I DREAM OF RAINBOWS
Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.
The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.
When Edward hung up from that conversation with Charlie, he had the biggest smile on his face, and he was feeling more relaxed than he had been in months. He felt like his life was getting back into balance and he quickly sat about getting ready to follow through with Charlie's plan.
CHAPTER 69:
Charlie didn't really have a plan worked out, but he did know that he needed to do what he could to help his daughter. He knew by the way her voice sounded in the message that she had left, that she was in a bad place mentally and was reaching out to him for help and that help he was damn well going to give in whatever form he could.
After he had spoken to Edward, he had a better idea of what was going on between Bella and Edward. She had never said the words, but he knew that Bella loved Edward and that she felt betrayed by him. Those facts were made very clear due to the explanation that Edward had given him. And he knew that once his daughter had given her heart to someone it was a forever reality but if she felt betrayed then the hurt went extremely deep.
When Bella had first returned to Seattle and gave him the flimsy excuse of having a deadline on finishing her next book, he knew then due to the way she was talking, refusing to meet his eyes and was determined to isolate herself that it was more than what she was telling him. However, he trusted her to tell him what the problem was when she was ready; she always had done in the past.
He began packing a bag and making arrangements to take some time off from work before buying his ticket to L. A. Once he got to L. A. he was going to have a long sit-down talk with his nieces before getting together with Edward. All the facts had to be gathered before he planned as to what the final step should be; although, he was pretty sure that it would involve making a trip to see Bella.
Charlie debated with himself as if he should notify Alice and Rosalie that he was coming to L. A. but decided against that. He didn't want anyone to know when he would be arriving, let alone that he was even on his way. Of course, Edward knew that he was going to be arriving but not when.
Arriving at Sea-Tac, Charlie checked in, went through security and made his way to his departure gate by just minutes to spare. He relaxed as much as he could in his seat since flying made Charlie nervous no matter how many times he had been forced to do so over the course of the years.
Charlie hadn't always been just the Chief of Police of Forks; he had in the beginning worked with the FBI but when he married and then his daughter arrived changes needed to be made. Made not just because he had a family but because his wife was demanding the changes as well. She wanted to make sure that her family was safe and that her husband would be coming home every night instead of having to fear getting a midnight visit from some associate of his.
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Edward was feeling elated and full of hope after his discussion with Bella's father. He wasn't quite sure of what he needed to do to be ready for whatever Charlie's plan might be, but he did have the feeling that he needed to have things in order to be ready to act at a moment's notice.
So, with those thoughts in mind he decided to talk with Emmett and Jasper to appraise them of the situation, which would include his conversation with Charlie. Although, he still felt that he needed to carry on with what he had told his brothers to do to get Bella back to L. A.
His reasoning for continuing with his own plans was to have things in place in case Charlie's plan didn't work out. He had learned the hard way that sometimes things didn't always work out the way you thought they would, so it was better to have a plan B in motion just in case it might be needed.
When it was time to go into the office, Edward got ready and made an appearance at his office. He checked to see if anything needed his immediate attention before making his way down to Jasper's office. His brothers had a habit of meeting in Jasper's office at the start of the workday.
As he got closer to the office, he could hear the two men talking about their night before with Alice and Rosalie and the events that had made the entire night kind of weird. His sudden appearance in the office doorway cut Emmett's and Jasper's conversation short.
"Hey, bro, what's going on?"
"After what happened last night, I got a phone call from Charlie Swan early this morning. He wanted to know what was going on with Bella. It seems that he also had gotten a call from her, but she left him a voice message which she didn't do with anyone else.
Edward held up his hand to forestall any question or comment from his brothers before continuing, "He didn't tell me what the message said, however, he did comment about the way her voice sounded: really depressed. It was then that he asked me what was going on and if I knew why Bella was sounding that way.
"What did you tell him?" Emmett asked before Edward could continue with whatever else he wanted to say.
Edward explained that he had told Charlie everything that had happened and Bella's reaction to the misunderstanding. "That was when he told me that he might have a plan and to be ready."
"To be ready? Ready for what?" Jasper was quick to ask.
"What kind of plan? What do you need from us?" Emmett asked as he was puzzled as to what Bella's father could be planning to do. Both brothers had a deep affection for Bella and wanted to do whatever they could to make things right again. To make things right for both Edward and her since her association with Edward had started making great changes to him.
"Emmett, I can't tell you anything more than what I already have since he didn't tell me anything more than what I've mentioned to you two.
"However, I have a feeling that I'll be making a trip with him to see Bella, and if that is the case then while I'm gone, I still want you to carry on with my original plan just in case Charlie's plan doesn't work out like I hope it will."
