Disclaimer: All the Twilight stuff belongs to Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing in her sandbox.
Chapter 23 Rockingham
EPOV
"Sweetheart," I said as I nudged her, "Wake up, there's the racetrack. Where were we supposed to meet Jake?"
"Um, he said to go through the tunnel to midfield where the garages are and we would see the haulers. I guess just head that way and let me call him", she said as she reached for her phone in her purse.
We had left before the others this morning, Bella was anxious to spend some time with Jake. I was okay with that. She and I had formed such a tight bond that I no longer had insecurities about her leaving me . . . well, almost no insecurity about it. Besides, I owed Jake big time.
Though he had tried to be more than a friend, he had respected her wishes and not pushed her. He had laid in bed with her every night for months, sometimes holding her when she was upset and he had remained a gentleman. I wasn't sure I could have done the same and I certainly could not blame him for wanting her, she just had no idea how desirable she was.
He had brought her somewhat back to herself, brought her out of the depression that my leaving caused, not to mention that he had saved her life, literally, when she jumped off the cliff at La Push. If he had not been willing to take her with him when he left and she had stayed in Forks, I wasn't sure she would have survived long enough for me to come back to her. He was young and hadn't made the transformation to wolf form yet and away from the tribal lands with no vampires around, I wasn't sure he would ever know that the legends of his people were true. He hadn't especially liked me in the beginning, but what he hadn't known was that that dislike was probably instinctual. Even though he didn't believe the Quilette legends about 'cold ones', his body knew.
"Jake! We're here, where would you like us to meet you?", I heard her ask him. I also heard the excitement in her voice and swallowed back the venom that tried to collect in my mouth. It wasn't purposeful, just my reaction to anytime another male that wanted her was in contact with her.
"Got it, see you in a few", she said as she clicked off the phone.
"He's in the garage, just like I thought he'd be. He always insisted on fine tuning the day before the race. Did you bring the paperwork with you?", she said as she looked down at her hands.
"Edward, you really don't have to do this you know. I feel . . . " , I cut her off, reaching for one of the hands she was fiddling with on her lap.
"Baby, we have gone over and over this. It is OUR money, not just mine, and we both really want to see him succeed. I owe him as much as you do. He kept you safe for me. Well . . . except for that last race", I said as the frown caused my brow to crease.
"You know that was in no way his fault, Edward", she quickly added.
"I do know that, I do. It's just that you getting hurt, well, I'm not very rational about that, you know how I am", I spoke softly to her.
"Yes, I really do know how you are, sweetheart", she said as she stroked my forearm with the hand I wasn't holding, "and I love you for it. But I just want to make sure that you know that we don't have to do this."
"Bella, we have more money than we can ever use. Even if we didn't, Alice and I can buy stocks and replenish funds quicker than you can believe. I want to do this for him and I think you do, too", I reassured her.
"Okay then. Do you want to tell him here, or should we wait till tonight or tomorrow at the track?"
"Well, if we give it to him today, do you think it will throw him off his game for the race tomorrow?", I asked.
"No, but lets wait till he finished with the bikes, does all his adjustments, then we can take him to dinner and tell him. Does that work for you?"
"Anything you want works for me, baby", I told her as I parked and took time to brush the hair away from my favorite spot just under her ear so that I could kiss it.
There was a noise from outside and Bella's car door opened quickly. Jake literally pulled her out of the car and into a hug.
"Jake!", a startled Bella called out, "Jake I'm so glad to see you!"
"I'm the one that's glad to see you, chicka! I've missed you! I hate sleeping in bed alone", he said with a smirk as he looked over the car to meet my stare.
"Jake!", she said as she smacked him hard on the shoulder. Way to make my husband like you!"
"It's alright, baby", I said with a smirk. It's not like we sleep in bed anyway", I retorted.
"Ha! You got me there! How are you, Edward?", Jake said as he put my wife down and reached to shake my hand.
"Good, good. How is everything here, I hear you do no wrong . . . winning every race! That's just amazing, Jake. Congratulations, man!", I offered a fist bump. Jake and I were actually becoming good friends. What else could explain my letting him made a comment like he just had and live. I just shook my head at how soft I was becoming.
