Thanks as always to my beta A Cullen Wannabe for speeding this back to me after I sent it to her a mere few hours ago.
I'm keeping the golf info here just in case you want to reference it again. When players are referenced during the golf rounds, they are traditionally referred to by their last name only, with the exceptions of amateurs, like Bella, who are referred to as Mr. or in this case, Miss. So you don't get confused, here's the full list of the important characters:
Miss Swan – Isabella
McCarthy – Emmett
O'Hare – Liam
A. Volturi - Aro
King - Royce
I know most of them are easy, but there are a few that I made up names for so I wanted to give you the cheat sheet. Any random last names not above are players who are fabricated simply to fill out the threesomes as we follow them and will have no real affect on the outcome of the rounds. You won't be following their play so much as acknowledging their presence. And finally, scoring goes as followed:
Eagle – 2 under par
Birdie – 1 under par
Par – The score set for the hole
Bogey – One over par
Double Bogey – Two over par (and so forth…)
Isabella woke up with a pounding head and tired eyes. She sat up and rubbed her neck, hoping to alleviate the pain, but gave up when it seemed to do no good. Setting out to get ready for the long day ahead of her, she started by taking a longer than usual shower to relax herself and then began to make herself presentable.
Knowing that her stellar performance had won her a spot in the second to last twosome of the day, she ate her breakfast slowly, waiting for Laurent to come with an umbrella as the rain had already begun.
A knock on the door woke her from her thoughts as she grabbed her change for the afternoon round that would likely not be needed if the rain continued. As Bella approached the clubhouse, she snuck into the locker room and told Laurent she didn't want to be disturbed.
When Edward woke up, he was startled by the presence of his sister on the edge of his bed. "What do you want, Alice?"
"I'm coming to watch the golf today." Alice beamed while Edward simply shook his head.
"It's going to be pouring out; you should stay home so you don't get sick."
"If Isabella can play in it, I can stand in it. You have a golf umbrella, I'll be fine."
Edward grumbled, but sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "All right. But if I get a chance to talk to her, you'll make yourself scarce."
"I will, now get ready so we can head over to the course."
Edward shook his head again and got up to shower and shave. Coming downstairs, Alice was practically bouncing up and down as they made their way to the family's Crown Victoria and climbed in.
When they arrived at Beech Knoll, Alice made her way to the first tee to wait for Isabella's tee time while Edward went to speak to her. Walking into the laundry room, he found Laurent quickly and tried to convince him to bring Isabella to speak to him, but it was no use.
"I'm sorry, Edward. You know I like you, but I have to do what's best for my player. She has a big day ahead of her, and I can't let you distress her."
"Laurent, I don't want to upset her, I want to apologize for the way I acted."
Laurent turned to him but continued to load the towels into the washer. "That may be the case, but she was a wreck last night after I let you see her, and I won't make the same mistake twice. Stay around for the morning round, I doubt it will let up enough for the final round to be played. I'll tell her during the break. If she wants to see you, I'll bring you here then."
Edward nodded solemnly, knowing that Laurent knew what was best for Isabella at the moment. At the same time, he was angry with himself for his behavior, as it had obviously upset Bella far worse than he had hoped.
Making his way out to where Alice was waiting for him, they settled in as the last few groups began to play. As O'Hare made his way down the fairway, the crowd began to jostle with the anticipation of Miss Swan and A. Volturi's first shots of the morning.
Watching her walk up with Laurent, Edward's stomach dropped as he noticed the circles under her eyes that had been nearly covered up, and the slight droop in her shoulders. A. Volturi set up to take his first shot and sent a bomb off down the fairway. Miss Swan too made an impressive first shot as part of the crowd began to follow the players along the length of the hole.
For the first few holes, the field held its own, with only King earning a bogey on the third hole when he couldn't seem to find the cup after making it to the green from his tee shot.
With the rain coming into play, the course had been changed overnight, moving some of the holes to areas where the water was less likely to collect as the day wore on and the tees moved up on some of the holes, making the course a completely different beast to tame in the steady rain.
