Being There
Disclaimer: all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you so much for the lovely reviews. The story has moved on by a few months...
Part Forty Three
Four months later;
Jacob shook Mel Johnson's hand. "Thanks, I really appreciate you giving us the work."
Mel smiled at him. "Your reputation speaks for itself. You're charging half the price that old crook Jim Dowling is. I've asked around and you seem to have a lot of satisfied customers. That's all I need."
"Thanks. Just bring the cars over when you are ready and we'll begin to service them." Jacob told him.
"Done, see you later, Jake." Mel waved as he climbed into his cab and began to pull away.
Jacob waited until he was out of sight before he fist pumped the air and let out a loud whoop. Paul popped his head out of the garage and grinned. "I take it we got the job then?"
"Hell yeah. Things are on the up, Paul. With his fleet of cabs to service on a regular basis we'll have steady income. Hopefully he will put the word about to others too." Jacob replied happily.
"See I know the work has been coming in slowly but our patience is beginning to pay off." Paul wiped his oily hands on an old rag.
"That's true. I'm just going to head back to the house and tell, Bells." Jacob told him. "I won't be long. Are you going to ring Kirsty?"
At the mention of her name a big smile lit up Paul's face. "No, I'm taking her out tonight for our four month anniversary dinner. I'll tell her then."
Jacob laughed. "I can't believe that you are actually settling down, Lahote."
"It happens to us all, dude." Paul joined in his laughter. "I'll start on the Corvette."
"Okay, I won't be long." Jacob turned and headed back to the house.
XXXXXX
Bella was feeding Brandon when he entered the house. His son was now a lively five month old with a hearty appetite. He looked exactly like Jacob had done at the same age, apart from his big brown eyes, which were all Bella. "Hey, Jake, how did it go with Mel Johnson?" She asked as she spooned some food into Brandon's mouth.
"We got the contract, honey." Jacob put his arms around Bella's waist and leaned his head on her shoulder.
"That's brilliant, Jake." Bella twisted around and kissed him quickly on the lips. "Did you hear that Brandon? Your clever daddy has got the contract."
Brandon gurgled and clapped his chubby hands, his mouth already open waiting for his next spoonful of food. Jacob smiled at his son and took the spoon from Bella and took over the feeding. Brandon grabbed at the spoon as Jacob tried to feed him and it flipped out of his hand and landed on the floor. He began to cry and Jacob lifted his son out of his high chair and jiggled him up and down.
"It's okay, Brandon, silly daddy dropped the spoon. Mommy will get another one." Jacob pulled a funny face and Brandon stopped crying and reached out and tapped his nose.
Bella laughed at their antics as she picked up the dropped spoon and replaced it with another one. "Come on daddy we need to get this boy's breakfast finished."
Jacob put Brandon back in his high chair and let Bella finish off feeding him. He was about to head back to the garage when there was a knock on the door. He exchanged a bemused look with Bella, they weren't expecting anyone. He opened the front door to find Jared on his doorstep. "Hey, what's up?" Jacob asked as he took in his pack brother's downcast face.
"Can I come in a moment? I need to talk to someone." Jared asked.
"Of course." Jacob stepped aside and let Jared in.
Bella picked Brandon up out of his high chair and swiftly left the room so that Jacob and Jared could have some privacy. It was rare for Jared to open up to anyone, ever since his imprint with Kim he had become morose and introverted. He would get snappy if anyone asked how things were between them; it was obvious to everyone that he was unhappy in the relationship, but Kim seemed to have a strong hold over him and was very territorial about who he spent time with. Her attitude had created a lot of tension within the pack.
Jacob gestured for Jared to sit down, he did so, perching right on the edge of one of the armchairs, his leg bouncing up and down restlessly. Jacob sat opposite him. "What did you want to talk about?"
"I'm leaving Kim." Jared blurted out. "No, I mean I've left Kim. I can't take it anymore she's driving me crazy."
Jacob hadn't expected that. He looked at Jared in surprise. "Wow, that's huge. How did she take it?"
Jared flinched and he stood up and began to pace restlessly back and forth. "Not well and that's the problem."
"I don't understand?" Jacob felt puzzled. "She must have had an inkling that you've been unhappy, we could all see it."
"It's not that simple. This is hard for me. I am still imprinted with Kim, I'm having a hard time even now being away from her. My human side is battling with what the wolf wants. When I finally managed to tell her how I really felt she wouldn't accept it. She demanded I stay and it took all of my limited willpower to just walk away." He said in despair. "My head feels like it's about to explode."
Jacob looked at him with sympathy. "I'm sorry, Jared. I had no idea."
Jared sat down again and ran a hand through his thick hair, his leg continued to bounce up and down again as if he had no control over his body. "I need you to Alpha order me to stay away from her. I can't think of anything else that would override this pull. Your orders trump hers."
