Twilight character names belong to Stephenie Meyer. I own Dodge and Burn.
Much love and thanks to Editor Azucena , Pre-readers BtwntheStacks and Lemonmartinis and Beta-MsKathy
Dodge and Burn / Chapter 10 / The Good Son
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"Isabella?" The young man smiles lazily. "Huh…I haven't heard her called that in years."
What the hell do you mean-years?
Edward teeters on an anxious edge. He's about to lose his grip. He tries to focus on speaking calmly.
"Is she home?"
"Nope, she's not here. She told me she was doing some obstacle course thing with Leah this morning. What time is it anyway?"
Edward glances down at his watch. "Nine fifteen."
"I think she may be home soon. You want to come in and wait? Hey, are those bagels?"
Edward feels ridiculous as he holds up the bag, but he needs to keep his cool until he knows what's going on. "Yes, you want one?"
"Yeah, sure." He opens the door wider. "I better eat quick, though. I have to leave soon; the conference I'm here for is all the way in Pasadena. I can't be late."
Edward follows him to the kitchen wishing he'd put a damn shirt on. He's tired of looking at him and imagining Bella in his arms.
"Coffee?" The man asks while he pours himself a mug.
Edward nods, then realizes that the guy is studying him like he's sizing him up.
"You're Edward, right?"
He knows who I am?
"Yes."
"I thought so. Mom told me all about you. She should've mentioned you were coming over. I would've gotten my shit together, put on a shirt or something."
Mom?
All the pieces finally fall together in his mind. This must be Jacob. Edward takes what feels like his first breath since he got there.
He quickly gets his bearings and shrugs casually, like he knew it all along. "She didn't know I was coming. I just happened to be in the neighborhood."
"She's going to be disappointed she missed bagels with us, but she booked this thing with Leah and believe me, Leah would kick her ass if she canceled. Besides, my trip was completely last minute."
Jacob holds up the milk carton and when Edward nods, Jacob pushes it towards him.
"Well anyway, I'm glad to meet you," Edward says as he pours the milk until his coffee is caramel colored. "I haven't met Leah."
"Well, don't say I didn't warn you."
Edward nods. "Noted, thanks. Hey, your mom says you're in graduate school. So what conference are you in town for?"
"One of the senior interns in my program was set to come to this research conference, but he got the flu. So at the last minute I got to take his place. I told them I'd save the program money 'cause I didn't need a hotel room. I'm really jazzed. I'm low man on the team and never get to do this stuff."
Edward watches Jacob smear cream cheese on his bagel and then take a huge bite. Now that he's gotten over the relief that he wasn't some random man, he marvels that he's Isabella's son. Other than the fact that he has his mom's eyes, they don't look or act alike at all.
"What's your particular area of interest, if you don't mind my asking?"
"Alzheimer's research, early onset specifically."
Edward remembers Isabella telling him that Jacob was inspired to do this program after what his grandmother went through.
"Is that what your grandmother had?"
Jacob nods, looking surprised by the question, like he expected Edward would know that already-something that had shaped this families life the way it did.
"I don't know a lot about Alzheimer's. How long was she sick?"
"Eight years. It turned our lives upside down; it just about killed my mom."
Edward feels a wave of nausea at realizing what Isabella went through. He had no idea of the scope of what she'd suffered.
"I can imagine. I went through the illness and death of my dad with Parkinson's…but I know that's much, much different than dealing with dementia."
"Well it's hard to think of Alzheimer's as anything but a tragedy…an ironic tragedy at that. After all, we spend a lifetime learning how to do things and making memories. Then this fucked up disease starts randomly messing up your brain making you unlearn everything and forget your memories. You eventually even forget the people you love the most. How cruel is that?"
Something about this young man really strikes Edward. He can see why Isabella's proud of him.
"Is that what happened with your grandmother?"
"Yeah, she had no idea who we were the last couple of years before she died."