Coming up to the 5th hole, Alice was still quite confused as to what was happening, but tried to keep her questions to a minimum as to not annoy her brother. With her second shot on the hole landing in the deep rough, Isabella stepped out from under the safety of her umbrella to take her third shot.
As soon as her club made contact with the ball there was a silence throughout the crowd that was deafening. Yet it wasn't the mere 10 feet that her ball had traveled that caused it, but a sound that was rarely heard since the invention of steel shafted clubs, the sound of a club breaking. It took Alice's hand on Edward's wrist to make him realize that he had begun to move through the crowd towards Isabella as she dropped almost to her knees, catching herself and picking up the broken half of her club and handing it to Laurent before taking a new club and popping the ball up onto the green, barely saving her bogey on that hole.
As they moved to the next hole, Edward noticed a familiar face from the previous day's gallery move up and settle in near Laurent's position on the side of the tee box. A groan alerted the gallery at the 6th tee, that McCarthy had botched a six foot putt on hole 5, leaving the top three golfers each one over as they began the sixth.
Miss Swan was left trying to cope to the loss of her wedge, now having to rely on her 9 iron for her shorter shots, an adjustment no one wants to make during a major Tour event. Over thinking her misfortune, Isabella managed to bogey the sixth hole as well.
As Bella quickly began unraveling, Kate Logan caught Laurent's attention at the seventh tee as A. Volturi teed up, motioning with her head across the gallery to Edward and Alice's position. Laurent looked up and smiled, stepping behind Isabella and whispered in her ear. "Look just to the right of the tee."
Isabella did as he said, her breath catching in her chest as she took in Edward's intense gaze. 'Breathe' he mouthed to her and she did, feeling a warmth spread at through her as he smiled and nodded to her, the first bit of tension leaving her body at the sight of him. "He came," she whispered to no one in particular as she stepped up to the tee and took her first shot. The roar from ahead let both Volturi and Miss Swan know a birdie had been made by O'Hare. Not to be outdone by the Irishman, A. Volturi made a birdie on #7 with a nice approach shot.
Still fighting with how to make the shorter shots, Miss Swan's third shot went a little past the green, but she managed to save her par, smiling at Edward as she walked past the crowd on her way to the eighth hole. With putting made harder by the rain, the final group of King and McCarthy couldn't earn back the stroke they had lost on previous holes and stayed at one over for the day.
Through the middle part of the course, the players continued to be pelted by the rain, but competitors from the wetter climates like the British Isle's and the Pacific Northwest were finding themselves a little more at home. With stolen glances and silent encouragement, Edward was able to be there for Isabella, even though he was restricted to the gallery. By the time they made the turn onto 13, it appeared she'd still be able to salvage the round. O'Hare in the group before her, as well as A. Volturi found the bunker and bogeyed the hole as Miss Swan now had enough practice with her 9 iron to miss the bunker and pull out a birdie, leap frogging O'Hare and landing in a three way tie for second with A. Volturi and McCarthy with plus three overall.
With the rain only getting worse as the afternoon wore on, the galleries around the final five holes were all seas of umbrellas as 14 served to level the playing field when both McCarthy and King bogeyed the hole, bringing King's lead down to only one stroke, and knocking McCarthy back into a tie for 4th.
Going up to the 15th, the wind howled knocking some balls down while carrying others past the desired landing, leading to a round of bogeys not only there but on 16 also. With only two holes to go, O'Hare found yet another bunker, clearing it just in time for A. Volturi to take his spot, knocking them each another stroke behind King, who was trying to hold onto the lead.
Miss Swan hit the ball into the rough just beyond the hole, but popped up her next shot to 8 feet away from the hole, knocking it in to earn a par. Using their strength to make the green in one shot and then two putting for par as well, McCarthy and King were each one step closer to their final 18 holes of the US Open.
As the final three groups approached the final hole each attacked the hole a different way. O'Hare bombed one past the bunkers and then used his next two shots to get within 3 feet of the hole to earn a par and end the round at 3 over for the day and 7 over for the tournament.
