A/N: I cannot sing my betas' praises too much: Charmie77, acireamos, SSHG316 and SavageWoman. They are the wind beneath my wings. I also want to thank Irritable Grizzzly for bitchslapping me when I needed it last week while my mojo was being finicky. Her twitchy red pen is phenomenal.
Warning: A confession about a rape is contained in this chapter. If this subject matter is an emotional trigger for you, please do not read the section which begins with Rosalie and her bridesmaids riding to the church and through the flashback.
"Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict—alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence."
– Dorothy Thompson
"For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want."
-- Galatians 5:17
TLC - Chapter 25 - Passive Aggressive
Bella could tell by the muscle working in his jaw, the grimace masquerading as a smile, and the flustered way his hand was running through his hair that Edward was upset about something. She stood up, wound her arms around his waist, and pressed her body into his. God, she had missed him today, but now something was eating at him and she needed to get to the bottom of it.
"Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?" she asked softly. Her ear was on his chest, and she couldn't help but hear the erratic beating of his heart, that underscored his agitation.
Despite his obvious state of mind, he squeezed her briefly, planted a kiss on the top of her head, and then released her abruptly. He plastered another disingenuous smile on his face before gesturing toward the dining room. "Let's just join your folks for dinner. I've kept them waiting long enough."
Bella was a bit stung by the clipped edge to his voice and the manner in which he pulled away. She tried to make eye contact, but he kept his eyes averted. She decided not to push it and strode into the dining room. Edward followed.
"Edward!" Renee gushed. "We're so happy to have you here for dinner with us."
"Thanks, Renee. I'm happy to be here." His somber expression belied his words.
Renee looked at Bella with a question in her eyes.
Bella shrugged and moved to pull out her own chair, but Edward beat her to it. Even in his disquieted mood he at least remembered to be a gentleman. Bella took the chair closest to her father at the head of the table and directly across from her mother. Edward sat next to her and across from Angela.
Charlie cleared his throat. "Let's give thanks," he said solemnly.
They all bowed their heads as Charlie asked the blessing in his deep mellifluous voice. "Oh Lord, we thank you for your loving provision. We thank you for this meal that is set before us and ask you to bless the hands that prepared it. We ask that you bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies and our bodies for your continued service. May we never forget those who have want and are in need. May our eyes and our hearts be alert, and our hands be open to give from the abundance you have given us. Amen."
After everyone said amen, Bella's eyes immediately went back to Edward, who was studying his silverware and taking his time unfolding his napkin in his lap. He didn't look up until Charlie addressed him.
"Edward, any new developments in the investigation?" Charlie said as he took a slice of meat from the roast he'd been carving, ladled some potatoes and carrots on his plate, and then passed the platter to Renee.
"I studied the report from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Department and requested some reports from the DMV. I wasn't able to locate Beauvoir at his aunt's, but I'm following another lead tomorrow on where he might be. As soon as I get the report back from the DMV I hope to be able to better pinpoint a suspect or suspects and then narrow it from there."
"Good work. If I can do anything to help, don't hesitate to ask," Charlie offered. All eyes moved to him at his rare show of support for Edward. Renee must have lit into him really good.
Edward took advantage of his cooperation. "You might be able to help me locate Beauvoir. He used to live near the Center with his mother—do you remember where it was exactly?"
"The street name escapes me, but I could take you there. I'll run by there tomorrow after the children leave and show you where it is."
"Thanks, Rev. Swan," he said loudly. Then he muttered under his breath when Renee pulled Charlie into conversation, "So glad to know that someone in the family is not hindering the investigation."
Bella was annoyed that he was being so passive-aggressively cryptic. "Who's hindering the investigation?"
Edward ignored the question and made a big show of ladling food on his plate. "Angela, would you pass the rolls, please?" Angela acquiesced, looking very much like a child whose parents were fighting and she didn't know which side to take. Edward took a roll and passed the breadbasket to Bella.
Renee and Charlie began asking Angela questions about Ben and their wedding plans. Bella placed her hand on Edward's thigh under the table and sought his eyes.
"Hey," she whispered, "are you going to tell me what's wrong, or are we going to continue trying to communicate like this? You need to talk to me Edward."
He seemed to have decided to drop his façade completely. His lips curled into a mocking facsimile of a smile as he said in a voice laced with sarcasm, "I don't know, baby. Maybe I should just keep that to myself like one of us makes a habit of doing."
Charlie's show of support was short-lived when he whipped his head around. "Trouble in paradise?" he asked with an impish grin.
"No!" Bella and Edward said forcefully in unison.
After everyone had gotten their food and began eating, an awkward silence descended upon the table.
It didn't take long before Renee decided to take a stab at getting conversation flowing again. "How is your mother, Edward?"
"She's doing well. I went by to check on her yesterday after I left here. Her ankle is still wrapped, but she's happy to not have to wear the walking boot anymore."
