dinner. When Seth called to tell him that Leah wanted to be left alone Jake felt like his heart had been broken all over again, but he tried to carry on with his life as normal instead of throwing a one-man pity party.

Billy made his way over to Julie's stall, eager to see her even though they were having dinner later. Nessie was determined to get some flowers for her grandfather to take on his date so she dragged Jacob over to the stall, where the two women that ran it, made a show of flirting with him as usual. Since he was actually buying today and they knew it was for his father's date, they were even more annoying than usual.

Jacob just stood by and watched his daughter eagerly build a bouquet, using a variety of colors which were clashing a bit. He was amused by the fact that she had no clue that the bright blues and oranges didn't exactly match with the pastel yellows and pinks. But Julie would love it just the same because it was the thought that counted over all.

"Jacob?"

Jacob turned and his eyes widened in shock as he watched Leah walk – no glide - over to him. She was wearing a pair of skin-tight jeans and a yellow sweater-set that went perfectly with her skin tone. Hell, she was gorgeous. He was immediately excited to see her, but remembering how she'd basically ended things between them – before they'd properly begun – he knew to tamper down on showing it. "Leah," he nodded nonchalantly and stuck his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. His heart was thumping away in his chest but he tried his best to appear unaffected at her sudden appearance.

"Hi, um. How are you?" she asked awkwardly, twirling the wedding bands on her left hand. He'd learned that it was a nervous habit of hers.

"I'm good. You?" Jacob kept his eyes wondering through the market, refusing to stare at her beautiful heart-shaped face and pouty lips, refusing to show her just how hurt he was by what she'd done.

"I'm...fine, thanks. I'm surprised to see you here."

"I come here every week. My family loves it," He answered shortly, trying not to focus on how good and familiar she smelled, like flowers and vanilla.

"Oh, I brought my mother, she wanted to check it out. She's never been but always hears her neighbor raving about how great the prices are. She convinced me to tag along. I usually close the office half day on Saturdays."

"Cool."

"Jacob?" He sighed and turned to look down at her, knowing she was asking him to do just that. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"I'm fine Leah," he lied.

"No you're not, I can tell. You've never been this withdrawn with me before. But I deserve it. I haven't been able to stop thinking about what I did and it was rude."

"Don't apologize if you don't mean it. Just because you saw me today doesn't mean you owe me any explanation or apology. I got the message loud and clear. You were right anyways. We are in two different places and it's nobody's fault for that. I'm getting over it." He wasn't really, but she didn't need to know that. Jacob hated that the perfect woman for him had slipped through his fingers.

Leah looked down at her hands and dropped them in frustration before looking back up at him. "I don't think I really know what I want," she admitted, and he was surprised to see a sheen of tears in her eyes. Jacob's façade of indifference quickly melted away and he reached out to touch her arm. He didn't like seeing her upset.

"Leah," he started. But he didn't know what to say.

"I like you. I really do. You're such a nice guy and I enjoy talking to you. I like that you let me be honest without judgement. You know what I'm going through and it helps. But I'm a mess Jake, and I don't think you really get that I could hurt you because of it, and that wouldn't be fair to anyone. I keep thinking about Sam and it makes me so angry and I just can't separate the past from the present sometimes. Then I took it out on you and it was wrong."

Jacob understood her reasoning but he still didn't agree. He was well aware of the risks but somehow it didn't matter. He was already too invested in her. He wanted her, scars and all. "I know that you're having a hard time and I'm sorry for making you feel like I was rushing you to be with me. I wasn't trying to. I was just being honest…I want you to know that when you're ready, I want to give you more. But it was wrong of me to keep bringing it up. I was being insensitive to your needs."

Leah's tortured gaze lingered on his and she stepped closer. She opened her mouth and closed it again, sighing in frustration and looking away. Jacob's hand hitched on her hip and gave it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything. I'm still here if you want me to be. I'm not scared of being hurt by you Leah. I can handle it. And it's okay to be upset about Sam, he was your husband for a long time. But I'm not him, that's all I want you to know."

Leah nodded. "I know you're not, but I'm just worried I'll repeat the same mistakes."

