Chapter 13: Dreamcatcher
It had never felt so good to get back to our little cabins. After loading the cattle into their large pen, we all put away, and fed our animals before going to bed or shower. Seth fell asleep on the couch not fifteen minutes after stepping inside. I collapsed not long after, and woke up the next day at eight. Seth was still asleep. I took that time to shower in peace.
The hot water was supposed to be soothing, and it was to my aching joints, but not my torn emotions. I suddenly wished Rosalie was here. She would put everything into perspective for me.
Feeling defeated and hot, I got out of the shower and put my red, cotton robe on. I brushed through the knots in my long hair and went to get dressed for the day. I had on old faded black jeans, my riding boots, and grey t-shirt. I braided my hair to the side to get it out of my way.
Before stepping out onto the porch with my coffee, I stopped by to check on Seth. His right arm was laid out carefully, over his ribs. I quietly took out the now melted vegetable pack that had been tucked into the dressing, that was over his wounded ribs. He stirred, but didn't wake, and I smiled at the simplicity of his beautiful face. Then, the sound of an engine broke my gaze.
When I stepped out onto the porch, I lit a cigarette and frowned at the dark, colored Ford parked in front of my house. When a large man in expensive Wrangler jeans stepped out, worry came back to me. The diesel engine idled behind him and he removed his black cowboy hat. I slowly stepped of the porch.
"May I help you?"
"Yes, ma'am. Are you Bella Black?" His deep voice asked. He had curly brown hair and a full beard.
"Bella Swan." He nodded at my small correction. I couldn't wait for the day when that awful last name would leave me for good.
"My name is Emmett Williams. I own the land adjacent to you and Mr. Smith."
"It's nice to meet another neighbor," I replied kindly. He smiled.
"I uh, also work at the bank." My own smile quickly faded away.
"Oh?" I squeaked. He nodded and stepped closer.
"I was wondering if you'd be interested in selling me your plot." I froze solid. "Before the bank repossess it," He finished.
"You mean before they sell it for more than I would," I replied sharply. Emmett chuckled, embarrassed.
"I'd pay you what it's worth and then some. You could pay off what's owed to the bank, and have the rest for yourself." My mind reeled; what if this was a way out? I smoked my cigarette and looked to my left. Edward stood at the barn, watching me in the shadows of the breezeway. I turned back to Emmett.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Williams, but the land isn't for sale." He looked to the ground sadly before nodding.
"Then good luck to you, Ms. Swan," He said. I nodded and he turned to leave, hopping into his truck and putting it in reverse.
"Oh, wait," I said, stepping closer to the truck. Emmett peered out his open window.
"Were you hunting by the property line yesterday afternoon?"
"No, ma'am. But I heard shots fired and I figured it was ya'll or the Smiths." I frowned but nodded to him. "Good day to you."
"Thanks," I told him. "You too." I waited until Emmett was off the land before looking back to the barn. Edward was nowhere to be seen. I sighed and puffed more nicotine.
Then, I found myself walking over to the stone bridge, as the river flowed quietly beneath it. Trees hovered over, providing shade. It was serene, seems as though everything about the earth was full of life. Green was all over. I looked back down to the moss covered stones and leaned against the bridge ledge.
"Everything all right?" Edward asked, coming up beside me. I jumped in surprise.
"You've gotta stop doing that," I gasped, holding my chest. He chuckled and came to lean over the ledge next to me. His elbow almost touched mine. I looked back to the water with him.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I finally said, answering his earlier question.
"What did Emmett want?" He asked quietly.
"Stone Meadow," I replied distantly. Edward nodded.
"I didn't take his offer," I said, when he didn't say anything.
"I know, but maybe you should." I raised my eyebrows and looked over to him, his beard stubble poking out on his jawline.
"How can you say that?" I asked. Edward shrugged. "After telling me that you were going to change this all around?"
"That's still my intention, but it's your land Bella. If you sold to Emmett, you could instantly get out from beneath it."
"I don't want to," I whispered instantly.