"That's great. Please give her our best when you talk to her again."
"You may see her next Sunday. She's still shopping for a church and she mentioned visiting City of Hope sometime soon."
"We'll look for her, then."
Bella smiled, hoping to get a smile from Edward in return. "I'm glad she's going to make good on her promise and visit."
"My mother may have other issues, but she's a woman of her word."
Having reached the end of her rope, Bella spoke up, "Mom, Dad, Angela. Please excuse us." She stood, grasped Edward's hand, and tugged. He reluctantly left his chair and followed her out of the room, through the kitchen, and out onto the patio.
She rounded on him as he closed the door. "What is it that has you doing this Charlie Swan passive-aggressive thing since you arrived?"
He barked a mirthless laugh and furrowed his brow. "It doesn't feel good when you're kept out of the loop, does it?"
"Could we just stop with the cryptic half-answers and talk?" Despite her show of bravado, she was quivering inside because she was beginning to get a pretty good idea about why he was so angry. Had Angela told him about James?
"We can do that when you decide if we're going to be completely honest with each other in this relationship," he said.
She decided to fess up and not skirt around the issue anymore. "Okay, I was wrong to not tell you about James...."
"Bella—"
"But in my defense, your current reaction is exactly why I withheld that information from you in the first place. Anyway, my mom talked to Laura earlier, and James has been in Atlanta since late last week."
"You have to tell me about things like this no matter what you believe my reaction is going to be. Someone is stalking you, and right now, everybody is a suspect until we can rule them out, including James Hall. Besides, even if he isn't the stalker, I still have a problem with him sitting his ass outside your apartment like that."
"Honestly, he probably had a good reason for being there that day. When I called him it sounded like he was driving. I don't know, maybe he was on his way over anyway and when I called, and he decided not to just show up at my door."
Edward looked hurt. "You called him?"
"Yes, Maria told me that he wasn't doing well, so I wanted to see if I could help."
"So is this what I have to look forward to—you calling ex-boyfriends without my knowledge?"
"Without your knowledge? I'm sorry, since when do I need permission to call a family friend out of concern? I don't want James' family to have to suffer again because he's reacting to something I did."
"But think about it—what if I called Tanya or Victoria and just had conversations with them from time to time without me mentioning it to you?"
"It's not the same thing, and you know it. I'm trying to help him. He's struggling because of what I did to him!."
"Even so, he shouldn't be lurking outside your place, and I shouldn't have to find out weeks after the fact that you talked to him. And I can't believe it didn't occur to you to mention it, even after you and Rosalie were practically run off the road."
"James can't be a suspect. He was hours away when the incident happened. This is most likely Laurent trying to get revenge." Even though it was coincidental that James had the same color car as her so-called stalker, she didn't for a minute believe that he would ever take things this far.
"We don't know that without a doubt, yet. And we have to be very careful. I won't step aside and allow you be hurt by someone in whom you have misplaced trust."
"It's not misplaced trust. I just know he wouldn't do that to me."
"Well, until it's proven otherwise, he's still a suspect in my book."
"Then I'm going to call him and ask why he was there." She dug in her pocket for her cell phone. "He'll tell me the truth, and we can just put this to rest, once and for all."
She had barely located James in her contact list when Edward plucked the phone from her hand and pronounced stubbornly, "You will not call and tip him off. He could lie, create an alibi, or figure out a way to finish what he started."
Bella was flabbergasted. "Edward Anthony Cullen! You give me my phone back right now or…"
What began as a smirk became a genuine smile this time as he held the phone behind his back. "Or what?"
Their eyes met in a duel of wills, but Bella could tell that, for the most part, he had forgiven her.
"Or nothing," she huffed in resignation. She reached her arms around him trying desperately to retrieve the phone, but he held it fast in his hand.
Smiling devilishly, he took his other arm, hoisted her against him, and began raining kisses all over her face. When his lips descended to her neck all the fight left her, and she just wound her arms around him with a sigh.
"You don't fight fair," she muttered, her breathing quickly becoming labored.
"I know," he agreed and kissed her deeply.
~888~
With the help of Rev. Swan, Edward found the house that Laurent was using as his hub of activity. Their little field trip together gave Edward a glimpse of what the reverend had been like as a cop. He was pleasantly surprised that their surveillance and investigative methods were very similar.
While Beauvoir himself was not there, Charlie recognized one of Laurent's cousins, which gave them a strong indication that this operation was indeed Beauvoir's. Edward would add this location to his perimeter sweep and hoped that he would eventually find Beauvoir's car there.
Using the number he had memorized from Bella's cell phone, Edward called James, but got his answering machine and a message indicating that he would be out on hiatus for a while. Edward opted not to leave a message; he wanted to get an unrehearsed reaction from James when they finally talked.
