19 Misadventures

Edward quickly discovered that the only thing cuter than a tiny little lady running around the house in her fancy dresses was a tiny little lady running around in her fancy dresses with an itty-bitty puffball of a dog scampering after her. Alice and Hercules were inseparable; where one went, the other followed. And Alice demanded that she be the one to take care of her dog. She scooped his food and accompanied him outside to pee, and when he had earned treats for successful potty breaks, Alice was the one to present them and dole out profuse praise.

Alice, in fact, quickly became the key to getting Hercules outside to pee most of the time. On Saturday night, when Edward was working at his drafting table, he heard Alice in the other room say, "Uh-oh! Uh-oh!"

"Are you okay?" he'd called out, but he was only answered with more uh-ohs, and when he went to see what was wrong, Hercules was peeing on the carpet. After scolding the dog, scrubbing the carpet, and consoling a very unhappy Alice, Edward started thinking about the timing. He realized that Alice must have been getting concerned before Hercules started peeing. In a surprising display of perception, Alice was picking up on the signals that Hercules needed to go outside, and it upset her so much to see him get into trouble that she was voicing her concern.

After that, Edward listened. The moment he heard an "uh-oh" from Alice, he jumped to his feet and bustled Hercules outside.

Mealtimes with the dog were a pain in the ass. Alice couldn't bear to be separated from him, but she couldn't be trusted to hold him and not feed him all of her food. So Edward had to sit next to Alice's high chair, holding a squirmy puppy against his chest with one hand while he ate or drew with the other. He tried at first to keep Alice from petting the dog with the same hands she was using to eat her food, but that was a losing battle. Anyway, Esme seemed to think it was silly to be so concerned about it.

"It's not like Hercules has been outside rolling around in poop," she said.

"Yeah, but he's a dog. Dogs are dirty."

"And how many times a day does Alice put her mouth directly on that dog and give him kisses?"

Which was true, and Edward couldn't exactly figure out why that seemed less gross to him. How could it be gross when it was so damn cute to see Alice kissing on her puppy? So Edward gave up that fight and tried not to think about how many billions of dog germs Alice was consuming with each meal.

There was a knock on the door Sunday morning while Alice was still eating breakfast, so Edward put down his pen and tucked Hercules in next to Alice in her high chair.

"Do not feed him your food," he told her sternly. "It might make him sick."

"Oochooweez sitt?" she said, looking concerned.

"He won't be if you don't give him your food." Edward headed to the door and pulled it open to find Jacob standing on the stoop with a toolbox in hand.

"Hey." He raised the box. "Got time for this today?"

"Yeah, come on in." He shot a quick glance at the drawing on the table, evaluating it to make sure it wouldn't give away any secrets about his project. It was fine, but he flipped it upside down as he passed. "The kit is right there by the desk."

"Jaytub!" Alice said, "Jaytub! See it! Diss Ooochooweez!"

"Whaaat?" Jacob set down his toolbox and leaned in to offer his hand for sniffing. "Did you get a puppy?"

"Iss Oochooweez."

"Yep," Edward said to help him out with the name, "Hercules is the newest inmate in our little madhouse."

"Hercules, huh? Sounds like you have high hopes for this little runt."

"We've got a Nemean lion problem we're hoping he'll solve for us," Edward said, pulling out the kit for the panel door he wanted to have installed.

"This is it?" Jacob asked, turning his attention to the kit.

"Yep. And I want it right here, so we can block off the office when it's necess—Alice, do not give Hercules those eggs."

Alice pouted, but she moved her spoonful of scrambled eggs out of the dog's reach.

Edward stepped to her side and picked up the dog, who whined pathetically at being denied access to his new best friend and her breakfast.

"I've got this," Jacob said. He pulled out a tape measure and started determining specifications, and Edward went back to coaxing Alice to eat her food.

Jacob worked while Edward and Esme started leisurely preparations for dinner that evening. It took the better part of the day to install the new screen, but his timing turned out to be pretty good. He was just testing out the door and playing with the lock when there was a knock on the front door.

"Owizzit?" Alice asked, running toward the door with Hercules loping after her, barking in excitement.

"It's probably Carlisle," Edward said, wiping his hands and following after them. He usually arrived early for dinner to see if there was anything he could help with. Sure enough, a glance at the monitor showed Carlisle on the porch, smiling to himself.

"Tah-why!" Alice squealed. "See Tah-why!"

Edward pulled open the door, and Alice rushed outside and threw herself at Carlisle's legs.

"Tah-why! Diss Oochooweez!"

Carlisle had stooped to pick Alice up, but he stopped when he saw the dog with her. His jaw dropped, and he sank to the ground instead, legs crossed. "Oh, my goodness! What a sweet dog! Is it visiting you today?"

"Awiss doddie," she corrected him.

"Yep," Edward confirmed, "Hercules is Alice's dog."

"Your very own?" Carlisle asked, showing all the excitement that Alice expected of him. He'd been allowing Hercules to sniff his fingers, and now he scooped the dog into his hand and gave him a scratch behind the ears. Alice plopped herself down on his lap and joined him in petting her puppy.

"How is she handling it?" Carlisle asked. "He doesn't irritate her allergies?"

"Nah, she does all right with him. The breeder said I should keep his hair short and bathe him a lot, so I probably need to find a good groomer. I don't suppose there's one in Forks?"

"Naya Singh would probably do it," Jacob said from behind him, packing tools into his box. "She does some grooming out of her garage."

"She's here in Forks?"

"Just over by Tillicum park. I don't know the address, but we can head over there now if you want." He glanced at the kitchen. "Unless you have more to do here."

"Dinner is basically ready," Esme said when he looked to her. "And you can leave Alice, if you want. We can look after her."

"I just need to give her some Benadryl before Circe gets here."

"No!" Alice said, looking up in alarm. "No messin!"

"I'll do that," Carlisle said. He nudged Alice to her feet and stood, leaning back down to scoop her up. "We'll be so fast," he said. "You'll hardly notice, and then you can play with Circe."

"Soo-see tummeen?"

Edward let Carlisle carry Alice past him to the bathroom, and he shrugged at Jacob. "Let's go."

Jacob grabbed his toolbox. "We're taking your car, right? Bella's been telling me about those leather seats."

Edward grinned. "We're absolutely taking my car."

He did notice, though, that Jacob had the Volvo hatchback parked out front. He must have finished Bella's truck and swapped vehicles with her.