"What about California?"
"I don't know," I groaned. I pushed off the stone ledge and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Hey, hey," He said, softly coming to stand in front of me. His long fingers wrapped around my tiny arms. I pushed my head down onto his chest, as his arms folded around me. We stayed quiet.
"I've never been hugged like this," I finally said. Edward tightened his hold around me.
"I thought I'd be afraid to ever be touched by a man again," I whispered in shame.
"What changed?" He asked. His chin rested on the top of my head.
"You." I pulled my head back to look into his green eyes. He was smiling.
"I don't know what's going to happen, but I don't want to leave."
"I know you don't, but what if you have to?" His eyes glazed over in sadness. I let out a breath, because honestly, I didn't have an answer to that; because it was the unknown. I didn't want to lie to Edward.
"Lets just keep going, the cattle will be ready soon, and then we can see," He suggested. I smiled and hugged him again.
Then, I heard Seth call my name. Edward and I sprang painfully apart, as I saw Seth standing on the porch.
"I'll be right there, baby," I called out. I groaned. "I have to go to Telluride to make some calls."
"I'll attend the cattle today with Jasper. I'll miss you while you're gone," He whispered. My heart pumped furiously, before I could reply, Seth called my name again.
"This is hard," I whined, as Edward laughed.
"I have an idea, meet me in the barn tonight." A wide grin spread across my face.
"What time?" I asked excitedly. I was almost jumping up and down with glee.
"Eleven." I nodded, stepped forward, and grasped his hand with mine. He squeezed it briefly, then let go. I walked away, desperate for time to move quickly.
My feet dragged along the sidewalks of Telluride behind Seth. He insisted on buying something for Jules. Apparently her birthday was only a week after his; Seth called it fate. He was having a hard time finding something for her, so we had been to dozens or stores.
All if a sudden, I remembered something.
"Seth, wait." He stopped walking and turned to me.
"At the fair, I saw her pining over those dreamcatcher necklaces. What about one of those?" His defeated face brightened.
"Great idea!" He piped. We crossed the street to come inside the local jewelry store. Seth searched the glass cabinets intent on his task. I spotted them over by the window.
"Here," I said. Seth rushed over to me and peered over the counter to look down into the glass.
"Which one?" He asked, as I leaned in closer.
"I don't know. They're all so pretty." There were four necklaces that held a dreamcatcher on a small thin chain. Two were gold, and the other looked silver, or maybe white gold. A clerk suddenly appeared behind the counter.
"May I help you find something?" The woman asked. She wore big, square-rimmed glasses and had short black hair. Her name tag read Sue in gold letters and she must be the owner since the store was called Sue's Treasures.
"Are these white gold or silver?" I asked, pointing down to the necklaces.
"White gold," She replied.
"I think gold would look better," Seth noted.
"They cost more," I added.
"That's okay," He replied nonchalantly. I smiled.
"Who are we buying for?" Sue asked.
"My friend," Seth replied proudly. Sue smiled warmly. "Which do you like, Mom?" I looked back down.
"I like the small one with the purple stones on the webbing."
"Me too. How much is that one?" He asked Sue. The woman took out a set of keys and opened the cabinet. She reached for the necklace in question and took it out of the case.
Holding it up to examine, a small white tag attached to the thin chain was the price.
"$200," Sue said. My eyes went wide, but Seth didn't bat an eyelash.
"I'll take it."
"Excellent," Sue gushed. She walked to the back of the store, disappearing from us with Jules's gift.
"Seth, are you sure? That's your entire savings."
"I know."
"What about that new game system?"
"I don't want it anymore," He said with a shrug, as I stared back at him in shock. He laughed. "Seriously, mom. Besides, I already have an Xbox."
"True," I replied lamely. He snickered and went to the cash register just as Sue reappeared. She handed Seth a small white box. When he opened it, the necklace had been placed in a velvet sapphire box. He took out his wallet after handing me the dream catcher, and paid Sue for the gift.
