Chapter 5
Conversation was sporadic and desultory as they headed south once more, toward Atlanta. Lost in thoughts of the past and plans for the future, Bella's dark reverie was disturbed by a voice from the back seat. "So," Jake said, "she'll need papers of some sort, right?"
"It'd probably help, yeah."
"You gonna ask them?"
"Already did."
"Good. Goin' there now?"
"Yep."
Bella's eyes darted back and forth between the two men as they spoke, waiting patiently for one of them to clue her in. Her patience was dissipating quickly, though, and she cleared her throat. "Um, anybody care to let me in on the plan?"
"Edward has a 'friend' who helps him out with paperwork every once in a while. He's gonna help out with givin' you a new name."
Jake's brow furrowed as he addressed the back of Edward's head again, a questioning look on his face. "When'd you talk to him, anyway?"
"Why?"
"Just wondered. Where'd you call from? Was it safe?"
Edward grunted in annoyance. "No, Jake, I decided to put us all in danger by leaving tracks!" He huffed again, disgruntled at Jake's doubt of his competency. "Of course it's safe. I stopped yesterday, called from a random office. No cameras, no way to trace any of us to it."
Quiet descended as the two men lapsed into silence. She gazed out the window at the passing scenery, contemplating the ins and outs of Edward and his ability to conjure a paperwork life for her out of thin air. Was that from his days in the FBI? How much risk was he taking for her?
Bella was suddenly hit with a dangerous feeling. She pushed it away, threatened by it, unfamiliar with it. She couldn't recall ever having felt this way, especially since...her mind shied away from that path, and she considered what it was about these two men that made her feel protected, secure. She couldn't afford that. She couldn't afford to let her emotions grow and develop any further, she had to harden her heart. The plan was still to take the baby to Rose, and then go back and deal with James...this was a temporary detour, no matter how fortuitous hiding out here was turning out to be.
Edward pulled into the underground parking lot of a nondescript building in the middle of downtown Atlanta. He wound his way through to find a parking spot near the exit. He was in and out within thirty minutes, throwing a manilla envelop on her lap as he slid in. She opened it to find everything she would need to become someone else. There was even a passport. They looked completely legitimate.
She tested out her new name, Marie Atera, rolling it around on her tongue, trying to fit into it. She examined the photos, realizing Edward had taken them the day before at the motel, after her hair had been dyed and cut. The expression on her face was surprising. Nothing like her own mental self-image, the girl in these pictures looked almost...happy, hopeful. She frowned, wondering how he was able to get these shots without her knowledge.
"These will get me out of the country if need be?" Bella couldn't prevent the skepticism in her tone.
"He's never let me down before."
"We need to flesh out our story about why you're here," Jake commented. "Are you a widow, or divorced...," he trailed off, concentrating on the details.
Edward glanced at her. "Escaping from an abusive man," he suggested. "Usually best to stay as close to the truth as possible, and that's true, right?"
Bella sighed. "Yes, among other things." Her face closed off, and nothing else was said for several miles. Her thoughts were again in a dark place, memories flooding in. A waft of a particularly pleasant aroma from a restaurant they were passing took her back five years, and suddenly it was her nineteenth birthday.
"This is so good, Riley! Tell me where you learned to cook like this?" she asks, finishing off the last of the shrimp bisque he had served as the first course.
"I grew up in New Orleans, eating Cajun, and my mama was French Creole, I think she was born cooking. She let me hang out in the kitchen with her and by the time I was twelve I could cook a full meal for a crowd. I expanded my skills in college, paid my way through as a sous chef, and then got a job as the head in a five star restaurant. And then...James made an offer I couldn't refuse."
"Mmm," she had said, refraining from comment on his position with James. " I'm so glad your mama let you hang out in the kitchen, it would have been a crime against fate had you not become a chef!" His bright blue eyes had twinkled and his cheeks had reddened.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it! Ready for the next course?"
"Bring it on!"
He had not been lying to her, except possibly by omission, but there was so much more to his story...
She wrenched her thoughts back to the present when Edward softly cleared his throat. She allowed her eyes to linger on his profile for a moment, stunned again by perfection of his jawline and chin. He held the steering wheel with one hand, casually capable, leaning on the door with one arm out the open window. His wrap around sunglasses hid his eyes and she turned away, unsure of the focus of that deep green gaze, but feeling that it was in her direction.
"Every thing OK?" he asked, confirming her instincts. She had felt his eyes on her. She had never had this kind of reaction to a man before, and she definitely didn't like it. She felt too vulnerable.
"Yeah."
"Any questions about any of the paper work?"
"No, it all looks good. Amazing, in fact." She paused, wondering about the name. It sounded vaguely familiar.
"What?"
"Atera?"
"Leah's maiden name."
"Oh. Native American?"
"Yeah, a tribe in Northwest Washington."
"Oh, OK." There was something niggling around in her memory, something she couldn't quite put her finger on...she let it go for the moment, planning to revisit the name and place later.
Wondering at the lack of input from Jake, Bella turned to question him on his silence, only to see him leaning against the window, dead to the world. A strange feeling came over Bella's heart when, a few minutes later, she and Edward shared a chuckle over the snores coming from the back seat. She turned away quickly, again pushing away the feeling of vulnerability.
They were quiet for a few more minutes.
"I guess..." he began, and then broke off.
"What?"
"We should probably have a conversation."
"No, we probably shouldn't!" she denied, alarm spiking in her voice.
"Don't get your back up, it's not bad, I just think we need to talk, since it looks like we're going to be sharing accommodations for a while. Tension isn't good for you, or the baby. I just want to clear the air a little."
"Look, I appreciate everything you've done, but, I don't...I'm not ready."