Jacob directed Edward to a little neighborhood near the park where the dog groomer lived, but as they passed the corner lot on her street, Edward spotted a riding lawn mower parked by the sidewalk. There was a sign propped on it that said, "$200 — DOESN'T RUN." He thought of the overgrown state of the lawn at Bella's house, and he pulled over and stopped just beyond the mower.

"You want a new lawn mower?" Jacob asked, following his gaze.

"Think Charlie and Billy could use it?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, probably. They could do yardwork as long as they didn't have to be on their feet."

"If I bought it, could you fix it?"

"Maybe. Let's go look."

They got out of the car, and Jacob jogged up to the door. He got permission to examine the mower, and a man in coveralls followed him back out to the curb.

"She's pretty old. Can't handle the whole park these days, but she could do a yard well enough if you can get her running."

Jacob was poking around in the engine, and he asked a couple of questions that Edward didn't have a hope of understanding. The two of them talked Car-and-Driver for a few minutes before Jacob closed the mower up again.

"Probably cost an extra couple hundred to fix up," Jacob told Edward. "But I can do it."

"I'll cover that. Can I Venmo you?" he asked the man in coveralls.

"Sure."

They both pulled out their phones and shared details so Edward could send him some money.

"Would you mind if I fixed it up here?" Jacob asked the man. "I just need a few days to get the parts."

The man didn't look all that happy about the suggestion, so Edward quickly sent him a second transaction for $100. He glanced down at his phone at the chime, and one corner of his mouth quirked up.

"Sure, you can fix it here. Help me push it back up by the garage."

The three of them moved the mower up to the house, and then Edward and Jacob headed back to the car. When they were moving again, Jacob asked, "Did you bribe that guy?"

"I prefer to call it a convenience fee."

Jacob smirked.

They met the groomer, a middle-aged woman with a long, black braid and three teenage children. She showed Edward the wash sink and the other equipment that she'd fitted out her garage with, and though Edward hadn't the first idea what a person should look for in a groomer, everything seemed clean and professional. He made arrangements to bring Hercules in on Tuesdays while Alice was at daycare, and then he and Jacob headed back home.

Several cars were parked in front of the house when they got back, and it looked like everyone had arrived for dinner. The two of them headed inside, and Edward found himself scanning the room for Bella. She was handing a can of beer to Charlie, and she looked up when they came in.

"Fashionably late to your own party?" she asked Edward.

"What can I say? I'm inescapably fabulous." He grinned and started to walk past her, but she followed him and hooked a finger around his pinky before he could head into the dining room. Edward was stunned when she tugged him back to her and wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug.

Stunned, but thrilled. And fuck, a hug had never felt so good. There was just something about the way she fit so perfectly against him, like puzzle pieces slotting into place. Hugging Bella was the most natural, the most perfect thing in the world, and he found that she was stepping back way too soon.

"The dolmas?" she said softly. "That was the nicest thing. It was just . . . the nicest thing."

He smiled. It had been worth every moment of effort to hear her say that. "I'm glad you liked them."

"Thank you."

He winked at her, and though he wanted to hug her again, he figured he'd probably better not. He headed toward the food instead, and Bella followed.

"I didn't tell Charlie and Billy about them," she said conspiratorially while they started collecting food. She flashed him a guilty smile. "I didn't want to share."

Edward snickered. "That's the line, is it? You'll give and give and give, right up until grape leaves get involved. Then it's every man for himself."

"Damn right."

He glanced around, finding Alice out on the porch with Circ and Colin. "How's the kid doing? Is she driving everyone crazy showing off her dog?"

Bella laughed. "She's so cute with him."

"I know it. She's completely in love."

"It was really sweet of you to do that for her," she said sincerely. "I can't imagine you were all that excited about getting a dog."

"Yeah, well. I figure housebreaking a dog is good practice for when it's time to potty train Alice."

Bella laughed. "Maybe so."

Edward deposited his plates in the living room and then went back for Alice. He pulled open the back door and leaned out.

"Alice, come have dinner."

"No! Payf Soo-see!"

Circe was lying on the porch, tolerating with quiet dignity the yappy little puppy bouncing around her.

Edward shook his head. "Circe looks like she could use a break. Bring Hercules and come have dinner. You can play with Circe after you eat."

"Um. Um." She looked so torn, but eventually she said, "Tay. Mon, Oochooweez!"

Hercules also looked torn, but his beloved Alice won out over the interesting new dog. He followed her into the house with only a little bit of hesitation.

Edward got Alice into a bib, but he settled the two of them down on the living room floor to eat instead of putting Alice in her high chair. It gave Hercules some space to sniff around and explore, though it did require some extra attention from Edward to make sure the dog wasn't eating half of Alice's dinner. Fortunately, Carlisle helped. He assisted Esme into a nearby chair and then settled himself on the floor next to Alice. She was delighted with the opportunity to tell him absolutely everything there was to know about her dog, and he acted excited over every little thing, even though Edward had a feeling he didn't fully understand all of her chatter.

"So?" Grace asked Bella when everyone was seated. "You had drinks with that professor last night, didn't you? How was it?"

Bella furrowed her brow. "I think . . . I think I hated it."

"You think?" Edward asked.

"Yes. I think it was really awful."

"But you're not sure," Jacob said.

"I mean. It's possible that this time I'm just being too hard to please."

Edward grinned. "Sounds like a story."

She nodded, took a sip of her water, and began. "He was nice. Not one single dick pic. Took me to that Italian place in Port Angeles, which I really like. But he just . . ." She trailed off, and all of them leaned forward.

"Yes?" Grace prompted.

"He kept . . . telling me to write down words to look up?"

"What?' Jacob asked.

"Was he implying that you're stupid?" Esme asked, her voice dry.

"I . . . don't think so?" Bella said. "It could definitely be interpreted that way. It could be so condescending, especially with the words he was saying I should look up. It was like, 'auxiliary' and 'disseminate'—like, words you could reasonably expect a high school graduate to know. But he was all excited about this cool little life hack he'd discovered. He kept telling me that I should always write down new words when I come across them and look them up later to expand my vocabulary."

"Did you mention your literature degree?" Edward asked, fully enjoying this story.

"I did. It didn't matter. He still seemed pretty sure I didn't know very many words."

"That sounds insufferable," Grace said.

"Yeah, except . . . he was so enthusiastic about it."

