Author Note: Thank you for the great response so far! There are lots of theories, but the most popular seems to be that Mrs. Cullen passed away, possibly in childbirth.

Several readers have come down on Bella and her friends for gossiping, which I'd kind of expected. Remember that they're in a small town though, where gossip is pretty much their only source of entertainment. Be honest now, if a hot single guy moved from Chicago to your small town with an 8-month-old baby in tow, you'd gossip too!

Thanks again to moosals for pre-reading. Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.

Chapter 3 – Friends of Mine

While my first instinct is to text Angela and Alice with the news right away, I don't. I tell myself that I just want to see their faces when I tell them in person, but in some way, I almost don't feel right gossiping about Edward's marital status.

Once we've ordered our food at the diner the following week, Alice's eyes narrow as she looks at me across the table. "You know something we don't," she accuses, and I know it's time to spill.

"Edward is divorced."

"What?" Angela gasps.

"Well, actually I don't know that — he could just be separated. But he told me he doesn't have a wife when I tried to invite her to dinner with us."

"Dibs!" Alice yells.

"You can't call dibs! I saw him first. Surely you remember the rules," I add smugly. Alice and I made a pact in eighth grade that we would never fight over a man, er, boy. Whoever met him first would have first rights — so long as the boy showed any interest in her, of course — unless she forfeited them.

"Anyway," I continue, "he's clearly not over her and ready to move on. He's still wearing his wedding band."

"I doubt it'll be long before he's ready," Angela speaks up.

"What makes you say that?" Alice asks.

She shrugs. "Between us, Ben and I have known a few couples who've split up. The husband always seems to be ready to jump back into the dating pool long before the wife. It's like… men can't stand to be alone. They always need to be part of a couple. Most likely they need a woman to take care of them since they can't do anything for themselves," she adds with a snort. "Ben is a brilliant lawyer, but he doesn't even know how to load or empty the dishwasher."

"I don't know that I'd say that about all men," Alice points out. "I think it depends on how long they were on their own before getting married in the first place. If Edward had an apartment during college, for example, he likely knows how to do laundry and has at least some rudimentary cooking skills."

"He certainly bought a lot of groceries from the Thriftway last week," I note. "Though I suppose his bags could've been full of frozen pizzas and Hot Pockets. Or baby food and diapers," I add with a chuckle.

"Well, if the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, you should invite him to dinner once in a while, Bella. Show him you can take care of him, and maybe once he's ready…" Angela trails off, shrugging.

"What would you think if I invited him out with us Saturday night?" I ask, the idea suddenly popping into my head. Next Tuesday is my 25th birthday, but since Angela and I can't really let our hair down on a school night, the four of us — including Ben — are going to Port Angeles this weekend.

"That's a great idea. Except, who will watch the baby?"

"I can ask my mom," Alice pipes up. "Do you think he'd trust a 55-year-old woman who's raised two children?"

"Worth a shot," I agree with a grin.

Once Alice has texted me on Friday to confirm that her mom will be happy to watch Masen, I stop by Edward's house after work to invite him to come out with us to Port Angeles.

"Hey," he greets me with a small smile after answering the door. For once, Masen isn't with him.

"Um, hi. I was, um, wondering if you'd like to go out to dinner tomorrow night. I-I mean, with my friends, not like a date or anything," I chuckle, once again mortified by my nervous rambling. "We're going to dinner in Port Angeles for my birthday."

"Tomorrow's your birthday?"

"Actually, it's not until the 13th," I explain, "but teachers can't have much fun on school nights."

Edward sighs, running his hand through his already messy hair. "I can't, I'm sorry. I doubt Masen would be welcome wherever you're planning to go. I really don't know anyone in town to watch him."

I smile widely. "Problem solved. Alice's mom has already agreed to watch him. Mrs. Brandon is an awesome lady; I spent a lot of time at her house when I was growing up. She raised Alice and her older sister, Cynthia, and now has a four-year-old grandson, though they live in Seattle."

Edward stares at me for a long moment, and my eyes are drawn to the peek of his tongue as he licks his lips. "I don't want to intrude on your girls' night."

"Oh, you wouldn't be! It's not just us girls; Angela's husband, Ben, is coming too."

He sighs, leaning against the door jamb.

