Chapter Twenty Three

Edward

I had decided to stay close to the house so I could monitor events, I needed to know what had happened to Bella and what Jasper would decide to do when he returned. I wasn't going to get any help from the family, Carlisle had made that perfectly clear with his message and his words and attitude had really hurt. How could he see my actions as being so terribly wrong? How could he possibly believe that leaving Bella in Jasper's clutches was better for all concerned than having her admit the feelings I was still convinced she once had for me? Admittedly I had been a little too forceful but I had never meant to physically hurt her and if she hadn't pulled away from me then it would never have gotten out of hand.

I was scared much as I hated to admit it even to myself. Since the pain and pressure in my head, I had heard nothing. My mind was like a long abandoned echo chamber, silent as the grave, all I heard were my own thoughts and I had no idea why this had never happened before and it showed no sign of changing. I'd tried to listen in to some humans on the edge of town but all I could make out were their spoken words. Their thoughts were a mystery to me and when I tried to force myself into their thoughts the pain came back only twice as bad as before and I found myself missing several hours when I must have been rolling around in agony on the forest floor by the state of my clothes.

This had happened in Bella's room initially so it must be connected to her in some way and if so then maybe she could help me get my gift back. At least I was determined that she would try if I had to beat it out of her.

When I got back to the house I discovered Jasper was back, I could hear him speaking softly and lovingly towards Bella, treating her as if she were a skittish colt, the idiot. Finding a good hiding place and one that gave me an easy exit if I were forced to flee I settled down to wait, to see what if anything she would say about what she'd done to me.

When I heard their great announcement I could have roared in anger, Bella was going to marry the monster despite all I had told her? Of course, she must have thought I was lying, well good riddance, but I still needed her to recover my gift. Maybe if I stayed close enough whatever influence had cut me off from it would allow it back. I needed my gift, it was my ace in the hole and ensured I never found myself in danger or bested by anyone, vampire or human although it had never worked on Bella had it? Now I was sure this was her fault, she'd stopped me reading her thoughts and now she had extended that to blocking every mind from me.

The only consolation in all this was that I had been able to prevent Alice from seeing my intentions. She may think she was clever, blocking my reading of her thoughts by thinking non-stop of high fashion and makeup but she wasn't a match for me. I wondered how long I would have to endure this terrible silence inside my head, how long before I could rely on my gift again? Bella would pay for what she'd done to me, I just needed to find out how she had done it before deciding how to get my revenge. I couldn't go through more of that pain, it had been crippling and I didn't think I could bear it again.

Hiding in the trees while watching my family fawn over a mere human was appalling. While I was soaked to the skin and getting more filthy by the hour she was comfortable inside with clean clothes and hot water. I would be forced to steal clothes or risk breaking into my own home to obtain them with everyone out for my blood.

Esme

We were thrilled to hear Jasper's news and I admired Bella for seeing beyond the fear to the people we tried so very hard to be. I wondered how much they had discussed the inevitable outcome of their actions, they were so much in love they couldn't possibly contemplate a life together that would end with Bella's human life. Still, that was their business not mine, I was just thrilled to be asked, along with Rose, to plan the engagement party and the wedding. Of course, I would speak to Bella about involving her mother although sadly they weren't particularly close, I didn't want us to cause any animosity with either of her parents.

I had been daydreaming about my own wedding to Carlisle when hearing Edward's name brought me back to the present.

"You say something happened to Edward when he hurt you, darlin'?"

Bella told Jasper exactly what she had told us, how he had appeared in pain and Jasper seemed to think it might have been the crushing realization of what he had done and possibly what danger he might now be in. After all, Bella was only a human, she could hardly be responsible for causing Edward any real pain. I felt uneasy, though, Edward had been on the edge for a long time with Carlisle keeping him from falling, or jumping, but now he had, how far would he go?

I thought about ringing Alice to see if she could see anything but instinct told me that if she had seen Edward's intentions she would have warned us already, Alice loved Bella like a sister. The problem was that Edward had become adept at hiding his intentions from Alice and if as I suspected he hadn't intended to attack or harm her when he broke in Alice may not have seen anything to alarm, her. If only her gift were as reliable as Edward's it would have saved us a certain amount of trouble over the years. She would be terribly upset when she found out what had happened and feel guilty she was not able to prevent it so for now, I thought it best to leave her in the dark rather than ruin her vacation when there was nothing she could do in any case.

Bella was now much calmer although she clung to Jasper who seemed only too happy with the situation, especially as Bella had agreed to marry him. He had even had the ring, which now resided on her wedding finger reflecting the light in coloured shards, ready. It was understated just the kind of ring she would have chosen, he knew his fiancee so well. I knew Bella was a little nervous telling her mother, it sounded like she was a woman of rather strong opinions so I suggested that perhaps she could invite Renee and her husband to Forks for the engagement party, they could stay here and get to know him and us.

"Are you sure? I mean won't it be difficult for you?"

"Bella, the easiest way to allay any fears your mother might have is for her to meet us socially. Why don't you ring her from here? If she becomes difficult you can pass her over to me, I'm quite used to handling difficult humans."

It turned out to be far easier than Bella had anticipated, her mother sounded a little put out at first, she didn't realize things had gone as far as they had but then I took over and once she realized she was to be consulted about the planning she mellowed. As for Charlie, Carlisle rang and invited him over for dinner where Bella and Jasper were able to tell him their news in person. Of course, Renee had already been on to him chewing his ears off for not telling her how serious about our son Bella had become so it wasn't actually news to him but he seemed pleased anyway.

When he had left I went back to the kitchen to clear up followed by Rose who shut the door behind her so I guessed she had something to say that she hadn't wanted Bella to hear.

"Esme, what about Edward? Do you think he's really lost his mind? I'm worried he might try something else. Oh, I know Bella's safe now that Jasper's home but knowing Edward he won't just stop and he can't come back dragging his tail even if he wanted to. Why on earth would he tell Bella our secret when he knows the Volturi watch us closely? This could be the opportunity they have been looking for to call us to Volterra, even break up the family."

I put an arm around her comfortingly.

"I wouldn't worry too much about the Volturi, after all, Bella isn't going to tell anyone so how would they find out. I'm more concerned about Jasper hunting Edward down. He was negligent and extremely stupid and neither Carlisle nor I are willing to have him back at the moment but I'm not sure we've heard the last of him. It's what he will do if there is something wrong with him that worries us."

"You don't think he'll try anything with Bella do you? That would be tantamount to committing suicide."

"No, he understands that I'm sure but there are other options open to him if he's desperate enough."

I didn't have to spell these out to Rose, she'd already mentioned the most likely, but I prayed he would see sense and just hide somewhere to heal his wounded pride.