"Was English his first language?" Carlisle asked, tearing his attention from Alice long enough to contribute his question.

"I wondered that too, but I didn't see any indication that it wasn't. I couldn't hear an accent, and he was articulate enough."

Esme was shaking her head. "I don't think I could stand it."

"I don't think I can either. I'm going to have to bow out of any future dates."

Which was absolutely what Edward wanted to hear. He shook his head. "Bella, we've got to do something about this. Your curse needs to be broken."

"Yes, please. How would one go about doing that?"

"Do tell," Jacob said. "What dark magic do you know to counteract the curse of the hair-jizzer?"

"You just need one good date," Edward said.

Bella pursed her lips. "That easy, huh? No problem."

"So you need to let me take you out."

Bella stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing.

Edward folded his arms across his chest. "I wasn't actually joking."

"Oh, my god, Edward," Bella said, still laughing. "That's such a terrible idea. Oh, my god."

Edward was legitimately wounded. "Why? I don't make a habit of running over small animals, I hardly ever quote movies, and I promise not to propose to you or make you look up any words."

"Edward. Honey. Our first conversation was me yelling at you. And so was, like, our third? This isn't a good idea. You and I aren't what I'd call compatible."

Oof. That was going to be hard to get around. But if he could get her to give him one chance to show her how good it could be . . .

"I mean, maybe not forever, but I think we can manage one date. I'll be on my best behavior."

"You think you will be. But if we add a curse to an already volatile situation, we might not make it out alive."

He wanted to argue, but Alice started going, "Uh-oh! Uh-oh!" And Edward put his plate aside and hurried her and Hercules out to the yard.

Hercules successfully peed where he was meant to, so Edward handed Alice a treat for him.

"Doo-boy!" she said, feeding him the treat. "Doo-boy, Oochooweez!"

"He is a good boy. We much prefer for him to pee outside."

"Uh-huh, ousside. Doo-boy, Oochooweez!"

Esme stepped out onto the porch and gave him a sympathetic look. "You okay?"

"Me? Sure."

She glanced back toward the door, and Edward knew she was referring to him being shot down by Bella—in front of all of their friends, no less. But Edward wasn't worried.

"Don't count me out just yet. We had a rocky start, but I scored a hug earlier and that's not nothing."

"Don't push too hard, though, okay? If she's telling you no, you need to listen to her."

He hesitated and then nodded. "You're right. I need to be really clear about what I want, but then if she still says no, I'll back off."

"Okay." She moved to the railing on the porch and leaned on it, looking out at the rain.

"Are you all right?"

She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. "I took the work-from-home job."

"Yeah?" Edward grinned. He hadn't realized he'd been pulling for that, but he liked the idea of her staying close.

She nodded. "And then . . . I got a really great reminder of why you don't rush into commitment."

"Oh, no. What happened?"

She rubbed her thumb absently over a tattoo on her wrist. "Carlisle wants kids."

"Yeah, I figured he probably did. You don't?"

She shook her head. "I can't."

"Really?" He leaned on the railing next to her.

"There was . . ." She took a steadying breath. "There was a time in my life when getting pregnant would have been dangerous for me. So I made sure it would never happen."

"Oh. Wow." She was still rubbing at her tattoo, and he paid attention to it for the first time. It was small, a black semicolon etched over the veins in her wrist. "Are you wishing you hadn't?"

"Not really, no. I don't think parenthood is right for me. But it might mean that Carlisle and I can't make it work."

"Damn. That's rough." He hooked an arm around her waist and gave her a side hug. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's not a done deal," she said. "He says it's okay, but I don't know. I'm not sure it is."

"I mean . . . you need to listen to him, right?"

She shot him a look.

"He's an adult. He can make these decisions for himself."

"He's a self-sacrificing adult who gives too much away for the benefit of other people."

"Yeah." Edward smiled to himself. "I know somebody like that."

She let out a dry laugh.

"Listen, though," Edward said seriously. "You're enough. Being with you is a privilege, kids or no kids. It's not hard to believe that Carlisle sees that."

She smiled sadly. "You're sweet."

"Yeah. I'm right, too."

She chuckled and gave him another squeeze.

Edward figured it was time to leave her to her thoughts, so he let her go and headed toward the door.

"Come on, Alice. Let's finish your dinner."

"Um. Tay." She stopped giving Circe belly rubs and headed in his direction. "Mon, Oochooweez!"

The conversation inside had moved on to annoying coworkers, and Edward settled himself down to listen. He didn't have any stories of his own at the moment. He and Rose had butted heads in the beginning, but she was pretty easy to work with as long as she was getting exactly what she wanted. He could tell them one or two juicy tidbits about working with Neil, but somehow it felt wrong to slander one of the biggest names in contemporary literature in the presence of a librarian. And anyway, it always felt a little like name dropping when he brought up their collaboration. So he kept his stories to himself for now.

One of these days, though, he would absolutely tell Bella all about what an exacting slave-driver Neil was. The brilliant bastard.

Other than the hard rejection from Bella, it was a pretty good night. Edward found himself very much looking forward to Sundays lately, and not just because of Bella. His dad had made really good friends, and though Edward's relationship with them hadn't been frictionless, he laughed a lot when he was in their company. He'd laughed a lot with Victoria and James, too, but somehow that had felt different. There was an edge to their humor, a meanness that he didn't see so much here. Bella and her friends teased each other, but they were so supportive of each other that it took the sting out of their jabs.

Plus, they were universally sweet to Alice. She'd made sure that each of them had been introduced to Hercules and had paid him the proper obeisance, and they'd all humored her. It meant a lot to Edward when people were patient with Alice.

He was proud to discover that he was developing more patience with other kids, too. Colin had spent a good five minutes telling him all about a Lego structure he'd built, and Edward had found him genuinely entertaining. The kid had been so eager to tell his story that he'd tripped over the words that wouldn't come out fast enough. It made him hard to understand, but there was something truly engaging about his excitement.

But with Bella he couldn't seem to make any progress. Despite the hug earlier, she didn't seem to have any attention to spare for him. He tried to flirt with her, but she'd just smile and then let her attention get claimed by someone else. And it was frustrating. He wanted to chase her, but she wouldn't run. He wanted to play tug-of-war, but she wouldn't pick up the rope. When she left that night, he felt as far away from her as he'd ever been.