"How horrible," Edwards says sadly.
He nods. "So I'm in the graduate program at Johns Hopkins. It's exciting because we just received a large grant from the Alzheimer's Association to do innovative drug and biomarker trials for people with genetically based early-onset Alzheimer's."
"That must be rewarding, to be involved in such important work. You're doing something that could really make a difference in peoples' lives."
"Well, it's very tedious and discouraging at times, but when I think of Grandma and these people I've met from the trials, I'm motivated. Eventually we're going to kick Alzheimer's ass."
Edward smiles warmly at him. Jacob sure has his mom's spunk. He's impressed with the kid. He was obviously raised right.
Jacob is just about to pour them more coffee when his phone prompt goes off. He holds it up to read the screen.
"It's a text from Mom. They're going out for a late breakfast. Do you want me to tell her you're here?"
"No. I'll call her later. I don't want to interrupt her time with Leah."
"Okay." Jacob's fingers fly over the keypad and when he's done he looks back at the phone. "Shit, it's late. I really better get ready to go."
"Okay, I'm going to head out. Keep the rest of the bagels."
Jacob pauses and Edward can tell he's considering something.
"Hey, would it be okay if we exchange numbers? That way if anything's up with mom, you have a way to reach me."
When they're done loading their numbers in their phones, Jacob turns to Edward. "I feel bad that I'm not around to look out for Mom, with her living alone and everything. I mean I know she's tough, but…"
Edward shakes his head. "No, I understand."
"Promise me you'll let me know if anything happens. Mom says you're a really good man. I'll feel so much better if I know you're looking out for her."
"I promise," Edward assures him.
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..~*~..
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Bella looks at the bag of bagels and wonders about the news she just learned during her phone call with Jacob. Edward showed up at nine-fifteen with bagels this morning? What was that about? He's not exactly an impulsive kind of guy.
She picks up her phone and calls him.
"So, I heard you met my Jacob. I didn't remember you were planning to come by."
Edward chuckles. "Yeah, that was my attempt at spontaneity. It would've been a bust except that I got to meet Jacob."
"Oh, I wish I could have been here to see you two together!"
She sounds disappointed. like she expected to witness a meeting of the minds or something.
"He's a great kid, Isabella."
She sighs happily. "He is, isn't he? I'm so proud of him."
"You should be. So I heard Leah worked you over."
"Yeah, next time if I tell you that she's taking me on an obstacle course, will you come much earlier bearing bagels and hold me hostage?"
He laughs. "Sure thing. Hey, do you still have any of those bagels?"
"Yes, didn't you bring a dozen or something? I'm not voracious by nature. Why?"
"Can I come have one? I forgot to eat lunch."
She laughs. "Sure, come make yourself at home. I'm going to be working in the garden, but you can keep me company while you eat this bag of bagels."
"Gardening?"
"I did some impulse shopping at the nursery on the way home, the colors called to me; everything's in bloom. The trick is that now these babies need to get into the ground."
"Why don't I help?"
"Are you good with a shovel?"
"What do you think?"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's make some holes to fill." She snickers.
His mind goes there—he can't help himself.
Isabella and her hole to fills…Isabella in his bed...
"Hold on, woman, I'm on my way."
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He heads straight into the backyard when he arrives and, sure enough, finds her on her hands and knees in one of the planting beds. She's wearing shorts and a tank top and a busted straw hat. She stands up when she sees him and he laughs, her knees are muddy and there's streaks of dirt all over her.
"Don't you look glamorous," he teases.
She smiles and shrugs. "It's a dirty job and you're going to look like this soon, so you better go in and make your bagel first."
"You want one?"
"Yeah, and can you bring out bottles of water, too?"
"Sure." He turns to head toward the house.
"Hey, thanks for coming Edward. Twice in one day. I'm a lucky girl!"
He smiles and gives her a thumbs up as he continues on, but inside he's thinking that he's actually the lucky one.