Having received permission to drive Bella to work in his cruiser, Edward fell into a routine of driving her to and from work as she eased back into her regular schedule at the Center. For the next couple of weeks, there was no activity involving the stalker, but Edward was by no means lulled into a false sense of security. He had made additional plans to keep Bella safe which he hoped she would agree to with minimal push back.
Gina had expedited a closing on a condo she had shown to them the week after the incident in Destin, so he would be able to move in the weekend before Emmett and Rosalie's wedding. He wanted Bella to stay in the condo while he stayed at her apartment, given the many security features the condo had over an apartment community. The building had top-of-the-line electronic and security personnel. The garage was underground and secure from pedestrian traffic and the curious.
On Saturday morning, after enjoying their first breakfast together in the condo, they unpacked and waited for the piano delivery. Edward had followed Emmett's advice and purchased a new bedroom set for the master suite and used his old bedroom furniture in the guest room. With additional space in the living room, Bella had encouraged him to buy a new piano to complete the décor and make it more convenient for him to play at home when he wanted. He was also looking forward to playing as her accompaniment whenever she needed him to.
Bella was folding towels and placing them in the linen closet while he unpacked toiletries in the master bath. When the box was emptied, he collapsed it, put it on the growing stack of collapsed boxes in the foyer, and joined her at the linen closet. She was stretching to place some towels on the top shelf when he took them effortlessly from her hands and stacked them neatly for her.
Bella turned into his arms. "Thanks for adding 'assisting the vertically challenged' to your duties of 'serving and protecting,'" she murmured.
"Anytime, ma'am," he drawled, as he swooped in for a kiss. Bella eagerly obliged, and before either of them knew it, they making out like a couple of teenagers. The buzzer from the doorman downstairs saved them from what would have probably turned into a lengthy make-out session.
Edward groaned and began to pull away, but Bella looked so damned sexy and thoroughly kissed, he had to steal a final kiss before he sprinted away to answer the buzzer.
He pressed the button and engaged the intercom. "Cullen here."
A disembodied male voice came over the speaker. "Mr. Cullen, Steinway Piano Gallery is here with your delivery. They'll be up on the freight elevator. ETA ten minutes."
"Thank you," Edward said and released the button to sign off.
Bella joined him in the living room and positioned the rug on the floor where the piano would be placed. He pretended to tackle her, and she shrieked and went limp in his arms. Laying her gently on the rug, he hovered over her and muttered against her neck, "Now where were we?"
"Right here seems as good a place as any," she whispered huskily. "You've got eight minutes to rock my world, super-cop."
"Only eight minutes?" he complained. "I'll just have to send the delivery men away." He began leisurely nibbling and teasing her lips.
"No don't send them away," she mumbled against his lips. "I was looking forward to you playing for me—today." She wound her fingers through his hair and held his head steady for a kiss that went straight to his groin.
Edward feebly attempted the Taps trick, but it was failing him miserably where Bella was concerned. His anatomy had been rebelling against the mind over matter issue ever since her Splendor in the Grass moment. He had been following her lead on the intimacy thing and as a result, cold showers had become almost a daily occurrence.
Bella was not oblivious of his struggles, so she had made a concerted effort to refrain from pushing the envelope. But even when she was behaving in the chastest of manners, he still found himself frequently turned on by a gesture, a movement, a glimpse of her firm ass or shapely legs, the curve of her lips when she smiled only for him.
He willed himself to break the kiss and then stood up, extending a hand to pull her up off the rug. "I guess we'd better cool it, then," he said reluctantly.
"And I was just beginning to feel the first tremor of world-rocking," she teased. She took his other hand and gazed up into his eyes. "What kind of boyfriend are you, leaving a girl hanging like that?"
"The kind who doesn't want to be found guilty of taking your virginity on a throw rug," he chuckled nervously, but they both knew the real possibility was always there, lurking in the background.
"No, we're saving that for the piano. We could have a real 'Pretty Woman' moment on that beautiful instrument," she giggled. He got a visual of her draped across his piano in fire-engine red lingerie.
He groaned inwardly at the mental image. "Another Richard Gere movie? I'm beginning to wonder if you like him just a little bit more than Renee does."
She laughed. "Heck, yeah. He's the only gray-haired man I'd seriously consider giving some play."
"You know that's kinda disgusting, right? He's older than your dad."
"Well—you asked," she said with a smirk. "Besides, I think Richard Gere is probably one of the best on-screen kissers I've ever had the pleasure of viewing."
"Let's see on-screen top this," he said and planted another hot one on her rosy lips. By the time the doorbell announced the arrival of the delivery men, Bella was quivering in Edward's arms, and he had a raging hard-on.
The three deliverymen were efficient, and they had the piano uncovered, set up, and tuned in under an hour. Edward saw them to the door and gave them a tip.
"Now, I'm going to give you a tip," the piano tuner said. "Your Steinway Parlor Grand is sturdy and is a purchase I'm sure you and your wife will enjoy in many ways. After the piano has settled here in your new home and gotten used to the humidity levels, I'll be back to tune it again in about two weeks. Good day Mr. and Mrs. Cullen." Neither he nor Bella bothered to correct the man on his assumption.