Volturi chose to hit two shorter shots, and then knocked in his forth shot for a par as well. The par parade continued as Miss Swan, with a final encouraging smile from Edward, fought a muddy ball to earn a +3 for the round, the same score as A. Volturi, yet her overall score was five over, with his being one stroke behind her at plus six.
The final twosome each found the hole in four strokes, leaving McCarthy with a +4 for the day and a total of six over, while King retained the lead with a round score of plus four, which after his even parred previous day's score left him with a tiny lead with one round to go.
The thunder clap that rang out overhead as the final players walked to the clubhouse sent the gallery scattering for shelter as the skies opened up, leaving many of the players stuck to wait out the rain in the men's grille before making the walk to the King Hotel for the night.
Isabella, however, ran into her locker room and was soon finding it very crowded. Kate and Rosalie were there to congratulate her on her round while a new face popped in a short time later.
"I'm sorry, fans aren't allowed in the locker room." Rosalie sniped at the dark-haired sprite.
"I'm not a fan. I'm Alice Cullen and I only came in here to beg your forgiveness on my brother's behalf. I know he's stubborn and an idiot at times, but I haven't seen him this bad off since he came back from Korea. My brother is the surest person I know, and he doesn't know what to do with himself since your fight. So please, talk to him."
Rosalie was about to comment when Isabella responded. "He's really that torn up?"
"All he said last night was that he messed up and he had to make it right. Please let him."
Isabella smiled and walked over to the deliverance she'd been hoping for. "Where is he?"
"Hiding in the laundry room. Your caddie told him that if you wanted to see him after the round he'd bring you there, so he snuck in before the clubhouse got too crowded."
"I'll be back." Isabella ran to the laundry room and flew inside, looking around until she found a stunned Edward.
"I wasn't expecting you to come this soon, I-"
Bella flew into his arms and hugged herself to him tightly, halting him mid sentence. "Edward, thank you. I couldn't have done as well as I did today without you. Just knowing that you were there to support me…even after-"
Before she could finish Edward's lips found hers and she melted further into him. Pulling back from her, he cradled her face in his hands. "Isabella, I was a fool. The fact that you're even willing to speak to me at this moment only amplifies how wrong I was to let my anger win out last night. I'm so sorry that I upset you, I didn't mean those hateful things…I've just wished I could be in your place my entire life and I know that will never happen. To see you so willing to give it up hurt, but now I realize that you were just choosing what's important to you. I know I may not have any right to ask you this, but would you please come have dinner with my family tonight?"
"Yes." Bella's simple answer caught him off guard for the shortest of seconds before he continued to ramble.
"Thank you. There's so much I have to tell you, but I was afraid that you'd be too hurt to listen. It looks like you've got the patience of the saint to go along with your angel's face. God, I'm so proud of you! I don't know how you managed to stay so composed out there between the rain and the broken wedge-. Which reminds me, I can go to the pro-shop and have them get you a replacement club and cut it down and re-gripped in time for tomorrow. I just need one of your other-"
Bella's giggle stopped him this time as he stared at her curiously. "Not even officially hired back and you're already handling me again. It's good to have you back. But I don't need a new club. I got used to the 9 iron by the end and they'll give me a metal shafted club as a replacement, which will throw me off much worse. I'll manage just fine with you by my side. Now, your sister is probably freezing in her wet clothes, so how about you take me back to get ready and then drop her at home before coming back for me. I'll need an hour or so to be presentable."
"My family would be happy to have you with us as you are, and so would I." Edward took in her dripping form before sighing. "But I understand your need. Go get everything you'll need out of the locker room and I'll get the car out of the spectators lot. See you out front in a few?"
Isabella nodded and Edward leaned in to steal another kiss before running to fetch the car. Bella ducked back into the locker room and smiled at the three women waiting for her. "You're right, Alice, Edward is ballsy to kiss her that quickly."
Isabella's face was a dark crimson as she looked to Rosalie in shock. "How in the world did you know that?"
"You've got that 'I'm in love' look, and after last night, he would have had to kiss you to put that smile back on your face." Bella blushed further and then grabbed her clothes and toiletries before walking out with her friends. Heading out to the main entrance, she parted ways from Rosalie and Kate, who were going to find their husbands and enjoy one of the public areas, while Alice and Bella made a run for it. They slipped into the car from the safety of Edward's golf umbrella before Edward pulled away.
