Chapter 19

The morning finds Edward with a towel wrapped around his hips and he wipes the steam from the mirror as Band of Horses serenades the room from his phone. His baritone murmurs along with the lyrics of Detlef Schrempf as he stretches his neck out to the razor.

Bella leans against the door frame with a sleepy smile. When his eyes catch hers in the mirror, he raises his voice to sing, "My eyes can't look at you any other way, any other way, any other way …"

She giggles as he pulls her against him still toasty and rumpled and begins to dance with her in a slow circle with the remnants of her dreams whirling lazily around them. He smells of shaving cream and shampoo, and as she snuggles closer, she runs her nose along his neck. He is sweetness and smooth skin, firm muscle, and sex.

She melts into him, and as he hums in her ear sending warm breath down her neck, his hand seeks soft, curvy warmth under his Harley Davidson T-shirt. As the music shifts to No One's Gonna Love You, his towel hits the floor and she smiles against his damp cheek, sliding to draw his full, lower lip between hers.

He lets out a growl against her skin as his hands cup her ass. She squeals as he lifts her to wrap around him. He grabs his phone as it croons "… love you more than I do," and carries her, now wide awake, back to bed; lying her on their rumpled sheets.

~o0o~

Mac holds his hand out for Rose to take as she steps down from the RV. As she settles on the ground and they begin to walk, he squeezes her hand as it rests on his arm.

"Is this all right?" he asks.

They had stayed up another hour or so the night before talking and touching. He kissed her good night and waited until she was snug under her covers before leaving her and turning off the light. He had been sweet and honest, charming and infuriatingly chivalrous.

She squeezes the rounded bicep under her hand and smiles into his warm, dark eyes. "Yes, this is nice." Her voice wavers only slightly. Mac flashes a bright, relieved smile.

Rose looks towards the buildings. "I should go check on Bob and maybe relieve the hospice nurse for a bit," she says.

Mac redirects them. "Let's get a couple of plates of breakfast and take it to Dunny and Bob's. We can hang with them a bit."

As they reach the food tent, Mac lets her go ahead of him dropping his arm from her. Once inside the warmth of the large room, she takes his hand and tows him toward the island of steaming tables of breakfast food.

As he reaches around her to pick up a plate, he sees the determination lacing her smile and realizes this is hard for her, to be open in her affection, maybe to receive affection. He smiles at this beautiful goddess so flawed and perfect.

He stops her and places his hand on her face, running his thumb softly over her cheek.

"It's just you and me, Rosie. If we're good, it's all good." He lifted his brows for her to agree.

She visibly relaxes and lingers on his face, studying him and his intentions. When a smile spreads across her face, Mac takes a breath. "We good?"

She nods against his hand, "We're very good. Let's eat. I'm starving."

She begins scooping eggs as he places his hand on her back, leaning forward to grab the tongs, and scoop a pile of bacon. They shared a secret smile as she presses back against his hand only to have it slip slightly lower.

~o0o~

"I'd like to think I'm a mess you'd wear with pride …" floats from the phone on the nightstand and fills the stillness of the bedroom causing Moondoggie to chuckle against Sweets delicate skin. He watches with fascination as gooseflesh blooms across her flat abdomen and dips his tongue into her navel causing her to squirm.

Never enough—he can never get enough of his girl.

He pillows his head on her tummy as she runs her slender fingers through his unruly hair. A growl under his cheek has him sitting up.

"I need to feed my baby proper," he says as he pulls her up next to him.

Their eyes focus on the mess she "wears with pride" and he snickers as she grins.

"Shower?" he asks.

"Shower," she agrees.

He stands and pulls her to stand with him. She frowns and runs a shaky hand between his shoulder blades.

"I hurt you last night," she says.

He turns to see eyes seeking forgiveness.

He smiles and turns her to settle better in his arms and rolls his shoulders. "These? Baby, first of all, these scratches don't hurt at all, and second, they're like trophies. If there weren't a nip in the air, I'd walk around shirtless just for the bragging rights.

She rolls her eyes but looks relieved.

He kisses her nose and begins towing her toward the bathroom.

He feels her tender touch on his back.

"You'll let me put some cream on them after the shower?"

He smiles as he opens the shower door. "Of course, baby."

~o0o~

Outside the food tent, Edward pulls Bella close to snug up the scarf around her slender neck. He pulls her collar up and seems satisfied with his work.