Carlisle stayed late to help clean up, and then he and Esme sat at the table, leaning close and talking seriously. Edward didn't want to intrude on the conversation, so he took Alice to the bathroom and started filling the tub.

"Oh, yes! Habba baff!" She started pulling toys out from under the sink, and Hercules barked and sniffed each time a new one appeared.

Edward plopped the kid and her toys into the warm water, and Alice reached out for Hercules.

"Mon, Oochooweez! Habba baff!"

"No, Hercules can't come in the bathtub with you."

"Yes. Hattoo."

"No way, kid. I'm not cleaning dog hair out of my shower drain. Hercules can have a bath when he goes to the groomer."

"Joomoo?"

"Yep. Once a week we're going to take him to get a shampoo and a haircut."

"Um. No. Habba baff."

"Nope. Hercules is going to have to stay out here while you get clean."

Alice didn't like this situation. Edward ended up letting Hercules sit on the edge of the bathtub, but he had to keep a close eye on him to keep him from jumping into the water with Alice. That satisfied her for long enough to get her clean, but it was a short bath. Her toys just didn't call to her the way her puppy did. Edward lifted her out of the bathtub after only a few minutes of being inside.

When he chased her and her very excited dog around the house with her bath towel, Esme was curled up by herself in one corner of the sofa. Carlisle was gone.

He got Alice dried and dressed in her pajamas. He tucked her into her bed castle and sat in the drawbridge opening to read her a bedtime story. Then they sang her bedtime song and put Hercules at the foot of her bed in his carrier, where they pretended he would stay for the night. Edward gave Alice goodnight kisses all over her round baby cheeks and velcroed the castle door closed.

She was unzipping the dog carrier before Edward even got out of the room. But she was staying in her bed; Edward was happy.

He moved out to the living room and settled onto the sofa next to Esme.

"Everything okay?"

She nodded. "He keeps saying it doesn't matter, but I don't trust it. I asked him to think things through."

He reached out and squeezed her hand. "And if he thinks it through and comes back with the same decision? Will you trust it then?"

"I want to," she said quietly. "I'll try."

She didn't seem to be in a talkative mood, so he let her be and puttered around the house. He played with the new door a little, appreciating how easy it had been to close off the office while he'd had people over. He put away the dishes that had been hand washed, and he tied up the mostly-full trash and took it outside. He was heading back inside when he noticed Carlisle sitting on the corner of his back deck, staring out toward the river. He veered in that direction and strolled over to him, watching for any indication that he wouldn't welcome Edward's company at the moment. But Carlisle smiled sadly at his approach, and Edward took that as an invitation to sit next to him.

"You okay?" he asked.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I'm . . . old."

Edward let out a laugh.

"I just mean that I may have waited too long."

"For what?"

"Children. I always meant to have children. It was never the right time, and now . . ."

He wasn't sure if he was betraying Esme by arguing, but he couldn't really agree that kids were out of reach for him. "You've got time, Carlisle. You're, what, forty-ish?"

"Forty-two," he agreed. "I could have them, yes. And by the time the first one graduates from high school, I'll be looking at retiring."

"I don't think that's a deal-breaker."

"No. But I'm getting too old to get down and play with them. I'm not sure whether I'd even be around to support them when they started having children. I just think I may have missed my chance."

Edward nodded, still unconvinced.

They were silent for a couple of minutes, and then Carlisle said softly, "I suppose I'm trying to convince myself that all of that is true."

"Is it working?"

"A little bit." He sighed. "Did you know? About Esme?"

"No. She told me tonight."

He nodded and they were silent again for a few minutes.

"I love children," he finally said. "Colin, Phoebe . . . they're such treasures. And Alice—" He swallowed hard. "You know how much I love Alice."

"I do."

"It's enough to have them in my life. I can be happy with the way things are. But . . . I always thought I would have some of my own."

Edward wanted to make a joke about how he'd happily turn Alice over to Carlisle any time she threw a tantrum, but he thought it might only serve as a reminder that Alice wouldn't be around forever. Eventually they would go back to Olympia, and there would be one child fewer in Carlisle's life.

"Tonight," Carlisle said quietly, "I'm going to be sad. I'm going to mourn for what might have been, and I'm going to let go of some of those plans that I made.

"But tomorrow, I'll make new plans. I'll tell Esme I want to be with her more than anything I've ever wanted. I'm going to love her the way she deserves, and as soon as she'll let me, I'm going to marry her. I won't look back."

"Tomorrow," Edward murmured, and Carlisle smiled sadly again.

"Tomorrow."

"Can I do anything for you tonight?"

He shook his head.

"Okay." Edward put a hand on his shoulder in a show of solidarity. "You know where I am if you change your mind."

Carlisle nodded, looking back out at the river, and Edward figured it was best to leave him to his thoughts.

He went back inside and had to resist the urge to go back into Alice's room for an extra-tight hug. He felt undeserving of her just at the moment. He'd never had any kind of fully-formed plans for kids, and here he was raising the most adorable child who had ever graced the earth. A child whom Carlisle would have been thrilled to raise himself. But while there was a time that Edward had been willing to let that happen, it wasn't a possibility for him anymore. There was no way he could give Alice up now, and the thought of Carlisle having to sacrifice that dream left a dull ache in his chest.

He said goodnight to Esme and climbed into bed, trying not to feel guilty for having so much more than he deserved.


"Oh, my god, what's wrong now?" Edward dropped his pen and slid bonelessly to the floor, completely drained of energy by Alice's constant whining. She'd been fractious all day, pitching fits over the tiniest of inconveniences and complaining constantly. Only now, instead of just one disconsolate toddler, it was a disconsolate toddler and a concerned dog, accompanying her wailing with his whimpering. Even Leah hadn't been able to cheer Alice up when she'd come over, and Alice had spent almost the whole time sitting in a cabinet crying.

Rosalie and Esme peered down at Edward from their desks, both of them looking needlessly amused.

"I'm starting to think that drama runs in the family," Rosalie said drily.

Edward made a face at her and rolled onto his stomach. He crawled—yes, okay, dramatically—into the living room, where Alice was angry that her plastic flashlight wasn't lighting up.

"For the love of god, child. It just needs new batteries. It's not the end of the world."

Alice whined and threw the flashlight on the floor.

"Where did you even get this? I'm pretty sure I've never seen this before."

"Iss mine!"

