Chapter 34 – Mommy Dearest
After my chat with Jasper, I began to worry a little more about Esme's involvement in our family. I'd never been anti-family. I missed mine terribly and cherished the little bit I had in Billy and even Jacob. I adored my new family with Edward, Emmett, Eddie, and even Jerry. With the new, somewhat ominous insight into Esme, I was even willing to give Alice a shot. I really wished I knew what was going on with Esme, though. I remembered Eddie and Jerry both saying at one point or another that she hadn't been the same, since she had lost her husband and then her mother, Grandma Mabel.
Not being the same could mean a lot of things. I knew Esme wasn't my biggest fan, but it sounded like she was trying to break up my marriage. Edward's response about being past her badmouthing me was a little disconcerting. I wondered if he spent a lot of time defending me to his mother. I'd hate to cut out the only grandma our baby would have, but it was looking more and more like something we should do.
Alice seemed to be doing well in the new apartment. She spent a lot of time smiling at Jasper and quietly sneaking up to her room, where she spent most of her time working from home. Her apartment was doubling as a home office. Edward had said she was working with some people out of state and might even consider moving there. I wasn't sure how Jasper would feel about that. He seemed pretty attached to her.
In fact, he was about to take his break, like he did every lunchtime, to go spend it with her, when Emmett grabbed him and pulled him into the piercing/tattooing room. I looked over at Rosalie to see if she knew what was going on, but she shook her head at me, just as lost. We all jumped a little, when we heard Emmett squeal in pain.
"He'd better not be piercing his dick. I need that," Rose griped.
Edward seemed to cringe at just the thought of it. I kissed him for reassurance. "Don't worry, honey, I won't let him come near you with that piercing thing."
The pair emerged from the room to meet a shop full of curious eyes. Emmett grabbed Rose's hand and asked her out to lunch. As soon as they left, Edward was quick to ask Jasper what the heck had happened.
Jasper laughed. "Emmett is nuts, and I'm sure he'll show off my handiwork as soon as he gets back from lunch, if it all goes well."
"It better not involve anything below the belt. I don't want to see it if it does," Edward complained.
"No, it's all above the belt," Jasper reassured us.
He was right about Emmett showing us what he had done. As soon as he walked into the shop, he whipped off his shirt and shouted, "She said yes!"
He had Will U Marry Me? shaved into his chest hair, and his nipple sported a new ring and looked sore.
Rose showed off her ring to us. "He had it on his nipple ring. He's such a silly big fuzzy teddy bear," she said, cuddling into Emmett's side.
"I'm so happy for you." I really was. I knew both of them wanted to get married, and I was glad that Edward and I'd had a hand in giving Emmett the push to ask her. I was curious about how Esme would react to the news, though.
"I hope you don't mind, but Emmett and I want to move out and buy a house together. We both agree on something closer to work for the both of us," Rose smiled. I had a feeling Esme was going to lose it, especially when she found out they were moving away from her.
"We're happy for you and understand you wanting to move. It's fine. I'm sure we can find someone to rent it again. We still haven't hired Tanya's replacement. They might want it," Edward suggested.
"Anyhow, I have to get back to work. Rosie baby, I love you," Emmett said, stealing a kiss. "Take care of my peanut," he said, rubbing her tummy. They were both beaming with happiness. If Esme was against them being together after seeing how happy Emmett was, then she would be truly deranged. I really hoped she didn't give them any grief.
If Esme hadn't taken it well, I wouldn't know. No one said anything to me about Emmett and Rose's wedding, other than telling me the date. They set it for a month after my due date, so I would be sure to be okay to attend. They didn't want the birth of their niece to make us miss it, and they didn't want to wait too long to wed. Rose was fine with being a pregnant bride.
The planning seemed to be going smoothly, and it looked like they'd be putting an offer down on a new house soon. They had their choices narrowed down to three different ones. All much farther away from Esme's home.
"So, it's official. My house is on the market. Do you mind if I put a flyer up in here?" Emmett asked me.
"Go ahead, there's a little corkboard in the waiting area you can post it on," Edward offered.
"We signed papers with the real estate lady last night. She should be over at the house putting up a sign now," Emmett said, sounding a little giddy.
Just as I suspected, Esme came to the salon to cause a scene. She was pissed they were selling their house and moving further away from her. Then, for some reason, she turned on me. "This is all your fault! You're the one who opened this damn place and stole my family with your degenerate employees!"
I would have thought Rose would snap at her, but she burst into tears instead. I quickly moved to comfort her, and Edward dragged his mother out of the salon with the threat of calling the police. Again, her pointed words were directed at me for some reason, calling me all sorts of nasty things. Thankfully, the salon was closing and only had two customers in it. One regular and another getting a tat in the back room, hopefully out of earshot.
Oddly enough, Esme seemed to disappear after that. Edward was still taking Jerry to his appointments, but he was kind enough to schedule them for when Esme was at work. I was frustrated that Emmett and Alice weren't helping more with the care of their grandpa, but Eddie pointed out that it had always been that way. I was on the verge of just having Jerry move in with us to simplify everything, but I had a feeling he wouldn't leave his daughter.
Billy showed up with the cops late Friday evening, looking distressed. "What's going on?" I asked, worried.
"Leah's been arrested for breaking and entering, vandalism and public nuisance," Billy informed me.
"Did she do something to my house?"
"No, Jake's not her only ex-boyfriend," Billy said with a sigh.
"So, what does this have to do with me?"
