13 Memory

"No."

"Yes."

"Alice, no."

"Yes. Hattoo."

"Forget it. Pick something else."

"Wanna wed wun!" Alice insisted, making grabby hands at the sequined party dress that Edward had bought her—foolishly, he now understood—from the department store where he'd had to deal with all the poop that had exploded out of her diaper.

"You can't wear that dress to a funeral."

Alice's baby hands balled into fists. "Yes! Wanna wed wun!"

Edward took a deep breath and tried to keep his temper in check. Maybe the trick Mrs. Cope had taught him would work. "How about this red one?" he asked, pulling out an elaborately ruffled red and white dress. "Or this red one." He selected a yellow dress with big red strawberries on it.

"NO! POTOEY WUN!"

"Jesus fucking Christ," Edward muttered through his teeth. "Alice, forget it. You're not wearing that tacky dress."

"WANNA WED WUUUUUN!" she screamed, her face turning red from the effort.

Edward ground his teeth. He couldn't stand it. This one time, he couldn't make himself give into Alice's absurdities. She wasn't going to wear a sequined party dress to his father's funeral. There was no fucking way.

"No," he told her. "Look, how about the one with the butterflies? Remember how it has a train?"

Alice's response was a long, piercing scream.

Edward tried anyway. He really tried to put the butterfly dress on her, but without her cooperation it just wasn't going to happen. She dodged and wriggled and screamed and made the whole endeavor impossible.

Edward was honestly dancing around the edges of an explosion. He didn't want to yell at the kid, but he was dangerously close to losing his shit. He growled in frustration and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. Alice howled her unhappiness while he dialed.

"I can't," he said with no preamble when Carlisle answered. "I can't stand it. She wants to wear that cheap-ass dress to Dad's funeral and I can't let her do it. How do I get her to wear a different one?"

He heard Carlisle draw in a slow breath and let it out. 'What's more important right now? Is it exerting your authority or getting her to wear a different dress?"

Edward knew the answer, but he suddenly felt like it was the wrong one. If he was going to be Alice's guardian, he should be trying to get her to respect him. But . . . it was red and sequined.

"It's just so tacky," he said, sounding weak.

"All right. Give in."

"Carlisle—"

"I know. But the more you insist on it, the more she'll dig in her heels. Give in, and then try hard to get her into a good mood. Maybe let her play with her tablet."

"Uh. Yeah . . . I haven't actually seen a tablet? Would that be in her toy box?"

"Try the top of Ted's closet. He limited her time with it."

"Okay, but . . ."

"I know. I'll come over in a little while and see if I can get her to wear something else."

That seemed unlikely, but Alice did like Carlisle an awful lot. Maybe he could persuade her. "Okay. I'll try that. But if it doesn't work, I'm shoving this dress down the garbage disposal."

"NO INNA DOBIJ!" Alice shrieked in protest.

"Good luck," Carlisle said, and Edward resented the hell out of the amusement in his voice. He hung up the phone, took a deep breath, and turned back to Alice. It was time to eat a little crow—or at least pretend to.

"Alice," he said in a conciliatory tone, "I'm sorry. You're right. If you want to wear your red dress, you can."

"POTOEY WUN!" she shouted.

"Yes. The sparkly one." He took it from its hanger, but before he could put it on her, Alice snatched it from his hands.

"Do you want me to help you put it on?"

"NO!"

So he watched with vindictive pleasure for a minute while she struggled with the many layers of tulle in the skirt and fully failed to get it on. Finally, when she started getting frustrated, he figured he'd better step in before he made things worse.

"Here, let me help you find the opening," he said, reaching for the dress.

"MINE!" she yelled, but she let him part the gauzy layers and guide it over her head. He directed her arms into the right holes and zipped up the dress, but as it was too big, it sagged off of one of her shoulders. Alice didn't seem to mind.

"Yawa," she demanded sulkily.

"Okay, let's do your hair. Do you want the pearl tiara or the sparkly tiara?"

"Potoey wun."

"Let's go to the bathroom and get your brush." He lifted her from the changing table and noticed when he did that two glittering sequin rounds had fallen off of the dress and remained on the table. He sighed. This was the second time she'd worn it and it was already coming apart. As though he needed more evidence that it was cheap junk.

Esme was in the bathroom when they went in, standing in front of the mirror and applying her makeup. Edward gave her a once-over, taking in the black cocktail dress with rivets at the waist and a lace-up bodice. He whistled as he looked her over. "Damn, woman. You clean up nice."