He sighed. Dramatically. That was undoubtedly true. She had a huge basket full of toys in her room, and it wasn't like he'd ever gone through it with any care. He was sure there were many, many things in there that he'd not paid much attention to when he was transferring them over from a wooden box to a hand-woven basket.

"If I get you some batteries, will you stop being such an epic pain in my butt?"

He hadn't thought Alice would really understand what he was saying, but it seemed she'd caught his general message, and she burst into tears. Hercules sat down next to her and howled.

Edward collapsed onto his stomach and muttered "Jesus fucking Christ" into the carpet.

Esme swung into the room on her crutches. "I'm headed to Carlisle's," she said breezily. "Will you two be okay for dinner?"

Edward whined into the carpet.

"And on that note," Rosalie said, following after Esme, "I'm out. You two enjoy your tandem tantrum."

They abandoned him. Just like that. They walked out the door and left him alone with the whiniest child known to man.

He let Alice cry herself out while he heated up a frozen Williams-Sonoma meal. She fussed while he worked, and she sulked all the way through dinner, and very little food made it into her stomach. Edward was so exhausted that the two of them ended up back on the living room floor in exactly the same position they'd been in before dinner.

Edward rolled onto his back. "Kid," he said, "we've got to turn this around. We've got to do something to chase the whines away because they're making us both miserable."

She whined.

He tilted his head back and looked at her. "The thing is, I love you like crazy. For real. You're the best kid, and you deserve to feel better than this."

She sniffled. "Uh-huh."

"Uh-huh. You do. So let's wipe your nose and see if we can find something that will make us happy."

Alice objected to the nose-wiping, but that was non-negotiable for Edward. More whining happened, but at this point, what did it matter? Once her face was snot-free—for the moment—he settled down into the rocking chair with Alice on his lap and Hercules on her lap. "What should we do? Should we read a book?"

"No," she said sulkily.

"Do you want to play with your tablet?"

"No."

"Do you want to watch TV?"

"No."

"Do you want a snack?"

"No."

Honestly? None of this really felt like it was big enough to turn her mood around. He needed something fresh. Something to distract her from this monstrous little attitude of hers.

"You know what we should do?" he said, trying to inject some excitement into his voice. "We should go on an adventure!"

She sniffled. "A-benchoo?"

"Yeah! I think we should go . . . out by the river! We could use the camera Bella gave you to take pictures of all the cool stuff we see out there!"

"Oh!" Alice was perking up. "A-chamwa!" She scrambled down off of his lap and hurried off down the hall, her little dog running after her.

Edward followed as well, watching as Alice tossed toy after toy out of her basket while she searched for the camera. Edward cringed at the mess, but now probably wasn't the time to kill her momentum. She was cheering up and that was a precious thing.

"A-chamwa!" she said triumphantly, holding up her prize.

"Excellent! Let's change your clothes."

She drew back. "No. Pity jwess."

"It might get dirty," Edward warned her. "There's lots of mud by the river."

Alice looked down at her dress, torn. Finally, she raised her hands to Edward and said, "Yion soot."

"You got it." He lifted her onto the table and fished her lion shirt out of a drawer.

After he got her into some appropriate clothes, he set her on the floor and led her to the coat closet to fetch a leash for the dog. "Come here. Let's put this leash on Hercules." He started toward the dog, but Alice ran to intercept him.

"No, I do it!"

"Okay, here you go. Can you hold this little button down while you hook it on his collar?"

She couldn't, and she very quickly started getting frustrated.

"How about I hold this part," Edward said, "and then you hook this on the collar?"

This was acceptable to Alice, and in a moment they had Hercules leashed and ready to go. They were heading toward the door when the doorbell rang.

"Owizzit?" Alice called, picking up the pace, and Hercules barked along after her.

Edward smiled when he saw Bella's face on the camera. He pulled open the door, and Alice darted out onto the porch.

"Boa! Mon! Habba benchoo!"

"Hold up, kid. Slight delay." He turned his attention to Bella.

"I brought your basket back," she said, holding out the one he'd used to pack her dolmas.

"You didn't have to do that. You can have the basket."

She gave him a small smile. "Maybe don't reject it until you see what's inside."

He raised his eyebrows and took the basket from her. He peeked under the cloth that she'd lined it with, and there under a clear plastic cover was . . .

Heaven. Actual, sugary, fruity heaven.

"No way." He pulled the cloth back fully so he could get a better look. "You brought me pavlova? I love pavlova!"

She laughed like what he'd said was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it was, because who didn't love the meringuey perfection of pavlova?

He was so excited. He wanted to drag her inside and cut them some pieces and enjoy it right then and there, but Alice was dancing impatiently on the porch, and he'd promised her an adventure.

"Listen. You have to share this with me, but Alice and I were just going to take a walk down by the river. Can you come?"

"Um. Yeah. Charlie and Billy are at Jacob's tonight, so I guess I've got some time."

"Mon!" Alice said. "Uh-wud! A-doh!"

"I'm almost ready," he told her. "Let me put this in the fridge"

He dashed the pavlova inside and placed it carefully into the refrigerator, and then he headed back out the door and locked it behind him.

"Alice, listen," he said, kneeling in front of her and giving her a very serious look. "We have to be very careful by the river, okay? It can be dangerous."

"Jainjwiss?"

"That's right. And we don't want Hercules to get hurt, do we?"

"No!" she said, looking panicked.

"So you and I have to watch him really closely. You make sure you hold onto his leash, and don't get close to the water. Stay well away so he doesn't fall in. Okay?"

"Tay."

"Good. You're a very responsible dog minder. I'm proud of you."

She beamed at him.

They headed down the ramp, and Bella chuckled beside him.

"What?"

"Nothing. That's just a pretty good way of keeping Alice away from the water.'

"Yeah, we'll see if it works," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not a hundred percent happy that I don't have her on a leash."

She laughed. "We'll keep an eye on her."

They hadn't even made it out of the yard before Alice was crouching down. "Oh!" she said. "Pity!" she aimed her camera at a dandelion and snapped a picture.

"Let's see," Edward said. He admired the picture, much to Alice's pleasure, and then they walked three more steps until she spotted a snail in the grass.

"Pity!"

It was a slow walk to the river. Which Edward didn't mind at all, because the entire point was to break her out of her bad mood and it was working beautifully. Besides, Bella was walking with him, being just as sweet to Alice as he could have hoped, and he didn't mind if this night lasted forever.

"Dog ownership still going okay?" Bella asked as they walked.

