Lost and Found
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you for the kind reviews.
Part Seventy-An Old Friend Returns
Jacob smelt Sam as soon as Bella walked into the room. He saw the anxious look in her eyes and the tense set of her shoulders. Anger flared inside but he made sure not to show it. Rebecca was sitting next to him while they kept watch over Sarah. He didn't want his sister to witness his anger. He couldn't believe that Sam had the audacity to show up at the Cullen's mansion after he had specifically ordered him to keep his distance.
"Becks, can you get me a drink?" Jacob asked as a way to get her out of the room so he and Bella could have some privacy.
Rebecca wasn't fooled; she immediately picked up on the tension. She remained silent though as she quickly scooted out of the room, giving Bella a concerned glance as she passed. Bella tried to keep her nerves at bay as she took Rebecca's vacated chair and faced Jacob. "I've seen Sam."
"I know." Jacob ground out. "I thought you were just going to call him."
"I did…it turns out he was nearby." Bella replied cautiously.
"How convenient." Jacob drawled sarcastically.
"Jake, please." Bella begged. She reached out to take his hand but he was too angry to let her touch him right now. He knew it wasn't really her fault. Sam was taking advantage of her compassionate nature. He was regretting not pounding Uley now. He had to fight the urge not to run from the house and chase the older guy down. Bella's hand dropped to her lap as she hung her head in defeat. "He told me you threatened to ban him from the pack and La Push. Is that true?" She asked quietly.
Jacob shook his head in disbelief. Trust Uley to pick out that part and leave the rest of what happened conveniently out of the picture. "He gave me no choice but to make a stand. He was being a selfish ass."
Bella didn't respond straight away. She looked at Sarah lying in the huge king size bed. She seemed so small. Her long black hair was like a fan around her head and stood out in stark relief against the white sheets and pillows. She was attached to a drip which was feeding her vital nutrients. Her skin had a waxy sheen to it. "I don't want to make things harder for you, Jake. My dad asked me to call Sam as he was worried."
"I'm not angry at you, Bella." Jacob replied testily.
"You sound angry."
"Uley keeps crossing a line and you…." Jacob hesitated a second before continuing. He watched her carefully as she raised her eyes to meet his. "And you keep letting him."
Bella stiffened as she stared at him in shock. "What are you implying?"
"Nothing." Jacob tore his eyes away from hers and gazed at his mother instead.
Bella's hands clenched in her lap as she felt hurt wash over her. Of course she knew what he really meant. He might not verbalise it but he was essentially accusing of her encouraging Sam's advances. She stood up abruptly, making her chair scrape along the expensive wooden flooring. Jacob turned to look at her again, his expression puzzled. "Where are you going?"
"I need some space from you. I have some calls to make." Bella said curtly. She didn't bother to await his reply; instead she flounced out of the room, leaving Jacob staring after her.
Leah was stunned when Bella called and passed along Sam's message. She had been having an extremely hard time trying to reconnect with her parents. Already she'd had two huge rows with her mother resulting in a tense standoff between the two women. As for her father, Harry, he kept getting overly emotional, and rather than letting her speak, he would go off on a tangent, wallowing in self-pity and blaming himself for everything. Her only supporter had been her brother. Without Seth championing her cause, Leah would have walked out of the house by now and returned to the Cullen's. She was trying to heal the rift with her parents for his sake. So she was surprised and none too pleased to hear that the man who had broken her heart wanted a meeting, probably to absolve his own guilt.
"Just tell him to fuck off, Bella." Leah said harshly.
Bella sighed. She had more or less expected this reaction. "If that's what you want, although it may do you good to get some things off your chest if you did agree to meet him face to face." She suggested wearily.
"Yeah, like our last meeting went so well." Leah sneered. "Why do you keep defending him, Bella? I know he lives in the same house and you're close, but still, you know what he did to me. He treated me like shit. But here you are, still supporting him."
"He is like a son to my father." Bella pointed out. "So that makes him part of my family. You would defend Seth even if you didn't always agree with his actions."
Leah's eyes narrowed as she clutched the phone in a tight grip. Something wasn't adding up here. She tried to remember her meeting with Sam, she had been so angry after their brief conversation that she hadn't really thought about it until now. But she recalled the way he had seemed to look right through her to Bella, who had been standing behind her at the time. It all fell into place so quickly that Leah felt like she had suffered a case of whiplash. Even before she had run away, when she had blindly been pursuing Sam due to her infatuation with him, she had secretly suspected someone else was commanding his attention. How had she not seen it?
