Lost and Found
Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to Stephanie Meyer.
A/N-thank you for the kind reviews. It looks like most of you were surprised at the Ephraim/Leah match! ;)
Part Seventy Seven-Sour News
Bella was astonished to see Leah. She looked at her warily. Their last conversation had ended up in an argument, and Bella didn't know if the older girl was still feeling resentment toward her. Leah seemed very distracted; she greeted Bella cordially and even gave her a hug. This eased Bella's worries and she relaxed. "How are you?"
"I don't really know." Leah's gaze was fixated on Ephraim Black. He kept glancing across at her too, even while he was engaged in a deep conversation with Jacob and Carlisle.
Bella noticed straight away that Leah couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of Ephraim. She assumed wrongly it was because Leah was stunned at being confronted with a man who was supposed to be long dead. "It's so weird seeing him in the flesh, isn't it." She whispered to Leah.
"He's so handsome." Leah murmured. "I mean look at the way his eyes light up when he talks. He has such an expressive face, don't you think?"
Bella was taken aback by this statement. This wasn't the response she was expecting. "Um…yeah, he's alright, I suppose. Not a patch on Jake of course."
"Oh Bella." Leah gushed. "Jacob is a boy, while Ephraim, he is a man."
Bella was not amused in the slightest at Leah referring to Jacob as a mere boy. "I suppose it depends if you like men old enough to be your great, great, great, great grandfather." She replied sarcastically.
Leah caught her sardonic tone and finally tore her eyes away from Ephraim. "Jeez, chill girlfriend. I didn't mean anything by it. I am just saying that Ephraim has a whole lot of life experience that Jacob could never have. You can see the wisdom in his eyes. He has such beautiful eyes, don't you think."
"What's going on with you, Leah? Aren't you at least a little freaked out that one of Jacob's ancestors is still alive? I know I was when I first met him. You're talking as if you've got a crush on him or something." Bella scrutinised Leah carefully as an idea began to form in her mind. Leah was acting an awful like an imprinted female would. All her old insecurities about Sam seemed to have been washed away. She hadn't even asked about him. Bella decided to test her theory as Leah returned her attention back to Ephraim, who had just given her an encouraging smile. "Are you going to be okay when Sam returns?" Bella asked deliberately. She waited for Leah to explode, but the older girl seemed to barely hear her. "Leah."
"Huh?" Leah waved her hand airily as if she couldn't even remember who Sam was. "No, Sam doesn't matter to me anymore."
"Clearly." Bella muttered as she gave up on having any type of rational conversation with her friend. She knew her theory was correct. Leah was hooked, and by the charmed smiles Ephraim kept shooting their way, Bella knew that he was as equally captivated with Leah.
"They've got it bad." Jacob confided to Bella as they took a walk outside. The afternoon was drawing to a close. The caterers had finally left and in less than half an hour, the impromptu gathering was about to start. Jacob and Bella had decided to take advantage of the last few minutes of peace before proceedings got under way.
"So it's definitely an imprint then." Bella checked, even though she was already certain. Her hand felt nice and warm in Jacob's as they strolled along.
"Seems that way." Jacob mused. "Ephraim can't seem to stop smiling. Since I've met him he's always been so stern and serious, but he was actually cracking jokes earlier. I could see that his changed attitude was surprising Carlisle too."
"How odd." Bella said in bemusement. This unexpected imprint between Jacob's ancestor and Leah Clearwater was so different from the one she was supposed to share with Jacob.
"This will be his sixth imprint, but according to him, he didn't love any of the other women. But he's acting all starry eyed over Leah." Jacob continued. He suddenly noticed Bella's silence and he stopped walking so he could look at her. "What is it?"
"It's just so different from ours don't you think." Bella pointed out. "I mean you know I love you to bits, but I don't think the sun shines out of your ass or anything. Leah is acting like Ephraim is some kind of god."
Jacob snorted with laughter at Bella's assessment of how she felt about him. "I don't know whether you're complimenting me or trying to offend me."
"Both of course." Bella replied with a teasing glint in her eyes. "You know what I mean. We're supposed to be bonded like they are, but I see you as you are and you see me as I am, faults and all."
"I do know what you mean." Jacob cupped her face in his warm hands and leaned down to kiss her. "I said the same thing to Ephraim when he asked me about you." He murmured against her lips.
"You did." Bella whispered as she closed her eyes in bliss. She loved the feel of his mouth pressing against hers and his warm breath ghosting over her skin as he spoke.
"Yeah, I said we fell in love the natural way. The imprint thing had nothing to do with it." Jacob smiled at Bella lovingly as he continued to kiss her.
"You say the sweetest things." Bella slipped her arms around his neck and clung to Jacob as they became lost in each other.
"Ephraim." Carlisle said louder than he intended. He was having extreme difficulty getting his friend to focus on their conversation. Ephraim's eyes were locked on Leah, who was wandering around the palatial gardens accompanied by Esme and Rosalie.
"What?" Ephraim tore his eyes away from the beauty in front of him and returned his attention to Carlisle.
"I have never seen you like this before. Your imprint with Georgiana didn't invoke the same reactions as this one with Leah. I must say I am still stunned that it happened at all." There was an element of regret in Carlisle's tone. His adopted son, Edward, was locked in his room, mourning the loss of his first love, and Carlisle was intensely worried about him.
