Reminder: All things twilight (characters, etc) belong to Stephenie Meyer

Chapter 4

"Shit." Edward mumbled. She hadn't been quite as oblivious to him as he had expected. He should have switched up his car. He could have gotten one from Seattle that would have fit in better.

He rolled down the window, "Hi, Bella, isn't it?"

"Yes," she chewed her bottom lip. It was something she did when she was embarrassed or uneasy. "Do I know you?"

"Yes, you do actually. Edward Cullen. I attended Forks High with you. I was back in town and I saw you. Sorry to be so creepy about it. I didn't know how to approach you after all this time."

"You never talked to me in high school," she pointed out.

"I know. Listen, would you like to get coffee with me?" He didn't know what else to say. He had to make it seem like something it wasn't. She couldn't know the real reason for him being here. Not now. She had so much on her plate without this. Plus he was pretty sure she would make a big deal out of being a target for murder.

"Do you always stalk a girl for three days before asking her out?"

Or maybe she was almost as oblivious as he had figured. Three days sounded innocent to the sixteen it really was.

When he didn't answer she just continued. "I really can't. I am helping out with my dad. He isn't feeling well." She left it at that. No need to tell this man that her dad was dying and she had to sit and watch like it was a bad movie that never seemed to end.

He could, at that point, see it all on her face. It was bad for her. It was killing a piece of her to have to watch her father die, and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Chief Swan? Can I come in to say hi? You see," He continued to explain hoping to get a yes from her, "your dad was kind of an inspiration to me. I am in law enforcement up in Seattle."

She still looked reluctant so he continued, "I came here for vacation. My friend Jasper Hale, do you remember him?"

She nodded.

"He just married my sister Alice, and they are supposed to be meeting me up here." Then he thought of something that was sure to get him in. "I got here early, and we are all supposed to be staying at the old family house just outside of town. Alice had the key, and they are just now flying back from their honeymoon. I've been sleeping in my car since I got here. I really need to stretch my legs."

She didn't know if she should let him. To see Charlie like this, on his last leg. "He might still be asleep." She hoped maybe he would take the hint.

"I can wait. You have coffee, right?"

She filled his mug again as they sat in the small kitchen. The sun yellow cabinets had faded over the years to a color more like butter than sunshine. He was taking in the small table and three mismatched chairs that were pulled up to it. He hummed an appreciative mm as he took a sip of fresh coffee. She'd let him shower and drink a pot and a half of coffee as he awaited the arousal of Charlie.

It wasn't much longer before Bella heard him cough and reach for the water she had placed on the table next to him. "He's up. I am going to go in there and let him know that you are here. I am sure he will be so excited to see you. I will then come in here and let you know that he is ready. It might be a minute."

"Sure," was all he said to that.

Bella went into the other room. "Hey, dad, you've got a visitor this morning,"

"Jake isn't a visitor anymore, Bells."

"No, dad. Edward Cullen is here to see you," she paused as he searched his brain to find the name.

"Dr. Cullen's kid?"

"Well, I wouldn't call him a kid anymore, but yeah."

"How about that. I wonder how the good doctor is doing?"

"He's good, Chief Swan. He's missing Forks, though. He's thinking about coming back." Bella shot him a look that could kill. He seemed ready enough, Edward thought to himself. He gave Bella and innocent look and then turned his attention back to the dying man on the couch. Knowing the answer already, he asked, "How are you, Chief?"

"Well, Edward, today I feel okay." He sighed and patted the seat next to the couch. "Tell me what brings you here, Edward."

"As I was telling Bella, I just wanted to come and say hello to my inspiration. I am in law enforcement up in Seattle. I came home for a bit of a vacation." Edward used the term home very loosely here. "I was hoping to run into you. I was wondering why I hadn't seen you around." This job made Edward glad he was a good actor, or liar, whichever you wanted to call him.

"I'm not really running around town these days. Colon cancer does that to you, I hear." It was good to see he still had his personality.

"Geez, dad, way to be a good host," Bella murmured. Charlie missed it, but it made the corner of Edward's mouth twitch up.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Chief. I wanted you to know that I went into the work I do because of you."

"Hmm." was all he said in response. "Want to watch the game, Edward?"

Bella was stomping around in the kitchen. Throwing things around. What gave him the right? Charlie and Edward had bonded over a game and now Edward was bringing up his suitcase to Charlie's room with the open invitation of "Stay as long as you need."

"They'd better get here soon." She mumbled over the dinner she was preparing. "How could you force yourself on a dying man?"

It hadn't mattered that Bella had brought up that Jacob slept there.

This news had brought some relief to Edward.

"He'll figure something out, Bells." Charlie had said, "Plus, Billy misses having him around all the time. He doesn't need to worry about me so much."

Bella agreed with that one. This was Bella's worry. She was the one losing her father. As much as she hated Forks, she could never regret moving here because it had brought her close to the father she was so much like. Never a need to fill a silence in this house. Never a hovering moment like she would have gotten from Renee. Charlie somehow understood Bella more than her mother ever had and ever will.

Edward put his suitcase into Charlie's room. The bed had been made, and he couldn't help but wonder if the over-grown Quillutte did it. He was pretty sure that Bella cleaned up after him when he left. Making it like no one slept here in case Charlie wanted to go back up.

When he was leaving the bedroom he couldn't help himself. He went over to the other door in the hallway that was closed. This was her room. He went in making sure not to let the door click shut behind him. He looked around the tiny room. A homemade quilt adorned the full size bed. There was a blouse flung on the back of her desk chair and a few others scattered on the floor. Not so many that it was a pigsty, just enough to make it look like someone lived here. This was no room from a home magazine. There was a ancient desktop computer on her desk.

He ran his eyes over the room one more time. This is when it caught his eye. A black t-shirt laid next to the bed. It was big enough that on Bella it would look like a tent. No, it was more the size of an over-grown Indian.

So maybe she didn't have to fix Charlie's bed at all. Oh, to deceive a dying man.

Ignorance is bliss, Edward thought.