After all the appropriate squeals and admiration for the bikes, we headed off to find the rest of our family and get settled into the hotel, leaving Jake to finish up his work on the bikes. We were meeting for dinner in just a few hours and Bella wanted a quick nap before hand. Well, she said she wanted a nap. I knew she wanted me in bed to reassure me that she was mine and to make sure I understood about Jake. I understood and I trusted my wife, but I would enjoy her reassurance just the same.
~oooOooo~
"Alice! We'll be out in a minute", Bella called out from the shower. Alice had come to our suite at the hotel and had discovered us in the shower. Six months ago, it would have mortified her to talk to someone while her legs were wrapped around my waist and we were in the shower together.
I sucked on her earlobe gently as I traced kisses along her jaw to her mouth. Her breathing was rapid now, she would not be able to hold out much longer. I increased the pace as she raked her nails down my back and pulled at my hair, trying to consume as much of me as possible, as I did her.
"I love you, you know", she whispered into my ear.
"I know, baby. I really do know that. And I am so in love with you", I told her as we sank to the floor of the shower, her legs still tight around me.
"Enough of the lovey stuff you guys!", Alice called to us as she banged on the bathroom door. "I just came to tell you that we were all going hunting, if you wanted to come!"
"Alice", Bella said as I opened the bathroom door and stepped out in a towel, "You know I don't hunt yet!"
"Not you!", she said exasperatedly, "I thought Edward might like to get a quick bite before you go to dinner with the humans."
"No, Alice. I'm okay, but thanks. We'll see you guys in the morning before the race. Is everyone here then?", Edward asked her.
"Carlisle and Esme will be here in 17 minute, and we will leave for the park. Sure you don't want to come?", she asked again.
"Alice, have you seen that I need to come?"
"No, no, of course not. I would tell you something like that. It is very unnerving to me, though, that what happens at the race tack is fuzzy. I can't seem to see anything at all that includes Jacob and I need to find out why that is!", Alice said with a worried look on her face.
"Well, we will see you tomorrow then", I said as I closed the door behind her and remembered to lock it this time.
Bella flopped down on the bed laughing and I crawled on all fours over her to kiss her lips.
~oooOooo~
"Longhorn Steaks, I love it!", Jake said approvingly of the restaurant Edward had chosen, "Now if you had only brought the R8!"
"Tomorrow, Jake. The R8 only seats two, and we wanted to be able to drive you, that's why we borrowed Carlisles' Mercedes to dinner with us."
Bella had really seemed to enjoy her meal, and from the thoughts I could pick out of Jacobs head, so had he. He was enjoying my wife's' company just a little more than I liked, but I was determined not to let my jealously creep into our evening. My wife had assured me that there was nothing to be jealous of and I was going to trust her.
"Any new leads on who sabotaged the bike Bella was riding?"
"No, nothing. It doesn't even make sense. No one saw anyone near the bikes. The security tapes show nothing unusual and there are just no clues", Jacob said.
"I don't think anyone was after me", Bella added to the conversation, "It had to be a rival racer or someone that was an enemy of Dale's. There is just no other reason to do something like that."
"Jake, do you still have those security tapes?", I asked him.
"Sure. In fact, I have copies at the shop. We can look at them tomorrow after the race if you want", Jacob offered.
"I would like that. I just want to see if there is anything that I might pick up on on the tapes, especially if we run them in slow motion", I said.
Bella looked at me questioningly. I know it bothered her that anyone would try to kill someone just for the sake of winning a race, and I need to know that that really was the reason, that it wasn;' anything intended directly towards Bella. We dropped the subject and continued to chat about happenings in our lives and his, from the last races he participated in to our adventures on our road trip home from Forks.
"Sam Uley really wants to hear from you, Jake. You should give him a call", Bella told Jacob.
Jacobs thoughts were interesting. He knew that he was supposed to be the next chief of the Quilette tribe, and he knew exactly the details that Sam need him for. He was hiding from it, not willing to pick up the heritage that was being handed to him. It wasn't that he was scared, it was just that he felt there were more things outside of tribal life that he wanted to try.
"I know, I know, Bells. I'll call him some time soon. I just don't want to deal with all of that - and I see it in your face, you want to talk about the fact that I am supposed to be chief. Just don't. We already had tat talk on the phone!", Jacob said emphatically.
"Okay, Chief Jacob", Bella chided, "but eventually you have to talk to me about it."
