Chapter Fifteen: Wedding

The entire reservation had turned out to celebrate Billy and Maggie's wedding and so had the sun. It bathed the coast in a golden glow and that, coupled with the several glasses of champagne I'd had, had created a very mellow atmosphere. I was sat with Heather. Both of us were newcomers to an area where the people on front of us had lived for centuries. Heather was our designated driver for the day and Charlie had taken the opportunity to have a drink or two - or eight and was currently engaged in animated conversation with Jake and Ness. I couldn't hear what was being said over the music, but by the pink nature of Ness's cheeks I guessed that it was embarrassing her. She wasn't coming back with us tonight. Jake's new house was complete and, in a change to the usual custom of the groom moving out of his parents' house; it was Jake that was leaving home today. Billy and Maggie would have the red cabin, while Jake was moving into his brand new forest home.

We'd stopped there on the way down, dropping Ness off with a bag of stuff. For someone who was only staying the night she was taking a very big bag. We'd turned off the main highway shortly before the start of the reservation and followed the dirt track for what felt like miles. Just as I thought we might come out on the other side of the peninsula in Bremerton, the forest opened out into a clearing. Heather stopped the car and I got out, my jaw falling open in awe.

"Impressive isn't it?" Whispered Charlie.

I nodded. "You can hardly describe it as a cabin." Mansion was more appropriate. It was truly enormous and built in wood, which the bright sun emphasized the orange tones of. The house was three storeys high and dominated by a large central section, the front of which seemed to be made entirely of glass. Off to either side were three floors of what I assumed were bedrooms. The second floor of the central section appeared to be mostly living room; the window was concertinaed back and from it came loud rock music. Ness walked up to the door and went straight in, dropping her bag in the hallway.

Inside, the wood theme continued but not in a traditional or rustic way. The entrance lobby was large, off which I could see the kitchen and a dining room to the left. There was another living room off to the right. The dining room contained an enormous circular table that appeared to have come directly from Camelot. Around it were twelve chairs. Ness caught me looking.

"Do you like it?" She asked. Her expression was odd, almost as if she were waiting for my approval. "Come take a closer look at it."

The tiles of the lobby gave way to the wooden floor of the dining room. It was light and airy and here too were floor-to-ceiling windows which opened out to an enclosed courtyard garden. But I was not here to look at the view, but the table. It was a work of art, a beautiful polished surface, inlaid with coloured woods that picked out a design.

"It's a Quileute pattern," she explained. "Very special to the tribe."

I looked at the workmanship, it was exquisite. "Is this handmade?"

"Yes. My cousin Edward made it."

"It's amazing." I was almost breathless with astonishment.

"I know. All the more amazing because we didn't know he was making it."

"Is he going to be at the wedding?"

Ness shook her head. "No, he can't be here. I wish he could; but circumstances… "She tailed off. "You know…"

I did. I thought of Daniel. He'd texted at breakfast this morning to say that it was confirmed to be meningitis and that Madison had started treatment. It was too soon to say if she was responding.

I ran my hand over the wood. "It's beautiful. I didn't think he was a carpenter?"

"He's not, but looking at this I think he's kind of wasted as a Pharmacist." She shook her head bemused. "I still can't get over it, or him." She said quietly. "Look at the attention to detail." She pointed at one of the chair backs. On the back of each one was a circular carving of a wolf and a little girl.

"Is that a Quileute legend?"

"Sort of."

"What does it represent?"

"That there's no such thing as impossible." Ness stared out of the window, lost in a moment that seemed so private that it would have been rude to have spoken. "I need to do something to say thank you to him." She wiped a tear away from her eye. Sniffed and shook her head, as if to banish further tears. Her face lit up. "Oh! I forgot to tell you our news. The band's got a gig, in Italy!"

"Italy? You're big in Italy?"

"Well, no." She laughed. "Actually, it's some friends of Edward and Bella's who want us to play at their wedding. They're flying us all out there and we're going to stay at the place that Edward's parents have in Tuscany. I'm so excited! Jake's coming too and I'm thrilled about that bit, 'cause he needs a vacation."

"I'd love to go to Italy. When are you going?"

"Graduation night."

"So, no partying until dawn then?"

"I'm not really a party girl anymore."

I noticed the sadness descend. "You miss Jess?"

She nodded. "Everyday."