"Come on," I beg. "I'll bet you haven't had a night without worrying about Masen since you moved here."

He gives me a small smile. "I haven't, but what makes you think being away from him for a few hours means I won't worry?" He grins. "It'd be nice to make some friends in Forks."

"Yes!" I give him a fist pump, knowing I've won. "We're going to Bella Italia; it's not super-fancy so don't worry about your outfit. I'll have Alice's mom come by to meet you about 5:45, OK? Ben is picking us up around six."

"All right," he nods. "I'll see you tomorrow."

After saying goodnight to Edward, I almost strut back to my house. I'm really looking forward to getting to know him better. As a lawyer, Ben is good at questioning people; he can probably get away with more casual probing questions than any of us girls.

Despite telling Edward not to worry about his outfit, I worry about mine, eventually choosing a nice but casual black dress, with a royal blue shrug for the cool evening air. I even put on a little bit of makeup. I may or may not be trying to impress a recently single man.

When Alice's mom arrives, I take her over to Edward's house and ring the doorbell.

"Hi," I greet him when he answers the door. He looks delectable in black jeans and a plaid button-down shirt, holding his son.

Edward looks me up and down, his brow furrowed. "I thought you said the place wasn't fancy?"

"It's not," I assure him, "but I don't have many opportunities to wear the few nicer dresses in my closet. Oh, um, this is Carolyn Brandon, Alice's mom."

"Nice to meet you, Edward," she says, holding her hand out for him to shake.

"Likewise. Please come in."

Once we're inside, I let Edward show Mrs. Brandon everything she needs to know to watch Masen for a few hours. He normally goes to bed at seven, and Edward has already fed him dinner, so she really only needs to entertain him for an hour.

When we hear Ben's large SUV pull up, we say goodbye and head outside. Angela is sitting behind Ben, leaving the front passenger seat for Edward and his long legs, while 5'1" Alice has crawled into the little-used third row of seats, leaving the seat behind Edward for me.

"Ben Cheney," he introduces himself with an extended hand as soon as Edward is situated.

"Edward Cullen. It's nice to meet you."

We spend the one-hour drive to Port Angeles telling Edward about Forks and pointing out various landmarks. Arriving at the restaurant, Edward is quite the gentleman, giving me his hand to help me out of the backseat, then doing the same for Alice.

We're seated at a round table, where I'm between Edward on my right and Alice on my left. "So what's good here?" Edward asks as we look over our menus.

"I like the mushroom ravioli; Alice always orders the crab cakes." I shrug. "Pretty much everything we've had is very good."

When we place our orders, we decide to get a bottle of wine for the table. Once our waiter has walked away, Ben turns to Edward.

"So, I hear you've come from Chicago. What on earth made you move to Forks?" he chuckles.

I see Edward's Adam's apple move as he swallows before answering. "I was looking for something different. A small town as opposed to a large city."

"Any reason for Forks in particular?" Angela asks, sipping her glass of ice water.

"Well, there was one year when I was 9 or 10 when my family came to Seattle for a summer vacation. We drove around to all of the national parks nearby and I remember really liking Olympic National Park. The huge trees were just so different from the skyscrapers in Chicago. It was… peaceful, and I really liked that."

Our waiter brings our bottle of Pinot Grigio then, and I narrow my eyes but don't speak up when Angela politely declines a glass.

"Have you found a job yet in Forks?" Ben asks.

"I, um, I'm a writer," Edward answers, and my ears perk up. I've always enjoyed classic literature, but I never thought I could make a living as a fiction writer. Of course, maybe he means that he writes for magazines or something like that. "I can write from anywhere. The publisher I work with has an office in Seattle as well as Chicago."

"So you work from home," I realize.

"I do," he nods. "Are all of you teachers?"

"Just Angela and me. Ben is a lawyer and Alice is a nurse."

Alice smiles. "My dad's a doctor and he really wanted me to go into medicine, but I wasn't interested in going to school for that many years. Nursing seemed like a good fit though."

"My dad is a doctor as well," Edward reveals. "He's a cardiac surgeon. My two older brothers did follow him into medicine. My oldest brother, Emmett, is a paramedic, and my brother Jasper just finished his residency to become an ER doctor. I'm the black sheep," he chuckles. "The sensitive, artistic one."

