I forgot to do this last time: I own nothing people.

Thanks for the encouragement from a few. I was truely surprised by the reviews and story alerts. I know it's been a while since my first update. I honestly wasn't sure if I was going to continue this story, my only story. I started my own business recently so I've been extremely busy, but the reviews made me want to. I know the first chapter seemed a little dark, so I tried to make up for it in this chapter. Oh, and also, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Fran's Liquor Store. I searched for a job for two whole weeks and Fran's Liquor Store was the best that I could do. To say that I was a little disappointed was an understatement. But what could I expect? Really, with only a high school diploma, no degree and no experience, I was lucky to have this full time job at the only liquor store in Forks. Fran needed someone to work the early shifts from 10am to 4pm, Monday through Saturday.

This meant that Sheridan would be spending her days at the Methodist Church Daycare during the weekdays, and Saturdays with her "PawPaw", my dad, Charlie, Forks Police Chief. Charlie wasn't excited about my new job. He didn't like the idea of me working at a liquor store, but I explained to him that it was all that I could find and that I didn't plan on working there forever. Besides, I would be working the day shifts. When he offered to keep Sheridan on Saturdays I was hesitant at first. I didn't want him to have to cut back on his work hours or his fishing hours with Billy, but he explained that one of the perks of being the police chief was that he could take Saturdays off if he wanted to. And as far as his fishing trips were concerned, he could take Sheridan with him. "A young girl, living this close to the Pacific, should know how to fish at an early age" he said. As much as I hated the idea of leaving my little girl with strangers at a daycare all day and then relying on my father for help on Saturdays, I didn't have the luxury to argue about it. I needed money. I was drowning in bills and my checking account was looking really sad.

Work was pretty easy. I spent most of the day standing behind the counter at the register. It was interesting to see who came in and how often. Most days Fran had me come in an hour before we opened to do some light stocking and to open the back for any deliveries. The only bad part of my job was the looks of pity I got from people that I knew and some that I didn't. Those who knew me would tell me how sorry they were about my husband, and those who didn't know me but knew of me would just stare. Both made me uncomfortable.

Sheridan surprisingly does well going to daycare everyday. I was afraid that she wouldn't like it and that it would be a big hassle to get her there. However, when I go at 4:15 to pick her up she is always reluctant to leave. Apparently, this has something to do with a little boy named Harlin, who she does not stop talking about. It's cute, at dinner when I ask her about him, she'll say, "Harwin's my best friend!" Then she'll start some gibberish about playing with cars and somebody named Bubba. I don't know.

Not long after Jasper visited I tried to explain to Sheridan about where her daddy was. I told her that her daddy was with Jesus now and that he wasn't coming back. She cried a little and asked why. I told her that I guessed that Jesus needed daddy more than we did. Then she cried some more and so did I. It was the hardest thing that I've ever done, but she seems to be doing better now. I can tell that she misses him sometimes though.

It was a Saturday afternoon, and the store was busy. I hadn't left my register since noon. One good thing about being busy though, was that there was no time for small talk. I barely had time to look at faces to check IDs. So when I noticed that the hand with the perfectly manicured nails that were drumming on the bottle of Grey Goose Vodka belonged to the wicked witch of the west, Ms. Rosalie Hale, I was all too happy to get her in and out of my check-out line.

"Rosalie."

"Isabella."

I entered the price of the vodka in to the register and then hit appropriate keys, giving me the total for her purchase.

"That will be $24.98"

She then handed me a twenty and a five. So I, in return, gave her two pennies.

She stood there for a second, staring at me like she wanted to say something with her mouth opening and closing. I, of course, didn't want to hear it.

"Have a nice day, Rosalie", I said with no hint of enthusiasm or sincerity.

She gave a huff, grabbed her vodka by the neck and flew through the door.

Rosalie and I hadn't always hated one another. We were friends when we were little, up until high school. We met in ballet class when we were 8. She was beautiful and out going and I was plain and shy, but she took a liking to me for some reason. I never understood why she liked me so much. She would always stay over at my house when we had sleep-overs, which I also never understood because her house was so much nicer than mine and she had all the best toys. She didn't seem to care about that though and neither did I because we always had fun together, even if all we had to play with was a box of toothpicks. When we got to high school, things changed. I met Jeffery and Rosalie got mean. She started off just being cruel and then graduated to back-stabbing bitchery. She would throw herself at Jeffery. He, of course, resisted because, well…he was perfect. However, the more he resisted the harder she tried.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and for that I was glad. Heading out the door, I thought of nothing but Sheridan and home. I wasn't expecting who was waiting for me at my car.

"Bella, I just wanted to tell you that I am sorry about Jeff."