She shrugged. "It's no sequined party dress, but I do what I can."

He shot her a dirty look and she smirked.

"Are you going somewhere today?"

She cocked her head to the side. "Your dad's memorial?"

Edward stared at her for a moment. "You want to go? You never even met Dad . . . did you?"

"I'm going to support you. Unless you don't want me to?"

"No, no, that's really nice. I just didn't expect it, especially with your leg."

"I've got to learn to use these things sometime, right?" She nodded toward the crutches resting against the wall.

"Yeah, I guess. Thank you."

"Rose is coming too," she said, turning back to the mirror.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. She said she'd pick me up so you won't have to worry about me while you're dealing with all the funeral stuff. Oh, and Tanya mentioned she was coming up."

Edward's jaw actually dropped at that. "From Olympia?"

"Sure. I don't know why you're so surprised. She adores you."

"She literally always wants to punch me."

"Apparently the two aren't mutually exclusive." She shot him a grin. "We're your friends too, you know. After all, you did give me a place to stay while I figure out my life. That's more than I would expect from a colleague."

Edward nodded, and he had to swallow past a lump in his throat in order to say, "Thank you. It means a lot to me that you're coming."

She smiled at him and then finished her makeup while Edward braided Alice's hair around her tiara. Then she held out a perfume bottle to him and he took it with a questioning look.

"Spray it in front of me, would you?" she said, collecting her crutches. "I don't have enough hands."

"A-diss?" Alice asked, pointing at the bottle.

"It's perfume," Edward said.

"A-fyoom? Hassum?"

"You want to wear some?" Esme asked.

"Oh, yes!" She clapped her hands.

Edward rolled his eyes. Getting exactly what she wanted had turned her mood around with surprising speed.

"Let me show you how it's done," Esme told her. "Edward, spray it in front of me."

Edward dutifully spritzed a cloud of perfume into the air in front of her, and Esme swung herself through it on her crutches.

"See that?" Edward said to Alice. "I spray it and you walk through."

Alice raised her hands and he helped her down from the counter. He sprayed a cloud of perfume and Alice ran through it, only stopping when she was halfway down the hall.

"Perfect!" Esme told her.

"Hassum a-fyoom!" Alice said with a grin. "Yite Muzzmay!"

"It smells good," Edward said.

"Moze dood!"

"How are you doing?" Edward asked, turning his attention to Esme. "Have you iced your leg yet?"

"Not yet, but I should. Do you have an ice pack?"

"I'm sure there's something in the freezer. Go sit down and I'll see what we've got."

She made her way to the sofa, and Edward found a nice big bag of frozen vegetables in the freezer. He fetched it, along with a dish cloth to protect the cast, and gave it to Esme to arrange to her liking. Alice appeared a moment later with one of her Lumberjanes books and raised her hands to Esme.

"Weed a so-wee?"

Edward smiled at them as Esme lifted Alice up beside her. He decided the tablet probably wasn't necessary, as her mood had rebounded quickly, but he figured it might be a good idea to have it as a distraction later. He didn't want her making a fuss if she got bored at the memorial. He went to his dad's closet, and sure enough, there was a tablet in a thick rubber case on the top shelf. He turned it on and checked to see that it was fully charged before taking it out to the coat closet and tucking it into Alice's diaper bag.

With Alice and Esme taking care of each other, Edward had some time to get himself ready. He showered and shaved, selected a somber suit, and bummed some nail polish remover from Esme to get rid of the glittering purple polish that still decorated his fingertips. He arranged his hair into something less careless than he usually wore and finished the look with a pair of Montblanc cufflinks from his father's collection.

It was getting close to time to leave for the memorial and Alice was still wearing the tacky red dress, so Edward was relieved to hear a knock at the door. He heard Alice's voice yell "Owizzit?" and the sound of her feet running toward the door, and he hurried out of his room to help her answer it. On the other side was Carlisle, dressed in a suit that looked expensive and Italian, holding a flat white box tied up with a gauzy blue ribbon.

"Alice!" He said with obvious delight. He handed the box to Edward and leaned down to pick her up. "How's my favorite kid today?"

"Fine. Weed a so-wee. Hassum dysoze."

"Really? Dinosaurs in your story? Is it scary?"

"Iss funny!"

"Oh, I see. Funny dinosaurs are the best kind."

"A-dat?" Alice asked, pointing to the box. She looked eager, like she knew what his answer would be.

"It's a present for you. Would you like to open it?"

