CHAPTER THREE
Edward drove the golf cart down the dirt road to the beach and thought about Bella, like he'd done all afternoon. Every time she sucked in her bottom lip between her teeth he had the urge to kiss her.
He hadn't had thoughts like those for a long time. Then again, he hadn't been interested in a woman since ... well, in too long. It sounded stupid, that a twenty-four year old guy needed to talk to his mother, but she'd be the only one to tell him why he was thinking like this.
He got to the top of the beach and before he drove down the sandy embankment toward the water, he glanced up at Bella's site.
She sat at the picnic table reading. She licked her finger and turned the page then quickly hooked a loose strand of hair behind her ear — a very normal thing that women did all the time. So then why did it stir something deep inside him? He shook his head and continued down the hill toward the party.
Just as Edward expected, his brothers got together with Bella's friends and disappeared, leaving him alone to man the party. For the most part, all the campers behaved themselves and the DJ played the last song promptly at 10:55 p.m. By 11:15, everyone vacated the beach and went back to their campsites.
He helped the DJ tear down then load his equipment into the back of his pickup truck. Edward watched the DJ slowly drive up the sandy hill until it met the dirt road of the campground. Once the truck was gone, he quickly glanced up to Bella's site and his heart sputtered.
She stood there, her arms causally dangling over the wood fence. In the light of her campfire, he saw her eyes on him and she smiled.
"I guess a business owner's work is never done."
"No, especially when your brothers are nowhere to be found."
"They invited Rose and Alice up to your house."
"So what are you doing?"
She shrugged. "I was thinking of grabbing a blanket to come down there and do some star gazing."
"No one's allowed on the beach after dark."
"I'm not going in the water. I'm just going to lie on a blanket and look up at the sky."
She bit her lip again and his stomach whirred like it did when he saw her reading. "Grab your blanket and meet me by the boat house."
The moon was only a sliver, so it didn't lend much light but minutes later he saw the beam of her flashlight coming toward him.
She stood next to him holding a blue and white plaid blanket. The boat house's small light illuminated her face offering him a view of her pretty brown eyes.
"All set?"
Bella looked around behind her. "Why can't we just spread the blanket right here?"
"I think you'll like it over here."
She stood her ground and just stared up at him. "Look, I don't know you and, um, my friends ... "
Edward heard the hesitation in her voice and rubbed a hand through his hair. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Over here we'll be far enough away from the light of the boat house to see the stars better."
She appeared to weigh her options. "Do you promise to behave yourself?"
He held up three fingers. "Scouts honor."
"Then lead the way Mr. Cullen."
He started off behind the boat house toward the far end of the beach. "It's Edward."
"Okay. Edward. Does your family call you Eddie?"
Just the sound of that made him laugh. "No. My mother wouldn't hear of it."
Bella snickered. "Why not?"
"You'd have to know my mother. She's very old-fashioned I guess you could say."
The boat house still lent enough light that he could see where they were going without needing a flashlight. He stopped and held out his hands, she handed him the blanket and he spread it out over the sand. She lay down, stretched out and put her arm behind her head.
"You should lie back. Your neck will hurt looking up like that."
He made himself comfortable sitting next to her.
"Are you okay?" Bella sat up on her elbows to look at him.
"Yeah. So why do you do this?"
She lay back down. "I've always found it fascinating that when I look up at the sky at home in Washington or here in Maine it's the same sky my Mom looks at in Florida. I'm a little crazy like that," she laughed.
"That's not crazy at all."
"I thought about majoring in astronomy at Dartmouth."
Edward gave a low whistle. "Dartmouth. Wow. So what is your major?"
"Art history with an English minor. I figure if I can't get a job with an art history degree I can probably teach somewhere."
Edward stared up at the stars and tried to not let what Bella said affect him. She didn't wear make-up, she wore jeans and a tee shirt then pitched a tent, paddled a canoe and built a fire. She certainly didn't come across as being pretentious so her being Ivy League surprised him.
"What about you Ed?"
"What about me?"
"Do you go to school?"
"No. I'm thinking about going back, though."
"Why did you stop?"
"It's a long story." He'd leave it at that.
"Well, I'm a firm believer in finishing what you start so you have no regrets later. What were you going to school for?"
"Forestry, but now I'm not sure. Hey, aren't the Perseid meteor showers tonight?"
He heard her chuckle. "Smooth move, Ed."
"What?"
"The way you changed the subject. If you don't want to talk about something, tell me and we'll avoid it."
"Are you always this straight forward?"
He looked down at her and saw her smile.
"Some would argue I'm too straight forward. I don't see the point in beating around the bush. Is there anything else you don't want to talk about?"