Driving along the main road to the hotel, Edward pulled into the back lot and turned to his sister. "I shouldn't be too long, but if you feel uncomfortable, go sit in the hotel lounge and I'll come find you there."
"I'll be fine, brother bear, now go on already." Bella laughed at the exchange, not having a sibling of her own to interact with like that.
Edward got out of the car and walked around to the front passenger door to let Bella out. Taking her hand as he held the umbrella over them, they started down the path that would lead her home. "So, how did you enjoy dinner with your new friends last night?"
"How'd you know I went to dinner with the girls last night?" Bella looked up at Edward with a smile on her face.
"I ran into McCarthy while I was waiting for you to come out so I could apologize. I knew I had to make it right, and then he told me you were gone for the night, so I went home and sulked until I fell asleep."
Isabella shook her head and squeezed his hand a little harder. "No more regrets, Edward. We only have a day and a half left together, and I intend on enjoying the time I have left with you."
"So do I. I've never felt this way about anyone before." He was staring down at her when her eyes shot up to meet his.
"Really?"
"Why does it surprise you that I could love you? You're the most extraordinary woman I've ever met." He saw her eyes fall to the muddy path in the woods and instantly tried to think of what he had said to upset her. "Bella, what's wrong?"
"You love me?" Her voice cracked and he pulled her closer, crushing her body against his own.
"I wouldn't have said it if it weren't the truth. I love you, Miss Swan."
The tears started falling from her eyes as the shiver ripped through her body. "I love you too, Edward."
"Okay, let's get you inside before you catch your death out here." Edward walked her to the front door and smiled at her, kissing her again once she had the door opened and then following her in for a moment. "I'll be back in about 45 minutes, that way you'll be decent and I can walk you out to the car once you're ready. I better get back to Alice."
"See you soon." Bella blushed and smiled as Edward walked outside and ran off into the rain to get back to her all the sooner.
Once he got back to the car, he took off in the direction of the house, ignoring the smile on his sister's face. "Edward, I'm glad you were able to work everything out with her, although I have a feeling that she let you off far easier than you deserved."
Edward shook his head and continued to drive home, getting into the shower when he arrived. He threw on a pair of slacks and a button down shirt before throwing on a heavy raincoat and driving back to the hotel parking lot.
In the time since Edward left, Isabella laid out her outfit for dinner and got in the shower, hoping the hot water would warm her up. Wrapping her hair in a towel and dressing in her underwear, Isabella put on her robe and slipped out of the bathroom only to be shocked by who was waiting for her.
When Edward made it to the path, he moved quickly as his need to see Bella again won out. He kept walking along the path through the woods when he saw something that confused him at first. The new set of footprints were headed in the direction of Isabella's cabin and hadn't been there when he left just short of an hour ago. He picked up his pace and rounded the bend to see the garden outside of the house wrecked and all the rocks missing. Edward's stomach lurched as he remembered the hidden key, a second before a cut off screech rang out from the cottage. Edward ran at the door and tore it open to see Isabella crouched on her bed with Royce King towering over her, his hands on her arms as he shook her. "You've ruined everything, you little bitch!" Royce slurred as he raised his hand to hit her.
Before he had the chance, Edward grabbed his hand, causing Royce to spin and swing at him. Edward was able to use his drunkenness against him as he threw Royce to the floor by the door. When he hit the ground he saw Edward's seething form and the reality of the moment hit him as he ran out the front door, the spare key still stuck in the lock. Edward took it out and locked the house before turning to Bella where she was trembling on her mattress.
"Sweetheart, oh my God, are you okay? Did he hurt you? I swear to God, I will kill him for this."
"Edward, Edward…please, just let it be. He isn't worth it and I'm fine. Royce was drunk and he was ranting but there wasn't anything behind it."
Edward looked down and saw her robe hanging open, her brazier exposed and growled. "Bella, he has to be punished."
