Chapter 2

Mama4dukes, you're my hero! Thank you so much for taking the time to Beta my little story. When I grow up, I want to write stories as well as you do! I love you, Girlie! Hugs

Song for this Chapter: The House That Built Me by Miranda Lambert

The smile brightening Charlie's face when he sees me makes me feel a thousand times worse than I thought I would. I'd known that my leaving here would be hard on both of us, but seeing him look so truly happy to see me. It almost shattered my heart.

I can do this.

I have to do this.

Pull it together, Swan!

After reaching the happy couple, I hugged my dad almost painfully. I knew that I'd literally pulled him physically away from his bride-to-be, but to tell the truth, I really didn't give a shit.

The thing that almost killed me was how hard he held onto me as well, as I clutched onto him. He'd missed me, too.

I knew that everyone around us had stopped talking, and I could feel his eyes boring into my back, but at this moment, Charlie and I were all that mattered.

Fuck my plans. I could just kidnap my dad.

Yeah. I'd lure the Chief of Police away from his pre-wedding party with a promise of a candy bar or the chance to pet a puppy. Yeah. Nope!

"Bella, it's so good to see you again," Sue said as Charlie pulled away from me to hold onto her again.

Yeah, right, lady. You're one of them. But you're not his YET!

Best fake smile head bob, "Sue."

Yeah, that's all you're getting from me. Look at me being all polite and shit.

"I'm so glad you decided you could make it this week, Bells. There were so many plans, but with you in Jacksonville…" My dad moved his head back and forth. "Seth & Leah helped Sue make most of them," he gave a short laugh. "Even more than I did, to tell the truth."

I just bet they did.

"Well, I'm here now, Dad. It's really great to see you," the lump in my throat almost cut off the end of my response.

I can do this. Just stick to your plan.

Okay, the next step on my to-do list:

-drop my clutch onto the ground.

-Bend down.

-Pick it up.

-Hold it close to my chest, and right on cue...

"Izzy, what the hell are you doing all the way over there? Get your skinny ass up here and give me a hug!"

Yeah, my plan.

I tilt my body around Charlie's to see Mitch smiling broadly in my direction. God, seeing someone other than my dad wants me here is so good.

"Mitch!" I laugh.

I slowly made my way towards the makeshift stage I'd rented for this night. I'd planned this part, too. I'd gotten Sue and Charlie, a live band, for their engagement party.

They couldn't turn down a live band, right?

What they didn't know was this band was made up of a few pickers I'd met in the small bars that I now frequented. They all needed some cash and didn't mind the travel. Yeah, so far so good. Now, to keep Mitch on script.

Yeah, it was something else I needed luck to accomplish.

Stepping up onto the stage, I one arm hugged each of the boys in the band. Friendly but not friendly enough to upset Charlie.

Then, give a friendly hug to Mitch, who just wasn't going to have that. Nope. He wrapped me in a hug, almost as tight as I'd given Charlie.

Jackass.

"Mitch, you've got to stop clutching on me so tightly," I laugh. Inside, I was ready to kill the SOB. He finally let me go after a concealed pinch to his lower back.

I could feel every eye in the backyard staring at me. I'd known him seeing me being held so closely by another man would not be pleasant for him to see, but I really don't give a …. Well.

"Well, it's been some time since we've seen each other. Any new music coming our way soon?" A look of excitement played all over his handsome face. His voice echoed out through the speakers.

Nope! He's gone completely off script, and we're getting awfully close to my real life. Shit. My eyes must have been bugging out of my head because understanding seemed to have registered over Mitch's face.

"Music?" Charlie questioned. Evidently, he'd half followed me to the stage, dragging Sue along with him. They were no more than 15 feet away from me.

"Yeah, Izzy said that her dad was gonna get hitched, and she wanted to send him an engagement present, so she sent us," Mitch's hand indicated the boys behind him, smiling to himself about how he'd cleaned up that mess.

Charlie's eyes went from Mitch's to mine. Yeah, none of this was scripted.

Mitch, you're about ready to get Bitch slapped, or did I mean Mitch slapped?

At my dad's bewildered expression, Mitch continued, "Don't you know your own kid, man? Shit, Izzy's the hottest thing that's hit Nashville in years!"

I know he is trying to be nice, but even in my shocked stupor, I could feel every face in the yard turn from upset and nervous to giddy at that moment.

No one, I mean no one, knew exactly where I lived. Everyone thought I lived in Jacksonville, and I knew it had been searched by a few of the pack back when I'd first left, but no one knew about Nashville.

Shit, Mitch, you just gave me another reason to move AGAIN! Shit, okay, I need to get back to plan.

"Mitch, my dad, and Sue aren't dancing at their party. So why don't you quit talking to me and do some more singing for us, please," I whispered and yelled in his direction.