"But you have Jake now." And at that she grinned. "Tell me about this house, this is huge just for one person."

"It's been built for a reason. Jake is the chief of his tribe, so in one way this is like the tribal headquarters. But he wants children himself, so there's lots of room for that."

"How many bedrooms does it have? Six? Seven?"

"Twelve."

"What?" I laugh burst through my lips. "How many kids is Jake thinking of having, enough for his own tribe?

She smiled. "Jake has a large extended family too."

"Are they all coming to live here?"

"No, but they drop by from time to time. We want to make sure there's enough room for them all to do that and there's space if we need to expand.

"We? You're counting yourself in this?"

"Very much so." She was suddenly very serious.

"Is he 'the one'?"

"Yes."

I wrinkled my nose. "Aren't you a little young to be settling down? What about going to university, having some life experiences, seeing who else is out there?"

"Jake's the one." She said again.

"How do you know?" I pressed.

"I just do. Let me show you around."

Ness took me on a tour of the truly magnificent house. I couldn't quite reconcile the shabby red cabin Jake was moving out of, his ownership of a car repair business and the amount of money that would've been needed to build this. It had to have cost in excess of a million dollars and Jake just didn't look like the kind of guy who had kind of money. I kept my questions to myself though.

Back at the post-wedding party, Ness was still blushing at whatever Charlie was saying. Jake had his arms wrapped around her and was rocking her gently from side to side as she leaned back on his chest. The pair of them had been absolutely inseparable all day. Charlie made his way back over to where Heather and I were sitting.

"Do you mind if I go and catch up with Billy, say goodbye?" He asked Heather.

"No, go ahead."

"I won't be long; I know you need to get back."

"It's fine, I'm all prepared for tomorrow."

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

As Charlie walked away Heather laughed and muttered, "Sure you will." She looked at me. "He's acting like he's never going to see Billy again. The guy's only going away on honeymoon for two weeks."

"You think Charlie should've married Billy?" I laughed.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Heather chuckled. "They're in each other's pockets all the time anyway. Both Maggie and I are aware that with these guys, you buy one and get one half free. Maggie gets half of Charlie and if Charlie and I make it permanent, then Billy comes in the bundle too."

"So, do you think it's going to be permanent for you guys?"

Heather looked at me. "I'd really like it, but…"

"But what?"

Heather weighed me up, as if she was wondering if I could be relied on to keep a secret. "I'm very good at sensing things. Don't ask me how, I don't really know; but there's something in people's eyes that I can read and I can tell when they're hiding something. On one hand I feel very much part of the family. But I get the oddest feeling, that among all the honesty and openness between them, that there's something being hidden in plain sight. It's not some deep dark secret that they struggle to keep hidden; it's something that's just not mentioned. Every so often I get a glimpse of it. As if the tilt of a mirror would catapult me into a whole other world. I'm sure this sounds crazy and as if I'm expecting to find the entrance to Narnia in the laundry room."

"No, it's not." I replied. I didn't know how much to say about the situation with Daniel, but I could relate to that feeling that there was information that you weren't party to.

Heather sighed. "I'm sure it's me being overly sensitive. Things are a little complicated at the moment. An old friend's been back in touch and it's thrown everything up into the air as far as Charlie's concerned."

"Old friend, as in old boyfriend?" I guessed.

Heather raised her eyebrows. "I wish! When I was eighteen this guy was who I wanted to marry. He was a friend of my parents and he'd stop by now and again. In my late teens he stopped by a lot." She smiled and then her face fell. "He helped to soften the blow after Dad died."

"I'm sorry."

"It's a long time ago now. But he and death have a habit of mingling. He was there for me when Dad died, got in touch again when I became a Pastor and when Mom died a year and a half ago, he kept me going." Heather smiled again. "He's only a year or two older than me and every bit as gorgeous as Daniel. But in one of life's cruel twists, he was never interested in me and he disappears for the longest time. He used to send amazing letters which I read over and over again. In the last couple of years he's taken to emailing and every time I open a message from him, I'm eighteen and in love all over again." She sighed. "Ironic. The second I give up on him and finally decide on a guy, back he comes into my life like a boomerang."

"But he's not interested in you, right?"

Heather shook her head. "No, but sometimes I wonder if he's a little apple of temptation that gets dangled in front of me every so often, to see if I'll bite."

