Chapter 7: Festival

The best thing about only being an hour from Telluride was getting to go there every so often. It was a great escape from Stone Meadow. It wasn't a city, but it was close enough. Plus, it was Saturday and a festival fair was being held. I knew this because I had grabbed a brochure from Connie's hotel desk.

Seth was excited, too. He would get to call his father and Jules was coming along, too. He even made friends with Garrett now that he had learned to ride and feed a horse. They were slowly finding things that they could enjoy together. I was waiting for the day when Seth introduced video games to Garrett. I needed to start working on an apology to Alice now.

I chose to wear my favorite jeans that hugged me tight, a lavender colored short sleeve button up, and my riding boots. I braided my hair to the side and let the stray strands that were too wild to be tamed flow freely around my shoulders. I felt pretty. Seth even complimented me. Every mother of a teenage boy wishes they could record each compliment they give you.

As I walked outside I noticed Edward out by his large red truck. It was usually parked behind the barn. I grew sad when I realized that we wouldn't all be riding to Telluride together. I frowned. A rooster crowed from beside the barn loudly. Seth barreled out of the house, past me, and up to Edward's truck. I chuckled and walked over.

Jules came out of her house in a light pink sun dress and cowgirl boots. Her red hair was french braided down her back. I quickly walked up behind Seth and smacked his arm to break his drooling stare before Edward noticed it. Seth cleared his throat.

"I'm gonna ride with Edward, mom," Seth said.

"Oh?" I cracked. Seth walked around and opened the back door to Jules. She curtsied and they laughed together. I took my keys out from my pocket. Edward closed the tailgate and came towards me.

"Ride with us," He suggested. My eyes were trained to his denim button up. It wasn't buttoned all the way, allowing a small bit of chest hair to peek out at the base of his throat. I faked a cough to clear my head.

"Is there enough room?" I asked, knowing full well that the truck seated five easily. Edward nodded.

"The three kiddos can sit in back together. Alice and Jasper want to stay. Saves on your gas, too."

"Garrett is coming?" Seth asked, peeking his head out of the cab. His dark hair was spiked out in all different directions. Edward nodded.

"Sweet," Seth said. I smiled.

"Okay," I told Edward.

I put my keys back in my pocket and walked over to the passenger door. Just before I could open it, Edward's hand grabbed the door handle. I blushed fiercely. He opened the door for me. I faked a curtsy. He laughed. I climbed in the big truck and heard giggling from Jules in the back seat. I turned to look at them. Seth had a strange look on his face. My stomach dropped. Did he notice my flirting?

After picking Garrett up, we all drove to Telluride. Seth told stories of the city schools and Garrett told his of pig rounding. Needless to say, we spent the whole hour laughing. Every so often Edward would look over to me. Each time he did, butterflies released into my stomach. His eyes wanted to tell me something: I was still trying to figure out what.

When we parked the truck behind the town's feed store, all three kids took off down Main St. to check out the craft booths. People flooded the sidewalk. Tents and tables lined the street. It was a warm day, too. Perfect. I followed Edward inside the feed store. We bought chicken and horse feed with a couple tools here and there so that Edward could fix a few of the fence posts.

He apparently knew the couple who owned the store very well. They asked about me behind my back. I couldn't hear Edward's reply, but my heart pace quickened. I took notice to the stairs that led to the roof. I smiled and turned to Edward.

"I have to make a call," I told him. "I'll be down in a sec." Edward nodded and started carrying things out to the truck. I climbed the stairs and emerged onto the roof of the feed store.

The view was exquisite. As a kid, I would go on the roof of the market just to see this view. The lively people of this town, the old brick buildings, and the mountains. They were green now: lush trees and full of life thanks to those afternoon summer storms. I took my phone from my back pocket and dialed Rosie's number.

"I haven heard from you in days!" She yelled frustrated. I laughed.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. We bought cattle and haven't been able to make a run into town."

Rosalie sighed. "Cows? Fuck. That's just as well. I'm jealous of you, you know."

"You?" I scoffed.

"I'm so sick of this fucking city."

"Rosalie, you'd lapse into a space induced coma here. You love the city."

"A little vacation never hurt anyone," She argued.

"You're always welcome here," I hedged.

"I'll think about it." I laughed. I knew her too well.

"So you're settling in?" She asked.

"Very much so. We're helping around the ranch. Seth is even being nicer!"

"Now, that's saying something," Rose added teasingly. "What about that Edward guy?"

I couldn't help my grin. "He's good."

"Uh-uh." I knew Rosalie could hear my infatuation.