Shut your trap, asshat!

I left the stage and stood before my dad as quickly as I could. His facial expression was one I don't know if I'd ever seen on his face before. Though that big red vein popped out of his forehead, yeah, I'd seen that one a time or two.

This was NOT part of my plan.

"Music? Nashville? Explain this to me, Bella," Oh, my dad was in a full Chief of Police mood now. His tone was curt. Shit!

"Dad, it's a long story, and you have guests. I'll talk to you about it later."

Never one to give up on lead. Charlie was ready to stand his ground. Sue seemed to get the idea and quickly turned the conversation to those surrounding them.

I knew my and my dad's conversation wasn't over, but it seemed I was in the clear for the moment.

I instantly felt deflated. The edge of the stage seemed like as good a place as any to sit down to gather my thoughts. Then I about jumped out of my skin when the drums and guitar started blaring through the speakers.

So much for gathering my thoughts.

I knew that showing even a moment's hesitation was not in my or my dad's best interest. Too many people watching me. Nope.

Never let these people see you cry, they'd take that shit and run with it.

Somehow, through my thoughts, I did recognize the song that Mitch and the guys were playing. I guess they were trying to prove that they knew my record catalog.

Mitch might have slipped out some of my truths earlier, but he knows who's buttering his bread tonight.

See, the truth is I do work in the music industry, just not out in the open. I write songs for a living and try to keep as much of my personal life as private as I can. I write under my monogram.

ISM, Izzy Mae Swanson, is who my business associates know me as, or as Mitch also let out, Izzy.

Bella? I really hadn't thought of myself as Bella or Isabella in years. No, Asshole #1 and then Asshole #2 killed that poor girl. I'm going by Izzy now.

Bella died a long and painful death; she's better off where I left her.

Songwriting helped me heal what little of my soul I had left when I drove out of this God-forsaken town.

Though in the beginning, it was hard to write because Asshole #2 taught me how to play Charlie's old guitar. But now I'm able to make a really good living out selling my songs.

Time to try to get back on the planned events for tonight. I tried to find where all the players in this game were. I tried, I mean really tired, not to look around me. If the only faces I saw here tonight were Charlie, Leah, Seth, and Sue's, it would be for the better.

I was too busy thinking things through to notice Leah was positively livid that the spotlight was not centered entirely on either her mother or her. Seth was standing by the dessert table, looking like he didn't know what to do.

Which left the other Pack members and several Elders to do nothing but stare at me like I was an animal in a zoo. Hell, maybe they ought to stare at some of their own like they were at me.

Out of the corner of my left eye, I noticed movement, and it turned out to be Brady and Collin. Damn, the last time I saw those guys, they weren't even in high school yet. I also noticed Paul, Jared, & Kim were huddled in a group near the food table.

I noticed to my right that Old Quil & Billy were sitting at a table, talking to each other in hushed tones. Yeah, neither of them had been quiet the last time I'd had the displeasure of their company.

Sam & Emily were making their way towards Billy's table when I finally had the sense to look away. Sam probably wanted to talk to them about how he would run me out of town.

And the other 3, well, I didn't have to look around to know their location.

Nope, imprints always knew where their mates were instinctually. Oh, did I forget to mention that I am an imprint?

Well, I am, and no, it's not all rainbows and unicorns. It turned out to be more like tornadoes and hurricanes for me. Anywho, the 3 amigos were about 20 feet to my left. They were standing just beyond the tables that were holding the food.

I kept my eyes downcast and did not really pay any attention to the men behind me on stage.

I was shocked when I turned to my right side to see Dean sitting close to me. Dean, he's a nice guy. He sure could give Paul a run for his man whoring ways, but if he knows you aren't putting out, he can be a fun man to be around. His fingers were moving pretty fast over the frets of his guitar, and I knew how hard some of my own melodies were to play, but he made it look easy.

I gave the man a small smile. "You should give your old man and his new bride one of your songs. I'm sure they'd love that," he whispered.

Dean, Mitch, hell, the whole band had no clue what they were really doing here. They just thought they'd make a few thousand bucks, that I'd owe them a favor, maybe let them get one of my newer creations from ASCAP.

They had no idea about the shit storm I was about to unleash. They might have known what to say before tonight, but they had no clue what I would be doing within the hour.

Hell, they didn't even know that they were my insurance policy. I figured they'd be missed if they didn't turn back up in Seattle in a few days. I'd even let certain people know all of us were going to my dad's wedding in Washington for the week. Just in case the pack wanted to take matters into their own hands.

"Maybe later," I tell Dean as I take a stand. It's now or never. I need to get this over with, get out of this stupid town, and hopefully with my dad by my side.