"You wouldn't…?"

Heather shook her head. "Oh no! I would never go behind Charlie's back. Besides, with Charlie it was a bit of an odd love at first sight thing. I couldn't get him out of my head from the moment we met. I'm sure of my feelings towards him, but as I said, I think there might be more to Charlie Swan than he's letting on. I kind of wonder if it'll get to a point where he has to tell me what the big secret is, if he's as serious about me as I am about him."

I was a bit stunned. Heather was in the same position I was. Did I dare unburden myself to her; let her know that we shared that situation? I thought about as I watched Seth dance with his incredibly pregnant wife. Heather was a Pastor; if there was anyone I could trust to keep it to herself it was a woman of God.

"It's like that for me and Daniel." I said. "Daniel's life is very complicated and there's a lot he can't say about what he does. I know hardly anything about him, but yet I just know I want to be with him."

"I can work out why." Heather chuckled. "He's incredibly good looking." She grinned at me and flashed her eyebrows in wicked amusement.

"He's lovely." I said.

"He's dangerous." Heather said matter-of-factly. I stared at her, my mouth suddenly dry. "Like I said, I don't know how, but I can see things in people's eyes and what I see in Daniel is incredible power under tight control. I don't think you're seeing one tenth of what he's capable of. It's the same trait I see in Ness and Jake, Edward and Bella too for that matter. That's the thing that perplexes me, their complete ordinariness when their eyes tell me something different."

Power under control? Well that certainly fit Daniel; he was an assassin after all. But dangerous? She saw that in him? "Do you think Daniel will hurt me?" I asked.

"It's not bottled-up violence I see; more like… Imagine driving a Ferrari sedately around the place, when you know that it's designed for and capable of so much more. That's what I mean by incredible power under control."

"And you're seeing this in Ness and Jake and in her cousin and Charlie's daughter? But they're not anything to do with Daniel."

"I'm not saying they are. I'm saying that it's what I see in them."

"Do you see it in Charlie?"

She shook her head. "No. Odd thing is, being here today; I'm seeing the same thing in so many of the people here. I thought it might be something unique to the Swan family or the Masen's, but now… Perhaps it's an Olympic Peninsula thing." She chuckled. "Maybe there's some weird genetic mutation going on."

"They're all turning into a race of super-humans?"

"Something like that, yes!" We laughed.

"There does seem to be a higher-than-average number of good-looking men around here." I said. "Daniel didn't stand out among the other guys in our astronomy group; Seth over there was part of it too."

"Yeah, I see it in him too."

"Are you worried about it?"

Heather looked at me briefly and pursed her lips. "I don't know. It unsettles me but more from a case of not knowing what it is, than being scared that it's something completely hideous. I'm nosey." She admitted, as if it was some gross failing in her. "I don't like not knowing."

"Neither do I, that's why I'm so anxious to know about Daniel."

Out of the corner of my eye I became aware of someone. I turned my head and found the angry figure of Korvin Silversmith glaring at me as if I had no right to be on his territory.

Heather saw it too. "That's one angry young man. Other people have something he wants." She said.

"Really?"

"That's what I see in his eyes, intense jealousy. He's being left out of something and he doesn't like it."

"Can you tell what it is? He's causing problems at school. If we knew how to help him maybe he'd settle down. He's taken against me for sure. He described me as an 'insult to him on a moral level.'"

Heather laughed. "You really must be a very bad girl if you're an insult to someone on a moral level. What did you do, sleep with his brother?"

I laughed. "I have no idea. Take your pick from attended an Astronomy class, dated his Biology teacher or expressed an interest in a man completely unrelated to anyone in this area. Who knows? May be I left one too many buttons open on a blouse. I really don't know what his problem is, but I wish he'd get over it." I flicked a glance back to Korvin and his visible hatred unsettled me. Back came Charlie from saying goodbye to Billy and not a moment too soon, so I could escape the unfriendly glare.

Ness spied us making to leave and ran over with Jake to say goodbye. I looked at her with interest, wondering what it was that Heather could see in her eyes, but I couldn't see anything other than the usual Ness. Charlie made some comment about her staying in the house with Jake for the first time and she rolled her eyes at him.

"You've said it enough times Grampa. I get it; I'll try not to be pregnant by morning." She affectionately punched his arm.

