I am adding this chapter by request even though it has not been proofread by other eyes than my own yet due to my wonderful beta recovering from surgery. I will fix any issues with this as they are brought to my attention. Please forgive any poor punctuation or a couple of awkward word choices as those are some of my weakest areas of writing. I hope you enjoy this chapter. And as always the sun shines for reviews.

I am not Stephanie Meyer! I am only so thankfull she does not mind letting her fans have fun writing her characters in different situations!

Coffee and Confessions

We stopped at an all night diner where there would be little chance of any of the patrons from tonight's concert frequenting. Mike was obviously curious about why I had asked him to take me to coffee, however he was also lost deeply in thought. His eyes only briefly connecting with mine before he would look away as if trying to figure out a puzzle, or trying to hide some guilt.

I could wait no longer after the waitress had taken our order and we had our steaming hot cups of coffee in front of us, I asked my question before he could get a chance. I felt that if I answered first I would not be permitted to hear his story. "How did you know Isabella?"

A moment of painful decision crossed his face as he apparently contemplated whether or not to tell me, resignation settled in his eyes. I could sense I would have answers to at least some of my questions soon. "As I said before I knew Isabella briefly. She went by just Bella at the time. It was our junior year of high school and she was the highly expected new student. She had come to live with her father who was Chief of police a the time from somewhere in Arizona I believe." He paused and I was afraid that might be all I got out of him. Well that was more than I had known before. At least that gave me a time frame and an idea of where to start searching for information. "She was so beautiful. Every boy in school that day could not take their eyes off of her. I happily introduced myself to her in a class we shared and hoped that would give me a head start on the other guys." He laughed and shook his head. "I had almost every girl in the school chasing me, so I figured I would catch her quickly enough. But she was different. She was not interested in being caught. In fact sometimes I think she barely even tolerated me as a friend."

Another private memory clouded his eyes and I began to wonder how much of the story he was holding back. "Bella fell head over heals for a guy named Edmond or something like that. He already had everything. Everyone in school hated his brothers, sisters and him. You know the type of person, they have everything. Looks, money, brains. None of us could compare in any way so we shunned them. I think that is what drew Bella to him. Before we knew what happened Bella had left our group of friends and couldn't be separated from him. His sister was at Bella's side if he wasn't. The only time we ever got to even speak to her was when the whole family would skip school to go camping. Then she would come back over to our table."

A wistful look filled his gaze as he enjoyed his memories. "I loved those days. We could joke and laugh just like before she became involved with him. I started praying for sunny days. The yuppies always skipped school on sunny days. I never got a chance with her though."

A pained look replaced his smile as he paused before continuing. "The first month of our senior year the entire family moved. Bella became a walking Zombie for months. Even after she seemed to be getting better she still would not open up to any of us. She started spending all her time down on the Indian reservation with the crippled man's kid. One day they had a fight, over her cliff diving on the reservation. I guess she nearly died; anyway the kid went ballistic on her about it. He didn't hit her or anything; at least I don't think he did. I would have killed him if he had. She started walking around all the time with her arms wrapped around her like she was in major pain. She quit her job and started cutting class. A couple of weeks later she just disappeared. She left a note to Charlie, her dad, saying she could not stay in Forks any longer. She was sorry but she had to leave, she could not cause him pain any more."

He was quiet for a long time. I waited patiently hoping there would be more. A few stray tears rolled down my face but I did not care to wipe them off. I could not picture my sweet, loving, gentle, fun grandmother hurting so badly. There had to be more to the story. She had not remained destitute and in pain. I had to know the rest. Tears filled Mike's eyes but never escaped. "I never saw her again."

A long moment of silence stretched between us. Mike reliving memories, and me trying to work out how I could solve this mystery. Asking Gran was out; she had never opened up to me or my dad about her past. But if Mike knew so much maybe I could find others who knew more. Our waitress brought our deserts then and broke the silence.

"Chocolate on chocolate for the little duchess, and key lime pie for the distinguished gentleman."

Oh my goodness she was actually flirting with him! Couldn't she see the man was in pain? She must have thought he was my grandfather or something. Calm down Lenai, she does not know what is going on right now. It is actually kind of cute to see people their age flirting. I managed to calm myself back down before I said anything that might hurt the waitresses' feelings or made Mike uncomfortable.