"Are you ready to meet Rose?" he asks.

She looks up in alarm. "Your friend, Rose—she's here?"

He tucks a stray lock of hair under her beanie. "Yeah, she came in last night."

She blushes as she realizes why they didn't meet last night and he smiles as he moves in for a kiss.

He hums against her tasty lips flavored with her strawberry balm.

When he pulls back, conflicting emotions are warring within her soulful eyes.

"What?" he asks.

She begins playing with his coat button. "I got so used to just being us. For a little bit, I thought I knew you better than anyone." She gave a wistful smile. "You know, my Moondoggie." She looks over his shoulder. "Rose knows you so well, much better than me. You have such a history together; I'm sure she has a lot of stories to tell."

He shakes his head and touching her chin, turns her gaze back to him. "I am your Moondoggie, Sweets. No one knows me or owns me as completely as you." She begins to shake her head, but he continues. "You know me because I let myself be known to you. My family, my friends, they only see what I let them see, but with you, I let you all in. That's why it's been hard to trust you won't leave." He swallows thickly, "I'd be gutted, Sweets."

She lifts her mitten-covered hand to his cheek. "It's never going to happen, never in a million years," she says fervently, holding his gaze, making him believe.

He gives her a shy smile. "I know, baby, you're the keeper of my heart. I know it's safe." She melts into him, and he remembers Rose as he wraps his arms around her slight frame, resting his cheek against her beanie-covered head.

"So, you ready?" he asks as he sways them.

She runs her nose along his collar breathing deeply of all of his Moondoggie-ness and steps back squaring her shoulders.

"Okay, I'm ready," she says.

They turn toward the entrance only to see Mac coming out of the tent holding two, foil covered plates.

"Hey, there's my sweetness!" Mac hollers.

"There's my Mac-man," she says.

Edward's hand tightens on Bella's as she giggles and stretches up to give Mac a hug, placing her cheek alongside his.

She nicknamed him!

He pulls Sweets away from the friendly embrace only to have Mac laugh at his obvious discomfort. Bella wraps herself around Edward's waist and rests her hand on his abs. With a smirk, he mouths, "Fuck off," causing Mac to laugh louder.

"You make it too easy, my brother," Mac says.

"What's too easy," Bella asks.

"Nothing," Edward says as he gives her a squeeze and glares at his friend. "Where's Rose?"

With a smirk at his friend's apparent deflection, he says, "She's gone ahead to hang with Bob. I'm heading that way with Dunny and Bob's breakfasts."

Edward feels Bella relax against him and realizes how difficult meeting Rose is for his girl. He runs his hand along her arm as he says, "We'll grab some grub and meet you there."

Bella gives a little smile, and a wave as Edward steers her out of Mac's reach.

Mac throws a laugh over his shoulder as he heads towards the apartment behind the station.

~o0o~

Once in the tent they give a wave to Esme, who is busy instructing the kitchen crew that has taken over her job now that it has expanded beyond her one-man show. She blows her son and Bella a kiss as they pass.

Edward catches the movement of Lottie smacking Pete on the arm telling him to get their attention. With a chuckle, he leans towards Sweets. "I think our presence is requested with Lottie and Pete." He nods towards the blushing mechanic and his determined woman.

Bella waves at Lottie with a shy smile and quickens her step toward the corner table.

The men give each other a firm handshake/slap on the back and grab their seats while the girls exchange a cautious but friendly "hey" and sit down near each other.

Edward watches his Sweets while Pete rambles on about the 523-hp 3.8-liter V-8 engine for the Maserati he's working on back home.

At first greeting he can tell Sweets would like to give the prickly girl a hug in greeting but watches her hold back. She sits close to Lottie but not too close as if approaching a wild animal.

Edward grunts in agreement to what Pete is saying and watches her slender fingers tuck her long straight hair behind her ear and smile at what Lottie is saying. He wonders if she is leaving friends behind to be with him. She said she had no life in Arizona, did she not have friends? She's so easy to love.

She and Lottie are laughing as they lean close to each other. When Lottie glances his way her smile begins to slip but Sweets nudges her with her shoulder and Lottie's smile expands as she turns back to Bella.

"Should I ask where you two were last night?" Pete asks.

"No, you shouldn't," Edward says, and Pete smirks knowingly. Edward chooses to ignore him. "I heard Lottie was looking for Bella."