"She's made a bargain with the DA to plead down for thirty days and community service. In exchange, she informed us who was behind your vandalism," the cop informed me.
"Behind the…well, who is it?" Eddie asked.
"She was hired by Esme Cullen. We also have reason to believe that she hired Jessica as well, since we traced the funds used to pay her lawyer back to Esme Cullen as well," the cop went on. "We have reason to believe she plans on damaging your property again."
"We just wanted to make sure you keep your eyes open and stay alert. They're picking her up as soon as they leave here, but she doesn't do the dirty work. Locking her up doesn't mean you're out of the woods," Billy worried.
And we weren't. They weren't able to find Esme. Someone had tipped her off, and she suddenly went on "vacation" to Italy. I didn't know what she was trying to pull. It wasn't like she could stay there forever. Of course, we might have been wrong. We learned that Jerry was helping her by transferring all her money to an offshore bank account. She set up shop in Italy and didn't look like she'd be coming back anytime soon. She also sent several texts to Alice, insisting she come join her.
I could see Alice wavering.
That all stopped the night our shop caught on fire. It was obviously arson. The gas line had been cut at the meter, just below the shutoff valve, much like what had been attempted at my home in Forks, only this time, they had succeeded. They lit the gas, and it burned at a steady rate, catching the back of the building on fire. Thankfully, the alarms went off, and everyone was able to get out safely.
Emmett grabbed a garden hose and kept a steady stream on the origin of the flame. It wouldn't go out, but it stemmed a lot of the damage, until the firemen were able to take over. The back half of the salon was ruined. There was smoke damage throughout it. We called the insurance company and was able to quickly put in a claim. I was grateful we had paid a few extra bucks a month to get replacement insurance, so they paid to replace everything, not just the depreciated value.
Emmett and Rose moved back into his old house that hadn't sold yet and took Alice with them. Jasper moved in with his sister, and Jane stayed with us a few days, until we were able to get a check from the insurance to help cover the cost of a new apartment. It was the least we could do for her, since she was an innocent victim who had gotten caught in our crazy family's crossfire.
The two back apartments were badly damaged and would need to be completely redone. After a lot of discussion with the others, we decided to remodel them into more spa treatment areas. We'd open bigger and better.
In a way, the fire was a blessing. Our baby was born, and Edward and I were able to stay home comfortably with her, while our shop was under construction. It was the closest thing to paid maternity leave a small business owner could get.
Only Jane and Jasper would be moving back into the apartments. I hoped we didn't regret cutting our income by reducing our rental properties. We sent out mailers announcing our new services to our regular customers and prepared for our grand reopening, which was planned to happen after Emmett and Rosalie returned from their honeymoon. Again, it was the best way for them to take off and have a paid vacation. Well, it was for Rose, Emmett still had his construction company to manage.
The threat of Esme was still looming, since the new vandal hadn't been caught. We had a lot of theories, and luckily, some video of the person. Unfortunately, they were covered from head to toe in black. We would have thought they were Tanya doing a ninja-style attack, but Rose pointed out that she was a different body type and was much smoother in her movements. We were back to square one again.
The shop reopened, and we were all grateful, when business picked up quickly again. It had been six months since Esme had run away to Italy, and Edward was becoming more worried about Jerry living alone, that was until it was revealed that Esme had returned, and she was the one who had set the fire. Jerry didn't really believe it was her doing any of it, and he was genuinely shocked, when she ended up confessing in a crazed rant. Her lawyers pushed to have her committed to a mental institution.
I would admit that I thought she was crazy, but I also believed she was sound enough to stand trial. Jerry, and surprisingly, Eddie, testified on Esme's behalf. I didn't talk to Eddie for a week after that, too pissed that he had taken her side. He kept telling me that she'd had a mental breakdown after losing her husband and mother. I found it hard to sympathize. She wasn't the only one who had lost people in her life. We stayed sane. I only eased up, when Eddie told me to imagine losing Edward. It was then I understood.
All the Cullen kids were oddly quiet on that subject. None supported or went against her. They were literally neutral on the whole mess. I later found out my husband was sneaking off to visit her in the mental hospital. He was taking Jerry there to visit her. My boy was a saint. Alice ended up moving in with Jerry, since Esme was no longer around to take care of him.
I wanted to forgive Esme, but I just didn't seem to have it in me. I knew by the way Edward handled things that he had forgiven her. In the end, I was left with a hollow feeling in my chest that didn't want to go away. Eddie and Jerry finally talked me into confronting Esme, and I went with them to visit her.
I was surprised to see the condition she was in, when we walked into the visiting room. She had lost a lot of weight, and her gaze was focused out the window, as she sat quietly off to the side. Jerry greeted her, but she barely acknowledged him. I tried to say hello as well, but she looked at me confused, as if she had no clue who I was. I knew then that whatever we had needed to work out was now a moot point. I gave her a small smile and a hug, deciding to let it all go. Eddie just shook his head sadly, as we watched Jerry trying to talk to her.
"She spends most of her time here looking out that window. The nurses say she's been talking a lot to Carlisle this past week, and she's also mentioned Mabel," Eddie sighed. "She's not really here anymore, and I don't think she wants to be."
Eddie was right. A few days later, they found Esme passed away in her bed. The doctors concluded that she had died of natural causes in her sleep. She was only in her mid-fifties, but the painful years of mourning her lost loved ones had taken a drastic toll on her, and so mercifully, her suffering was finally over.