"My father is a cop, Edward. I've learned over the years that people like Royce King don't get punished for their crimes…especially when it's something they'll classify as minor. His money and his father's influence will only make it worse for you after they make it go away."
"I'm not worried about myself-"
"But I am. I don't plan on being away from you for any longer than I have to, so I can't be bringing their ire onto us. Please, just let me get ready and we'll go have dinner with your parents and Alice at your house. We can figure out everything else afterwards. The worst thing I could do to him is beat him tomorrow, and I plan on doing just that."
Edward couldn't hide his smile at her attitude, but had no intention of leaving her alone for the remainder of her stay.
Isabella quickly went into the bathroom to change and came out a few minutes later with her hair up and a sweater on to keep out the cold. Edward tried once more to get Bella to speak to Jasper, but she refused, telling him that she just wanted to forget about it and enjoy the time they had left together.
Locking the cottage, they headed back to the family car and drove the distance to his home. When they arrived, the Cullen's were all anxiously awaiting her, and made her feel right at home. Dinner was ready soon after they arrived, and the family sat down to eat with their guest.
Isabella was moved by how generous the Cullen's were being to her and said so on more than one occasion. When dinner was over, Carlisle and Esme, as Bella was implored to call them, went to bed as it was nearly 9pm and Carlisle had to be up at 5am to open the store in the morning.
Sitting on the couch, Isabella and Edward soon fell into conversation once they were alone. When Edward looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly 10:00, he stood up and began walking to the stairs. "I'll see if Alice has something you can borrow until the morning when I can take you to the cottage to change."
Bella stared at him as she stood up herself. "Edward, I'm not spending the night here. I'd feel funny and besides, I should be near the clubhouse in case something happens and Laurent has to get a hold of me."
"Bella, I don't like the idea of you being there alone after this evening. What if Royce gets anymore bright ideas? I can't stand the thought of something happening to you."
Isabella blushed and took his hand. "Then come stay with me."
Edward blanched as he began to stammer. "Bella…darling, I'm not sure that would be best. We aren't married yet and I don't want to-"
Bella placed her fingers on Edward's lips, silencing him. "Yet?"
His eyes widened and his breath shallowed. "I…that is…"
"You want to marry me?" Her eyes were wet with unshed tears.
"Isabella, why wouldn't I? You're beautiful, intelligent…you're one of the best putters I've ever seen, and for some unknown reason, you've fallen in love with me. Look, I understand that it's been a little over two days, but every moment of them has led me to believe that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, too." Bella's tears spilled over as Edward kissed her as passionately as he dared. Breaking the kiss he looked her over and wiped away her tears.
"I'm going to get a change and have Alice come so she can drive home, otherwise my father won't have a car in the morning."
Edward ran upstairs and saw Alice standing by his door with a small overnight bag and a smile. "Congratulations Edward, now let's drop you off."
Edward laughed and started back down the stairs, but stopped halfway. "Hey, Ali, bring Jasper tomorrow, I want him to meet Isabella."
"Will do."
The three of them went out to the car and Edward started it up. He drove to the hotel parking lot and watched as his sister drove off before leading Bella back to the cottage. Making sure the door was locked; he let her use the rest room to change while he went through his bag to find his own. Seeing Isabella in her curlers made him smile, because she was the first woman beside his sister and mother that he'd seen in curlers since his time in Korea had the nurses' running straight out of their tents at 2am for surgery. And after tonight, she'd be the last as well.
To help you guys keep track of the scores, I'm giving you a mini leaderboard below.
Name R1 R2 R3 Total
King 72(+1) 70(-1) 75(+4) 217(+4)
Miss Swan 74(+3) 70(-1) 74(+3) 218(+5)
McCarthy 71(E) 73(+2) 75(+4) 219(+6)
A. Volturi 74(+3) 71(E) 74(+3) 219(+6)
O'Hare 74(+3) 72(+1) 74(+3) 220(+7)
I know they're moving fast, but it was a different time and she's leaving for Washington on Sunday so he has to make his move. Also, I hope the golf was a little easier now that there are only 5 golfers to follow. Only two chapters left now the final round and the epilogue.