BPOV
I plop down on the bed and scroll through my phone for Dad's number.
I puff out a breath before I tap his number to call.
I left Edward and Esme to their coffee, knowing Charlie would be up for his shift early. I had a lot I needed to say to him and questions I needed to ask, but had no clue where to even start. I always thought Charlie to be a straight shooter, but after the past few weeks did I really know him at all?
"Hello, Bella?" he answers urgently.
"Yeah, it's me," I sigh. "So, what made you decide to send her here?"
He's quiet for a moment.
"Wait, Renee's in New York?" he asks confused as his voice rises.
"Well yeah, you sent her—"
"I called her and gave her your address so she could write to you since she's been doing it this whole time. I never told her to show up. That's the last thing you need right now," he grumbles as he trails off.
I feel relieved at once.
He only wanted to open a line of communication between us. He wasn't sending her here out of desperation for what he did.
"Okay," is all I can say but then her coming to my job comes to mind. "Wait, how did she know she could find me at work."
"I only gave her your address and told her the name of the restaurant. I know you're not a fan of visitors there. My conversation with her was short at best and was only to discuss you," he explains.
I bite my lip.
"She made it sound like—"
"Bella, I know you don't trust me right now, but when have I ever sent someone else to clean up my messes? And if I were going to send someone, that person would never be Renee," he says frankly.
He's right.
After meeting Renee, I can't even picture her and Charlie together. Even with Sue being such a delight, I imagine that she and Charlie have their solitude in common. They were more believable as a couple than he and Renee.
I groan.
"Tell me what happened, kid," he says soothingly into the phone.
So I tell him everything from the moment I recognized her at the bar to when Edward swept in to de-escalate the tension between us at her hotel.
"I'm surprised she told you all that she did," he mumbles when I finish.
"She's here for the week," I tell him.
I swear I can hear his teeth grind over the phone.
"I don't like that she's there," he admits after his silence.
"Honestly, she wasn't that bad and Edward swooped in—"
"Is he going to go with you the next time you see her?" he asks while he interrupts me again.
"We haven't discussed it, but I do think that I need to talk to her alone," I tell him honestly.
I would like to have Edward close but there is still so much I need to address with Renee on my own.
"After everything she told me last night, do you want to clear anything up?" I ask, giving him an opportunity to come clean.
He sighs.
"Whether you believe me or not, this isn't about what Renee did to me, I kept her away from you, Bells because I couldn't have her destroying you with her bullshit. She started fooling around on me after you were born, which caused a lot of fights between us. It was when she used my income for school that I knew she never loved me. I was afraid she'd try to use you—"
Understanding dawned on me.
He didn't want what happened to him to happen to me. As much as I originally thought he was using me to hurt Renee, it was actually the other way around. He didn't want her using me for spite against him.
"She lost a lot in Seattle after we divorced."
"Wouldn't the divorce give her more opportunity, financially that is?"
"She would have gained more if she had custody of you," he says bitterly.
I think about what my semi-ordinary childhood would have been like if I went back and forth between two households. I could see how much she loved Liam but maybe that was because Phil gave her everything she ever wanted.
"Dad, she's here for a week, the least I could do is hear her out," I say, meaning it.
I don't have to be best buds with her but I could hear more of what she has to say regardless of being bullshit or not.
"I trust your judgment, kid," he says sincerely and I'm a little shocked.
I then ask the million-dollar question in all of this.
"Where are you at with Sue?"
"She's staying on the Rez," he tells me and I can hear the regret in his tone.
"Because she ratted you out?" I ask breezily.
"She thought you had every right to know," he grits.
"Because it would drive a wedge between us?" I guess because that seems like one way for Sue to get me to stay away.
"No, she thought it was wrong I kept it from you," he confesses.
Color me surprised, but still leery.
"I don't buy that," I tell him.
There is silence.
"I dated Sue before your mother—"
"Say, what now?" I sputter out.
"We broke up when we graduated high school. She was going to school in Seattle and I was starting at the academy," he explains.
