Chapter Five

Charlie

After Renee left with Isabella and I understood she was going to make things as difficult as she could for me to see my daughter I threw myself into my career. If I could become a Police Officer I would have a steady income which meant I could at least send money for Isabella's upbringing. The first few times I saw her, just a baby really was wonderful, I was mesmerised by the tiny little person that I had helped to create and I just hoped Renee was taking good care of her. Isabella was clean and tidy although her clothes were well worn and I took great delight in buying her new ones so my little girl looked like a princess and it hurt that Renee would never agree to my taking our daughter to see her grandparents. She grew up and they died without seeing each other from the time Renee left Forks.

As she got a little older I was thrilled to hear her voice on the phone and get the drawings Renee begrudgingly sent although I always provided envelopes complete with address and stamp. But the letters and phone calls eventually petered out and I lost contact with them for months at a time. Renee was happy enough to keep taking the alimony though, she never changed the bank account I paid into and I just hoped she gave Isabella as much as she could. Christmases were the worst time of all, I never saw my daughter sit on Santa's knee or the excitement in her eyes as she opened her presents, not even photographs although I begged for them often enough.

Once she was at school I got copies of her school reports and photographs of her but when I spoke to her on the phone she sounded flat and she was so quiet. I couldn't get anything from her about her friends or what she did when she wasn't at school and in the end Renee warned me that if I kept asking questions she would stop the calls. I threw myself into my work and saw her only a couple of more times before their last move when after almost a year without any contact at all I eventually traced them and wrote asking for a meeting with my daughter. The reply almost broke my heart, my daughter did not want to see me again as she found it too distressing and Renee was asking that I leave them alone under the circumstances. My lawyer suggested I go and visit to see the situation for myself but I knew it would be a fruitless journey. Renee had poisoned my daughter against me and I could not fight her from a distance so I merely requested that I continue to receive word of her achievements at school. I would continue to pay alimony until her twenty first birthday or until Renee remarried when it would be reviewed and said a sad farewell to my little girl thinking I would never hear from her or see her again and for the next few years as I rose through the ranks I was right.

I had a jar in the kitchen and every month I put twenty dollars in it as I had since Isabella started school and labelled it college fund although I had no idea if she would go on to further her education or leave school and get a job like her mother who had never gone back to college as far as I was aware and certainly as far as my lawyer understood. I hoped she would, I wanted only the best for my little girl. Some nights I dreamed that she would turn up on my doorstep one day and tell me she was sorry that we had been kept apart but I thought it was just that, a fantasy, even though my friends tried to tell me that I would see her one day. Not if Renee had her way I thought although I sometimes got the feeling from speaking to my ex wife that she found having a child around was a nuisance.

By the time I made Chief of Police my little girl was fourteen, a teenager and I had no idea what she looked like or even the sound of her voice. I tried once more, writing to Renee and putting a sealed letter for Isabella inside but it was returned with a curt reminder of my daughters wishes from Renee and at that point I gave up and tried to forget about the tiny creature I had once held in my arms, what seemed a lifetime ago but of course I couldn't and the thought of her out there somewhere, a young lady by now, with dreams of her future kept me from sleeping at all.

One Friday when I got home from work tired after spending hours looking for a couple of hikers who had gone out without the proper equipment and got lost I found a letter waiting and recognised Renee's handwriting. Excited to think it might be a photograph of my daughter or news on her education I put the kettle on and ripped it open sitting at the table to read it. The letter wasn't very long but it took me three attempts before the contents really sunk in. Renee was finally getting remarried which was something of a surprise after so many years but it was the second paragraph of the letter that captured my attention.

"As I said I am getting married to Phil but his job will be taking us abroad, Japan in fact, one of the places you and I planned on visiting before Izzy arrived to ruin things. As she is in the middle of her education I think it best if she doesn't accompany us so I expect you will want her back.

Don't forget I'll need money for her flight to Seattle, you can hardly expect me to finance it. She doesn't have a lot of stuff so a couple of cases will suffice, remember to add money for extra baggage when you write the check. We'll need her out of the way straight after the wedding in February so I need to hear from you straight away.

Renee."

There was nothing in the letter about Isabella's feelings on the matter, I thought she didn't want anything to do with me so why would she want to come and live here in Forks? I hated the name Izzy and never could bear to call her that but I guessed it was something I would have to become used to if she did come home. My mouth was dry and my heart was pumping so fast I thought it would crack my ribs. Was it true? Would I finally have some time with my daughter? Have her live here with me? Of course I would send money for her ticket, hell I'd drive down to pick her up myself if necessary. The kettle boiling dry brought me back to the present and I grabbed it off the stove burning my hand in the process and cursing before grabbing paper and pen and scribbling a reply to Renee eager to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. I ran down to the mail to post it in time for the next collection then went back home and started on a list of things to do, things to get, I wanted everything to be just right for Isabella when she got here. I wanted her to be happy and comfortable and to be able to call this place home.

I was so excited I drove to the res to tell Billy and Harry the good news taking my lists along with me so Sue could help me get ready. At first I don't think they believed me but when I told them the reason I saw the knowing looks. None of them had approved of Renee when I met her and her actions since she ran off taking Isabella with her hadn't improved their attitudes but everyone was only too happy to help. Sue and Harry came over with some of the young guys and cleared out the spare room of all the junk that had accumulated over the years having a huge bonfire in the back yard and taking the rest to the tip. Then Sue and a couple of her friends set about spring cleaning and redecorating the room choosing neutral colours as I had no idea what Isabella liked. I bought new furniture for her and a friend of Stan Newton came up with a lap top he'd refurbished and another found a printer he no longer used. I was over whelmed by the help I got from everyone, even the towns folk who were all pleased I was finally going have my daughter home.

A date for Isabella's arrival came in a letter at the end of January giving me two weeks notice and as the days ticked by I got more and more nervous, sure she was going to hate both Forks and me. Then two days before she was due Billy asked me if they could call in to watch the game and I was grateful for the diversion from my thoughts, or worries more accurately but when they turned up they were in two trucks, Sam Uley driving Billy while Jake drove an old red truck I hadn't seen in a long while. Turning a blind eye to Jakes under age driving I waited to hear what was going on. Sam helped Billy out while Jake lifted his wheelchair from the flat bed and put it ready.

"So, you and Jake had a falling out?"

I banged the side of the red truck as I said this.

"Nope. You got fifty bucks Charlie?"

I looked at Billy confused,

"Why? I lose a bet or something?"

"Nah but Jake wants some parts for the car he's rebuilding."

"And I'm going to pay for them? Care to tell me why?"

"Well we thought this girl of yours would need a set of wheels and Jakes just rebuilt the engine in the truck. Its not pretty but its practical so I thought..."

I was way ahead of him and nodded smiling broadly,

"Done"

Jake grinned and handed me the keys before pushing his dad up the ramp and into the house.