After closing the door, Edward turned to Bella with a smirk. "Well, Mrs. Cullen," he teased, "I'm not sure, but I think we just got permission from the piano tuner to christen the piano in any way we see fit."
They laughed so hard it took almost half an hour before he was able to play without losing his place or fumbling a key.
Later, they ordered take-out and settled in for the evening. Edward was nervous about posing his question to Bella. When they finished eating she began clearing the table, but he took her hand and led her away from the dining room into the living room.
"Leave it a while. I want to talk to you about something," he said with a smile, hoping it would put her at ease.
Bella looked curious but returned his smile and followed him willingly into the living room.
They were seated together on the sofa when he dove right in. "Bella, I know you can't live here with me, but I want to propose a compromise."
She looked dubiously at him, a half-smile on her lips. "O—kay, let's hear this compromise."
"Why don't you move in here temporarily and I'll move into your apartment?" He took her hand in his and laced his fingers through hers. "This place is extremely secure, and I wouldn't worry as much with you here as I would with just the ADT system to protect you."
Bella frowned. "But you just moved in. It wouldn't be fair for you to have to move before you've had a chance to break in your new place."
"I'll have plenty of time for that. Your safety is paramount, and I bought this place with that primary objective in mind. This will be your home for as long as we need it to be until we've caught the stalker and put him behind bars."
Lately, Edward referred to the stalker generically because the DMV report revealed that both Laurent Beauvoir and James Hall owned gold vehicles with license plate numbers beginning with the letters SK. Apparently they had both moved into Leon County around the same time.
The weekend of the assault in Destin, James had conveniently gone back to Atlanta to be close to his sponsor and had checked himself into rehab for a while at his sponsor's insistence. Edward still wanted to interrogate him when he returned to Tallahassee.
According to an informant, Beauvoir was making frequent trips to Miami with the intent of making Tallahassee his permanent base of operations once he established a direct connection to suppliers in Columbia. In addition, the same informant told Edward that Laurent had a vendetta against some preacher's daughter. This information had chilled Edward. He'd shared the information only with his superiors, Emmett, Rosalie, and Charlie Swan. He didn't want Bella to worry or be afraid, but he had impressed upon her how important it was for them to continue to be cautious about her comings and goings.
After Bella had recuperated and returned to her apartment, Edward, Emmett, and Seth took turns watching her place when he wasn't able to spend the night there. Emmett's imminent honeymoon necessitated the quick move the condo; otherwise it would have been down to Edward and Seth, and Edward didn't want to call in all his favors with his friends just yet.
"If you think it's necessary, I'll stay here." Bella capitulated easily, and Edward breathed a huge sigh of relief.
~888~
Bella, Rosalie, Alice, and the four other bridesmaids were riding in a limo down Apalachee Parkway toward the Capitol Building. They had spent the day together being pampered to the max and were finally on their way to St. Thomas More Catholic Church on Tennessee Street to get dressed for the wedding.
"I'm always calmed when riding toward the Capitol Building, because it looks just like my favorite part of the male anatomy," Rose said serenely.
They all cackled at Rosalie's bluntness.
"There she goes again." Alice rolled her eyes playfully.
Tracy, Rosalie's friend from Tennessee, said in her trilling southern belle drawl, "Oh my gosh, Rosalie, it does look like a gigantic pecker, and those domes on either side do rather look like a massive set of family jewels."
"Emmett still hasn't figured out why I get so horny when we happen to drive down this way. I may never tell him."
"Let him keep thinking it's him," her friend Lisa from North Carolina, giggled. "That'll be a real boon for his ego."
"Not that he needs a boost of confidence. He is easily the most arrogant man I know when it comes to his sexual prowess. Trust me—wouldn't faze him at all," Rosalie sniffed. "I wouldn't tell him because then he'd be expecting something every time."
Bella knew her face was probably a nice shade of rose. Rosalie's candor about all things sexual never failed to make her blush. But she'd grown to love Rosalie as much as she loved Angela and Alice. In the weeks she had been Rosalie's closest confidante regarding all her wedding plans, they had forged a true friendship. It was safe to say that she and Emmett knew Rosalie better than anyone else did.
They had been running wedding errands together at Governor's Square Mall, and Rosalie had been spooked by a guy who got a little too close to Bella. Before Bella could figure out what was going on, Rosalie had decked the guy, grabbed her hand, and ran full out with her to Rosalie's car, shopping bags flapping in their hands all the way.
When Bella was able to get her breath back and stop giggling from the exhilaration, she asked, "What was that all about?"
"You're not getting hurt again on my watch," Rosalie said, gripping the wheel and taking the turn out of the mall onto Governor's Square Boulevard like she was Evel Knievel.
"But what if you hurt that guy back there?"