"Thanks, Rose."

She had her arms crossed over her chest and was looking down at her feet. She looked beautiful in her expensive clothes, like she always does.

"So….how are you Bella?"

I started digging in my purse for my keys. "I'm ok. Thanks for asking."

"What happened to us Bella?" She asked with something that sounded like regret.

"Rose," I started with some frustration, "I don't have time for this. I have to go get Sheridan from daycare and I'm exhausted and I just don't have the energy." I opened my car door and got inside.

Rose reached out and grabbed the door to keep me from closing it. "Bella!" she whined like a five year old. "Why won't you be my friend?! Be my friend!"

Holy shit! This bitch has lost her mind.

I always thought she was crazy in high school. She just made my case.

"What is wrong with you woman?! Why do you want to be here for me now? You've treated me like dirt for years! You were mean. What do you expect?!"

"Yeah, well, you started it." Is she serious right now? What is this? 2nd grade? "You thought you were so much better than me because you had a boyfriend!"

"What? Wait! You were mad because I had a boyfriend?" I asked with a giggle.

"No…not exactly. You dropped me Bella. You were always with Jeff and had no time for me! How do you think that made me feel? I lost my best friend to a stupid boy!"

Only Rosalie would refer to my now dead husband as a stupid boy.

"Look here crazy, I'm sorry if you're ego was hurt when you were no longer the center of attention, but I will not apologize for any of the time that I spent with Jeff. Not now, not ever."

With that, she lost the crazy for a second and gave me a look of pity. I pulled the door and she let go. As I headed to daycare I began to understand Rose a little better the more I thought about it. Her flirting with Jeff and anger toward me was all an attempt to get me to see how hurt she was. I should have known, I guess I was a bit caught up in my romance with Jeff to see it.

I pulled up to the Methodist Church Daycare and got out. I was still thinking about Rose and how crazy she is while looking at my feet as I walked toward the door of the building. I tended to do this a lot while in thought, look at my feet, which only added to my clumsiness.

"Hey Bella." I heard him just in time to stop before I ran into him. I looked up to see Emmett, with his big smile and huge dimples, and couldn't help but smile right back at him.

"Hi Emmett. How are you?"

"I'm good. How are you?"

"I'm fine" I said as I continued to walk with him to the door. "What are you doing here? You got a kid I don't know about?" That's it. Get the attention off of me.

"Ha! Yeah, I probably do have a kid that neither of us know about!" he laughed. I laughed a little too. "No…I'm here to get my little brother."

"You have a brother young enough to be in daycare?"

"Yeah, I know. My mom started early and ended late. I pick him up occasionally to help her out in her old age." He joked some more.

"That's nice of you." I smiled.

We entered the building and were met at the pick-up area by Sue. Sue was a very nice Native American lady who happened to be friends with Charlie. She was the only reason I had any peace of mind about leaving Sheridan here.

"Hi Sue."

"Hi Bella. Hi Emmett. Let me go get the kiddos for you. I believe they're all ready to go." She disappeared into an open classroom full of screaming and crying toddlers. I stood there with Emmett in what was becoming an awkward silence.

"You guys still having your weekly poker games in the "man cave"?"

"We're starting them up again this week, actually. We skipped a few after Jeff's death. We all miss him a lot Bella."

"Me too." I smiled to try to lighten the mood but it didn't work.

"If you need anything Bella, please let me know. Jeff was one of my best friends and he'd probably come back from the grave and kick my ass if I didn't look out for you and Sheridan."

"Thanks Em."

"Let's go you two." I looked up to see Sue herding my daughter out of the classroom, my daughter who had a little boy attached to her hand.

"Hey Baby Girl, you ready to go home?" I asked my daughter as I held out my arms. She smiled real big, detached her hand from the little boy's and skipped over into my arms. I picked her up and noticed that Emmett had picked up the little boy to put him on his big, strong, thick, manly shoulders. Emmett's physique was definitely one to be appreciated and admired by all. He probably should've been a professional football player instead of an accountant. However, Emmett in a suit and tie was nice to look at, but right now he just made me think of Jeff.

"Buh Bye Sheri!" the little boy called from above Emmett's head, which was pretty high up there. "Let's go Bubba!" He then began steering Emmett around by his ears.

"Bye Harwin!" Sheridan called out to him and gave a little wave. Oh, ok, so that's Harlin and Bubba is Emmett.

Emmett turned around then and said, "See around Bella."

"See ya Bubba."

Please don't hate me. I'm slowly introducing all the characters in Bella's world. And again, I have no idea what I'm doing. Good news is that I'm going to have more free time since I work from home. So there will be a update soon.