"Oh, yes!"

Carlisle set her down in the middle of the living room and settled on the floor in front of her, apparently unconcerned about wrinkling his gorgeous suit. He accepted the box back from Edward and pointed to one of the ends of the ribbon. "Pull that right there."

Alice did so with obvious glee, and then tugged at the ribbon until it was free from the box. Then, with Calrisle's help, she lifted the lid off the box and looked inside.

Edward smiled to himself when he saw what Carlisle had brought. It was a dress of deep, dark blue, spangled with tiny, glittering silver stars, and embellished with enough lace and tulle to make Alice fall in love. With it was a pair of shiny silver shoes that matched the dress perfectly.

Alice scrambled to her feet, dancing in place in her excitement. "So pity!" she said breathlessly, as though she'd never seen anything so wonderful in her life. "So pity! So pity!"

"Do you think it fits? Would you like to try it on?"

"Oh, YES!"

Carlisle helped her take off the horrible red concoction and put on the blue one, and then Alice turned to Edward and Esme to show it off. "See it!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, Alice," Edward breathed, just relieved as fuck that she was in a decent dress. "That's so beautiful. Did you say thank you to Carlisle?"

"Deenchoo!" Alice said and threw her arms around his neck.

"You're welcome, my heart. Would you like to try on the shoes?"

"Siny wuns!" Alice said in a high-pitched squeal.

"You're darn right, they're shiny. I wouldn't get you just any old shoes."

The clothes were exactly right. Even the tiara looked good with the look that Carlisle had put together, and Edward drew in a deep breath and blew out some of his anxiety. This was going to be okay.

Alice ran to a clear space on the floor to spin around, and Edward offered Carlisle a hand. He pulled him to his feet and then went in for a hug, gripping him tightly to show his appreciation.

"I truly can't thank you enough," he murmured into Carlisle's ear.

"Anything I can do to make today easier for you."

Edward released him with a nod. And . . . he probably should have been looking for things to make the day easier for Carlisle too, but he honestly didn't feel like he had the capacity. He was only just holding it together between taking care of Alice and preparing himself for the memorial. If that made him selfish, well . . . he would just have to be selfish.

Alice's hair was a little worse for the wear after the clothing change, so Edward took her to the bathroom to fix it and then started getting her ready to go.

"Do you want to pick a DVD for the car ride?" he asked her,

"Yes!" She ran to the cabinet and returned a minute later with a movie featuring a couple of blue not-entirely-human characters on the cover.

"Looks good to me. Got your purse?"

"Pendy puss!" she cried, taking off down the hall. When she came back, she had her battered bag slung over her shoulder with the DVD peeking out the top. "A-weddy!"

"Excellent." Edward tucked his tablet into the diaper backpack with Alice's and shrugged it on. "Let's do this. Come on, tiny."

"Mon, tiny." Alice took the hand he offered and he led her out to the car.

Edward had planned to be at the funeral home about an hour before the event began, so the parking lot was still mostly empty. The notable exception was a flower delivery truck, so Edward wasn't surprised to see Ben Cheney leading one of his kids through the small lobby inside the front doors. Ben gave Edward a wave as he and his son exited the building.

"Hi!" Alice said, waving back.

Edward nodded to him, and then turned his attention to the funeral director, who was sitting beside a display of various funerary goods.

"Hey," he said. "I don't think we've actually met in person. I'm Edward Masen."

"Miranda Biers," she replied, shaking the hand he offered.

"A-diss?" Alice asked, pointing at the display.

"Those are urns."

"Oons?"

"Yep."

"A-diss?"

"Those are necklaces." Edward was about to refocus his attention on Miranda, but he stopped. The little necklaces were actually pretty cute, and each had a tiny compartment for storing ashes of a loved one. "Do you like them?"

"Pity," Alice said, pointing to a teardrop-shaped pendant with an abalone shell inlay.

"It is pretty, isn't it? Do you want one?"

She gasped, like it had never occurred to her that he would buy her pretty much anything she showed interest in. "Oh, yes!"

"Could I have one of those?" Edward asked Miranda.

"Absolutely. Anything for yourself?"

Edward didn't know if he'd wear it often, but he selected an understated black bar on a chain for himself. "And, actually, could I get a second of the necklaces for Alice?" Because there was a good chance she'd end up destroying or losing one, and he thought it might not be a terrible idea to hang onto one until she was older. She probably wouldn't remember her dad for much longer, but Edward was determined that she would grow up knowing that the father she'd lost had adored her.