"Better him than you," Rosalie said soberly. "Edward trusts me with you and I'm not taking any chances."
Bella would have accepted that and moved on had she not seen something almost feral in the way Rosalie had attacked that guy. There was much more to it than protecting someone she'd just met, particularly the girlfriend of her fiancé's best friend.
"Wanna talk about what really frightened you back there?"
Rosalie concentrated on her driving and didn't respond. She decided Rosalie was deep in thought and hadn't registered the question, but Rosalie turned off Magnolia behind the CVS Pharmacy and pulled into the lot of the Borders Bookstore.
"Come on, I'll buy you one of those high-caffeine drinks you like so much and tell you why I became a law enforcement officer," she said in her gruff police officer's voice. But Bella didn't mind, because she could tell Rose was hiding her true feelings of caring.
They entered the Borders coffee shop from the patio and were served right away. Quickly finding an empty table, they sat and Rosalie began sharing her sad saga.
"When I was sixteen, I was living a life very similar to any reasonably attractive teenage girl who was popular in high school. I made good grades, I was a cheerleader, in all the right clubs, and looking forward to going off to college, riding my popularity right along with me.
My boyfriend at that time was the quarterback of the team and could do no wrong in the eyes of our little community. I thought I loved him. We had similar backgrounds and a love for cars and racing in common. We'd never had sex because I was waiting until the right time—maybe in our senior year when we were headed to college, hopefully together. That year, the team advanced to the championships but lost the final game to our arch rivals. Royce was upset about the loss. He cried like a baby, and I tried to be supportive like a good girlfriend should. So I comforted him in the only way I knew how. We began to make out, but when I realized how far we'd gone, I tried to rein him in. But Royce was like an animal. He wouldn't stop when I asked him to."
Bella was appalled. "Your boyfriend raped you?"
"Yes, but he insisted that wasn't what happened. When I told my parents, my school counselor, the police, anyone who would listen, they didn't really believe me because Royce Lambert was beloved by everyone. I became the social pariah because I was accusing the golden boy of something that surely he could not have done. I had seduced him, so I was the bad girl." Rosalie breathed deeply and continued.
"I moved on from that, and I really was looking forward to blowing that Popsicle stand and never returning because there had been no justice for what happened to me. Unfortunately, I did not get out unscathed. During our senior year, Royce begged and pleaded until he convinced my parents that he wanted to let bygones be bygones. He said he wanted to show me that he was really sorry for what he had done. He insisted that we should go to prom together. I turned him down, but my parents insisted that I go. Some parents, huh?
I couldn't wait until prom was over. I just wanted to go home and never see Royce again, but he had other plans. He took me to the football field under the guise that he just wanted to say goodbye to the gridiron with his girl by his side. Royce and his friends had been drinking from flasks all night and were pretty drunk. When we arrived at the stadium, four of his friends were already there." Tears began coursing down Rosalie's cheeks. "I can't bear to repeat the ways in which they used me on the fifty yard line of our high school football field."
Bella's heart broke for Rosalie. She moved her chair closer to her and wrapped her arms around her. "Rosalie, I'm so sorry. I can't begin to fathom what that incident did to you—how you dealt with that. To have survived such unthinkable brutality, and at the hands of someone you once loved and trusted."
"It's taken a lot of years of therapy and a career that has been a gift. Frankly, being able to help people has allowed me to put what was done to me in my past and move forward. But as you saw earlier, I still flip out sometimes when guys get too close and too familiar too soon," Rose said wryly.
Bella released Rosalie when she wriggled. She was still not comfortable with the mushy stuff. "Surely Royce and those monsters were brought to justice that time, right?"
"Not in the way I would have liked, but there was justice," Rosalie said quietly. "My brothers, Keith and Jonathan, had always been into cars and racing, and I learned everything I could from them about it and got very good at racing. My brothers were the only ones who believed me about Royce, by the way. They tried to defend me, but Royce always had his mini-mafia around so their skirmishes always turned into brawls. After they were arrested the second time, I made them promise not to fight about it anymore.
I would go home every summer and drive in some of the local amateur races in Daytona. I knew that eventually I might run into Royce. I was surprised to find him entered in a race I was driving in the summer after my sophomore year at FSU. He foolishly went head-to-head with me, but I wouldn't allow him to pass. He got angry and tried to run me off the speedway, but I was too good. He crashed and burned. His parents tried to press charges against me, but there were too many witnesses to his carelessness.
He held on for twenty-four hours, but he was burned over seventy-five percent of his body. He didn't make it. It was only after that incident that I really found the courage to major in criminal justice and enter the police academy after graduation. One of Royce's friends went to prison and, after getting a dose of jailhouse religion, finally told the truth about what they had done to me. My parents and friends had some huge apologies to make, but by that time it was too late. The three remaining rapists went to prison, too."
"They got what they deserved," Bella said with finality. "So, how did you meet Emmett? Was it while all this was going on?"