"Hey, bro, with that attitude aren't you kinda giving his plan negative vibes before you even know what it is?" Emmett remarked while braving a dirty look from Edward because of what he just said.
"Negative vibes or whatever, I'm trying to be practical about everything. It doesn't hurt to have another plan in place in case the first one doesn't work out." Edward didn't hesitate to reply to his brother's remarks with some anger and a harsh stare.
"Edward, he didn't mean anything bad." Jasper quickly told his brother.
"Bad or not I still didn't like the comment." Edward said, making clear that he was upset with the way his brothers were treating his news.
Both Emmett and Jasper refrained from saying anything else but shook their heads at how Edward was behaving.
After taking a deep breath Edward looked at both of his brothers and nodded before saying, "Okay. I get it but I still want you two to continue with what I planned before hearing from Charlie Swan. I don't want to take any chance of not having a chance to get her back in my life someway, somehow." And, with that said Edward turned and left his brothers looking where he had been standing. Both of the young men sincerely were hoping that Bella would listen and get back into Edward's life before it imploded with all of the emotion that he was carrying around.
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Bella was beginning to regret all the calls she had made. That included the voice message she had left for her dad. Not really thinking about how quick her father would be to possibly pick up how she was sounding just by the tone in her voice when she left the message, she was now feeling like a fool.
With Charlie being a cop, he was trained to pick up on things like that, that's why he was so good at his job. While other agencies requested his help for special undercover work from time to time. Of course, he never accepted when she was younger but as she hit her teens, he started taking on that type of work from time to time but not if it was going to keep him away from home for long periods of time.
She knew that he wasn't going to let it go until he got to the bottom of things. He would be making calls to Alice and Rosalie; thank goodness she hadn't spoken with them or left any messages. So, they wouldn't be able to tell him anything about why she might be calling.
Trying to figure out a way to stop him from being too inquisitive was going to require some super acting on her part when she called him back.
Bella never thought that Charlie would speak with Edward, or that Edward would be able to tell him anything that might be bringing about a reckoning any time soon.
Gathering up her determination, Bella placed another call to Charlie but as before all it did was to go to voicemail. However, this time she made herself sound upbeat when she left the message that she was just wanting to touch base and see how things were going back home.
Little did she know that Charlie would never receive her message since he was already heading to L. A. to meet with Alice, Rosalie and then Edward.
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Immediately upon his arrival in L. A. Charlie was rapping on Alice's door, softly at first then it gained in volume, but it seemed that she wasn't at home since no one answered his knocking. So, from there he drove in the car he had rented at the airport to Rosalie's home. It was there that he found both women and surprised them by appearing unexpectedly upon Rose's doorstep.
Once he was inside and seated, he didn't waste any time demanding answers to his questions. "I want to know about all of this mess that both Edward and Bella have made of their relationship and don't give me no damn half-truths. Do I make myself clear?" He made it clear that he meant business by the tone of his voice and the look that he gave both young women.
Rose and Alice looked at each other before Alice launched into what they knew of the situation. And Charlie was satisfied that he was hearing the truth and all that they told him matched what Edward had told him during their conversation on the phone from earlier in the morning.
"Uncle Charlie, we thought that you had spoken with Bella since calling to see if we had heard anything?"
"The answer to that question is no, not one damn word. Now, I've got to see how I can get this mess fixed because by the sound of Bella's voice from the message she had left she is nearing a breaking point.
"If by any chance that you do hear from her do not say one word about our conversation or the fact that I'm in L. A. Again, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir." They both answered because they knew when Charlie sounded the way he did that he meant business. It made no difference how old they got they knew not to mess with him. They did this because of the love and respect that they had for him. He was always there for any of them when he was needed period; no judgment but lots of love and definite results.
"Okay, give me my hugs since I have another place to go and then I'm going to get this mess fixed ASAP."
Once Charlie left the two women breathed a sigh of relief and knew that Bella was going to be okay in just a little while.
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It didn't take Charlie long to get in touch with Edward and arrange to meet with him. Edward invited Charlie to stay at his home until whatever plan Charlie was working on was ready to be put into action.
That was an invitation Charlie was happy to accept. It would give him more time to really get to know Edward and at the same time to be off the grid to be able to get all angles worked through before approaching Bella.
AN: Bella's regretting making her calls. Charlie is now in L. A. and has had a word with Rosalie and Alice. Now he's ready to deal with Edward while making sure all of his bases are covered before seeing Bella. Will any plan have a chance of success to reunite Edward and Bella?
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