Edward rolled his eyes. "I tried to take her to her swimming lessons today, and she pitched an absolute fit. She couldn't believe I expected Hercules to stay home."

"Oh, no!"

He shook his head. "I might have to give them a little honeymoon period together before I try to get her back into her usual routine."

"That's fair. If I had a dog that cute, I wouldn't want to leave him alone either."

"Right. Next time I'll buy her an ugly dog."

"Alice, look at this!" Bella said, spotting a cluster of purple wildflowers on the way down to the river.

Alice ran over and crouched down, struggling with the leash as she captured the wildflowers on her camera.

"A-diss?" she asked, pointing to the ground next to it.

"That's a pine cone," Edward said.

"Pine tone?"

"Yep."

She took a picture of it.

"That camera was a great idea," Edward told Bella.

"This is a pretty fun way to use it."

"Mon!" Alice said, gripping the end of the leash again. "A-wibboo!"

"Hang on," Edward said. He took the leash from her and unlatched it from Hercules's collar. "Here, hold your dog for a minute." He settled Hercules in her arms and then looped the leash through the belt loop at Alice's hip. He poked the hook through the hand loop to secure it to Alice's pants and then attached it to the collar again. "There. Now you don't have to hold it."

"Hode it?"

"Watch." Edward set Hercules back on the ground, and tugged at the leash where it hooked on Alice's pants. "See? Hercules is stuck to you without you having to hold the leash."

Alice giggled.

"Okay, let's go!"

They started on their way to the river again, and Bella bumped his shoulder with hers.

"Look at you, being such a good dad."

He gave her a lopsided grin. "I don't know about that, but this parenthood thing is kind of growing on me."

"You're not thinking of selling Alice to the circus?"

"That's more of a back-up plan these days. I'm getting kind of attached to the little monster."

"Yeah?" she asked with a smile.

"Yeah. So . . . I guess I owe some gratitude to the person who yelled at me when I was planning on handing custody over to Carlisle . . ."

She chuckled and shook her head. "I was too hard on you."

"I mean . . . you were." He shot her a smirk. "But I needed to hear it. I needed to think harder about what I was doing. So, thank you."

"Oh! Diss! See it!"

"What did you find?" Bella asked, letting Alice distract her.

It turned out to be a spider web on some fern leaves, and Edward was glad that Alice was the one wielding the camera. He preferred to stay well back from any eight-legged horrors. She got her shot and then wandered on, singing about the "bissy bissy pie-doo" as she went.

"You're not a big nature guy, are you?" Bella teased.

"I respect nature. I think it deserves to be left alone in all its naturalness."

She laughed. "Yeah, well, I have to agree. Charlie used to always want to take me out camping and fishing, but I like a soft chair in a climate-controlled room."

"Oh! Wott! Pity!"

"No, Alice, don't collect any rocks. We're just taking pictures."

"Hattoo." Alice maneuvered her new pretty rock into her pocket and Edward sighed.

Bella laughed out loud. "Colin's always doing the same thing. He has a whole box of rocks under his bed."

"What is it with kids and rocks?"

"Maybe we're the strange ones," Bella countered. "When did we get so cynical that we can't even appreciate a pretty rock?"

"Maybe about the time that we realized that rocks are just big dirt."

She snickered and shook her head, and Edward couldn't look away. She was captivating like this, all carefree and unguarded. He liked her better than ever.

"A wibboo! Uh-wud! Mon!"

Alice took off running and Edward, realizing how close they were to the water, tore his eyes away from Bella and jogged after her.

"Don't get too close, Alice! Remember, it's dangerous!"

Alice obligingly stopped well back from the river bank, though Edward was pleased to see that there was only a gradual gravelly slope down into the water along this stretch of the river. Nothing a small child or dog was likely to fall off of.

"So pity!"

"It is pretty," Bella murmured, looking out across the water.

"Dad had an eye for real estate," Edward said.

Bella shot him a look and rolled her eyes.

"What?"

She shook her head.

"Alice, you want to throw a rock into the water?" Edward asked. He took her hand and led her to the water's edge. Hercules took advantage and walked right out into the shallows.

"No! Oochooweez! Jainjwiss!"

"I think it's okay," Edward said. "As long as we don't let him get too far, he can splash around a little bit."

"Um. Tay."

Edward picked up a rock and lobbed it out into the river. It disappeared beneath the surface with a satisfying plunk, sending a spray of water up behind it.

Alice laughed and clapped.

Edward handed her a rock. "You want to throw one?"

Alice didn't exactly have a pitching arm. Her rock barely made it into shallow water, but it made a cheerful little splash and that made her happy.

"Nice!" He tossed another rock, this time into the shallows like Alice had, and they appreciated the splash together.

"Boa!" Alice said. "Mon! Inna wattoo!"

Bella obliged and tossed a rock, and Alice clapped for her.

"Pity!" Alice said, picking up another rock. She tucked it into her pocket before selecting a different one to throw.

Bella selected another and sent it skipping across the surface of the water.

"Whoa!" Alice said.

"My thoughts exactly," Edward added. "You can skip rocks?"

"Sure."

"I've always wanted to be able to do that."

"Come here, I'll teach you."

But she didn't. Edward tried and tried to master the motion she was showing him, but all of his rocks stubbornly sank as soon as they met with the water. After about fifteen minutes of trying, Bella laughed and shook her head. "You're just not getting the wrist movement right. Keep practicing."

"I don't know. These hands are trained for drawing, not rock-flicking."

"That doesn't mean you can't learn it. You weren't good at soccer the first time you played."

"Maybe I could do it if I were using my feet."

"It's a shame you don't have opposable toes."

Alice had gotten bored with rock throwing and was taking pictures of Hercules. The dog was enjoying the walk as much as any of them, splashing in the shallows, gnawing on ferns, and once he'd even found a squirrel to chase up a tree. Alice had managed to get a picture of it as it sat high on a branch and glared down at them.

"A-diss?" she called from a few yards back from the river, and Edward turned to see what she was looking at. She was standing by a tree, peering closely at the trunk.

"That's moss," he said.

"Moss?"

"Yep. See how it grows up the sides of all of these trees?"

"Uh-huh."

"You want to take a picture?"

Alice snapped several close-up pictures of the moss, but when she turned away, she tripped on a tree root and went sprawling in the dirt. There was a startled silence, and then she sucked in a deep breath and let out a howl.

