"How old is she, like twelve?" Rose said, looking disgusted.
"Look at those fake tits and that horrible fake tan." Alice commented.
"I know her." I suddenly realized that I had seen her before. The last time I went to Emmett's job, I remember seeing her in a cubicle right outside of his office.
"What do you mean you know her?" Rose asked, her brow furrowed. The couple stopped and greeted Esme, who looked a little flustered but kept her cool.
"She works at his job." I told them.
"Do you think she was the one…?" Rose started.
"She has to be. One of who knows how many." I replied.
"Shhh…they're coming over here." Alice shushed us.
"Hello Alice, Rosalie… nice to see you both again." Emmett said, standing in front of us with a dimpled smile. The space between his eyes was a fading purple bruise, still bearing the results of his and Edward's confrontation. Alice mumbled a quick hello. Rose didn't bother to say anything.
"Izzy…I didn't expect to see you here. I thought Edward would be finished with you by now." Emmett said, finally swinging his eyes to me.
"You are such a fucking asshole, Emmett." Rose glowered.
"Oh my God…is this the girl that fucked your brother?" the girl with Emmett finally spoke, her voice high pitched and nasal. She looked at me with a smirk.
"Aren't you the girl that's fucking someone old enough to be her father? How old are you?" Rose snapped, her blue eyes blazing.
"Not that it's your business, but I am twenty." she responded with a flip of her hair, looking Rose up and down.
I could see Edward quickly weaving through groups of people trying to get over to us. Emmett noticed as well.
"Hey, Ed! I was just telling Izzy that I was surprised to see her here. I figured you would have moved on." Emmett called to him, the girl at his side giggling.
"Emmett, why the fuck are you here?" Edward asked, stopping in front of Emmett with his fists clenched at his sides.
"Dad called and invited me."
'What?" Edward looked upset.
"Yes, I invited him." Dr. Cullen piped in. He had been right on Edward's heels. "You two are family. You need to fix this."
"I can't fix Emmett being a selfish dick." Edward said to his father, his temper flaring.
"Edward…" Dr. Cullen warned.
"Emmett, just stay away from Izzy. Don't talk to her, don't look at her, just leave her alone." Edward insisted.
"Will do. Come on, babe. I'm starving." Emmett said, pulling the girl along as he strode toward the food.
"Carlisle, can I see you in the house. Now?" Esme beckoned to Dr. Cullen from the sliding glass doors. She looked pretty pissed. He sighed heavily before walking over to her.
"Are you okay?" Edward whispered to me. I nodded.
"Let's go for a walk." He said, putting his arm around me. He led me along the side of the house to the front lawn. There were several people in the driveway, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer so we kept walking until we reached the street.
"Izzy, I'm so sorry. My mother promised me that he wasn't coming, that he didn't know anything about this party." Edward finally said.
"Edward, is that the girl from his job that he slept with?"
Edward looked at the ground and nodded his head imperceptibly. I snorted humorlessly.
"Are you really okay? Do you want to leave?" Edward asked, his concerned green eyes on me.
"Yes. More than anything in the world. But I'm not going to."
"Huh?"
"I don't want Emmett to know that he gets to me. I don't want to give him anymore of my energy. He doesn't deserve it." I explained.
"Okay, baby. Operation Ignore Emmett is now in effect. Let's go get some food. You haven't eaten anything since that toast this morning."
"Edward, we really need to go to the market. That was our last piece of bread." I told him, laughing.
~SD~
"You can get in the water, Edward. I don't mind." I said. I was sitting in his lap as we watched Jake, Rose, Jasper, Alice, Irina, Kate and a few others play Marco Polo in the pool. The sun was setting and Esme had lit beautiful tiki torches all over the backyard.
"Nah, I like having you in my arms." He said, squeezing my waist with one arm and holding his beer in the other. The crowd had thinned out and there were just ten or fifteen people left in the yard. Emmett and Bree, his skanky new girlfriend, had only stayed for about two hours. He stuffed his face, bragged loudly to anyone that would listen about his job, took repeated shots at me and Edward and when neither of us engaged in his theatrics, they'd left.
"Izzy, would you like a slice of apple pie?" Esme asked. She sat down in the lounge chair next to us.
"No, thanks. I am full. Everything was delicious. I'm sorry if Jake ate you out of house and home. He has the fastest metabolism of anyone I've ever met."
She laughed loudly, her eyes bright with mirth. "Believe it or not, with all that he ate, I still have a boatload of leftovers."
"Don't tell Jake." I said. Her happy face suddenly turned serious, the corners of her mouth turning downward.