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They've planted most of the California poppies when Bella steps closer to him to push the soil down around the freshly planted bursts of color. "So, I'm curious, what brought you over so early on a Friday morning?" She doesn't look up, just keeps working as she waits for his reply.
"Well, you'd made it sound like this random man was spending the night and I wanted to make sure everything was all right."
"Random man?" she asks, confused, as she looks up at him.
"Yeah, you said you were cooking for a young man, and that you needed to wash the sheets. You never mentioned that it was your son."
"Oh no!" She laughs. "Really? You really thought I was making the moves on some young guy? Is that what you think of me, Mr. C?"
"I didn't know what to think," he admits. "It was a little out there."
"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were jealous," she says as she stands up to face him.
"Maybe I was," he admits.
She feels her emotions simmer at the idea of it. There's something so primal and arousing about a man's jealousy over his intended.
But is she his intended?
She takes him by the shoulders and gently jostles him back and forth playfully to lighten the moment. "You were jealous of me? So you don't want another man having his way with me …admit it!"
"His way with you?" he asks with raised eyebrows.
"Okay," she huffs. "Making love. You don't want another man making love to me."
The air between them suddenly gets thick with tension.
He steps closer to her and looks down as he shakes his head. His expression says everything, but he says the words anyway. "No, I don't."
Something in the way his eyes narrow and his jaw tenses makes her feel like he's holding back. What if what he really wants to be the one she's making love to?
"But… "
She takes a step back, scared of the hope that's flaring up inside of her. Everything is so tentative and fragile. Wanting him will surely lead to an internal meltdown if he works things out with his wife. She's not sure she can handle that kind of heartbreak; he means too much to her now.
"But what?" He looks like he's waiting for a declaration.
There's a long pause as he waits for her response, his gaze so intense that she finally has to look away.
"You saw Lauren last night. How'd it go?" She busies herself, crouching back down to free the next plant from its plastic container.
He places his foot on the edge of the shovel and pushes it into the soil. "I guess it was good in that we finally started to talk about what really happened. If only we had done that a year ago." He lifts the shovel of dirt and empties next to where he's digging.
"How'd she seem?"
"Cautious, but she was trying, I'll give her that."
"Well, that's good. Right?"
"I suppose. It was strange though, in funny ways."
"Like?"
"Well, she ordered a dry martini with olives on the side. She ordered it like it was always her choice of drink. Yet, the whole time I'd been with her, all those years I'd never once seen her order a martini."
"Yeah, that would feel a little weird."
"There were so many ways she felt different to me. I'm still not sure if she's changed a lot, or if at the end of our marriage, I hadn't noticed that she had evolved into a much different woman."
Bella looks somber. "Oh my, that's a lot to sort out. So what's next?"
"We agreed to think about everything we discussed and then talk again in a few days."
"That's a good idea." As she says the words the opposite feeling comes over her. If she were honest with herself she'd admit that she doesn't want that woman anywhere near Edward, but she fears the pull Lauren has on him is too strong to resist.
Edward nods at Bella's encouragement even though he's not sure how he feels about meeting Lauren again to rehash their old problems.
He's torn. He feels a responsibility to meet Lauren out of respect for the commitment he'd made when he married her, but he also remembers that the entire time he was in the restaurant he was wishing he was with Isabella instead.
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.
"I think I'm done," she states, wiping her brow. They've been at it for two hours and the yard is strikingly more colorful.
"Aw come on, don't give up now, there's only one flat left."
"You aren't too hot and tired?"
"I am, but it feels good."
"Masochist," she mumbles under her breath, but grins widely.
She watches him move to the flat and position the young plants around the final planting area. She's mesmerized how his muscles look under his worn T-shirt and the force in his legs as he drives the shovel into the hardened earth.
She sits and watches him for a minute, enjoying the beautiful view of Edward. It finally gives her the courage to ask the question that has haunted her since she found out about the dinner.
