It didn't take long to scrounge up all of the proper ingredients for chocolate chip cookies. It did, however, take more than just a few seconds to find Charlie's battered old hand mixer and a warped but still serviceable baking sheet.

If it weren't a Friday night, Charlie would be on my case for planning on being up so late, I mused. I liked baking; it wasn't like there was really that much more for me to do tonight, considering the current state of "house arrest without parole". Besides, Edward was going to be back over, this time without Charlie's knowledge, until much later. My father had a habit of staying up late on weekends.

I watched idly as the mixer creamed together the butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and brown sugar. It was amazing really, the way so many different flavors could combine together to make something as delicious as cookies.

If I pursued the option of immortality, would I miss doing things like this? Would I even remember my own recipes, or regret never being able to be a mother?

My heart was tied to Edward's, irrevocably. But I had ties here, in the human world, too, didn't I?

My gaze traveled to the back of Charlie's head as I added more ingredients to the bowl. More and more scalp had begun to show through the mahogany colored curls, and more highlights of grey had lighted there. How much of it was my fault? In just one year I had managed to disappear from under his nose twice, and I know how much it must have cost him to forgive me. I was only grateful that he didn't know the full extent of my behavior. If he ever found out about the motorcycles… it just didn't bear thinking about.

The brief memory of the motorcycles brought a face into my mental eye: Jacob Black. I hadn't heard from him since I'd gone haring off to Italy.

I loaded the cookie sheet and slid it into the oven, then turned to look at the phone hanging on the wall. I had tried again and again to reach him, but to no avail.

Once more couldn't hurt.

I flipped the timer on the oven to ten minutes, then picked up the receiver. I waited a moment, listening to the dial tone before I began punching the numbers. Why in the world was Jacob being so stubborn about not talking to me?

My finger left the final key, and I heard the distant ringing I'd grown accustomed to.

One.

Two..

Three…

Four….

Billy picked up on five.

"Hi, Billy," I said, falsely cheery, "is Jacob there?"

"No, Bella, I'm afraid he's not. Is there a message I should give him?"

" Yeah, tell him to pull his head out of the sand and stop sulking already!" is what I wanted to say. But I didn't, because I was talking to Billy, not Jacob. I owed Billy at least that much respect.

"No, just that I called. Thanks," I said, hanging up without hearing his good-bye.

I picked up the receiver again, half-tempted to call back and demand to speak to Jacob.

The dial tone rang emptily in my ears.

I set the phone back in its cradle.

So that was the way that it was going to be between us.

I leaned against the counter for a few minutes, wondering why life had to be this way.

When the timer finally rang, I nearly jolted out of my skin. I pulled the cookies out and set them down with a sigh.

"Jacob Black, why are you so stupid?" I muttered.