"He was on the football team at FSU. So naturally, after what had happened with Royce and his buddies, I steered clear of football players, but Emmett wouldn't give up. He was adorable and very patient, even though he had girls beating down his door. It took me a while to warm up to him, but when I did I knew he was the one.
"However, he didn't know all of my past and he was kind of full of himself and sowing all the wild oats he could while in college. When he refused to stop messing around with the skanks, I broke up with him. I had met this junior senator while doing a project at the Capitol, so I began dating him. I think it made Emmett jealous, because a few months later he came back for me with a vengeance."
"When did you tell him about the incident with Royce?"
"He blew out his knee in his final season at FSU, and I became his caregiver. He was a mess. I've never seen a man so depressed before in my life. Ooh, I take that back. Edward was pretty fucked up when you got hurt in Destin."
Bella frowned. "Really?"
"He loves you, Bella. And that's a big deal for Edward. His childhood was almost as crappy as my teenage nightmare."
"So you told Emmett when he was recuperating from his injury?"
"Yes, because I needed his ass to understand that people experience even more difficult things in life than the loss of an NFL career and lived through it. That solidified us as a couple, and then he understood why I had put him off for so long in the beginning. I refused to let the experience I had with those boys steal my chance for a loving relationship with a real man."
Bella knew then that Rosalie Hale, soon to be McCarty, would be her friend for a long time. She had triumphed over an experience that would have left many women broken and devastated for life. What Rosalie had gone through was incomprehensible to Bella. Officer Rosalie Hale was her hero.
~888~
It was all Edward could do not to bolt down the aisle to the door where he knew Bella was standing with Rosalie and her other bridesmaids. He was anxious because he had not seen her since the rehearsal dinner the night before. After the dinner, the men had gone with him and the women with Bella to keep with the tradition of the bride and groom not seeing each other before the wedding.
He'd hosted a bachelor party for Emmett in a suite at the Hotel Duval. Bella and the rest of the bridal party had some celebrating of their own to do. Since they had been consuming copious amounts of alcohol at said parties, they decided to stay at the hotel. Then early this morning the women had left to get the obligatory beauty treatments they insisted they all needed, despite the fact that they'd all looked just fine to him and their respective men. Edward, meanwhile, had taken the guys for a sedentary round of golf at the Seminole Golf Course.
The cathedral at St. Thomas More was rather imposing. The majestic stained glass windows that regaled the walls of the sanctuary were ornate, yet breathtakingly beautiful. However, his appreciation for the architectural beauty of the church paled in comparison to his appreciation of the beauty of the maid of honor, who stood alone as the ushers opened the door. Edward breathed a sigh of relief when the organ music came up and his mother began a rousing rendition of Pachelbel's Canon in D. Bella slowly walked to where Edward, Emmett, and Monsignor Tanner stood waiting in front of the altar.
As Bella floated down the aisle to join them, Edward actually appreciated all she had done to get ready for the day, despite his earlier belief that she would not be able to improve upon perfection. She was a vision that agreed with her name. Her eyes and smile were only for him as she approached wearing a gorgeous strapless, dress in a color that it seemed had been chosen just for her. Bella's hair was swept up, making her look ethereal. Just before she turned to take her place opposite them, she smiled and winked provocatively at him.
He groaned and began his Taps trick. Emmett tried to speak to him without moving his mouth as Alice and Jasper began to walk toward them.
"Calm down, Edwina. The Monsignor is doing an abbreviated version of the Mass, so you'll get your hands on her soon enough."
Edward would have punched him but being in a church for a wedding did require a bit of decorum. He couldn't blame Emmett for that comment. The night before he had threatened several times to crash the girls' bachelorette party just to check on Bella, but Emmett wouldn't let him. Even drunk, Emmett was a light sleeper and had caught him trying to text Bella in the middle of the night. Edward finally gave up and fell asleep frustrated and alone in his hotel bed.
The rest of the wedding ceremony was a blur because Edward didn't see anyone else after Bella and Alice until the bride herself entered. Edward heard Emmett's sharp intake of breath when Rosalie entered, heralded by Mendelssohn's Wedding March in Elizabeth Masen Cullen's signature arrangement. Rosalie had asked her eldest brother Keith, to do the honors and walk her down the aisle, since her father had been stricken with MS and was wheelchair-bound. She had been really close to Keith growing up.
Rosalie was a radiant bride, and Edward felt certain as he witnessed his friends exchange their vows that he wanted this someday with Bella. After they had genuflected about a half dozen times, the Wedding Mass was done, and the vows said, the Monsignor pronounced them as Mrs. and Mrs. Emmett McCarty, Edward finally had his Bella on his arm. They walked in a procession around the church and re-entered the sanctuary through another door after the guests had filed out.
Before the picture-taking commenced, Edward pulled Bella around a corner and kissed her thoroughly, only releasing her when she pushed insistently against his chest.
