Got new beta and she worked on all the first seven chapters yeah, thank my girl Rena!!
Disclaimer: Twilight and all it characters are not mine, I mean no copyright infringement.
Chapter 2 – All at Once
It was hard to believe a week had gone by since the ball. After our dance I had the overwhelming urge to jump into Jaspers arms and kiss him senseless, I could not believe those thoughts were even crossing my mind. Instead, I turned around, even though I found it very rude, and walked away leaving him stunned in the middle of the dance floor. Since then my thoughts have been racked with an unknown guilt, which was quite disturbing to me. Why should I feel guilty? The man was a rebel, siding with those who opposed the equality of man. Just thinking about it made my blood boil and at the same time elicited feelings I had never experienced in my somewhat young life.
After a week of constant battles in my head over what was I thought was right and what I felt, we heard from the Whitlocks. His mother was inviting us over for an afternoon of fresh Texan air and tea. My mother was ecstatic as she thought we would make the perfect married couple, which in truth made him even less appealing. She would not take any protestations from me, and insisted that I find my best dress and pin my hair up in tight hairnet so it would expose "my beautiful neck." I hated when she attempted to make me seem more than what I truly was. It was true I was not what could be called ugly, but I was not beautiful either. If I had to describe myself, I would say I was average.
Armed in a forest green, off the shoulder dress detailed with black lace on the bodice, I felt as if I was an overdressed porcelain doll. This was not me - I would much rather have been in my working dress and help clean out the stalls of the horses than enduring an afternoon of idle chatter and gossip between two old friends.
As we exited the carriage, I looked around and even I must admit their plantation was breathtaking. Around the house you could see nothing but a small green hill of well kept lawn, which was quite rare for Texas, and colorful flowers surrounded the front of a massive colonial style white house. [A/n: think of the Carmichael plantation in sweet home Alabama] When we neared the steps, the door swung opened to reveal none other than Jasper himself, and the image that I been carrying all week did not do him the justice he deserved.
"Ah Miss Henderson, my mother will be pleased to know you've arrived, she will be out back waiting for you."
She followed his orders and went through to the back of the house, but before I could do the same he took hold of my arm and nudged his head in the opposite direction my mother had taken.
"Do you mind taking a walk with me? I need to remind you I still have to make you see my good side." He quirked his eyebrow making me swoon, I was reduced to answering with a simple nod.
"I see you open your own doors, that's quite humble of you." I said.
"Well I only opened it so I could see you first." He responded shamelessly, as if it was second nature to him to do such things.
I was sure my cheeks were at least two shades darker, and when I heard his chuckle I knew my assumption was right.
In an attempt to change the direction this conversation took, I commented on how beautiful the land is here.
"I'm accustomed to trees, and moss as far as the eye can see and here you can see towards the end of town without a single obstruction. It's refreshing and frightening at the same time."
"Well, our house grounds are taken care of by my mother - she favors gardening to relax her stress over my father and her eldest at war. Now what do you mean by frightenin'? If I were you and by what I know of you, I'd find it freein'."
"That's what is so refreshing but being here means absolutely the opposite for me. When I was up north with my father, even if the trees restricted most of my eyesight, father would allow me to roam and I would hike. There I was free, here I'm not. If my mother has it her way I will be in a loveless marriage before I even turn 18 years of age. Which would make me imprisoned here, making this place absolutely frightening." I unconsciously revealed, amazed at how easily I could open up to him. By the look that grazed his face he was not expecting such an honest answer either.
"I supposed that makes sense. What happened with your father that ya'll moved down here?"
That question was a step into uncharted waters that I was not ready to face. I stiffened and thought of a quick way to change the subject, "You mentioned your mother gardens for stress relief? That's interesting."
If he noticed my attempt to change the subject, he did not voice it, but I could see in his eyes that he understood that I was not so open to discuss my whole life.
"No it's not really interestin'. What's really interestin', is you would think that she'd just fix up a small little corner of the plantation..." he trailed of chuckling at what he was remembering, immediately bringing a smile to my face. He looked so peaceful and playful with that look that I never wanted to see him without it.
"... one day she just put on a workin' dress, took a shovel and butchered the entire front lawn of the house, most of the workers thought she was insane. We all drew straws to see who would be the one to brave the line and ask her what she planned on doin'. Guess who got the short one?" he gave me a pointed look and I imagined Jasper with a scared face. Being the one to have the honors of the daunting task, it was impossible not to laugh, but I managed to only giggle and point at him to answer his question.
With a defeated nod he continued "So there I was standin' right in front of her watchin' as she pulled flowers and weeds left n' right, when she snaps her head back and asks 'Need somethin' darlin' I'm quite busy n' I don't have time for ya'lls gawkin' and whisperin' about whether I'm goin' crazy or not.' She knew the whole time we were watchin' to see if she would break down and after that response I chickened out and never asked" he kept explaining how she never quit, even with the Texan sun torturing her.
"At the end of it all, the house looked amazin', almost as if we live in constant spring weather." I could just imagine it going from something mediocre to something breathtaking like what I was first introduced to back at the carriage.
"Why did she do it in the end?" I was curious as to her reasons.
"She said she didn't want to feel useless sittin' around while Pops and my brother were workin' with the local soldiers and the only way she could think of to help was to take care of the house since they were taking care of the town." He paused, taking a deep breath and gathering his thoughts.
"I even asked her why she did the whole thing herself only usin' help for the heavy liftin'. Her exact words were 'Jasper, why would I improve one little corner and not make the whole plantation beautiful, just because it's a little more work'. That shut me up, and that's a true story, all the beauty you see around it's because of her."
I was stunned; like she said, most women worked a small amount of space and used help. My mother once tried to fix up the house up north and quit after two days saying the rain ruined everything.
I stopped short when something he said struck me. "You have a brother?"
"Have, had, it's a relative term. But that's a subject for another time. It seems you have to leave Miss Bella."
When I looked around, I noticed that we were at the front of the house again and my mother was standing there looking quite angry, yet she had not noticed us standing here.
"Till next time, Isabella."
Something about the way he said my full name made my skin tingle in the most pleasurable way.
"Yes, until we meet again Jasper," we had unconsciously drifted closer together. He had my hand in his, rubbing his thumb across my knuckles, the emotions emanating from his eyes were like a current running from his body to mine. I felt his sweet breath in my face and my eyes started to drift close...
"ISABELLA MARIE, WE ARE LEAVING NOW!"
Shocking both of us apart, I felt my cheeks inflamed thinking about what was about to happen just seconds ago. Jasper appeared to snap out of our haze first, and bowed, kissing the back of my hand instead.
"Goodbye Bella." I nodded, still unable to speak and frankly desperate to be out of the awkward air surrounding us.
A/N: Beta'd