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LadySharkey1 rocks my world by being the most amazing, kick-ass beta I could ever imagine.

Chapter 25

Retail therapy; even when you haven't asked for a session.

The next morning found me and Rose on our way to Olympia bright and early to attend a wedding dress garage sale of sorts, that was going on there.

"Are you really sure about the timeframe, Rose?" I asked, chuckling as I thought about the completely barking mad two weeks she'd given herself. "Not that I'm an expert or something, but I do think organizing this sort of thing usually takes more than couple of weeks!"

Rose merely shrugged, and kept her eyes on the road. "Neither of us wants a big wedding, so as long as our families are going to be there, I don't really care about the rest."

"Yeah, but unless you want to have it at the bakery or your apartment—which in both cases is going to be a really tight squeeze no matter how small your group is going to be—you're going to need some kind of venue or something," I argued, having seen the stress that even a carefully planned wedding would give to a bride many times in my career.

"I know!" Rose smiled, looking quite smug as she went on to explain, "I didn't expect it to be so soon either! I mean, I wanted to get married before I got really big from this little one growing inside of me. But I figured that realistically, there was a slim chance of that happening. So imagine my surprise when I called the Lodge last night to check if they had any openings in the next couple of weeks and it turned out some couple that had booked a wedding for the eighteenth had canceled and we could just take over their booking at a very decent price."

I snorted. "So you're basically getting a recycled wedding?" It was just like Rose to not really care about those kinds of things. Honestly, as long as I'd known her, I'd never heard her talk about tying herself to a guy for longer than a couple of weeks, let alone getting married. Sitting next to her and talking about her wedding…it was so surreal I almost couldn't believe it.

I mean…I'd envisioned this scenario almost a thousand times growing up, but then it had always been me who was getting married.

To Edward.

Swallowing the lump in my throat that had been stuck inside my throat ever since Rose had shared her happy news with me, I tried to push all the thoughts of Edward that Rose's engagement had stirred inside of me aside to focus on what my friend was saying.

"It's not like I really care about that kind of stuff," Rose shrugged off my amusement at her 'bargain basement wedding', "and as long as we don't get buried in pink or have to eat something weird like snails for dinner, I'm totally fine with that. The only change I made to the package that was already there was that I insisted on having you make my cake."

"I'd be hurt if you hadn't," I admitted. "I've even thought of a few designs already. I was thinking three tiers, covered in white fondant with dark chocolate patterns and blue and red flowers covering it. Or do you want anything else?"

"Bella!" Rose playfully scolded me. "I've known you long enough not to argue with the real life Cake Boss. Whatever you come up with will be fabulous and taste even better."

"I know! But now I have to impress Emmett as well, and he knows a thing or two about cakes!" I argued. "He's going to be insulted if I don't bake him something that's completely off the charts!"

"He's going to be too preoccupied with making an honest woman out of me to notice anything else," Rose snorted. "At least…if he knows what's good for him."

"Poor Emmett!" I grinned, knowing my fellow baker had his hands full when it came to her. "So tell me about this wedding package you booked; anything specific I need to know?"

"The wedding's going to be in their gazebo," Rose started to explain, the vision for the pretty white wooden structure perched on the edge of the forest immediately took shape in my mind. "And thank God the people who'd booked it had gone for a simple white and green color scheme with no frills or anything else elaborate. It'll just be Em and me, a priest, a short and very standard ceremony with about twenty guests on simple white folding chairs."

I nodded. Simple, honest and fast. That was pretty much Rose in a nutshell. "And after the wedding?"

"Just a simple steak dinner at the Lodge." She shrugged. "If we really get into the spirit, we could always hit a bar downtown afterwards. Em and I will foot the bill, of course, even if I plan to give you the stink eye because I can't drink."

"Noted," I chuckled. "Would you really mind if I do, though? With the way my life's been going lately, I kinda need it." What I didn't say was that, though I was so happy Rose had found the man of her dreams and was ready to settle down and start a family with him, the very fact that she was getting married was enough to make me cry. I hated myself for my jealousy. It was petty and childish and all the other stuff my parents would berate me about—the stuff that I would reproach myself with forever.

But still…

Looking at my best friend, all loved up and drifting on cloud nine—though she vehemently tried to deny it—only empathized what had been missing from my life.

Love.

A deep connection that could withstand everything.

For a moment, I thought I could have found it again in Liam, but after last night, I knew it wasn't meant to be. I couldn't make myself feel something just because I really, really wanted to. The heart just couldn't be forced.

"Are you ready to talk about it yet?" Rose asked, her voice devoid of all the exuberant happiness that had been so present in it only second ago.

"Not yet," I muttered, not wanting to be a downer onto her day. "Let's find you the perfect dress first. Then we'll talk?"