"Someone missed me," she whispered in mock awe, her breathing ragged.
"You have no idea," he murmured, drinking her in with his eyes. "I'm so glad we're going back to the condo tonight."
"Me too," she moaned. Her hands traveled up his back and felt the outline of his gun harness. She frowned and said in a chastising tone, "Edward Cullen, why, pray tell, are you armed in a church?"
"The last time we let our guard down for fun times the stalker got vicious. It's a precaution, but one I don't regret taking. Besides Emmett, Seth, and several other officers are armed as well."
"And Rosalie was all right with her groom wearing a gun as they said their vows?"
"Come on, she's Rosalie."
Bella grinned. "You're right. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't have one concealed under that dress somewhere, too."
Edward grew serious. "I need you to stay in my sight at all times tonight, okay?"
"Are you gonna take bathroom breaks with me, too?" she teased.
He smirked and raised an eyebrow. "If you want me to."
"In your dreams. My parents and your mother are going to be at the reception. I doubt they'd agree with that arrangement."
"Well, do the women's group bathroom thing. Promise me you won't go anywhere alone. Hell, I'll escort you, stand outside, and guard the door, if you want me to."
"Um, thanks, but I think I'll take my chances with the girls." She took his hand and tugged him forward. "Rosalie's gonna be calling us in a few minutes—"
Rosalie's bark cut her off. "Bella and Edward! Get in here now!"
~888~
Their drive from the church to the FSU Alumni Center was just a short distance on Tennessee Street and was uneventful. Once they arrived, the wedding party took their seats at the head of the ballroom for a sit-down dinner with Emmett and Rosalie's two hundred guests.
Besides the obligatory champagne toasts, Edward didn't drink much at the reception. He wanted to be clearheaded when they left for the night because if he were the stalker and intended to make an attempt, it would be after the party when everyone was impaired. After dinner, they followed the bride and groom onto the dance floor.
Edward had a great time dancing with Bella in such a festive setting. The only person he allowed to cut-in was Charlie Swan, and he did so grudgingly. But he didn't allow his reluctance to release Bella to show, especially where her father was concerned. He took a turn with Renee and was surprised to find that she was an excellent dancer.
Edward smiled as he moved effortlessly with Renee across the dance floor. "Now I know where Bella gets her rhythm and grace."
"You're not so bad yourself, Edward." She then whispered conspiratorially, "The first year we were together Charlie stepped on my feet all the time."
Edward chuckled. "Not the Good Reverend."
"Oh yeah," Renee assured him. "Charlie was two left feet personified. "
"I'll have to tease him about that—maybe a couple of years from now," Edward said with a grimace.
"Puh—leez, with the way he gives you grief? Give it right back to him. He'll respect that."
"Thanks, I'll remember that the next time he's scowling at me for whatever sin he thinks I've committed."
When the song ended, Charlie whisked Renee away from Edward, and Bella was nabbed by Emmett for a dance, while Rosalie danced with her younger brother, Jonathan. Edward scanned the crowd and found his mother. Carlisle had kept her and Esme busy trading dances with them, so Edward took an opportunity to dance with his mother for a change.
Elizabeth was delighted and giggling like a schoolgirl as he spun her expertly around the dance floor.
"I had forgotten what a great dancer you are, son. Your father was excellent, as well." Elizabeth's peridot eyes were sparkling.
"I vaguely remember you two spinning around the living room floor in happier times," Edward said dryly.
"Bella is a beautiful maid of honor. She'll make an even more beautiful bride someday."
Edward wasn't offended by his mother's comment as he might have been several months ago. He smiled at his mother. "Aren't mothers supposed to object to, or at the very least discourage, their sons from becoming emotionally entangled before the age of thirty?"
"Only an insecure mother would do that. Despite our differences in the past, I only want what's best for you. It seems that Bella has changed you for the better, irrevocably."
"I sincerely hope so. If there is anything I would pray for, it would be that the apple has fallen far enough from the tree so I can be the kind of man she needs."
"Edward, I know what our failed marriage and your father's influence did to color your opinion of the fairer sex. And my fanaticism has made you skittish about the faith, but if you feel so inclined, do pray. It works."
"Something Rev. Swan reminds me about weekly," he said with a smile.
"It's a different world dating a pastor's daughter, isn't it?"
"It's not without its challenges, but Bella makes it palatable."
The song ended, and Edward wasn't sure what came over him. Maybe the mood set by the wedding made him more sentimental, but he hugged his mother and kissed her softly on the cheek.
"Your arrangements were exquisite today," he murmured.
"Thank you, Edward. I know that's a fair assessment coming from you." She smiled. "I know that you young people will party late into the night, but I think maybe I should be getting home."
Bella gave Emmett and Rosalie a hug and made a beeline for them. Edward noticed how his mother's face lit up when Bella gave her a big hug.