"I'll try if that's what you want but it's not a long term solution. Kim needs to realise she has to let you go." Jacob reached out and placed a hand on Jared's shoulder; the timbre of his voice changed as he forced Jared to look straight into his dark eyes. "I order you to stay away from Kim for now and I insist that you stay here with us."
Jared's leg stopped bouncing and the tension left his body. When he looked at Jacob his eyes were not so desperate. "Thank you." He said in relief.
"I only wish that I could make it easier for you, Jared but only you can persuade Kim to move on and release you from the imprint bond." Jacob advised.
Jared sighed. "I know, but in her own way she is as blinded as Emily was. She's had a crush on me for years and it was like all her birthday's came at once when I imprinted on her. I never even really noticed her before and I sat next to her in history class twice a week. I know it sounds awful but she's just not the one for me. It's been so frustrating not being able to choose who I want to be with. Seeing you, Sam and even Paul moving on and finding the perfect girl of your own choice just made me miserable and jealous. It has taken me all this time to fight against Kim's hold over me."
This was the most that Jacob had heard from Jared in a long time. Guilt weighed heavy on him that he had not tried harder to tackle his pack brothers problem before now. Real life issues had just got in the way. "I'm sorry, Jared."
"It's not your fault, Jake. I know that you've had a lot to deal with. I should have been more open about it instead of clamming up and pushing you all away." Jared admitted. "Are you sure it's okay for me to crash here for a while?"
"It's fine, although I can only offer you the couch."
"That'll do me. I'll just get my stuff." Jared stood up and left the house.
Jacob watched him go, his good mood from earlier vanishing. Every time he felt like they were all taking steps forward another problem would land on his lap. With Billy becoming increasingly frail due to ill health, he was being forced to take on more and more tribal duties. Most nights he would come home from work, eat dinner and then head out again to attend endless meetings about what he considered petty issues. On top of that he had the patrol schedules to sort out as well as patrolling himself. Bella was endlessly patient with his constant disappearing acts, but he missed spending time with her and his young son.
He glanced at the kitchen clock, it was already past ten, he really needed to get back to work. With the new contract he had to make sure that all the other work was done. He called out a goodbye to Bella and left the house, worry weighing heavy on his mind.
XXXXXX
Bella headed over to Leah's apartment with Brandon. She pushed him in his pushchair, making funny faces at him to make him laugh. She adored seeing his smile. He was Jacob to a tee. It was a warm day as the sun had decided to make a rare appearance and for once she didn't have to wear a heavy jacket. She passed Kay's house on the way and was shocked to see her car parked in the drive; Embry must be back. As if he knew that she was near, he opened the front door and gazed at her, giving her his shy smile.
"Hey, Bella."
"Em, when did you get back?" Bella pushed Brandon over to him and looked up at him. He seemed more relaxed. The distant look in his eyes was gone.
"I got back this morning." He knelt down in front of Brandon and tickled his chin. "Wow, he's grown. Hey little man."
Brandon smiled and clapped his hands as he wiggled in his seat restlessly. "He looks the spit of Jake." Embry stood up again and put his hands in his pockets. "How are you?"
Bella gave him a small smile. "I'm fine. I got your note."
"Yeah, I wanted to tell you in person but it was just too hard." He gazed at her for a moment too long making Bella blush.
"Jake knows Embry. Kay gave the letter to Paul and he passed it to Jake. I had no choice I had to tell him." Bella confessed in a rush.
Embry paled under his tan skin. "I am so sorry, Bella. What did he say?"
"He was mad at first but he understands. He's your friend and has been worried about you." Bella confided. "Did it help going away?"
Embry stared at her for a moment as if he was drinking her in, then he dropped his eyes to the floor as he realised what he was doing. "I tried."
"Tried?" Bella sighed. "What does that mean?"
"It's hard, Bella. I met a few girls, went out on dates and stuff but there was just no connection you know." Embry admitted.
Bella felt awkward. She bit her lip nervously. "I'm sorry it didn't help but I'm sure there is someone special out there for you, Embry."
He looked back up at her again and shook his head. "They're not you though."
"Don't say that." Bella begged him. "You need to try harder. Look I have to go. Jake would like to see you now that you're back."
Embry nodded as he kept his eyes on her. "I'll keep trying. I have been for years."
Bella began to back away, pulling Brandon's pushchair with her. "Go see Jake, Embry. I have to go."
"Okay I'll head over now. I'll see you soon, Bella." He replied softly.
Bella gave him a small wave as she continued on her way to Leah's apartment. Her good mood had plummeted now that she knew Embry hadn't moved on like she wanted. She just hoped that he was going to be able to hide his feelings from Jake when he went to see him; he had done a poor job of keeping it to himself in front of her. It seemed that now he had openly admitted how he felt it was hard for him to keep it contained. Bella pressed her hand to her head as she felt a headache beginning to form. It was just another problem she could do without.
A/N-thanks for reading! Sorry it was so short but I really struggled with this chapter and I'm not very happy with it but I have already done three re-writes and gave up in the end and decided to post, sighs :(