Miranda rang up his purchases and let him know that she would deliver them to him after the service, when she'd had a chance to add the ashes.

"Habbit," Alice said, holding out a hand for her necklace.

"Not yet, kiddo. She has to do some stuff with it first."

Alice gave him a betrayed look. "No. Habbit."

Miranda gave her a sad smile. "Let me fix them up right now. It'll take me two minutes."

"Thanks. That would help. Hear that, Alice? Two minutes. Can we wait that long?"

"A-minnus?"

"Yep. Two of them. See that clock?" Edward distracted her by taking as much time as he could to explain the movement of the hands. Two minutes was an ambitious estimate, but to be fair, Alice didn't understand any of the clock stuff anyway. And to her credit, Miranda didn't take very much longer than that. She reappeared before long with three little velvet boxes and handed them over.

Edward helped Alice put her necklace on, and then he let her "help" him with his, too. Once it was on, he tucked it beneath his shirt.

"See it," Alice said.

"No, it's okay. I'm wearing a tie, so I don't need the necklace right now."

"Yes. See it. Yite diss." She pointed to her own necklace.

And, hell. Why not? He rearranged the necklace so the chain lay under the collar and the black pendant rested in front of his gray tie. "How about that? It's very Dior 2015, don't you think?"

"Pity."

With Alice's stamp of approval, he turned back to Miranda and let her usher him into the room where the service would be room was already mostly decorated, primarily with white flowers, but with liberal accents of deep blues and purples. Ben and his son had been back and forth a couple of times, and they were at the front of the room now, next to a pedestal that held the urn with his father's ashes.

"Hand me that pack of lisianthuses, will you, bud?" Ben was asking his son.

The boy selected a paper-wrapped bundle of flowers and passed them to his dad.

"Good job! Now can you hold these lilies here while I add the others?"

Alice wriggled out of Edward's arms and hurried over to inspect their work.

"This is where we'll hold the service," Miranda told Edward, drawing his attention back to her. "When it's time, I'll welcome everyone and then invite you up to give your remarks. We've arranged the chairs in short rows with multiple aisles to make it easier for people to move to the front of the room when you ask them to."

"Smart. I appreciate that."

"We usually reserve some space at the front for family and close friends. Do you have a rough head count of how many we should keep?"

"Um." Edward shook his head, more out of regret than anything. What family his father had been close to had passed on, and it was unlikely that Elizabeth would come for the memorial. He'd had friends in Seattle, but no one Edward would have saved a seat for. For so long, it had been just the two of them.

But he'd found a family here, and that deserved to be acknowledged. Carlisle, the Swans, the Blacks, the Clearwaters. They'd been something more than just acquaintances. Hell, there might be some others that Edward simply hadn't met yet. But he'd do what he could for the people who had rallied around him, and he did a quick mental count of the ones who had been at Carlisle's barbecue the week before. Then he added Tanya, Esme, and Rose, since they were coming specifically to support him.

"Is twenty too many?" he asked Miranda, rounding up a little.

"Not at all. I'll mark them off."

She disappeared out the door, and Edward wandered over to where Alice was watching Ben arrange the flowers.

"A-diss?"

"Those are hydrangeas," Ben told her patiently.

"A-waynjas?"

"Yep."

"A-diss?"

"Those are lilies."

"Yee-yees?"

"Yep."

"A-diss?"

"Those are roses."

Alice perked up. "Wose?" She turned to Edward. "Wose tummeen?"

"Yep, she's coming." Edward lifted Alice into his arms and turned to Ben. "It looks really beautiful in here."

"Thanks, man. Whatever I can do to honor him."

"It means a lot." He clapped his shoulder before taking Alice to sit on one of the front-row chairs. Miranda reappeared and started putting out satin drapes that had the word "RESERVED" stitched into them.

"Oh, hey," he said, remembering who he was saving space for, "can we designate a couple of reserved spaces for wheelchairs?"

"Oh, yes. Billy and Charlie were close to him, weren't they?" She set down her banners and removed the four front chairs from one of the sections. She disappeared again and returned carrying a heavy stanchion post, which Edward jumped up to help her with. She directed him to a closet where another one waited, and he carried it out and placed it where she asked him to. She set up a barrier between the second row and the empty space now designated for wheelchairs, and then she draped a couple of RESERVED banners over the stanchions.

Edward looked up to find that Alice had wandered over to one of the flower displays at the side of the room and was reaching out to grab a handful of blossoms.