He shrugged. "Relationships and my past."
"Relationships suck, so I totally understand."
Bella was right about his neck starting to hurt so he laid back but kept a respectable distance in between them.
"Yeah, I don't think true love is in the cards for me," he said.
"Me either. Do you think there is such a thing?"
"If you saw my parents, you'd know there is."
"That's nice. My parents divorced when I was young. My mom remarried, but not my dad. I think she broke him."
"My parents are in love with love," he snickered.
Bella giggled. "You're a funny guy."
He laughed. That was the first time anyone had ever told him that. Probably because it had been a very long while since he shared a laugh with anyone. He was usually too busy beating himself up for his past mistakes. Letting loose a little felt pretty good.
"So Ed, what do you do in your down time?"
"Down time? What's that?" he chuckled.
"All work and no play makes Eddie a boring boy."
He had to think about that and the answer scared him. He worked all the time to keep his mind off other things.
"Is that Cassiopeia?" he pointed to the constellation on horizon.
"You're doing it again."
"What?"
"Changing the subject."
When he glanced down, Bella had turned on her side, rested her head on her hand and stared up at him.
"I guess I don't do much for fun," he admitted.
"Don't be embarrassed about it. I'm just trying to make conversation."
"Then let's talk about you."
"There's not much to tell. I grew up in Washington, I already told you my parents divorced when I was young. I graduated high school then came to the East Coast for college."
She rolled onto her back and as they both looked up a star streaked across the sky and left a white tail behind it that faded back to black.
"I hope you made a wish," she whispered.
"Did you?"
"Of course. I always do."
He smiled. Bella attended a prestigious school like Dartmouth, yet she still believed in making wishes on shooting stars. As he listened to the sound of the lake gently lapping at the shore, he wondered what she wished for.
"How come relationships are so complicated?" she asked in a soft voice.
"I don't think they're supposed to be. Are you in one now?"
For some reason, he had to know.
"No. It ended a couple of months ago. I guess it's my own fault for moving across the country. It's impossible to have a long distance relationship."
She got quiet again and when he stole a glance at her, she
swiped her arm across her face then dropped it back on the blanket next to his. He knew she was crying but didn't know what to say or do to make her feel better and his arm suddenly felt on fire as it lay next to hers.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Sure. Why?"
"I can feel the heat coming off your body. You don't feel feverish?"
"No," she said and moved away from him.
Strange. There was no humidity in the air and for the first time in a week it had cooled down at night. He would've thought she'd be cold.
"So how long do you usually star gaze?"
"I don't know. Sometimes I fall asleep and other times I get lost in thought. Why?"
"Just making conversation."
She snorted and a smile tugged up at the corners of his mouth. He liked her easy going manner.
"So Edward, where are your parents now?"
"My Dad took my mom away on a three month Mediterranean cruise for their 25th wedding anniversary."
"That's so sweet. I don't think I'll ever have that with anyone."
"Sure you will. Just because it didn't work out with ... what's his name?"
"Jake ... Jacob." She sighed. "I'll never meet someone who will understand me like Jake does."
"Never is a very long time."
The breeze blew over them and Edward inhaled her scent, a mix of woodsy campfire and a hint of the sweet honeysuckle he smelled when she walked by him earlier.
Bella sat up abruptly. "I should head back to my site."
"Yeah, I should turn in," he stretched and stood.
Bella picked up the blanket and he took it from her.
"Why don't you go stand over there so when I shake this, you don't get sand in your eyes?"
He shook it, folded it and handed it to her along with the flashlight. He accompanied her back to her site without as much as a word between them. The fire burned low in the fire pit at her campsite and her friends were still nowhere to be found. He added a two pieces of wood to the fire and they both watched as the flames licked around the logs.
"I guess I'll go chase your friends out of my house. Would you like to accompany me?"
"I don't think so. I'm going to sit here and watch the fire then go to bed."
He was surprised how his heart fell in disappointment. Another sign he needed to consult with his mother about these feelings.
He shoved a hand through his hair. "Okay. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. Thanks for being such a gentleman and walking me home. Your mother should be proud."
"I'll tell her you said so," he smiled.
Without warning, she reached over and kissed him very lightly on his cheek.
"What was that for?"
"For listening. You're a good guy."
She stood there in the glowing light of the fire and he suddenly had the urge to cup her cheeks in his hands and kiss her on the mouth. He imagined carrying her into her tent, making passionate love then lying in each other's arms as they listened to the crickets and other sounds of the campground at night.
Those images scared the shit out of him.
Carrying her off to her tent like some caveman wouldn't make him such a good 'friend.'
"Sleep tight, Bella."
He spun on his heel and practically ran back to his golf cart.