Conversation died down after that, and after the plates had been cleared, and dessert had been ordered by the two of them, I pulled a manila envelope from the seat beside me and placed it on the table. Bella noticed immediately, knowing what was coming.
"Jake", I started the conversation, "Bella and I have something for you."
I slid the envelope towards him. His thoughts were all over the place. He really had no idea and we seemed to have pulled this one off with him having not a clue. He opened the package and pulled out the neatly packaged legal documents with the artwork Bella had designed on the cover.
"Black, LLC?", he asked staring at me.
Bella was the one to answer. "Jake, we want you to have your own company, your own racing team if that's what you want. I can retain a part ownership in it. if you like, and we would be business partners!"
Jake looked at Edward suspiciously. "You're serious with this?"
"Yes", I said flatly. "We both want to see you succeed and believe you have talent and I want to show you my thanks for being there for her . . . when I wasn't. I owe you everything, Jake, and this is only a small offering compared to what you did for her."
"I didn't do it for money, or for you. You know that, right. I love Bella and I wanted to see her happy", Jake spoke slowly, "And you know as well as I do that I wanted her for myself."
My blood, had I had any, would have been boiling. Jake looked at Bella, really looked deeply into her eyes.
"I wish I could have brought out the same smile, the same glimmer in her eyes that she has when she sees or talks about you, but it never happened", he looked directly at me, "It was always you, Edward. She always wanted only you and I'm glad now that you two have each other."
He looked down at the papers and his eyes grew wide.
"Jake, we want you to have this. It's no big deal, really, and I want to do this with you!"
"Edward, you've set up the bank accounts and company already and put two million dollars in the account? I can't believe this and I definitely can't accept it!"
"You absolutely will accept it Jacob Black and it was both of our ideas. Believe it or not, this amount of money is not even a problem. Edward has made some very good investments and we want you to have this. You're an amazing mechanic and you need your own racing team, or mechanic shop, or whatever. You are free to use the money for any type of business that you want."
"Bella . . . Edward . . . I just have no idea of what to even say", Jake looked lost.
"Say yes, Jake! You rally have no choice anyway, I'm not giving in!", Bella demanded.
We dropped Jacob of at his hotel with a multitude of hugs and promises for making the business successful and paying us back. He was actually in shock for the most part and we were both glad we had done this for him. He had deserved a chance at becoming all that he could be and he was important to both of us as he had been there to support Bella. For now, he had a race to think about for tomorrow and Bella was excited to be at the track again. I was worried that she was a little too excited. I didn't want her riding no matter what as the memory of almost loosing her in that crash came painfully into view in my memory.
~oooOooo~
WELCOME TO ROCKINGHAM!
It was everywhere, the words welcoming racing fans to the track. We were all excited, but none more than Rosalie and Emmett. We all gathered at the VIP reception area and waited for the officiants to arrive and tell us where they wanted us. Bella was taken to seating down front, right at the edge of the tracks in front of the stands, and we were shown to seats in the front few rows. It wasn't long till Jacob, Dale and the other team members arrived and took their sets behind Bella.
"This is exciting, Edward", Carlisle leaned over and said quietly into my ear, "Esme and I are so very happy for you, happy that you finally found her, son."
"I know, dad. I never thought it would happen, that I could possibly be this happy. She is everything I ever wanted and lots of things that I didn't even know I wanted. She surprises me at every turn", I told my father.
"Yes, she certainly does accept us in every way, doesn't she. Quite a remarkable young woman, Edward. Definitely a challenging match for you, son", he said as he chuckled.
Over the intercom, clear as day, the announcement came-
And the new rider of the year award goes to Bella Swan!
This little lady is just 19 years old and ladies and gentlemen,
she ha a hell of a career in front of her!
Bella approached the stand to accept the trophy and whispered something in the speakers ear as she shook his hand and took the trophy from him. My heart sank a little. Bella Swan. I hadn't thought of her as Bella Swan in a very long time, and I wanted her known as Cullen, my wife . . . mine.
Excuse me, folks, that's Bella Cullen!
Seems the little lady is spoken for and wants us to know it!
Well, Congratulations Bella and we hope to see much more of you in the racing world!
She knew. She felt the same way I did, she was mine and she wanted it known. God I loved that woman! We all encircled her after the award, Emmett lifting her to his shoulders and carrying her around.