"Alice!"

She stopped and turned back to him, looking startled.

"Don't touch, kiddo," he said, making a deliberate effort to soften his tone. "We don't want to mess them up before the ceremony."

"A-mony?"

"Right. This is for Daddy's memorial."

"Daddy tummeen?"

He shook his head as he reached her and swung her up onto his hip. "No, Daddy died, remember?"

"Uh-huh. Daddy died."

"But today we're going to talk about him. Do you want to do that? Do you want to help me tell people about him?"

"Uh-huh. Hope you."

"Great. We just have to wait until everyone gets here. Shall we play with your tablet until then?"

Alice gasped with more drama than was strictly necessary. "A tabyet?"

"Yep, I brought it. Do you want to play?"

"Oh, yes!"

Edward set her down on the front row in a center section and settled in beside her. He didn't even need to turn on the tablet for her. As soon as he pulled it out of the bag, she snatched it from him and hit the power button on the side. When it loaded, she knew exactly what to do to pull up whatever game she liked to play, so Edward just watched her and gave the appropriate responses when she showed him how she matched shapes on the screen.

A few minutes later, he heard someone enter the room and he glanced back. Tanya had just walked in, looking around like she wasn't sure she was in the right place. But then her gaze fell on Edward and she smiled.

"Tanya." He rose and strode to the back of the room, catching his agent up in a warm hug. "You didn't have to come all the way up here for this."

"What, I was going to skip your dad's funeral?"

"I mean. Yeah. I really didn't expect you to come."

She gave him an extra squeeze and then released him. "You know, sometimes you underestimate how much people care about you."

He gave her a grateful smile and then slung an arm around her shoulders and guided her to the chair next to his. She settled onto it and tucked her purse under her chair. "Have you saved a seat for Tori?"

"Why? Did someone tell you she was coming?"

Tanya blinked in surprise. "Isn't she? She's your closest friend."

"This isn't really her kind of thing."

"Supporting you in a literal tragedy isn't her kind of thing?"

Edward smiled and shook his head. "It's fine. I didn't expect it from her." Which was almost completely honest. There was a little part of him that protested that she could come to Forks to give her opinion on whether he should adopt Alice, but she couldn't make it down for the service. And she'd actually spent some time with Edward's father, where Tanya, Esme, and Rose hadn't. Still, it was an awful lot to ask someone to make two trips to this horrid little backwater town in a single week, so Edward shrugged it off. She had a life of her own, after all.

"Hi," Alice said, waving at Tanya.

"Right," Edward said, "I should introduce you. Alice, this is my friend Tanya."

"Hi, Tana! Habba tabyet! See it!" She held up her tablet for Tanya to see.

"Oh, look at that! So cool!"

"Uh-huh. Hassum dames. Matcheen."

Tanya cocked her head to the side, not understanding what Alice was saying.

"She's got matching games," Edward interpreted for her.

"Lucky girl!"

"Yep," Alice said, turning her attention back to her game.

"Edward, she's darling."

"And doesn't she know it? Listen, I ought to update you on the graphic novel."

"Oh, right, Esme emailed me and said you'd brought her on board. I'm glad. I like her."

"Same. And things are starting smoothly. The three of us have worked pretty well together."

"Rose isn't too demanding?"

"No, she is. Pain in the ass, really. I like her anyway."

Tanya let out a relieved breath. "Good. You two are both strong personalities. I figured the hardest part would be getting you to work together."

"I mean, it's still early days. No promises that there won't be violence down the line. But it's good so far."

Tanya smiled at him and bumped his shoulder with her own.

People started arriving shortly after that, and Edward did his best to play the good host while Tanya kept an eye on Alice. He greeted people and shook hands, received introductions and promptly forgot names, graciously accepted condolences, and agreed that yes, he did look just like his father. When Rose and Esme arrived he started to lead them to the front rows, but Esme stopped and shook her head.

"I'd rather sit in the back," she said. "I'm not sure how long I'll last, and if I have to leave, I'd prefer to be less conspicuous."

"Fair enough." He helped her adjust a chair in a back corner instead, pulling it back to give her extra room for her leg.

He was back to greeting people when Alice darted up to him, Tanya trailing behind her.

"A-did it!" Alice exclaimed. "See it!"

"What did you do?" Edward asked, crouching down beside her.

"Oh-da sapes! A-win!"

And . . . yeah, he had no idea what that meant. But he peered at the screen and it looked like there were a lot of properly paired shapes lined up. In one corner, a little cartoon mouse was dancing happily.