"Oh, no!" Edward said, trying to sound sympathetic instead of frantic. Their walk had been working so well, and he really didn't want Alice to fall back into her bad mood. He sank to the ground and unhooked Hercules from the leash so he could pick Alice up without strangling the dog. He scooped her into his arms and rolled her against his chest. "Are you injured?"

"Uh-huuuuuuuh," she wailed.

Hercules danced around her, whimpering.

Edward inspected her hands, which were dirty and red, but otherwise unscathed. He brushed the dirt away and pressed kisses to them, and then pulled up her pant legs and inspected her knees. They, too, were a little red, but he didn't see any scrapes. He kissed each of them and then pulled her pants back down.

"It doesn't look serious," he told her gravely, looking into her tear-filled eyes. "I think it's only going to hurt for a few minutes."

"Few miniss?

"Yeah. Although there is one treatment I'd recommend."

"What?"

Edward slowly pulled up the hem of her shirt to reveal her belly, drew in a deep breath, and leaned down. Alice started shrieking even before his lips met her skin and blew a loud raspberry on her stomach. She laughed as he teased and tickled and tried his damnedest to salvage her good mood, and then she wriggled off of his lap and bent down to blow inexpert raspberries on his stomach. Edward put on a show of laughing just as hard as Alice had while she retaliated with her little tickling fingers. When she declared that it was time to tickle Hercules, though, he talked her down to a belly rub instead.

Edward grinned at her as she loved on her dog, endlessly pleased with himself for keeping her from getting upset again, and he glanced up at Bella to share his triumph. She was leaning against a tree a few feet away, smiling fondly at all of them. Edward met her gaze and returned the smile, though it was disappointing when, a moment later, her expression turned resigned and she looked away. She pushed away from the tree and moved to kneel next to Alice, giving Hercules a little scratch behind the ears.

So. That wasn't a great sign. Maybe there was a conversation they needed to have.

Alice had his attention for now, though, so he tucked that away for a better time. He squatted down next to Alice and Bella and watched them pet the dog.

"Onna yeash?" Alice asked, grabbing at the tether attached to her belt loop.

"Um. Let's leave him off the leash for a little while and see how he does."

"Jainjwiss?"

"I think it's okay. If he starts to wander off, we'll leash him again."

Hercules did fine. He rarely ventured more than a few feet from Alice, and all she had to do was call his name to get him to come rushing back to her side.

Bella shook her head and laughed when she saw that. "That's the cutest thing. Have you been teaching him to come when he's called?"

"Nope, he just loves Alice. Pretty sure they're soul mates."

"Does he come when you call?"

"Hercules!" Edward called out, by way of showing that he very much didn't. "Hercules, come here!"

The dog didn't give any indication that he'd heard.

"Oochooweez!" Edward called.

The dog looked up at him but found him uninteresting and turned his attention back to Alice.

He shrugged at Bella and she snickered.

"I'm not allowed to feed him," he told her. "If I try to do it, Alice pitches a fit. Hercules is her dog, and she gets to take care of him."

"There are worse things."

"Yeah." He grinned down at Alice. "I don't know how long that will last, but it's so damn cute."

They fell silent for a moment, wandering slowly along the tree line after Alice and Hercules, who were back to searching for photo-worthy sights. After a moment, Bella spoke again.

"So Jacob got that privacy door installed for you, huh?"

He nodded. "Works great."

"Yep. We all noticed that you're hiding things from us."

He grinned. "Yeah, well. That's part of the contract. Rose made us sign non-disclosure agreements before she'd even pitch her graphic novel to us."

"Is she worried about having her idea stolen?"

He shook his head and smiled.

"You're not going to tell me anything?"

"Nope."

"You're a cruel man, Edward Masen."

"Just really into self-preservation. Have you met Rose? If I broke that contract, she'd have my balls bronzed and mounted over her fireplace."

Bella laughed. "She seems kinda great."

"I like her. She's insecure as hell about this project, though, and that makes her defensive."

"She's insecure?"

He nodded. "It's her first time doing a graphic novel. It seems like she was worried that I'd try to take over and cut her out of the process."

"But you're behaving yourself?" she asked with a stern lift of her eyebrow.

"Psh. I'm an angel." He shot her a side-eyed look and smiled. "Collaborations can be tricky, especially when you're the rookie in the partnership. I know how that feels."

"I imagine it's helpful that you can empathize."

He dipped his head in agreement. "But Rose isn't as difficult as she seemed at first. I get the impression that people sometimes don't take her seriously because of how she looks."

Bella grimaced. "What does she do again?"

"She teaches property law at U-dub."

"Oh, wow."

"Yeah. She's earned the right to be taken seriously."

"From some of the things Esme has said, I get the impression that she's experienced some of that too."

"Too much of it. Pretty sure the two of them bonded over the bad behavior of their male colleagues."

Bella arched an eyebrow at him. "That's a comfortable trio to be a part of."

"Yeah," he said with a nervous laugh. "I'm just trying to do my work and not contribute to the problem."

"And what's that work again?" she asked in a blatant attempt to penetrate his secrets.

He smirked. "I draw pictures."

"What kind of pictures?"

"Small ones."

She grinned and gave up. "Just make sure you let me know when you publish. I'll want to add it to the Edward Masen collection at the library."

"I have a feeling I won't have to tell you. If we do our jobs right, it'll be hard to miss."

"But you're not bragging."

He smirked. "Trust me."

"Uh-wud! A-diss?"

Alice and Hercules had wandered several yards ahead of them, and Edward jogged over to see what she was looking at. He peered down at the gray lump in the bracken. He thought at first that it was animal feces, only it was . . . furry?

"I . . . have no idea."

"Looks like an owl pellet," Bella said, coming up behind him.

He recoiled. "So it is poop."

"Not exactly. Owls swallow little animals whole and then regurgitate the parts that they can't digest. So that'll be a mass of bones and fur and insect exoskeletons."

Edward had to stifle a gag. "Don't touch it."

Bella laughed at him, but she admitted, "That's probably smart. You want to take a picture, Alice?"

"Oh, yes!" Alice aimed her camera and got a shot of the vile clump of gastronomic discharge.

"That's probably a good note to end on," Edward said, looking up at the darkening sky. "We'd better head home."

"No!" Alice protested. "A-benchoo!"