"I didn't mean right now, just...soon?"
His gentle tone settled her fear, slightly. "Alright, we'll talk, as long as you don't push for answers I can't give you."
"Fair enough," he nodded. He found himself unwillingly curious about her, his preconceived ideas of someone in her position conflicting with his observations of her character. She was a puzzle he was becoming more and more interested in solving, against his own wishes and better judgment.
"Need to stop anywhere else before we head back to Jackson?" he inquired, a few more miles of surprisingly comfortable silence having passed.
Bella thought for a moment, and an idea occurred to her. It was something, albeit a ridiculously small something, in her estimation, that she could do for them to begin repaying the kindness they had shown her. Maybe they would enjoy it. "I would actually like to stop at a grocery store, if that's OK?"
She saw a bold eyebrow raise in question over his sunglasses, and a corner of his beautiful lips quirked up. "A grocery store?"
She nodded, smiling slightly.
"Okay, not a problem. Do you want to go in, or do you want one of us to get what you need?"
"I want to go in."
"Have a preference as to what store?"
"No, as long as there is a good seafood section."
"Hmm, seafood?" He pondered a moment, tapping his chin with one long finger. "Ah! I know just the place, and it's right on the way home. There's a farmer's market in Atlanta that brings in fresh seafood from the Georgia coast every morning."
"Perfect!"
Bella settled back, content to sight see, and in short order they pulled into the huge parking lot. Edward stopped in front of the entrance. "If you want to hop out, I'll park, grab a buggy and then meet you just inside the door. That way you won't have to walk through this huge lot."
"You don't have to come in, Edward, I can get what I need."
"No argument, but I'm coming in anyway, you may need help lifting something, or reaching something...or something."
Bella gave in with good grace, actually grateful for the help, and hopped out as quickly as her condition allowed. She waited for him by the front door, and within a few minutes they were strolling down the aisles between tables piled high with an assortment of produce. It felt more than a little surreal to her to be engaged in such a mundane activity as grocery shopping with the beautiful man beside her, yet, strangely right.
Edward watched with amused interest as she sniffed and palmed various fruits and vegetables, an endearing furrow of concentration between her elegantly arched eyebrows. He stayed close by, keeping an eye out for undue attention from the other shoppers, but Bella...no, Marie, he quickly reminded himself, looked so different with her short blonde bob, that he wasn't actually that worried about someone recognizing her.
"What are you fixing, or is it a surprise?"
"I'd like to surprise you, but I don't want to risk anaphylactic shock for either of you. Any food allergies I need to know about?"
"Nope, both of us can eat anything that doesn't try to eat us first!"
She smiled. "OK, let me surprise you, then?"
He chuckled, looking down into her big brown eyes. "You do it all the time," he admitted.
She blushed and studied the onion in her hand with far more concentration than it required.
He cleared his throat and stepped back. "What else do you need?"
"Just a couple more things."
"OK, lead the way."
They were in the check out lane when Jake came strolling in twenty minutes later, grumbling and rubbing his neck. "Why'd you leave me out there?" he groused.
"You looked like you needed your beauty sleep," Edward told him, laughing.
"Yeah, well now I've got a neck ache!" he complained, continuing to rub it.
"Maybe you can get Sue to massage it for you," Edward suggested, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Jake snapped at him, feigning offense as Edward chuckled and continued to tease the older man.
Bella wondered if Sue was Jake's lady friend, but, not wanting be nosy, she tuned them out and took advantage of their bantering to pay for the groceries before either of them noticed, or could stop her. Both of them protested, but Bella shook her head, pushing the cart toward the exit. Edward promptly hijacked the buggy to take to the back of the van to unload, as Jake took her elbow, guiding her to the passenger side, gently chiding her for circumventing their gentlemanly instincts.
"This is my treat," Bella told him. "That was the whole point of this, I wanted to do something for you. You've done so much for me, I...," she broke off, her eyes stinging.
Jake patted her shoulder kindly. "I'm sure we'll love it," he assured her.
Bella realized as they pulled up the drive way that she had not really looked at the house she had been living in for days. The property did not reflect a lot of money, but it did reflect a lot of hard work and care. The house was an older, rambling Ranch style, comfortable and homey. It had a deep covered porch spanning most of the front that begged for after-supper evenings spent relaxing and sipping ice tea or lemonade. The barn and other out buildings gave evidence of the same care.
Bella was not allowed to carry in a single bag of groceries. "You just go lay down for bit," Jake insisted, "we'll get these put away."
"You should wait 'til tomorrow to cook that dinner," Edward suggested, "you must be exhausted."
Bella shook her head with a stubborn tilt to her chin. "It has to be fresh for it to taste right. Tomorrow is too late. I will lay down for a little while beforehand, though."
"Will you let me help, at least cut up the veggies, or whatever, won't that be hard one handed?"
"Nope, you and Jake just go do whatever you need to do and leave me the kitchen to myself." The two men gave in, and leaving Bella to her own devices, went to tend to their chores.
As they went about their usual routine, Jake surreptitiously eyed the younger man who was maintaining a brooding silence as they passed each other going back and forth across the barnyard. He could tell Edward had something on his mind, and finally gave in to his curiosity.
"What's eatin' at ya, boy?" he asked, stepping in front of him to halt his progress.
A few minutes elapsed while Edward regarded his dusty boots, before he decided to give voice to his thoughts.
"You don't really think she's going to stay, do you?" he asked, skepticism evident in his tone.
"I think she might, for a while, anyway."
Edward huffed, shaking his head derisively.
Jake cocked an eyebrow, "Is the long face 'cause you're hopin' she does, or hopin' she doesn't?"
Edward, unsure of the answer to that question, retreated into back into silence and would say no more.