Chapter 20: The River Bank

When dawn broke the next morning, Edward and I parted. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. We wouldn't have to hide our feelings completely now, and I would see him throughout the day. In fact, most of the day. We were leaving to gather our broken cattle.
Upon entering my home, Seth hadn't noticed that I stayed out overnight. He was just coming out of his room when I finished with my shower.
"Hey," he said groggily. His hair was sticking up in all directions, and sleep was still in his eyes. It was in the morning when he looked most like my little boy.
"Sleep well?" I asked. He nodded and we went into the kitchen. I poured myself a hot cup of coffee, added cream, and took a seat at the table. Seth poured Honey Nut Cheerios into a small bowl.
"You look different," he commented between chews. I blushed.
"Oh?"
"Yeah, did you get sunburnt or something?"
"Yeah, must have," I replied awkwardly. He shrugged and continued with his eating.
"So, we're going out to gather all the cattle today. Pack for an overnight stay in case it takes that long." Seth's face brightened immediately.
"Okay!" He then began to shovel food into his mouth faster. I chuckled.
"And hey," I stated softly, "You okay from yesterday?" Seth put his spoon down and swallowed the food in his mouth before speaking.
He shrugged, "I'll miss him, but it seems that we're happier without him."
"He loves you, you know," I whispered. I reached across the table and placed my skinny hand over his broad forearm.
"He should have loved you," he replied, not looking at my eyes.
"That's what I have you for."
"And Edward?" He asked with a hopeful smile. I pursed my lips and sat back in my chair. Then, I grinned sheepishly and nodded. Seth finally smiled, too.

An hour later, we were packed and ready to go now saddling our horses in the barn. Edward and I snuck glances at each other and each time his eyes met mine, I blushed. Remembering his touch all over my body made my head spin and my heat burn anew. I stopped saddling Cleary when a nice, new Buick pulled up to the barn breezeway. I frowned and followed Edward out.

"The bank," Alice whispered as I passed her. My heart sank.
"Morning," Emmett said kindly. He shook Edward's hand. Emmett wore brand new Wranglers, shiny boots, a white button up and a beige cowboy hat. It was made of fine suede material.
"Hello again, Ms. Swan."
I nodded, "Mr. Williams." Emmett sighed and stuck a thumb through his belt loop.
"I hate to come by with this sort of news, but we're gonna need money, or ya'll will have to leave."
"Can't it wait?" I nearly begged. "We're gathering our cattle today, and we'll make profit." Emmett raised an eyebrow.
"Good profit," Edward added.
"I'd like to help ya'll out, but we've already extended the deadline twice."
I stepped forward. "Please." Emmett's mouth pressed into a hard line and he sighed.
"The end of the week. That's all I can do, Ms. Swan."
"Thank you," I whispered. He tipped his hat to me, and shook Edward's hand again.
"See you soon. And good luck."
"Thanks," Edward replied. Emmett got into his shiny car and pulled away.

"Can we get them all together and sold by Friday?" I asked quietly. "That's tomorrow."
"We will," Jasper said from behind us. Edward smiled and turned to him.
"We will," He agreed.

As we all rode along the property I feared that it could be our last time. If we didn't gather enough of our cattle, we wouldn't make any profit. I had money, but not enough to pay off the land in its entirety, plus buy another round of cows. It made me feel helpless.

Luckily, we had found most of the cows upfront and lead them along with us. There were a few more in the woods, and soon we headed over to the river and made camp. The rain held off again, thankfully. We fixed an easy dinner of corn beef hash, green beans, and corn bread. It filled us up, and then we all collapsed from exhaustion.

Again, I was sharing a tent with a snoring Alice and a quiet Jules while the boys slept under the stars. I wasn't sure if it was because we were in a tent outside, Alice's snoring, or my thoughts of Edward that kept me awake on these trips. Whichever one, it didn't matter. I snuck out of the tent to find Edward, who was not in his sleeping bag. I frowned and looked out across the land.

Finally, after walking to the riverbank, I spotted Edward leaning against a tree with a cigar. I stared in secret, taking him in with my eyes. He wore loose jeans, a stained white t-shirt and no shoes. As soon as I saw his bare feet, my mouth went dry.