"So how do you know about my Bella?" I could not miss his use of the possessive. Surely he could not have held on to her memory for all these years. "Isabella Swan is my grandmother." I said quietly. I hoped this information would not cause him pain.

"So she moved on then. Good. It killed me to see her in pain. What is your grandfather like? Is he a good man? Has he treated her well?"

A small ripple of relief ran down my spine as I realized he was not hurt. "Gran never married. She adopted my father and raised him by herself. They lived in Portland till after my father started college. Then she moved back here to Seattle and quit teaching. She went back to school and got a degree in school administration. She was principal at a local high school for a few years, then moved back to Forks to take over the Elementary school principal position when I was eight. I lived with her for a year when my mother died, and I have spent every summer with her since. That is where I am going tomorrow."

"Your last name, where does it come from?" I had not even thought of that. Of course a man would notice a child or grandchild having a different last name than their mother if she was never married. "OH, sorry. My mother was an only child. Her father was big on the family name not dying out so my father took my mother's last name." His look was incredulous. "Really people do it all the time now, or they use a hyphenated form." I do not know why I felt I had to defend my father's choice to Mike. I had always thought it was romantic that dad had volunteered to change his last name so mom could keep hers.

"What is your father's name? If you don't mind me asking that is." What a strange request. "Edmund William Swan VanBorg" I answered. I could see his next question written in his eyes. "Edmund is a character in one of Gran's favorite stories, William is for William Shakespeare. Granny is a bit of a romantic really." I answered with a smile before he could even ask.

"And what is your full name?" I love to analyze names so I thought nothing about this request. "My full name is Lenai Esmerelda Alice VanBorg" I smiled up at him as he digested that mouth full. I loved my quirky name. All my names had roots, and meaning. That is something modern names are missing. You can say Jessica means anything you want but really what history does it have.

"Lenai was my mother's great great Aunt. Esmerelda was the name my father said Gran would have named him had he been a girl so he wanted to pass it on to me. He says Gran would often talk about 'Esme' in her sleep. Dad assumed that Gran chose the name to honor whoever Esme was. Granny actually asked if my middle name could be Alice after 'a fabulous woman who was my best friend and closer than a sister.' Dad and Mom both loved Lenai Esmerelda so much they hated to choose so I have four names. No one can turn down Granny Bell."

Mike laughed a true laugh for the first time that night, "Yah that sounds like Bella, no one could turn her down back then either. She had everyone wrapped around her finger, even the teachers. She was so sweet and good no one wanted to do anything that might upset her."

He stood leaving a nice tip on the table "I better get you back to the hotel before someone reports you missing."

"Alright Mike, thank you for sharing you story with me. I feel like I know my Gran a bit better now." That was not totally true. She seemed like a bigger mystery now than ever before, but Mike did not need to know that. I was happy that he knew she had a happy ending. And now I had information to search for. Thank goodness for the advancements in technology. I had a basic time line and a few names to work with; I was sure I could find something.

Mike dropped me off at the hotel, walking me to the door. "It was wonderful meeting you Lenai. Please tell Bella that Mike Newton says hi." He said as he walked away.

I wondered why he was saying goodbyes now if he was driving me home to Granny Bell's house tomorrow. He could say his own hellos then, I was to tired to ask tonight though. I would remind him in the morning. I was so physically and emotionally exhausted that I did not even remember getting in the elevator or letting myself into my room.

I woke up to the morning sun; I was laying on top of the blankets still fully dressed. One of the beautiful hair clips in my hand the other pressed between my cheek and the bed. A quick glance in the mirror this morning confirmed that the queen of orchestra was gone and back was plain old Lenai. The morning after was always hardest.

My mood lightened as the phone rung with my wake-up call. I simply picked up the receiver and set it back down. Mike would be here with the car in an hour and I wanted to take another fabulous bath first. I had bathed, dressed, and packed when the phone rung. I picked it up expecting to hear Mike's friendly voice. Disappointment filled me when the receptionist informed me that my driver was waiting downstairs. As I stepped out of the elevator and glanced at the reception desk I realized my mistake. A very proper man stood silently at the desk waiting with a small sign with my name on it. There would be no friendly banter during the two and a half hour drive to Granny Bell's house today.