"It's you." She choked out. "He's in love with you."
"Leah." Bella said nervously.
"You bitch." Leah spat. "All those times I spilled my heart out to you and all the time you knew that he had a thing for you."
"It wasn't like that." Bella began to panic. She couldn't believe this phone call had gone south so quickly. "I didn't know. Not for a long time. It was way after you left when he told me."
"So the day I came back and you made me speak to him, you knew that I was wasting my time. Was it deliberate? Did you get a kick out of seeing me hurt? Is Jacob's adoration not enough to fulfil your inflated ego? You want Sam running after you too." Leah was filled with rage. The quick temper she had inherited from her mother burst forth and she continued to rant as the more Bella tried to defend herself, the angrier she became.
It wasn't long before Bella felt her own anger rising. Leah sounded just like her mother, Sue, when she had accused her of something similar years ago. Like mother, like daughter. "Take a long look at yourself, Leah Clearwater." She yelled as she finally lashed out. "Right now you sound just as much of a bitter harpy as your damn mother."
Bella ended the call before Leah could respond. She was panting heavily. She couldn't believe what Leah had accused her of. First Jacob implied that she was toying with Sam's affections because she got a kick out of it, and now Leah was essentially accusing her of the same thing, albeit in a much more vitriolic manner.
"Bella." Rebecca whispered her name as she hovered in the doorway leading into the Cullen's mansion. She had been alerted by Bella's raised voice. "What happened?"
Bella's hand shook as she shoved her cell in the back pocket of her jeans. She couldn't stop the frustrated tears welling in her eyes. "I don't know, Becks." Bella said in despair. "I don't know anything anymore."
Rebecca approached Bella and cupped her face in her hands. Bella's lips wobbled as she looked into Rebecca's sympathetic eyes. In that moment she looked so much like her brother, it took her breath away. "Talk to me."
"Do you think that I encourage Sam's attention on purpose?" Bella felt her traitorous tears begin to spill down her cheeks.
Rebecca shook her head. "No, not purposely."
"But?"
"But unknowingly, yes." Rebecca hushed Bella when she began to protest. "I am not accusing you of anything, Bella. I am just saying you are such a compassionate person that sometimes you let others take advantage. You hate hurting people or upsetting them. Remember that slap you gave me years ago when I was acting like a bully."
Bella sniffed a few times as she nodded dumbly.
"It took a long time before you finally put me in my place. You care for Sam, of course you do. He is practically your brother. But you have to learn to set proper boundaries. You have to make him truly understand his role in your life. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"I've screwed up." Bella moaned as she rested her head on Rebecca's shoulder so she could hide her face from the older girl.
Rebecca laughed throatily as she stroked Bella's hair affectionately. "Welcome to my world, sister."
Bella slipped back into Sarah's room. Jacob raised his head and looked her way as she came inside. He was wearing an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, Bells." He held out his hand toward her.
Bella rushed to his side and clasped his hand in both of hers. "No, I'm sorry. I've been blind."
"No, it's me. I let my jealousy get the better of me." Jacob protested.
"Let's agree to disagree." Bella smiled at him tenderly.
"Maybe that's best." Jacob agreed as he pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his strong arms around her and hugged her tightly to his chest.
"How's your mom?" Bella asked as she rested her head on his broad shoulder. His warmth was soothing and she felt all her tension beginning to ease now that they had made up.
"The same." Jacob felt his weariness creeping up on him again. The weeks of worry and fear were weighing him down. Time seemed to be creeping so slowly. Forty eight hours felt more like forty eight years.
"We'll get through this." Bella vowed as she snuggled closer to Jacob.
Jacob pressed a kiss into Bella's hair as he looked in anguish at his mother.
Outside an expensive black Mercedes drove down the long, winding driveway. Carlisle Cullen had returned, but he wasn't alone. He turned to the soberly dressed man sitting beside him in the passenger seat. "Will this work?" He asked in concern as he looked at the vial full of clear liquid resting in his companion's hands.
"Trust me, Carlisle. It is the only solution." His companion said drily.
Carlisle sighed as he glanced toward the opulent mansion. "This will be a shock for them. They all think that you passed long ago. I am concerned how the young wolves will cope, and you of course, old friend."
"They are my people, Carlisle. I have been away from my home for too long." Ephraim nodded curtly at Carlisle before his thoughts strayed to the occupants of the house who were waiting inside for the cure he held in his hands.
A/N-thank you for reading!