"Jacob hasn't called. I think he's giving up." Relief suddenly rushed through my veins.

"Thank you, God," I whispered.

"I'd say wait another week or so, and you can come home." My face fell.

"I want to stay for the summer," I said. Rose laughed, but stopped when I didn't add anything else.

"Wait, seriously?"

"Yes. Seth is loving it, and the ranch may turn itself around. I can't leave until that's decided anyway."

"True. Okay, babe. Well, have fun, but not too much fun."

"Think about that vacation," I told her. Rosalie promised to do that, and we ended our call. With one more look at the view before me, I went back down into the store.

I found Edward at the truck finishing his loading of the supplies. The way his muscles flexed with every move he made had my throat dry. I skipped up to him happily.

"Want to check out some of the booths?" I asked brightly. Edward chuckled at my chipper tone.

"Sure." He closed the tailgate and took out a rolled cigarette from his shirt pocket. The fresh tobacco smelt heavenly. I hadn't smoked a cigarette in days. Apparently my nerves had been calm. That made me feel even happier.

Edward and I strolled down Main St. looking aimlessly at the booths we passed. There were colorful tapestries, clothes, riding gear and handmade crafts. I stopped at a booth where a woman sold handmade dresses. They were exquisite. I walked up and touched one of the dresses lightly.

"It's pretty," Edward said. I hummed my agreement.

"That one took me months to finally get right," The woman behind her booth said. She had kind hazel eyes and blonde hair that she tied back with a red bandana.

"Really?" I asked.

"Mhmm. The bead work didn't want to cooperate." She chuckled. I looked back to the dress. It was beige and would flow just below my knee caps. The neck line was a low v-neck with beads lining the end of the fabric. It was a summer dress that would look beautiful with my boots. I thought hard about buying it because I hadn't bought myself any sort of clothing in a long time. Plus, the dress reminded me of my mother, and I hadn't thought about her in a long time either.

Then, I could feel Edward's breath wash over me. We had never stood so close together.

"You should get it," He purred. The hair on my neck raised and I got chills.

"I wouldn't want to ruin it," I whispered. My mind was dizzy. Ranch work didn't play nice to pretty dresses. I learned that the hard way.

"I'm sure you could find sometime," He argued. I turned my head to the side. Edward's mouth was too close to mine. I was going to faint. He suddenly noticed the proximity and felt, for what I feared was the first time, that sharp electric sting between the two of us. He backed up.

My heart sank to the acid in my stomach and burned. I looked back to the dress. I shrugged. Even if I never got to wear it here, I could in LA. That was a painful thought. I shoved it away and took the dress from the hanger. The lady behind the booth beamed with pride. I gave her eighty dollars for the handmade dress. She placed it in a brown paper bag neatly. I glanced at Edward beside me. His crooked grin shined back at me.

We found the kids just down the street and started to hustle them back towards the truck. Edward and Seth swapped punches, laughing ahead of me and Jules. Garrett laughed at them. My son was changing. Jules and I stopped at a jewelry booth. She looked at the dream catcher necklaces closely with wide eyes. She reminded me of myself when I was young, except better.

My eyes looked up to find the boys in the crowd. People were filling in empty spaces making it hard to see around them. Then, dark short hair stopped my gazing. Terror hit me hard like colliding head on with a lamp post. I stood immobile. Black eyes found me and then disappeared in an instant. My head swiveled from side to side, up and down, everywhere. I pushed through people, searching for something I prayed hadn't found me.

My empty brown eyes found nothing. Fear slowly faded away from me until I felt a tight pull on my arm. I gasped in surprise and yanked my arm away. When I turned, I could see Edward's green eyes. They looked hurt, confused and forlorn. I instantly regretted my fear for making me pull away. My erratic breathing slowed and relief came over my face. Edward frowned.

"Thought we lost you. Ready to go?" He asked carefully. The hesitation in his voice was noticeable. He was trying to figure me out. I forced a smile and nodded.

As the truck came into view, I slowed my stride and touched Seth's forearm. We stopped walking.

"Did you call your dad?" I asked.

"No, I didn't get a chance. I will next time." He shrugged and went to the truck.

As we drove away from Telluride, I tried to leave my fear with it. My eyes couldn't help looking into the side mirror to see if anyone was following us. No one was. I knew I was a little on edge, maybe even a little crazy, but had I really started to hallucinate?

Do you think it was really you know who in he crowd!? Hmm... And what about Edward finally getting close to our Bella!

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I love posting so quickly. It is why I get ahead of myself!