Author's Note: Thanks for all the kind responses and keep them coming :)

Nice reviews are better than chocolate, unless maybe you're licking that chocolate off someone.

Three

She was gone again before Edward could gather any sort of grasp of what was going on. He called Christopher, the chair, and called in sick for the rest of the week. He said he had the flu, that he was sorry if it was going to inconvenience anyone. Christopher said something about disappointing the female student population, which made Edward curious, but not enough to pursue it. After a second coffee, he went across the street to the bookstore, spending a minute staring at the signing poster. Inside the store, a stack of her books sat at a table; he ran his fingers over the cover. Dreamed For Life. He opened it up and read the first few lines; it was Grace. There were a few differences, but it was definitely Grace. He bought it and walked home, his car all but forgotten. He read the book on his couch, much the same as when he read it the first time. He spent some time staring at her photograph on the inside of the dust jacket. She looked almost exactly the same, but there was something different about her eyes, like a light switch had been turned off.

Around four, the clouds began to gather. Edward went back to campus to pick up his car and drove to the cemetery. Walking to the place where they buried her, he looked around, trying to find the woman in the light blue coat. There were no other people around except a mother and child, laying flowers on a large headstone. He kneeled down where Bella was supposed to be, read the engraved stone.

Beloved Wife, Mother, And Friend

Barbara Poulsen

1959 – 2000

He tried to wrap his mind around what was happening when he remembered the woman's words, a different choice? He mulled it over. Life didn't give second chances like this, things happened and then you dealt with it. Bella's still alive. His mind reached out to the notion that she wasn't supposed to die, that this was some strange process of re-writing the plot. Another thought occurred to him, what if I've just gone crazy? What if this is my actual life and the other one was just a very vivid dream? What if this is a very vivid dream and that other life is the real one? He felt the spinning out sensation again and stopped thinking about it.

The book signing was at 5:00; Edward made his way back downtown to see her again, running late. It was raining hard at this point and Edward was glad he had the foresight to grab the umbrella out of his car. There was a line out the door and he could just make out her form at a small table, all smiles, the light in her eyes back. It seemed to take forever, but it was actually only about fifteen minutes or so before he got his turn; there were no more people in line behind him. He stood just inside the door, listening to Bella make small talk with a woman trying to tell her a life story. The woman gushed to Bella about how the book changed her life and Bella blushed. Up close, she looked tired. He checked his watch, it was a little after six; she'd been signing her name again and again for over an hour. As he approached, she looked down at her glass of water, stretching her hands. Edward stood in front of her, setting something down on the table.

Bella looked up at him with curiosity, "you want me to sign this?"

"No, it's for you. It's raining out and I thought you might want something other than water," he motioned to the covered cup of hot chocolate. "I promise I didn't have any," he grinned a lopsided smile at her. She smiled back unconsciously and reached for the warm drink, she kept looking at him and didn't realize that she'd misjudged the distance to the cup, her hand hit it and the cup fell over, the lid popping off, spilling hot chocolate onto the floor and onto Edward's jeans. He hissed through his teeth and took an involuntary step back.

She gasped, "Oh! Jeez, I should come with a warning label, I swear," she stood up to find a towel. There was already a woman there with a stack of paper towels, soaking up the mess. "I can do that –"

"No, no, it's fine," the girl waved her away and Bella hesitated, then sat back down.

"You could have just said you didn't want it," Edward pressed a napkin into the front of his pants.

Bella didn't see that he was kidding and her face crumpled slightly, "no, I actually really did! I just tend to do things like that, especially when I'm uncomfortable." She opened her mouth slightly, like she was surprised by the admission.

His head shot up at that, "I make you uncomfortable?"

"Not you, this whole thing, the attention. I'm a writer, I work behind the scenes, you know?" She grinned half way. Bella looked at him then, head to the side. "I remember you – oh!" She put her head in her hand, "I almost fell right in front of you already once today, you must think I'm –"

"I think you're charming," Edward beamed at her, pleased with himself for the delivery of a halfway decent line, a line that happened to also be the truth. He watched her smile self consciously at him, the apples of her cheeks tinting pink.

"Well, thanks."

He took an internal deep breath and then tried to look her in the eyes, he had not forgotten about the man at the coffee place and so he was aiming for just smooth enough, but all he could come up with was, "so um, if you want I mean, if you're done here, we could get you another one." He smiled as a band-aid to cover his awkwardness.

"Oh," she looked into the faces of the people around her, whether looking for an ok or an excuse not to go, Edward couldn't tell. She paused, looking back at him strangely, "yes, we can do that. Just give me a few minutes here, alright?" Edward nodded and backed off, letting her finish up with her handlers. He browsed the books, stealing glances toward Bella. Every now and then he'd catch her looking in his direction; he'd grin sideways at her to make her smile. About fifteen minutes later, she put her coat on and met him in an aisle of the small store, "ok, let's go."

She didn't have an umbrella, so he shared his, grateful for an excuse to walk closer to her. He didn't have a coat, so his arms were covered in gooseflesh by the time they were across the street. Edward opened the door for her and closed his umbrella, the rain just barely sprinkling his shoulders by the time he got inside. He raised his eyebrows at her, "hot chocolate?" She nodded and he ordered for them both, hoping she'd think it was polite and not Edward being full of himself. They took their drinks and settled on a small sofa near the big bay window at the front of the shop. Bella looked out at the rain thoughtfully.

"Can I ask you something?" She waited for an ok and then continued, "did you read my book? Or is this just -"

"I read it, twice actually," Edward took a sip of his hot chocolate. He looked at her, measuring her reaction; she looked flattered. He went on then, telling her how he thought it was about the middles of society and how saying yes one time can change your life.

"I'm glad people are paying attention, I was afraid everyone would only see the love story," she drank her hot chocolate, lost in thought. When she came out of it, she saw that he was looking at her oddly; she thought she might have said something without realizing it. "Sorry, I was just – I don't know, the rain puts me in a mood, I guess."

"You don't like it?"

"It's not that, I like it when I'm writing. It just reminds me of something…I don't know." She peeked over her cup at him, "sorry, this is a little more melancholy than I'd planned."

"You say that a lot."

"What?"

"Sorry. You don't have to."

After that, the conversation came more easily. She told him she'd gone to college, but dropped out after a year, deciding she didn't want to write a book using a creative writing formula, she made a face when she said it. Edward was wary of giving her too many details on his life; he had no idea if his past was still his past in the same way. He told her what he found out this morning, that he had a master's in English and he taught at the university. He tried his best to steer the conversation toward romantic entanglements, but either he was bad at it or she didn't get the hint. After what felt like a few minutes, an employee came to tell them it was closing time. It was almost nine o'clock.

He walked her out and made sure she had a way home. "My car is right over there," she gestured behind her. "This was fun." She fiddled with her hands.

Edward smiled and walked her to her car, his hand barely touching the small of her back; it was still raining. Once she was between him and her car, she turned around. "Thanks, Edward. Um, can I see you tomorrow? I don't really know many people here and I'd like to take a look at the town," she smiled half way at him.

Edward beamed like a little kid at her, "sure. We can meet here if you want, or I could come get you." Her eyes brightened and she told him to meet her at the coffee shop around noon, they would have lunch and then he would show her around. Before she could get into her car, Edward gathered his courage and leaned down, brushing his lips against her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."