"Yeah, it's been a fun adventure, but it's getting dark. When those owls come out, they might want to have Hercules for dinner. Besides, guess what's waiting for us at home?"

"What?"

"Pavlova."

Alice didn't seem impressed. "A-yoba?"

"It's so delicious. It's crispy-crunchy meringue, topped with whipped cream and a whole bunch of raspberries."

She perked up. "Us-bo-eese?"

"Yeah. It's yummy."

"Oh! Hassum! Mon!" She started to run ahead of him, and he laughed.

"It's this way, Alice."

She turned and ran toward him again. "Mon, Oochooweez! Hassum us-bo-eese!"

"Can dogs even have raspberries?" Edward asked Bella as they all headed back toward the house.

She whipped out her phone and tapped at it for a moment. "In moderation."

"All right. I suppose I can spare a little of my topping for Hercules."

Edward relished the anticipation all the way back to the house, and he even drew it out by getting Alice bibbed and settled into her high chair. Finally, though, he pulled the container from the refrigerator and cut generous slices for himself and Bella and a little one for Alice. He cut hers into bite-sized pieces, then spooned a little bit of the berries and cream into Hercules's bowl and set it under the table for him. With everyone served, he sat down at the table and took his first amazing bite of Bella's creation.

It was perfect. Cream and sugar and tart berries all mixed together in the most perfect dessert combination that had ever existed. He savored it with a moan and followed it up with another blissful bite.

Bella laughed beside him. "You weren't kidding. You really like pavlova."

"You don't even know. It's my very favorite dessert."

She smiled a little secret smile and he got suspicious.

"Hang on. Did you know?"

"Your dad may have mentioned it."

He grinned. "And you remembered?"

"Don't forget, I had quite the hypothetical crush on you back then."

His grin widened. "Did you learn to make it just for me?"

She laughed. "I'm afraid not."

"You don't have to fib, Bella. It's okay."

She rolled her eyes. "Actually, a roommate in college taught me how to make it. That and tiramisu."

"Ohhh, tiramisu . . ."

"Let me guess. Your other favorite dessert?"

He answered her snarky smile with one of her own. "It's up there."

She laughed and took another bite of her pavlova.

"Esme isn't here tonight?" she asked after a brief pause.

"Nah. She spends a lot of time at Carlisle's lately."

"How are they doing?" Bella asked, and from her furrowed brow it seemed like she was aware that things weren't perfect between the pair.

"They're trying," Edward said. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you think Carlisle could be happy if he never had kids?"

Bella chewed and swallowed her bite with careful deliberation. "Are you sure you want me to answer that?"

"Why? What's the problem?"

She sighed and poked at a raspberry with her fork. "I think he could," she said quietly, "if he had Alice in his life."

Edward felt a not-unfamiliar tightening in his chest.

"I think he always felt like . . . if not a parent, maybe a second-string guardian to her. And he loved it." She met his gaze, looking sad. "If you were staying, if you allowed him to be as involved with her as your dad did . . . yeah. I think he'd be okay not having any of his own."

But Edward wasn't staying, and why the fuck was that again? It was getting harder and harder to remember why it was so important for him to get back to Olympia.

"Why do you ask?" Bella said, looking away again.

"Seems like that's their latest hurdle. Esme can't have kids and she's worried that Carlisle won't be happy without them."

"That's a fair concern," she murmured.

"It kinda sucks. She likes him a lot, and she deserves to have a relationship with someone who will be good to her. I was really hoping it would work out between them."

"Me too."

Edward gave her a contemplative look. It seemed like it was time to have that conversation. "Speaking of relationships. I'd like to revisit the idea of you and me going out."

Bella shook her head, pushing away from the table a little bit. "Don't. Please."

"Help me understand. You really don't think we could have a good time?"

"I think we could have a really good time."

"So why don't you want to?"

She sighed, and when she looked at him her dark eyes were honest and sad. "You know that hypothetical crush I had on you?"

"Sure." He felt that clenching in his chest again. "The one that you stopped having after you met me and realized that I'm kind of an asshole."

"Right. Well. As it turns out, you're pretty much exactly the man your dad said you were, and I'm having a hard time stopping myself from falling completely in love."

And . . . holy shit.

Holy shit.

The clenching in his chest was very much gone, and Edward leaned in, giving her a soft, intimate smile.

"What if you stopped trying? What if you went ahead and fell?"

Her eyes grew even sadder. "You're leaving."

For the love of God, why was he doing that?

"What if I didn't?"

She shook her head and sat back. "You can't do that."

"Why not?"

"It doesn't work. My mom hated this town as much as you do, but she thought she could stay here for my dad. She suffered through a few miserable years before she gave up and moved back to Arizona."

Edward reached out and took her hand. "Bella, I like you. A lot."

"Please don't." She extracted her hand from his grasp and stood up. "I'm going to go. Enjoy your pavlova."

She headed for the door, but looked back when Alice called out, "Bye, Boa! Bye!"

She turned around and headed back to Alice, giving her a kiss on the head. "Bye, Alice. I'll see you soon."

"Bye!"

Edward just sat there and watched, feeling helpless and rejected and just really, really sad.

"I really like her," he told Alice after the door closed behind her.

"Uh-huh. A-yite Boa."

He sighed. "She didn't even finish her pavlova." And, like, what was he going to do, waste it? Psh. No. It was pavlova. He finished his piece, and then hers, and it was absolutely fucking delicious, and she'd made it for him knowing that he'd love it, and she liked him, dammit. So why was he sitting here alone?

"Mess," Alice said, holding up her sticky hands.

"Are you all done?"

"Uh-huh. Mess."

"Okay, let's get you cleaned up." He wetted a cloth and wiped her hands and face clean. "You want to take a bath?"

"Oh, yes! Hassum toys!"

"Sure, we'll get out your bath toys. Come on."

Esme came home while Edward was getting Alice changed into pajamas. He got the kid's teeth all brushed and read her a story, and just completely stopped pretending that Hercules was going to sleep in the carrier at the foot of the bed. He laid out puppy pads where the dog tended to have his little morning accidents and then tucked Alice and Hercules in together.

"I love you so much, kid."

"Yuh-yoo, Uh-wud. Yuh-yoo, Oochooweez."

He kissed her goodnight and then headed out to the living room where Esme was perched on the sofa, reading something on her phone.

He flopped down next to her. "Got a minute?"

"Sure."

"I need to talk through some decisions."

She put her phone aside. "Shoot."