"Izzy, I'm sorry about Emmett. I'd promised Edward that he wasn't coming- I had no idea that my husband invited him. With all that's going on, I know that's the last thing you want to deal with." She said. Edward tightened his arm around me.
"It's okay." I mumbled, looking down at my hands.
"For what it's worth, I think you handled it beautifully. Hey, come with me to the kitchen and I'll wrap up a piece of pie for you to eat later." She said, standing. I stood up as well and followed her into the house.
"Hey, I'd like a piece of pie, too, Mom!" Edward called after us.
"I know the situation is awkward." Esme said as she pulled a plastic container from the cabinet next to the fridge. "But I see how happy you make Edward. He is so in love with you. And I don't think he's ever been in love with a woman before."
"Really?" I said, my voice betraying my surprise.
She chuckled. "He's had girlfriends and many admirers. I mean, he looks just like his father and Carlisle still has to practically beat them off with a stick. But Edward's never had a real connection, someone who is his equal, someone who has beauty and brains and sensitivity." She explained, cutting into the Dutch apple pie with precision.
"I thought I was in love before, but it's different with Edward." I admitted. "He gives, he doesn't just take and I…" I faltered, unable to finish.
She smiled. "It feels good to be treated like a princess. Every girl needs that. Edward told me your mother died when you were young?"
I nodded. "I was eleven."
"Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, I am here." She said, handing the container to me. Edward opened the sliding glass door and Rose, Jake, Alice and Jasper trooped in behind him, wrapped in towels.
"You guys can change upstairs. There are more towels in the bathroom if you need them. Just throw the wet towels into the hamper in the bathroom." Esme instructed. Everyone except Edward headed upstairs.
"Are you telling Izzy all of my deep dark secrets, Mom?" Edward asked, leaning against the counter.
"Yep. I told her all about Mr. Snoogie."
"Oh God, not Mr. Snoogie." Edward said, covering his face with his hands.
"Who is Mr. Snoogie?" I wanted to know.
"Mr. Snoogie was a stuffed giraffe that Edward refused to sleep without until he was eight." Esme said.
"Five." Edward corrected.
"Six." Esme countered and Edward was quiet.
"That's sooooo cute." I drawled, grinning at him.
"Thanks a lot, Mom. It's time to go. Now."
Esme hugged me gently. "It was so nice to meet you, Izzy."
"Nice to meet you, too."
"Don't forget what I said. Anytime." She whispered.
"I won't." I said as we pulled apart.
Edward leaned down and hugged his mother. "Thanks for inviting us."
"You and Izzy come back soon." She told him, poking him in the shoulder.
~SD~
"That was fun, Edward. Thanks for letting us hang out at your parents' pool all day." Alice said as Jake raced us back to the city in his truck.
"Yeah, thanks, man. We had planned on going to see that new Tom Cruise movie. This was better." Jasper agreed.
"Way better." Alice added.
"It would have been even better if that asshole Emmett hadn't shown up with his porn star girlfriend." Rose muttered.
"Yeah, she definitely has that porn look." Alice mused.
"No, she really does porn. I've seen her." Rose insisted.
"Well you would know; you watch enough porn." Alice conceded.
"Gross." Jasper said, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "Sometimes I think you all forget that Rose is my sister."
"Hey, not to alarm you guys, but I think that this silver car behind me is following us." Jake interrupted our conversation.
"Why do you think that?" I said, my heart skipping a beat.
"They've been behind us, making all the same turns, ever since we were in Alpine."
Edward twisted his head and checked out the car, a late model sedan about five car lengths behind Jake's truck.
"Nah, don't worry about it." Edward said nonchalantly, turning back around and facing forward.
"What the hell do you mean don't worry about it? What if it's Aro, following Izzy?" Rose exploded.
"Okay, I'm going to tell you all something, but you have to keep it to yourselves." Edward said.
"Okay. We promise. Just tell us what's going on." Jake demanded and the rest of them nodded. I looked at Edward next to me in the truck, just as confused as they were about what was happening.
"I hired someone to follow Izzy and me."
"Like a bodyguard? For protection?" Jasper inquired.
"No. I figured if I had someone follow us then they could spot who else was following us and then they could follow them, which hopefully can lead us to that crazy motherfucker."
"That's fucking genius!" Rose exclaimed.
"This is what Mike and I were talking about in my office the other day." Edward explained to me.
"This situation just gets more and more complicated every day." I sighed.
"The police can only do so much. We need a little extra insurance on our side. That asshole is going down, if it's the last fucking thing I do." Edward promised.