I stumbled, and stepped on a twig. It snapped in half causing Edward's head to flip my way. He smiled widely. I shrugged and closed the distance between us.
"You're barefoot," I whispered.
"My feet get hot," he admitted, as I giggled. He wrapped one of his long arms around my waist and I sighed in contentment. We stayed silent, listening to the running river for a long time.
"I have an idea," He whispered. I looked up at him with crossed eyebrows. "Let's swim."
I scoffed, "Swim? Now?"
"Yup. Naked." Edward wiggled his eyebrows. I giggled again and shook my head, embarrassed.

Edward leaned down to kiss me softly, and my hesitation of swimming vanished. I pulled away.
"Okay," I said. He smiled wickedly and released me. We stepped down further off the bank to make sure that no one would see us. I removed my sweats, underwear, and old, band t-shirt. We placed our clothes on a nearby rock. I was thankful for the light of night. It made my skin shine like marble. Edward's more tanned skin glistened.
My mouth watered.
His toned, bare ass faced me as he stepped into the water.
"Is it warm?" I asked in a loud whisper. He turned his head and nodded.
"Very." My nerves eased and I stepped into the quiet river. It was like bath water. It was warm and flowed around my legs. I came up to Edward. We stopped in the middle of the river and faced one another. The water went just above his hips and up to my belly button.

My long dark hair covered my bare breasts until Edward pushed it back over my shoulders. I shivered slightly. Tentatively, I placed my hands on his hips. He leaned down and kissed my exposed neck, then my collarbone, and then my sternum. He placed a wet hand on the bare spot between my breasts.
"This is my favorite spot," he said. I wanted to laugh and call him a liar. I thought for sure his favorite aspect would be my ass. At least that had some meat on it. My lower stomach bore a few stretch marks from being pregnant, and I wasn't a toned as I once was.

Although, somehow, Edward made my physical insecurities float away. I blushed.
"I wish I had cleavage," I whispered. Edward shook his head.
"You're perfect as is." I melted away and couldn't take anymore talking. I reached up and kissed his mouth. Edward's hand slowly moved down my body until it was submerged in the water. He cupped my heat, making me gasp. It felt new, regardless of our past night together. The water only heightened my feelings. I was on alert.

Edward began to rub me. I moaned into his mouth softly then bit down on his bottom lip. He smiled, breaking our kiss. Then, the sound of a snapping twig broke us apart completely. Our eyes searched the river bank on either side. Fear prickled up my spine and I leaned in closer to Edward.
"What was-"
"Shh," He said. I closed my mouth. What if someone had seen us. Was it one of the kids?
"Come on," he whispered. We quietly made our way out of the river and grabbed our clothes, pulling them on quickly. Edward took my hand and led me back up the bank. Another snapping branch stopped us just before we made it to our family.

The campfire was burning and the embers glowed orange. Edward let go of my hand and ran to his sleeping bag where he pulled out a pistol. My eyes went wide.
"No," I whispered. He came up to me, kissed my lips and stepped away back towards the bank.
"Edward!" I hissed. He didn't look back at me. He searched the bank again.
"Paul!" He suddenly yelled. Jasper sat upright immediately, and jumped out of his sleeping bag. He was unsteady on his feet, still waking up fully. Edward took off running barefoot down the river.
"Edward!" I called.
"Stay here," Jasper ordered. He had his shotgun and he ran after Edward. I gasped in pain; my arms wrapping around my stomach. Fear was torturing me. Alice suddenly appeared out of the tent.
"What is it?" She asked sleepily.
"Paul," I barely worded. Alice's eyes shot open next to me and looked back to a sleeping Garrett and Seth around the burning coals. At least they could sleep through such ordeals.
"Where?" She asked.
"Down the bank. Edward spotted him."
"Good thing he was awake," She replied, relieved. I could only nod. Alice disappeared into our tent, then came back out with a small hand gun.
"Alice," I scorned.
"You better get used to guns, Bella." She opened the chamber, checked her bullet count, then flipped it closed again. My eyes wouldn't leave the last place I saw Edward. The night was quiet, too quiet. Alice carefully took my elbow and led me to Edward's sleeping bag. We sat down in silence. I clasped Alice's hand and we waited.

It seemed as though that was all we could do.

Thank you so much Sunflower for your hard work in Beta-ing this thing.

That pesky Paul. We're nearing the end, ya'll! How does that feel?

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When this one ends, I've got Shattered Hearts going, so give it a whirl! :)

xoxo

Greye