"Mrs. Cullen, you played beautifully today, as usual. How have you been? Your son has had me in protective custody. Sorry, I haven't been out to see you lately."
"Thank you, Bella. I'm doing really well. Edward's only looking out for your well-being. Maybe we can have lunch after church tomorrow—my treat," Elizabeth said to Bella but looked to Edward for confirmation.
Edward looked to Bella who nodded in the affirmative. "That would be great, Mother," he said. "We'll meet you after our services then?"
They followed Elizabeth to her table where she retrieved her purse.
"I might as well worship at City of Hope tomorrow, and we can leave from there together," she said before turning to Bella. "I love the choir at City of Hope—so full of life—and your solos are par excellence, bar none."
"Thank you, Mrs. Cullen."
Rosalie came over and grabbed Bella's hand. "Maid of Honor, I need you."
"We were saying goodbye to Mrs. Cullen," Bella said, tugging back.
"Sorry," Rosalie said contritely. She hugged Elizabeth briefly. "Thanks so much for coming, Mrs. Cullen, and playing for us. You made our day very special."
Edward squeezed Bella's hand. "Go ahead, babe. I'll walk Mother to her car and be right back."
Bella took Rosalie's hand, and they went off to do whatever bidding Rosalie had dreamed up for her. When Edward offered his mother his arm, she graciously took it; and they left the ballroom and exited the building. Although it was early evening, the air was still thick with humidity from the hot day as was par for the course. It was like walking into another season when they left the building. Edward automatically loosened his tie.
"Where are you parked?" he asked.
"The parking lot on the right just past the courtyard."
He guided them toward the parking lot. "Mother, I'm going to have to go to Indiana eventually. I have some vacation time coming up, but I guess the timing will all depend on whether the stalker is found. I won't feel comfortable leaving Bella before then."
"Your father was always a reasonable man despite his flair for the bawdy excesses of life. You may find him mellowed a bit in his older age."
"Mellowed or not, he owes me an apology that's eleven years overdue. I don't see why I have to be the one to extend the olive branch here, but Dr. Levy is insisting that I need to confront him."
"Might I suggest that you begin by reading those letters and cards he sent you over the years? They're still in your room, unopened."
"You could suggest it, but I remember reading a few of his letters early on. He wrote as if everything was fine as far as he was concerned, and I was the one who had offended his wife."
"Things might have changed. You won't know unless you make the effort," she encouraged.
"Have you heard something through Uncle Carlisle? Is this why you're so gung-ho for me to contact him after all this time?"
Elizabeth stopped and looked up into his eyes. "Son, your father is ill. All his years of hard drinking have caught up with him. He's a mess. Irina left him and Carlisle is concerned that he's not following doctor's orders."
"And I'm supposed to care, why?"
"Because he's your father, albeit a—what is you young people say—a crappy one?"
"I won't argue with you there."
"I'll tell you what; if you promise to make the trip soon, I'll go with you to make it easier."
"I might just take you up on that," he said, and they began walking in the general direction of her car again.
As they approached Elizabeth's Cadillac, Edward saw some words spray-painted on her car. A figure dressed in black was concentrating so intently on his efforts he didn't see them approaching. Edward pushed his mother between two large SUVs.
"Mother, get down!" he hissed, and he quickly kneeled on the ground beside her. He opened his tuxedo jacket and had his service weapon in his hand within seconds.
"What—?"
Edward put a finger to his lips to silence her. "Someone is vandalizing your car," he whispered. "Stay right here." Elizabeth's eyes grew huge when she saw Edward brandishing his service weapon. "It'll be all right, Mother. I'll be right back to get you, I promise."
Edward moved to the rear of the SUVs and decided to go around and surprise the vandal. As he rounded a pickup, he looked through the window of the cab of the truck and saw that he was about twenty feet from the vandal, who'd just emptied the spray paint can and dropped it to the pavement. He was about to begin spraying with another can when Edward called out.
"Tallahassee PD, drop it!"
The vandal froze and dropped the paint can but did not turn around.
"Put your hands over your head and turn around," Edward ordered.
He raised one gloved hand, then the other. Edward moved from the end of the truck and approached. As the vandal heard his footsteps, one of his hands went down, and he simultaneously turned around and fired a weapon. Edward had to dive behind the bed of the truck for cover, although the bullet didn't come anywhere near him. He rolled on the pavement and took aim while lying prone on the ground. The vandal took off running, but Edward got off two rounds. One struck the culprit in his left shoulder, but he kept running.
Elizabeth called to him, "Edward! Edward, are you all right?"
"Yes, Mother, I'm fine," he yelled back to her. Edward heard a car squeal to a stop, and as he stood up, he saw a gold sedan with two people in it, barreling out of the parking lot.
The stalker had an accomplice, and apparently his mother was now a target.
E/N: Please support the campaign to help Nashville residents who were affected by the flood. I plan to write a one-shot for this endeavor