Pete nods and breaks apart a biscuit to butter. "Lottie wanted Bella to go for a walk with her around sunset, and when you didn't show by dinner time, her head started working up macabre theories of alien abductions."

Knowing they are just miles from Area 51, Edward laughs at how her mind works. "I'm gonna get us some grub before they shut down the kitchen," he says as he stands.

Bella begins to stand with him, but he waves her back. "I'll grab us something. You stay."

"She's not a dog," Lottie snaps.

He flashes a warning look at the brassy girl and watches the smile fade from his Sweet's face as she looks between them and softens his stance. "Would you like to come with me, baby?"

She gives him a smile in return. "Yes, but I'll stay and visit with Lottie," she says with a nudge of her shoulder to her friend.

He motions her toward him, and she leans over the table, meeting him halfway for a kiss.

When he pulls away from her, he notices Pete is glaring at Lottie, who is jutting her jaw in defiance.

Edward caps his friend's shoulder and heads to the kitchen and the table watches his retreat.

As Bella admires the way his broad shoulders shift under his Henley, she says, "Lottie, don't be so hard on Moondoggie. He's sweet and good."

Lottie looks away only to be locked in Pete's glare. "He's my friend. He's your friend's man. That should be enough for you to cut him some slack, babe. The golden rule, yeah? Don't do to him what you hate others doin' to you."

Lottie's eyes cut to her friend sitting beside her, embarrassed at the reprimand, but nods.

"My bad, sorry B," she mumbles.

Bella reaches over and gives Lottie's hand a forgiving pat as she watches Edward give his mom a bear hug.

Edward gives Sweets a wink over Esme's shoulder and receives the reward of a little wave.

"Mom, you recruited help," Edward says as he turns with his arm still around her shoulder to walk with her into the kitchen.

She pats his abs and stops to survey her kingdom. "Yes, it was time. My attentions are needed elsewhere," she says with a twinkle in her eye.

The wedding—he nods with a smile.

"People can volunteer time if they don't have a donation. It will help the kitchen staff with serving and clean up," she adds.

Understanding the need for people to contribute, Esme had placed a donation jar at the end of the breakfast buffet when others besides family began arriving.

"I think it's a great idea," he says and kisses the top of her head.

"I'm happy," she says.

He pulls back to view her better and catches her infectious smile. "I'm happy too."

Edward returns to Sweets with a loaded tray and begins distributing it on the table.

He sits, and as always, pulls Sweets' chair close to his, breaking apart the girls' tete a tete and startling Lottie. Lottie shoots him a warning glare, and without thinking, he sticks his tongue out causing Pete to bark out a laugh as he throws his arm across the back of Lottie's chair. Shocked, she looks to Bella and sees her smiling. Lottie smiles too and returns the gesture to Edward before sinking back into Pete's safety as he drops his arm over her shoulder and slips his hand inside her low cut blouse, cupping her right breast as he kisses the purple streak in her raven hair.

Bella scoots closer to Edward as he places a plate in front of her before sliding two hot coffees across the table toward their friends—a peace offering to the tough nut and his buddy.

~o0o~

By the time they get to Dunny and Bob's apartment, Mac and Rose have headed to town. Edward watches the basketball game with Dunny and Carlisle while Bella and Esme go through a file Alice sent them with ideas to initial in order to get the ball rolling before she arrives tomorrow.

"I thought they would be coming in today," Edward said as he wedges a stack of Pringles into his mouth.

His mother frowns at his lack of manners, while Sweets grins and shakes her head.

"They delayed a day so that Jasper could travel with them. He's taking a sabbatical until next semester," Esme says as she pulls up a fabric sample on her tablet.

Bella's face lights up at Jasper's name and Edward frowns. She giggles quietly and sticks her tongue out. He tosses the lid of the canister at her, and she swats it away as Esme gives him a withering look.

Edward's attention returns to the game and as Bella initials next to a table cloth sample she smiles at Esme. "It'll be nice to have the whole family here."

~o0o~

When Mac gets back with supplies for the apartment kitchen, he convinces Edward and Pete to join him and some of the young guys from the tent city to shoot some pool at Dooley's.

Bella pushes Edward out the door with a sweet kiss and plans to spend some time with Bob and Dunny.

With the room quiet and still, she climbs up next to Bob and holds his knotted hand as he drifts in and out of sleep. While they watch Bonanza, Dunny rests his hand on the bed next to Bella's thigh. As Hop Sing carries in a serving bowl chattering to Little Joe, Bella slips her hand around Dunny's.