"Grampa? He's not that old." Heather laughed.

"Oh, I don't know." Said Charlie with a sigh, "There are days when I feel every one of my fifty years.

"He is a Grampa." Ness continued. "How old's Renesmee now?"

"Twenty months. Wanna see her latest picture? Bella sent it to me yesterday." He pulled out his wallet and opened it. Ness glanced at it and rolled her eyes, but Jake took hold of the wallet and looked at it for the longest time. He went surprisingly mushy for a guy.

"Look at her, nearly two already, so grown up. She's so beautiful and so like Bella."

"You think?" said Charlie, taking the picture back. "I see more of Edward."

"Nah, definitely more of Bella."

Ness looked at me, pulled a face and inclined her head towards Charlie and Jake as if to say 'Can you get these two?'

Heather interjected, peering over at the photograph. "She's a beauty and I know you wish you could see more of her."

Charlie passed the picture to me. Renesmee certainly was a very beautiful little girl, stunning brown eyes and hair in a cascade of gleaming auburn curls.

Ness came and stood next to me. "She's cute I grant you, but I know the real Renesmee Cullen. She may look all sweetness and light, but underneath that butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth exterior, is a trained killer. Fact."

Jake snickered. "Oh come on Ness, so she pulled your hair. She's a baby, that's what babies do."

"I know! And that's why I had to move here, that's how it starts. You let them get away with a bit of minor hair pulling and before you know it they're out slaughtering mountain lions in their pyjamas."

"My granddaughter would never be out slaughtering mountain lions in her pyjamas."

"No?" Queried Jake.

All of a sudden Charlie, Ness and Jake collapsed into a heap of giggles. Heather and I looked at each other. She rolled her eyes. "OK, what's so funny?" She humoured them. "You can't laugh like that and leave us ladies out of the joke."

"Well, it's not so much of a joke, more a case of how things are." Charlie grinned. He leant his elbow heavily on Ness's shoulder and grinned at her. "Why would Renesmee never be out slaughtering mountain lions in her pyjamas?"

"'Cause Alice would insist she gets dressed." Replied Ness and there was more snickering from the three of them.

"That's just not funny." Heather sighed and folded her arms. She looked at her watch.

"I know," said Charlie. "But it's funny to us because we know Edward's sister. Believe me; Alice wouldn't let you do anything in the wrong clothes."

"And there are clothes to hunt mountain lions in?" Heather questioned.

"Oh, absolutely." Jake said, quite seriously. "You try doing it in anything less than Prada."

"And you regularly hunt mountain lions? Isn't that illegal?" Heather added.

Ness looked at Charlie. "Is it illegal?"

I dunno, why you asking me?"

"Because, you're like… the Police Chief?"

"Oh yeah… Um… I think it is."

"You think it is? Isn't it your job to know stuff like this?" Ness grinned.

"Yeah, but it's Saturday, it all leaks out of my head at the weekend. Cut me some slack kid; I'm getting old."

Ness put her arms around him. "Aww, shall I carry you to the car Grampa?"

"No, but walk with me."

The pair of them walked over to the car, followed by Jake. Heather dropped back to walk with me. "You see what I mean? Hunting mountain lions in Prada? No explanation? No sense? It's just there and what are we supposed to make of it?"

"Doesn't the devil wear Prada?" I laughed.

"May be? And why would a twenty month old girl be out hunting mountain lions in her pyjamas?"

"What's a mountain lion doing in Remesmee Cullen's pyjamas in the first place?" I snickered.

Ness turned back to look at us both. "That." she said "Is a very good question." She guided the ever-so-slightly wobbly Chief of Police over to Heather's car.

As Heather drove back to Forks I dozed slightly, picturing Daniel in my head. I was tired and very nearly dropped off to sleep. I must have mixed everything up together because the Daniel in my head turned into a jaguar and started chasing a little girl in pyjamas through the forest.

When we arrived back, Heather kissed me on the cheek and something unspoken passed between us; a look that said I could trust her and that I could confide in her. It felt as if a great burden had been lifted from me.

I unlocked my door, went in and flicked lights on. The sight that greeted me made my heart stop. Across the far wall of my living room, in letters eighteen inches high were the words 'leech lover'. From the colour and the drips that ran down from each letter, there was only one substance that this could have been written in.

Blood.