Rose huffed. "Okay, but don't expect me to go all bridey and cry or something. We'll find a fabulous dress, try our best not to laugh at the overly excited wedding planners, and then we'll have lunch, and you'll spill your guts, capisce?"

"Fine." I sighed, still not really feeling up to spilling my guts, but looking forward to shopping with Rose none the less.

And what a spectacle it turned out to be!

When we arrived at the bridal store, there was already a line of people waiting for the store to open because apparently these stock sales were a hot commodity. And could I really blame all the anxious brides standing in line for wanting to purchase a ten thousand dollar dress for half the price?

Not really.

What did shock me though, was the way the atmosphere changed into complete and utter carnage as soon as the doors opened.

"Jesus Christ!" Rose gasped, looking as wide-eyed as I was at two women fighting for a pretty lace covered, A-line gown. "I didn't think things like this still happened in the world!"

I chuckled, trying to find a calmer spot so that we could figure out our game plan. "So, how do we tackle this without coming out scratched and bruised?"

"I want a simple dress," Rose instructed me. "No lace, no ball gowns, no feathers, crystals or other crap sown onto it. Think evening gown in white."

"Got it!" I nodded, before throwing myself into the fray. At least the good thing about this was that the type of gown Rose had in mind wasn't exactly popular so we got away with four dresses that more or less fit the bill; the first one she tried on was the one she settled on.

"And it's under five hundred dollars!" Rose nodded contentedly, looking at herself as she patted down the beautiful satin of the Grecian Goddess style dress she was wearing. "I can't imagine people spending thousands on dresses!"

"For a lot of women it's what they have been dreaming of ever since they were little girls," I answered, looking at a young girl in a beautiful princess-style gown with her mom tearing up as they looked into the mirror. "I know weddings aren't exactly your thing, but I can see the appeal of a whole family getting together to organize a beautiful day."

"I guess." Rose pursed her lips, "but I'm just glad I found something so that I can get the hell out of this place."

And that we did, both of us feeling fortunate to have escaped the complete bedlam of the sale with the perfect dress in tow and not a scratch on our bodies. And since Rose had the kind of figure that fit into the sample-sized dress, she could just take it along with her since no alterations had to be made to it. With Rose's pregnancy still very new, her baby wouldn't bring any changes to that just yet.

"Spill!" Rose commanded as soon as we sat down at a small table in a quaint little cafe with soup and sandwiches filling the table between the two of us. "Something happened to slap all the happy out of you, so tell me who I need to kill."

"You don't have to kill anyone," I muttered, toying with the sleeve of my sweater. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that after you hear what happened, you might want to kill me!"

"Oh, oh." Rose pouted, scooping a dollop of whipped cream off her hot chocolate. "What happened?"

I had to give Rose credit. As I told her what had happened the previous evening she kept quiet and outwardly calm, even though I could see the storm brewing in her eyes. Perhaps pregnancy did mellow some people…

"So?" I asked anxiously, waiting for the shit to hit the fan as I finished my story.

Painstakingly slow, Rose took another sip from her chocolate milk, using the little spoon to scoop the last of the cream from the bottom before licking it and putting it down on the table before she spoke. "You're a fool, Bella."

I sighed. It was what I'd expected, but her words were so restrained and minimal that I knew there was a whole lot more brewing behind Rose's miraculous and very unique restraint. "Is that all you have to say?"

"What else do you want me to say?" Rose snapped, digging into her sandwich with all the aggression she'd kept back from me. "Do you want me to say you're destroying the one thing about your life that's brought you happiness over the past couple of weeks? Or would you rather see me go off about the fact that you're sacrificing a relationship with a great guy who's totally into you over something he and that bitch did?"

"I know," I started to argue, "but…"

"No, Bella," Rose stopped me. "You asked for my opinion and now you'll get to hear it. I was so happy when you went out with Liam because I thought you were finally moving on. But do you know what I really think?" She waited a few moments, taking another bite before she went on. "I think you're only fooling yourself. Edward hurt you so bad that you couldn't see yourself with him any longer, so you thought that had to mean you were ready to start putting yourself out there. I think that deep down you still want things between you and Edward to somehow magically work out. And as long as you do, you're never ever going to give another guy a chance. Not even when that's exactly what you should be doing!"

"Oh. Wow." Letting out a deep breath while I absorbed the blow, my cheeks burned with the fire that raged inside of me. A part of me was incredibly pissed off with Rose for not being more understanding and, more importantly, for suggesting I was still hung up on Edward like some sick and twisted masochist asking for more pain. Another part of me, though, knew that she was right and the shame and self-loathing that knowledge brought forth was almost too much.