This is her family, her parents, her home, and when she weds her Moondoggie, they will bind the two families together.

"Duh—Guh—moke …"

Dunny grabs the remote and switches to a rerun of Gunsmoke and Bob pats Bella's hand and shifts against his pillow.

"Did Matt Dillon and Miss Kitty ever get together?" Bella asks as the good sheriff pushes through the swinging doors of the saloon.

"No," and "—esss" fill the room simultaneously.

Bella giggles. "Obviously, this has come up in conversation before."

Dunny huffs and sits up where he and Bob can make eye contact.

"Bob is a hopeless romantic. He thinks when Matt retired they rode off into the sunset or some such nonsense," Dunny says as Bob nods against his pillow and slaps his hand on the coverlet.

"But you don't agree?" Bella leads.

"Nah, that's just dumb. She was a saloon girl."

Bob hits the mattress. "re-pect—mart!"

Dunny bobs his head reluctantly, "Yeah, they had a lot of respect for each other and she was smart, he could talk to her, but still …"

"I like the idea of there being more for them," Bella chimes in.

"Hm-hmm," Bob agrees, and Bella gives Dunny's hand a squeeze as Festus sidles up to the bar rubbing a dry mouth and cocking an eye at Miss Kitty.

When the men are snoring in stereo, Bella slips from the room and lets Mary, the hospice nurse, know she is stepping out. She throws on her coat and pushes through the side door skirting along the outside wall keeping the wind break for as long as possible. She is just bracing to turn the corner into the wind when she slams into someone.

She looks up into hostile blue eyes as silken strands of long, blond hair whip around them.

Bella takes in the tall, shapely figure of the avenging angel and gasps. "My God you're gorgeous!"

The blond goddess peers down at the small-framed, slightly plain girl and rolls her eyes with mild disdain.

A slender hand shoots out between them. "I'm Bella. You—you just have to be Rose, Moon—Edward's friend. It's such a pleasure to meet you."

Rose takes a second look at Bella with new awareness and can't see what Edward sees in the little girl in front of her. Edward needs a woman, and she is so—homespun, nothing savvy or sexy about her.

As Bella stands before her, smiling and waiting to be accepted, something in Rose shifts and she knocks the girl's hand away from between them and pulls her in for a tentative hug. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance as well, Bella."

"Um, Edward isn't here. He went into town to play pool with some guys."

"I was looking for Mac, actually," Rose says as she runs her fingers through her tousled hair.

"He went back to town. I'm on my way to see if Lottie's Pete went too. We can hang out. Want to come with me?"

Rose stands, terrified for a moment, but with a warm, reassuring smile from Bella; she finds herself nodding and following the little brunette toward the tent city.

~o0o~

Lottie and Rose follow Bella into the RV. The warmth of the trailer has them peeling out of their coats, and Bella motions for them to get comfortable while she pulls drinks from the fridge.

As she begins twists the cap off a water bottle, Bella plops down next to Lottie.

She stops when the silence of the room become stifling and looks up to find Lottie and Rose staring, sizing up each other.

"It's not likely I'm going to like you, Blondie," Lottie says.

Rose snorts. "You're not the first girl to feel that way. You won't be the last," she says.

"You get that too?" Lottie asked as she leans forward.

Rose tucks her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I'm competition or apparently a bitch so what's the point, right?"

Lottie nods and takes a swig of her Coke. "Yeah, a threat—huh, maybe I will like you, Rose—was it?"

"Yeah, and you're Lottie?"

"Yeah."

The room grows quiet, and Rose grabs a Coke and pops the tab with a manicured nail. Lottie gulps her Coke and lets out a belch. Rose snorts with disgust, but Bella gives a little giggle.

"It's just us girls," she says to Rose.

Mindless of her social blunder, Lottie says, "I can't believe Pete left me in the lurch, that dick."

"I find it interesting that we weren't invited," Rose muses as she takes a sip from her Coke.

Bella freezes with her bottle half way to her mouth, gaining the girls' attention.

Her eyes narrow, and a wicked grin moves across her face scaring Lottie and amusing Rose.

"I think I know why." Bella looks between the two. "I'm good at pool," she says as she raises her water to her lips.

Lottie and Rose lean forward.

"Really?"

"How good?"

Bella smiles with a mischievous glint. "Really good—and Edward knows it."