"Congratulations Bella!", Jasper offered as he patted her legs on Emmetts' shoulder.
"You did great, sis", Alice offered as Rosalie joined in on the praise.
"We are so proud of you, Bella". Esme said.
"Yes, we are very proud of you! As your doctor as well as your father-in-law, I just don't ever want to see you going that fast on a motorcycle again. I don't think even my stone heart could take it!", said Carlisle as he lifted her off of Emmett's shoulders and hugged her to him.
I grabbed her myself and kissed her. "I am so proud of you, baby, and thank you", I whispered to her, "I love that you corrected him about your name."
"No, sweetheart, thank you. I love being married to you, Edward, and I want everyone to know that I'm a Cullen now!"
"So, can we go down to the pits, Bella? Can you get me in to see the bikes?", Rosalie asked excitedly.
"I can, Rosalie, but Jacob only gave me the two passes, one for me and one for Edward."
"Go ahead", Edward said, "I can stay here with the rest of the family while you show her the motorcycles. She will go nuts if she doesn't get a close up view, anyway!"
Ladies and Gentlemen,
if you will all take your seats,
the races are about to begin!
"My family and I found our way to our seats, just down the line a bit in one of the front row boxes. We had a great view from here, and the races were about to begin. I was worried about just how loud it was going to be this close to the track, our hearing after all amplified each little sound and as I remembered from before, the bikes were incredibly loud."
The first race went off in just a few minutes, Dale's new rider, James had won again. That name really got to me. Ever since the episode with the tracker by that name and Bella almost being killed in Phoenix, I could hardly stand to hear that name. I had Alice keeping an eye out for Victoria, of course, since we had heard nothing from her since. I still had an odd suspicion that she had something to do with Laurent being on the Quilette reservation last spring when the wolves had tracked and killed him, and with Billy's death. I really wish I had been there to catch that scent and see if she had anything to do with his death.
As they set up for the next race, the officiant came over the loud speaker with an announcement.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special treat today.
Bella Cullen will be riding for team Dale in the next race this afternoon!
Riders, start your motors!
I stood as still as a statue. There was no way I would make it to her in time to stop her. If I had a heart, it would surely have stopped beating in that moment.
I starred at the form of the girl, it was obviously a girl, on the bike. Her face was completely hidden by the full face helmet and her body covered from head to toe in riding leathers that appeared to be brand new. The lights changed and the bikes roared to life.
She was flying down the drag strip reaching speeds I didn't even want to think about. Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder and I felt Jasper doing his best to calm everyone. Alice's hand covered her mouth as she gasped. The bike flipped. The damned bike veered off to one side and flipped side to side this time, not end over end like it had when Bella had almost been killed at the race in June when I had found her. The rider tumbled straight on down the strip as the bike went to one side, then crashed into the safety fencing, taking part of the fence down with it.
Carlisle and I were already moving. My phone was ringing but I didn't care. The others were moving at a fast human pace, but Carlisle and were literally flying down to the wreck, not caring that we were moving too fast and in fact moving so fast that we could not possibly have been seen. As we approached the last protective fencing between us and the leather clad figure on the ground we slowed. Several things happened at once. We both realized as we reached the leather covered body on the ground, that there was no heartbeat. As I placed my hand over the throat of the girl on the track, her scent reached my nose and she moved. In fact, she sat up just as Jacob and the ambulance arrived. She opened the visor of her helmet and I starred straight into the amber eyes of my sister, Rosalie.
I have never smiled so big in my life.
She stood and held both hands up in a victory symbol, letting the crowd know that she was alright and Jacob hustled her and us into the waiting ambulance while the rest of the crew tended to the bike. Once in the ambulance, she removed her helmet and struggled out of the leather outfit. Bella stepped forward from the front of the ambulance. I had not even noticed her i was so rattled.
"Bella!", I whispered almost reverently. She held me while I literally shook from the fear I had just experienced.
"Sweetheart, I would have talked to you first if I wanted to ride. Baby, you know that we agreed to discuss everything. Calm down, baby, it's alright. I'm fine", she said as she hugged me to her ans softly stroked my hair and bent over where I was sitting on the bench seat.
"How about helping me get this outfit on before they open that door and find out that Rose really rode the bike", she said urgently. My phone beeped telling me that I had a message - and the caller ID said that the call was from Bella. She looked at it and softly told me that she had tried to call and let me know that it was Rose and not her on the bike.