I smile at him. "Well, my dad is the Chief of Police, so I certainly didn't follow in his footsteps either."

"Of Forks?" Edward asks, his eyes wide.

"Yes, of Forks," I nod. "He was just a beat cop when I was a kid. I think I was about 14 when he was promoted to Chief. Sure didn't do anything for my love life when I was in high school." I roll my eyes.

"And your mom?"

"She, um, left when I was two," I reply, wondering how close my story is to Edward's current situation. "She moved to a nudist colony in Phoenix."

"Oh," he mutters.

"What about your mom?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"She's an interior designer," Edward replies. "I guess that's maybe where I got my artistic side."

"Is she helping you with the house?" I ask.

"She is," he smiles. "I email her photos and she sends me back her ideas. Of course, she has pretty high-end tastes. I doubt a house in Forks needs granite countertops."

Angela laughs. "I want those, but Ben won't let me have them. He's the practical one."

As our meals arrive, our conversation turns to small talk, mostly about our jobs. There's so much more I'd like to learn about Edward, but I don't want to make him feel like we're putting him on the spot.

Ben insists on picking up the tab for all of us as my birthday present. As we step outside, Alice suggests a walk down to the Landing so that we can visit the wine bar.

"What do you think, Edward?" I ask. I'm not sure how he feels about staying away from his son for longer.

"Are you sure your mom won't mind what time we get back, Alice?"

"Nah, she's a night owl. It wouldn't bother her if we get back after midnight. I think the wine bar closes at 10 though."

Edward insists on calling Carolyn to make sure it'll be fine if we're late, but I think he also needs to make sure that Masen is OK. She assures him that all is good on both fronts.

As we walk the couple of blocks, Edward and I end up lagging a bit behind the other three. "So, um, what was it like growing up without a mom?" he asks softly.

"Well, I spent a lot of time at Alice's house after school and during the summers while my dad was working. Her mom became almost a surrogate mom to me. I can't say that I really missed having a mom, but then I don't remember her ever being around. But I'll say that growing up with the parent of the opposite sex… well, it was nice that Alice's mom could be there when I needed to buy my first bra," I laugh. "I can just imagine that shopping trip with my dad." It was the same when I got my first period, but I'm not going to tell him about that.

"So, since I have a son…"

"You can definitely handle all of the essentials," I finish.

"Did, um, did your dad ever remarry?"

"No," I shake my head. "He dated a bit when I was growing up, but never found the right woman. He's been dating a widow from the nearby Quileute reservation for the last year though. She's great and it seems to be serious."

Edward remains silent as we reach our destination, and I hope our conversation hasn't put a damper on our evening.

Once we're seated, we all decide to get our own different varieties of wine this time; Angela just orders a Diet Coke. I pounce on her as soon as the waitress has stepped away.

"Anything you need to be telling us, Mrs. Cheney?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"No!" she answers quickly. "But we've started trying, so I'm getting into the habit of not drinking."

"Angela thinks she can perfectly time having a baby around our school calendar," I explain to Edward. He swallows thickly, staring down at the table, and my brow furrows at his strange reaction.

When the waiter brings our drinks, Ben holds up his glass. "A toast to Bella. It may be a few days early, but welcome to 25!" We all clink our glasses together before drinking up.

After a second glass each, we make our way back to where Ben parked his car. Angela offers to drive, and Ben waves off Edward when he offers up his front seat. As she starts the car, Edward leans his head back against the seat, sighing. The four of us continue our conversation, mostly without him, during the drive home.

Once Angela has dropped us off in front of our houses, I turn to Edward. "Are you missing Masen?"

"I am, but… it was nice to just have some time away for a while."

"I'm glad you had a good time," I smile.

"I did," he nods. "Your friends are nice."

"They're the best," I agree. "But that doesn't mean I don't have room in my life for one more friend."

Edward smiles, holding out his hand. I place my hand in his, squeezing gently as he shakes it. "Friends, then."

"Friends."

A/N: So the question of why Edward has moved to Forks has been answered. Do you believe him?

What do you think of what Angela said in the first scene? Moosals reports that her man can handle the dishwasher, but needs supervision with the vacuum and washing machine.

Next update on Friday (I think). I have tickets for the Billy Joel concert on Thursday night, if they don't cancel it.