"I'm not saying this to hurt you, Bella," she spoke softly, bringing her seat next to mine, as she wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I love you, and that's why it hurts the hell out of me to see you like this." Leaning her head against mine she sighed as she added. "Please tell me you'll think long and hard over this before you make a decision?"

"That's what he said as well," I sniffed, noting we'd grown into quite the spectacle in the crowded room. "I don't know, Rose. I don't feel ready to start bringing him around Charlie. It's a big step and…"

"Just tell me something," Rose insisted. "If the whole debacle with Angela had gone differently, if that psycho had been a nice girl who won Charlie's heart, would you have acted differently?"

I sighed. "Yeah, I think so…but that didn't happen, did it? The fact is that Edward brought his new girlfriend around our kid and Charlie ended up hurt because of it. I know Liam is different but right now I'm not going to take any more risks." Shaking my head, my conviction started to grow stronger. "Hell, Charlie's hardly even recovered from the Voldemary debacle. The thought of suggesting she meets another one of our partners right now feels like it would be like a slap in the face to her!"

"I agree," Rose responded cautiously. "But what about in a couple of months? I'm sure if you discuss this with Liam and tell him you're going to need some time, he'll understand. I think the guy just wants a time commitment—some sort of acknowledgement that you're really invested in your relationship."

"But that's kind of the other point, isn't it?" I muttered. "I like Liam, and I love the way I feel around him, but I'm not sure whether that's because of him or just because of the escape he offers me. Because whenever I'm with him I feel like a woman again instead of a mom, an ex, or a businesswoman. It's something I missed, and…"

"I was right, wasn't I?" Rose muttered sadly. "Damn! I really hoped this would work out for you!"

Nodding, I rested my head against her shoulder. "So did I."

The ride back home was spent chatting about the wedding, with Rose taking me through every single detail before we both squealed over the fact that she was pregnant.

"I know!" Rose gushed. "It, obviously, was not planned. I mean, I never even saw myself as someone's mom…but now that it's happening, I couldn't be happier! Can you imagine me with a baby?"

"I always have," I replied truthfully. "Ever since the first time I saw you with Charlie, I knew you were destined to be a mom."

She grinned, looking sideways at me before resting her eyes back on the road. "Then you know me better than I know myself!"

"How is Emmett with all of this?" I wanted to know. We'd talked about it briefly the previous day but not in much detail since we were both too tired and shocked to do anything, except squeal.

"When I first told him about my suspicions he was a little shocked," Rose chuckled. "I mean, here you are, barely out of culinary college and starting your career, when you accidentally knock up the shop manager, who happens to be four years older than you are! I couldn't blame him for being absolutely stunned!"

I laughed. "And then?"

"Then he went into action mode, buying pregnancy tests, taking me to a gynecologist, and discussing what we wanted to do." Rolling her eyes, she brushed away a tear while I sat there, shocked at the fact that Rose was actually crying. "When I met him, I never thought he could be the one but, Bella, I know he is."

"I'm so happy for you, Rose!" In tears myself, I barely waited for her to park the car in front of my shop before I hugged her close. "You definitely deserve it."

"Now all I need is for you to be happy again for me to be perfectly happy in life!" she gushed, kissing my cheek before I stepped out of the car, my smile lasting all the way to my apartment before I realized I still had to go pick Charlie up from Edward's.

And though I loved to have my baby girl back under my own roof, her father was just about the last person I wanted to see, at that point.

He was at the door almost the second I rang the doorbell, Charlie hot on his heels and positively beaming as they opened the door. "Hi, Mom!" she cried as she launched herself into my arms.

"Hi, baby!" I chuckled, stumbling backwards slightly. "Did you have a good time with your dad?"

"It was awesome!" she gushed before launching off into a detailed minute-by-minute review of everything that had happened since I left her.

She was exhausted by the time she finished, her chest panting for breath after talking a mile a minute as she beamed between Edward and me. "I'm so hungry! What's for dinner?"

"I haven't actually planned it yet," I chuckled. "What would you like to eat?"

"Chinese!" she squealed. "I was actually talking about it before but he wanted to let you decide and don't you think it would be so nice if we all got to eat together before daddy has to go to the hospital to work?"

Judging by the look on his face, it certainly wasn't Edward's idea to ask, which made it all the harder for me to resist. After what had happened last night, there was no place I'd loathed to be more than Edward's apartment—after all, I blamed him for the implosion of my relationship with Liam—but who could say no to Charlie when she launched the full power of her puppy dog stare at someone?

Not me.

And so, fifteen minutes later I found myself on the floor, my little dysfunctional family surrounding Edward's coffee table as we shared the contents of various dishes of Chinese while chatting about our plans for the next week.

And you know what?

It wasn't that bad, actually.

Thoughts?