"And I'm worried that you're forcing yourself to be alone when you don't really want to be. You shouldn't have to be."

Leah looked back up in surprise and Jacob watched as her face dropped in submission. "I want you to be there…please."

Jacob smiled and nodded. "Sure. I'd be honored Doctor Uley."

Leah smiled and wiped at her face, visibly relieved. Jacob felt the weight on his shoulders lift.

"Wow. I can't believe we just did this in front of the entire market."

Jacob chuckled. "No one's looking at us, relax." He had somehow managed to forget about his own daughter however, and glanced behind him to make sure Nessie was still busy.

"Is that her?" Leah asked, peeking around his large frame. He didn't miss the look of surprise that quickly passed over her face.

"Yea that's Ness, she looks nothing like me, I know."

"Aww, it doesn't matter. Well I guess I'll go before she sees me."

Jacob suddenly didn't like the sound of that. He didn't want Leah to go at all. Even if she was here with her Mom, he wanted her all to himself. "What if I asked you not to?" Leah looked up at him, confused. "Sorry, I just…now that you're here, I really want to spend time with you."

Her expression softened and she surprised him by reaching over and gripping his wrist. "I want to spend time with you too Jake, but what about Nessie?"

"Maybe you should just meet her then, this is easy, we just met up here. Right?"

Leah chewed her bottom lip but he could see that her curiosity was winning out. "Okay. I still have to walk around with my Mom though. But I'd like to say hi to Nessie."

"Great, come on." They went closer to the table where the little girl was busy at work, her bouquet an enormous clash of colors. Jacob cringed and wondered how much this was going to cost.

"Hey Ness, ready to go?" Jacob called, gaining her attention.

"Yes Daddy! What do you think? Will Julie like it?"

"She'll love it pumpkin, why don't you let the nice ladies wrap it up so she won't see it when we go to get Papa?"

"Alright!" the girls at the booth eyed Leah who was standing just behind him, before going about their business.

Nessie hopped around the table and launched herself into her father's arms, earning a raspberry kiss on her neck. "Ness, meet my friend Leah. She's here shopping with her Mom."

Nessie's giggles instantly stopped as she cast a quick glance over in Leah's direction, watching the woman from head to toe. Jacob tensed as he observed his daughter weigh the potential threat of the stranger. Nessie didn't seem to want to say hello at all. "You know what, this is Seth's big sister," Jacob added, silently thanking the Spirits that he had the mind to say this. Nessie loved Seth to bits.

"Really? Sethy from soccer?"

"Yes!"

"Hi Nessie, it's nice to meet you," Leah piped up, holding out her hand for Nessie to shake. "I call him Sethy too, you know?"

"Really? I thought I made it up," Nessie pouted as she ducked her head into her father's shoulder.

"Oh I bet you did, so did I when he was a little baby. It's okay, we can both call him that, he won't mind, right?"

"Okay."

"I love your bouquet of flowers? Whoever gets them is a really special lady," Leah continued, giving Jacob a little smile as he silently thanked her with his eyes.

"It's Julie, Papa's friend that sells the jams. They're having dinner and I know women like flowers. These will make her fall in love with Papa and he'll be happy."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Leah seemed to melt at Nessie's logic and Jacob couldn't help but smile.

"Daddy, can we go get ice-cream now?" Nessie asked, wiggling out of his arms and going over to stand by Leah, surprising them all by taking her hand. "Want to come?"

Leah stared at her in shock for a second before smiling brightly and nodding her head. "I'd love that! Chocolate is my favorite. What's yours?"

"Cookies and Cream!" Nessie piped up.

"Oh that sounds nice, will you give me a taste?" Leah asked.

"Okay!" Nessie readily agreed.

"I'll just pay for these okay? Give me a minute Ness." Jacob couldn't believe his luck, how quickly his daughter seemed to accept Leah because of Seth. It was a blessing.

"How about you meet us there Jake?" Leah offered, seeming to really want him to let them go ahead without him.

"Yes Daddy knows the way!" Nessie started to pull Leah's hand before Jacob could even answer, so he nodded and mouthed "thank you" to Leah. Leah beamed and nodded. She seemed really happy and he was suddenly so grateful they'd met up like this.