"Hey, do you think Lauren wants you back? Maybe seeing you reminded her of what she's missing."
He looks back at her, surprised.
"Maybe."
She scowls. Just as she suspected.
He moves closer to her. "Why?"
"I don't know. I guess I don't want you to get hurt again."
He reaches up and brushes some dirt off her cheek with his thumb, then looks her in the eye. "Is that it, or are you jealous, too?"
"Me, jealous? Of your wife? That would be rather stupid of me, wouldn't it?"
"She's not my wife anymore…not really. You know that. Don't forget she's living with another man now."
"It's kind of twisted, but has it occurred to you that by exploring this with you, it's like she's cheating on him?"
He shrugs. "I guess you could look at it that way."
She shakes her head firmly. "I don't like it."
'You're jealous."
She makes a face at him. He steps even closer.
"Jealous," he whispers.
"Stop being mean to me," she whispers back.
"But I like that you're jealous."
"I don't."
She steps away. "I'm going to take this stuff inside. I'll be back in a minute."
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He watches her walk away. He wants to go after her, but he's afraid because he knows what he'll do. He can't play with Isabella like this. She deserves better.
When she comes back out a minute later she looks calmer, like she pulled herself together while she was inside.
"You okay?" he calls out.
"Yeah, except that I'm filthy!"
She goes over to the hose and turns it on, then starts running the water over her arms and legs to get the dirt off. It's such a simple, unassuming gesture, but the way she does it, gliding her fingers over her skin as the water bubbles over her is incredibly distracting.
What's happening to him? His obsession with her is quickly taking over his mind and other parts of him, too.
She holds the hose out toward him. "Here, you want to clean up?"
He nods and walks over to where she's directing an arc of streaming water. He runs his arms through it.
"Oh man, that feels good," he moans. "I didn't think it'd be this hot today. I can't wait to take a shower."
She grins. "What's stopping you?" She shifts the hose so the stream is landing on the top of his head.
He just stands there at first as the water runs over his face and cascades down his shoulders. She can't read his expression, but she keeps the stream steady because there's something so right about a wet Edward.
Finally his eyes widen, almost imperceptibly under the waterfall. "Oh no, you did not."
She laughs. "Oh yes, I did!"
He lunges forward, but she had anticipated retaliation so she jumps back and directs the stream at his face, blinding him with water.
He growls and lunges again, wildly grasping for the hose. His strength is overpowering, and she isn't able to put up much of a fight. A moment later, she's shrieking as the stream of cold water is turned on her.
"No, no!" she yells, laughing as he soaks her. They wrestle for another moment before she finally gives up.
"That wasn't much of a fight, Isabella," he says as he happily waters her like a plant. His eyes wander down to her tank top that is now completely soaked. It reveals everything about the shape of her breasts including the fact that her nipples are hard.
"What?" she demands, looking down to see what he's seeing. "Your T-shirt is soaked too, you know!"
"Yeah, but what yours reveals is a lot more interesting to me."
"What? That I have breasts?" She pushes her hands down on her hips.
He grins. "That you have beautiful breasts." He shrugs. "Well, don't get defensive. That sheer bra doesn't leave much to the imagination."
She huffs and folds her arms over her chest. "You're embarrassing me. Would you like me to soak the front of your shorts and talk about the size of your penis?"
He smirks. "You can if you want. You won't be disappointed."
She throws her arms up in the air. "You!" She turns and marches up the walkway. She stops at one point and turns around. "I'm going to go change into dry, non-nipple exposing clothes."
"Don't do it on my account," he says. "I like that outfit very much."
Almost to the door she turns back. "Do you want me to see if Jacob has anything oversized in his closet you could wear? He's smaller than you, so I'm not sure."
"No, it's okay. I'm going to head home cause I really do want to shower."
"Really?" She looks disappointed.
"Yeah. But do you want to have dinner later? Why don't I come back at seven and pick you up. There's a new place on Larchmont I've been wanting to try."