"This is different." Ephraim murmured as he stared over at Leah again. He saw her turn to look his way and he smiled at her, eliciting a sweet one of her own in response. "She is remarkable."
Carlisle's expression softened. He was very fond of Leah. She had become like a daughter to him. "Yes, she is."
"I don't seem to be in control of my faculties, Carlisle. I can't stop thinking about her." Ephraim felt like a fool and he frowned, trying to force himself to focus.
"You don't recognise it because you've never felt it before." Carlisle said knowingly.
"Felt what?" Ephraim questioned in confusion.
"Love." Carlisle replied wistfully as his own eyes drifted to Esme.
The pack swarmed toward the food as soon as the gathering officially started. The vampires found their antics highly amusing. The young men pushed and shoved at each other as they battled for the best food. Jacob and Seth were the only ones who hung back, and that was because their attention was elsewhere. Seth was preoccupied with his reunion with his sister, while Jacob was doing his best not to stare longingly at the food as he kept Bella company. Bella loved the fact that he didn't dash off like Jared had done, leaving Rebecca fuming by the drinks table, but she knew how important food was to the wolves' metabolism. And with so many enticing smells wafting his way, it must be sheer torture for Jacob.
"Go on get your share. I'll soothe Becks frazzled nerves." Bella gently pushed Jacob toward the heavily laden tables.
"I'll wait." Jacob said none too convincingly as he practically drooled at the sight of the huge chocolate cake which was the centrepiece on one of the overloaded tables.
"Just go eat." Bella laughed at his discomfiture as he gave her an endearing smile full of gratitude before he dashed off and joined his brothers. She watched in delight as he grabbed hold of Paul by the back of his shirt and took his space, stealing his heaped up plate as he did so. Lahote growled and the two began to engage in a mock battle.
Bella eventually joined Rebecca, who had poured herself a generous glass of red wine and was gulping it down as if it was plain water. "Steady." Bella warned her friend as she poured some wine for herself.
"Sometimes I think Jared loves food more than me." Rebecca complained. "At least Jake made the effort to wait."
"It was a strain though I could tell." Bella smiled as she nudged Rebecca in the side with her elbow. "On, come on, Becks. You know what they're like. And you have to admit the food is hard to resist. Just look at that cake. I'm already salivating at the thought of eating it."
"That's if there's any left." Rebecca finally smiled as she gave in and let her irritation at Jared go.
Ephraim startled the two girls as he suddenly appeared behind them. Leah was holding onto his arm and gazing up at him adoringly. She had a plate of food in one hand but wasn't eating it. Instead Ephraim was discreetly taking bits and pieces off for himself, although both Bella and Rebecca could see he was fighting the urge not to snatch the whole plate from Leah. The two girls giggled, causing Ephraim and Leah to look at them in confusion.
"Something funny." Leah asked.
"No, just too much wine." Bella held up her empty glass. Ephraim smiled at Bella as he obligingly lifted up one of the expensive wine bottles and refilled her glass followed by Rebecca's. "Thank you very much." Bella said as she took a dainty sip.
"Would you like some, Leah?" Ephraim asked politely.
"Yes, very much." Leah said breathlessly.
Ephraim took the plate of food from Leah's hand and replaced it with a full glass of wine. He then eagerly began to eat what was left on the plate, which caused Bella and Rebecca to start laughing again. Leah glared at them, thinking that they were acting like idiots and worrying about what Ephraim must be thinking. "You won't be laughing when Billy comes here. My dad is driving him over, along with Old Quil and your dad."
Bella and Rebecca's amusement immediately dissipated. "What? Why is Billy coming here?" Bella demanded as she hunted around for Jacob. Did he know? She found Jacob with his mother. Esme was sitting next to Sarah, keeping her company and making sure she was comfortable. Sarah was still feeling very weak, but the fresh air had put colour in her cheeks, and she was talking animatedly with her son. Bella knew that the last thing the older woman needed was seeing her ex-husband in the flesh while she was recuperating.
"I asked Leah to contact her father and invite him here, along with Jacob's father and the head of the council. Billy is the chief of the tribe and he needs to be a part of this gathering. It is important he is kept fully informed of what is going on here." Ephraim seemed bemused by Bella and Rebecca's reactions to this news. "What am I missing?"
"My father is a waste of space." Rebecca said flatly as she drained her glass of wine. "He causes hurt and pain wherever he goes because he is a selfish man who only thinks of himself. Jake will not be pleased when he finds out and neither will my mother." She glared at Leah. "You knew all this. Why didn't you say something?"
"I didn't know things had gotten that bad. I have been away for a long time, remember." Leah retorted.
"Ladies, cool it." Ephraim warned when their little spat began to attract attention. He turned to Bella. "Please get Jake to come and see me. I really had no idea about any of this. He needs to be warned. However Billy still needs to be a part of this, no matter what Jake feels about his father."
Bella exchanged a dubious glance with Rebecca as she headed over to Jacob. He had already been alerted by the noise. He jogged over to join her and listened in silence as she explained that Billy was on his way. Jacob's expression darkened as he asked Bella to discreetly warn his mother what was happening. Bella sighed as she watched him run the rest of the way to Ephraim before the two of them disappeared around the side of the house.
A/N-thanks for reading! I am afraid the drama is back in the next chapter!