How could she not see the hand of Fate dealing between them? Of course he'd keep that thought to himself from now on though.

The damn flowers cost him forty bucks. Jacob couldn't even stay mad because his father's relationship with Julie was something they all wanted to work out. He found Leah and Nessie happily eating their cones by the ice-cream truck giggling about something or the other.

"Hey you two," Jacob called out. The sight before him was something he hadn't seen in so long. For a fleeting moment he missed his life with Bella, when it had been the three of them doing things like this.

"Daddy! Come get your ice-cream!" Nessie yelled as she jumped on the spot.

"Careful honey, you'll drop your cone!" Jacob cautioned as he quickly pecked her on the top of her head. "She's being a good girl I hope?" He asked Leah with a wink.

"The best, she and I are already friends. Isn't that right Ness?"

"Yeah! Leah should come to soccer with us tomorrow!"

Jacob looked over at the woman in question, not surprised by her own surprise.

"PLEASSSSSE!" Nessie chanted.

"Well, uh, sure! I don't have any other plans. I can be there, but Seth might not want his big sister watching him play," she teased.

"He will! Just bring food. All Daddy's friends like to eat a lot of food."

Leah and Jacob both laughed at the child's observation and the conversation started up on what Leah should make.

"What about dessert?" Leah asked after they decided on sandwiches and pizza rolls.

"Can you make cookies?" Nessie asked.

Jacob's grin faltered, and he forced himself to take another lick of his vanilla cone. They were sitting on a bench and he'd been listening to the two females chatter on and on with their plans. Bella always made cookies with Nessie. Jacob had tried to do it with her a few times but it always ended in a catastrophe. He just couldn't bake to save his life and Nessie hated the readymade dough which would have been easier. She always wanted them homemade from scratch, like how Bella did them.

"Sure I can make some. It's been a while but I'm sure I can find a good recipe. Mom will have one."

"Can you teach me?" Nessie's voice was barely a whisper now, and the pleading look on her face just about broke Jacob's heart. He knew that Leah wouldn't understand what was happening here. His daughter really missed her mother, and once again he felt powerless to save her from the pain.

Leah realized that something was wrong. She lifted her hand and ran it slowly through Nessie's red-brown hair. "Of course I can sweetie, anytime you want, okay?" Leah crooned. She looked up at Jacob, the question in her eyes and he grimaced.

"Bella," he mouthed.

Leah nodded and offered him a sympathetic smile. "I need to go find my mother now, she must be pissed that I've abandoned her for so long. Nessie it was wonderful to meet you, I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Okay, bye Leah!"

"Bye bye sweetie. Bye Jake. I'll see you too," Leah tried to keep it casual but he felt what she was not saying in her words and by the look in her eyes. Something had shifted between them today. Maybe she was finally understanding that he truly had his own shit to deal with, and could really use a friend too. Even if she was just a friend, Leah's presence could be good for his daughter. Nessie needed more female interaction beyond seeing Kim on Sundays. Maybe it was why she loved coming to the market so much, there were so many women here who doted on her. Jacob felt as though his eyes were finally open to the mechanics of his daughter's mind. He would never be enough, would he?

"You okay?" Leah asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. He hadn't even realized that he'd been staring off in space.

"Uh yeah, sure, see you tomorrow Lee."

Leah smiled, her cheeks tinted pink as she nodded and gave a small wave. He hated watching her go, but at least they'd meet again tomorrow.

"She's nice Daddy. I like Sethy's big sister."

"She really likes you too Ness, I can tell." Jacob scooped his daughter on to his lap and gave her a kiss.

"Can she come over and teach me how to bake cookies?"

"Is that what you want?" Jacob asked cautiously.

"Yes! She can teach me so that when Mummy comes back I can bake for her too!"

Jacobs heart squeezed just a little bit as he forced himself to smile. "Maybe we can have her over for dinner sometime and you can make cookies after?"

"YEAH!" Nessie cheered happily.

"Alright Squirt, let's go get Papa. It's time to go home."