She smiles. "Okay."
He's halfway home when it occurs to him that he better make a reservation at the restaurant now or they might not be able to get a table. He pulls over and reaches for his phone and realizes it's not in his pocket. He shakes his head as he remembers that he left his phone, wallet, and good watch on the table next to the pool. He doesn't want to wait to retrieve them in case Isabella needs to reach him, so he turns his car around.
When he gets to the house he rings the bell, but there's no answer. Realizing that she's probably still in the shower, he walks through the side yard to get to the back. The first thing he notices as he passes the pool area is that Isabella's clothes, including her bra and underwear, are in a soggy pile on the ground. Startled, he looks up and scans the yard but everything is still.
Then from the corner of his eye, he notices movement in the wter. He peers over the pool and realizes she's deep in the water, pushing through it with long, even strokes. Her hair fans around her like a gossamer spun silk.
When she finally breaks through the water's surface, she takes a big gulp of air. Her back is to him as she stands and rises out of the water like a glorious sea creature. He loves that she's naked and her wet skin glows under the warm light of the afternoon sun.
He's full of longing as he studies her shape and luminous beauty. He didn't think it was possible to want someone so much.
"Isabella," he calls out. He needs her to know he's watching her.
Startled, she turns around in the water, her wet hair covering her bare breasts.
"You're back," she says, her eyes wide with wonder. She slowly sinks back down into the water until it covers her shoulders like a cloak.
He points to the table nervously. "I forgot my phone and stuff."
She just watches him.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
She smiles quietly. "Swimming."
"Yeah, I can see that—but you're naked."
"Uh huh, that's the best way to swim. You should try it sometime."
His reaction is so visceral, so instinctive, that he's not even sure it passes through his mind. He reaches up and starts to pull off his shirt.
"What are you doing?" she asks as he starts to unsnap his shorts.
"Going swimming…naked."
She turns away quickly right before he pushes his shorts off, missing a prime view of his arousal.
He dives in cleanly, cutting through the water with grace. She wonders if he was a swimmer when he was young. With his broad shoulders and long lean muscles, it wouldn't surprise her. He glides over closer to her.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she asks.
"Swimming is great exercise," he points out, smiling.
"So is sex, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea between friends."
He swims a lazy circle around her as he watches her squirm.
"Who said anything about sex?" he asks quietly.
"I don't know. I guess it's on my mind."
He lowers himself into the water and pushes off, gliding to one of the end of the pool and back. His strokes are powerful, every movement showing off his handsome body in the most tantalizing way. She watches him, wondering what it would be like to have her legs wrapped tightly around him-how it would feel to be held in his arms skin to skin, heart to heart.
He surfaces even closer to her.
Bella keeps moving slowly under the water and doesn't try to hide. Every time he gazes down at her body she flushes with arousal. It surprises her how natural it feels to be naked before him.
After a particularly long look, his eyes finally trail back up to hers. "You know, Lauren asked all about you."
Bella's taken aback. "How in the world would she even know who I was?"
"Well, I told her that I was taking you to Italy to take care of something important, so naturally, she was curious."
"You told her about our trip?" Bella's surprised, but he takes her reaction as something else.
"Don't worry. I told her that we're good friends. Although she didn't look like she believed that."
"If I were her I'd probably be skeptical, too."
"She asked if I'd slept with you."
"What'd you say?"
"I told her no. I want to be honest about everything…with everyone."
He slowly circles around her again, and this time she follows him with her gaze, silently turning her body like they're connected. The water ripples form around her as if they're trying to contain her pounding heart.
He looks at her, starts to speak, and then stops. He looks down and slowly combs his fingers through the water. When he finally looks back up he has fire in his eyes.
"…but I told her that I wanted to."
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Mmmm, now let's imagine what's going to happen next...
Thanks for reading
xoxo
abbie
See you next Saturday!