Sue thanked us, and we promised to come by again soon. Seth put the present to Jules in his pocket carefully, as we slowly made our way back to the Land Rover.
"She'll love it," I said kindly. Seth smiled.
"I hope so."
"What did she give you?" I asked, suddenly curious, as I remembered seeing her give him a little box.
"This," He replied happily. He raised his arm in front of me. A thick brown and braided leather bracelet sat on his wrist. In the center was a dark turquoise stone. It had western written all over it, but the gesture was truly romantic.
"She made it," He said. I grinned.
"It's manly."
"Oh, absolutely," I assured, trying to hide my smile. He dropped his wrist back to his side and beamed.
I suddenly took notice of the changes in my son. It had been gradual, but they were there. He didn't wear his jeans low, anymore. In fact, he was wearing Charlie's old, brown leather belt. His sneakers actually had dirt on them, and he hasn't put gel in his hair in days as it hid beneath his cowboy hat. He really looked like he belonged here.
As soon as we made it back to the car, I told Seth to call his dad. He nodded and hopped inside while I took out a smoke and walked around to the rear of the car to call Rosalie. After pleasantries had passed, she turned into lawyer mode for me.
"So how much is owed on the ranch?" I asked.
"Ten grand," She said. I sighed. It was more than I thought.
"How much time do we have?"
"I'd say about another week or two. Maybe you can pay half, then give the other half once you sell the cattle."
"That's a great idea!" I cried. "I'll bring Edward into town."
"And how is Mr. Cowboy doing?" She teased.
"Very well actually. We kissed." Rose screamed joyfully through the phone, hurting my ear.
"Calm down," I hissed. She laughed.
"So you're together?"
"Not exactly. We don't want the kids to know anything yet."
"Understandable."
"I'm meeting him in the barn loft tonight," I whispered giddily. Rose screamed again.
"I'm so excited for you. You deserve this, babe."
"Thanks, Rosie. I miss you."
"I miss you," She whined. "I'm worried that you won't come back."
"So am I," I told her truthfully. "I'm going to talk with Seth about it. I'm mainly just worried about Jacob. He still has visitation rights and all."
"Leave Jacob to me." She was being kind, and I would try to do just that, but he still burned in the back of my head.
After ending my call with Rose, I heard Seth's voice. I peeked through the back and saw that his window was open. I turned back around and stayed still.
"I like it here. I don't know, some town called Telluride, you'd like it, too. Mom? Yeah, she's happy." Seth sighed. "No, she isn't dating, Dad. Look, I've gotta go."
I took that as my cue to re enter. My stomach bubbled with anger as I slid into the driver's seat and started the ignition. I stayed quiet, Seth did, too, until we were almost back at Stone Meadow.
"Do we have to go home?" He asked.
"Do you want to?"
"Not really."
"Let's see how things with the ranch sort out, and then we'll talk, okay?" I offered. It was all I could give him for now.
"Okay," He agreed. He looked back out his window. "Dad's mad." I gripped the steering wheel. At least Jacob didn't know where the ranch was, so he couldn't come find us.
"Why?" I finally forced through clenched teeth.
"He said it'll be his week to have me soon. But I don't want to go, Mom. Can't he come here?"
"I'm here, so I don't think that's a good idea," I replied quietly.
"He wants to see me."
"I know, Seth. We'll figure all that out, too, all right? We need to have a big talk soon." I heard Seth sigh, but he perked up as soon as we pulled around to the cabin and he saw Jules playing with Blue.
I forced all bad thoughts from my mind as I went inside to make dinner. There was only a few more hours until Edward and I would be truly alone for the first time.
Apparently ffnet is pulling stories or something wacky is going on. My story, Vegas and July is GONE. :( I will try posting it again at a later date.
Thank you, Sunflower3759 for the Beta work!
Also, there is still some time to go over to the thelemonadestand . com and vote for Ride to You for Fic of the week!
I'm loving your thoughts. Wasn't Seth's gift sweet? And O M G... Next chapter is, yes, the barn loft chapter ;)