"What the hell happened, anyway, Rose?", Jacob asked.
"I have no idea. The bike just all of a sudden veered off to the left and I dove forward and rolled! Looked good though, didn't it!", Rosalie smirked.
I read her mind though. The story sounded good to Jacob and everyone else, but her mind told me the truth and I held Bella even tighter. One of our kind had run out across the track and literally kicked the bike as he flew past it, crossing the track before there was any way he could have been seen. My God, It was Bella that they were after and I was sure this time that Victoria was indeed at the root of it all.
"Rose", Emmett boomed as he helped us from the ambulance, "I can't believe you did that! I heard the conversation on your way back down the track! Thank God it was you and not little sis, though, She isn't very durable yet!"
Rose slapped him on the shoulder before throwing her arms around him and giving him a passionate kiss.
The last races finished up and we were all gathering for the presentation of the winners trophies, Dale's team having taken the championship for the year.
Racing fans, we have one final presentation to make.
Would Mrs. Bella Cullen please come to the winners circle.
I went with her. There was no way I was budging an inch away from her with all that had happened and Jake felt the same way.
Bella, the All Harley Drag Racing Association
would like to present you with this
brand new Harley Davidson Springer FXSTS motorcycle
with its wishes for all the best for you in your future endeavors!
She was speechless. She took the microphone and called me to her side. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, AHDRA associates and you the race fans for all your love and support! Thank you, I love the bike!", she spoke with assurance and authority. God, I really loved this woman!
Jacob lifted her to his shoulders and the crowd cheered wildly. When we returned to the pits, Jacob pushing the new bike for her, Dale was there to greet us.
"Thanks for riding, Bella. I can't tell you what that amount of publicity is going to do for the team. I just can't believe that there was another accident! So far, we can find nothing wrong with the bike, you say it just veered off to the left?"
Rosalie answered him. "Yes," putting her hand on his shoulder and escorting him toward the crumbled mass of bike on the garage floor, "The bike just moved to the left, nothing out of the ordinary hardware wise, it just behaved as if someone had come from the side and kicked it, hard."
"Well that's just something", Dale exclaimed, "That's really just something. Wonder what the hell made it act like that?"
"Jacob, nice to see you again", Carlisle offered, "I think we have all had a very busy day and we are headed back to the hotel. Will we see you later?"
"Yes, I'll be by in the morning to see you all off. Bella, what will you do with the bike?", Jacob asked.
"It's a beautiful bike - 'gun metal pearl' isn't it?", Rose said, having just walked back over to where we stood in the garage leaving Dale and Martin to continue going over the bike with the officials
"It sure is, Rose! I love that shade of blue!", Bella added, lovingly stroking the gas tank of the bike.
"Well, one of us can ride it home! I really love the bike, but I'm not so sure my husband would survive if I rode it myself just now!", Bella said as she put both arms around my waist and hugged tightly to me, "I'm sure one of my siblings will volunteer, Rose?"
"Damn right I'll ride it home. No bike is getting the best of me!", Rose glowered and then added so softly that only the vampires stood a chance of hearing, "And there will be no one to kick the damned thing out from under me!"
~oooOooo~
I had almost stopped shaking inside as my wife held me. We had made love several times since returning from the track and I knew that she really was unhurt. It had just brought back so much of the torment that her wreck near Atlanta had caused. I could never survive loosing this woman, and now I knew that Victoria was still on her trail, trying to take her from me. She had to be the one behind this.
"Baby, why don't we go ahead and use that honeymoon that your parents gave us. I know we just came back from a road trip vacation, but after what happened today, I think time completely alone in a safe place would be good for us", Bella purred in my ear as she lay stretched out over my chest, her naked body warming mine.
"That sounds like an excellent idea. We could get Emmett and Rose and Jasper and Alice to come along and stay in town, just in case we needed them. It would be a vacation for us all and somehow, we all still need one!", I tried even to laugh as I said it, but there was no humor in my eyes.
I was really beginning to look forward to Bella becoming immortal and perhaps I could convince her that Isle Esme was the perfect place for that to happen. I wasn't at all sure about waiting the two months till after Christmas. I almost started daydreaming . . . maybe it would only be a couple of weeks till I could be with her like I wanted to be . . . like we needed to be, with her immortal, too.