"So how much time passed between Sue and Renee?"
"A year, I saw Sue once the following summer and we talked about possibly reconciling but –"
"Renee happened," I finish for him.
"Yes, I met her at the county fair."
"That's why Sue hates me—"
"She doesn't hate you, it's more that she regrets what happened between us," he admits. "She knows you aren't at fault, Bells. She blames herself for Renee coming in and destroying my life for a time. She saw how bitter and jaded your mother made me."
I frown.
"Sue is actually in your corner on this whole Renee thing. She thinks you need to make your own conclusion about your mother."
I don't know what to say to that.
"Did Renee know about Sue?" I ask.
"Yes."
With my head spinning I know I need to take a break.
"As fun as this has been, I need to process all of this," I mumble.
"Bella—"
"I'll talk to you soon, Dad. I just need a break," I sigh.
"Okay," he says warily.
"I'll talk to you later," I promise.
We say our goodbyes and I'm falling back on the bed.
I grunt out a yell into the empty room.
A few minutes later there is a knock at the door.
"Come in," I holler.
Hadley's sleepy head pops in.
She smiles and looks around the room, probably wondering where her dad is.
"I heard a yell," she tells me.
"Sorry, I was on the phone with my dad," I explain.
She frowns.
"Are you still mad at him?"
"Not so much now," I respond honestly.
She comes to lay beside me on the bed.
"My mom showed up yesterday," I tell her.
Her eyes widen as she sits up and pushes her glasses up her nose.
"Yup, wild, right?"
"Was she at your apartment?" Hadley asks.
"Nope, the restaurant," I answer.
Hadley leans over me looking shocked.
I tell her a version of this story that an almost ten-year-old can understand. She already knew a chunk of why we came back and that I'd been wallowing in my mother's abandonment of me.
"I'm sorry, Bella," she tells me.
I wrap her in a big old hug.
She squeezes me tightly.
"I love you, Bella," she tells me, knowing that it was something I needed to hear.
Her heart very much reflects her father's.
"I love you too, Sweets," I say into her messy curls.
After a minute we still lay there holding onto each other. Edward comes into the room smiling at us.
"Hey you two, Esme wanted me to let you know breakfast is ready," he says while taking a seat beside us.
"Kay, just getting some snuggle time in with my Sweets," I tell him before giving Hadley one more squeeze.
Once I let go of her she sits up hugging Edward before she heads out to the kitchen.
"Did you talk to Charlie?" he asks.
"I sure did."
"How did that go?"
"Better than expected, though I think he surprised me a little about his history with Sue," I tell him, I tug him down so I can cuddle with him.
His arms wrap around me.
"Oh yeah?"
"They were together before Renee, he said that she thought I deserved to know about the letters that's why she did what she did. I do call suspect on her not resenting me," I grumble.
"Maybe she's just emotionally stunted," he suggests.
I glare at him and he holds his hands up in defense.
"Just trying to help," he says with a chuckle.
"It appears so," I say, making a face. "He didn't send her here. He gave her my address so she could write to me."
"How did she know where you worked?" he asks, concerned.
"Charlie mentioned it to her and she must have searched it out. I really don't like how she acted like he gave her the green light to seek me out when he didn't," I mumble.
"When you meet with her, call her out," he offers, like it's that easy.
"What if she denies it or lies?" I ask.
He shrugs.
"Then you'll know if she's worth your time," he adds.
I grab his face and kiss him.
He grins against my lips, and when he pulls back he stares.
"I think my dad might be Team Edward now," I declare.
He snorts.
"You do, huh?"
"He wants you with me next time I meet with Renee, but I told him you can be nearby. I think this is something I need to do on my own."
"I'm surprised he wants me involved."
"You've grown on him," I say optimistically.
He laughs as he stands.
He holds his hand out to me and I take it. I let him pull me up and he wraps his arm around me.
"I might make her sweat it out," I explain as we walk to the kitchen.
He looks amused but just lets me talk.
I hope that is how it will always be, Edward putting up with my lunacy.
A/N: Where did you all go?