"Hey, look at that! You got them all right!"

That seemed to be the right response because Alice beamed at him and hugged the tablet to her chest.

"Are you going to play again?" Edward asked her.

"Oh, yes!"

Movement caught his eye, and Edward looked up to see Bella pushing Charlie's wheelchair toward the door. Alice ran to Charlie and raised her hands to be picked up.

"Chawie! See it! A-win!"

He lifted her obligingly into his lap and scanned the screen she held out to him. "Would you look at that? What a fun game!"

Alice lowered the tablet and gave him a coy look. "Hassum tanny?"

"Hmm, let me see, here . . ." He patted his pockets, and his face brightened when he found his coat pocket. "I've got one right here!" He drew out a butterscotch and handed it to Alice.

"Deenchoo!" She tugged on the wrapper and tossed it aside before poking the candy into her mouth.

Edward moved to pick the wrapper up off the floor and gave them a smile. "Hey, Charlie. Bella. It's good to see you."

"You too," Bella said. "How are you holding up?"

"Not bad, all things considered." Remembering his manners, he added, "This is my friend Tanya."

She shook hands with them and then Edward gestured toward the stanchions. "We've got some reserved seating at the front."

"Should I take Alice?" Tanya offered when Bella started to push the wheelchair again.

"Naw, she can sit with me for a little while," Charlie said.

Tanya looked to Edward to make sure it was okay, and he nodded. "Charlie and Bella are . . . kind of her village. They were close to my dad."

"Got it." She caught his hand and gave it a squeeze before moving back to her seat.

The room filled up quickly, and Miranda soon appeared with a rack of chairs. Edward hurried to help her set up a few more rows, and when even those filled up, they added a few chairs where they could along the side of the room. That seemed to accommodate everyone, and she wheeled the rack away again. Edward showed the Clearwaters and the Blacks to the reserved section, but he saved a place by Alice and himself for Carlisle, who gave him a truly gratified smile when he arrived to claim it.

Alice scrambled down off of Charlie's lap as soon as she realized Carlisle was there and eagerly showed him her game. Carlisle lifted her into the chair beside him and leaned over her game with her, murmuring to her in a low voice that Alice imitated.

When it was time to start, Miranda reappeared with a wireless microphone and stood at the front of the room to welcome everyone to the service. She kept it brief and then handed the microphone off to Edward.

"I want to thank you all for coming out today to remember my dad," he told them. "Since I've been here, I've kind of gotten the feeling that I didn't really know my dad in the way that you all did. And I think that's common. I think a person can be different things to different people. So I thought maybe I'd tell you a little about the way I knew him, and then if any of you want to share a story about him, you can come on up and help me get to know him the way you did.

"He was my dad, so I obviously knew him as a provider and a disciplinarian. But a lot of my friends used to complain that they felt pressured by their parents to take up certain hobbies or go into the family business, and I never got that from Dad. He didn't need me to fit into a predefined mold, he just wanted me to be engaged in things. He always gave me plenty of support while I took my time figuring out what I loved. He arranged lessons for the saxophone, the drums, and the guitar before I ultimately settled on the piano. He let me try soccer, basketball, and baseball before I decided that soccer was the one I wanted after all. And he supported me through a doctoral degree in political science and then didn't even bat an eye when I told him I wanted to draw pictures for a living."

Edward thought of the messy relationship that his parents had had, the affairs, the ugly divorce, the lies and the fighting, and how hard his father had tried to keep him out of it. "He wasn't a perfect man," he said, a little more quietly. "When you live with someone, you see more of their flaws than other people do. But I appreciated that he never made excuses for himself. More than once, he told me, 'Junior, don't do it the way I did,' and then he'd give me some advice on how to handle whatever situation he'd screwed up.

"He made it feel safe to make mistakes. He gave me room to try and fail and try again. He let me have time to figure myself out. I love him so much for that, and for a million other things."

That felt like a good stopping place, so he looked at Alice, still playing with her tablet on Billy's lap. "If you'll all indulge me for just a minute, I want to give Alice a chance to participate."

Alice's head popped up at the mention of her name.

"Alice, do you want to come help me?"

"Yes! A-hope you!" She wriggled off of her chair and hurried over to Edward, still holding her tablet.

Edward picked her up and handed her the microphone.

"Hi!" she said—too loudly—into the microphone.

"A little quieter," Edward said with a smile. "Like this."

She mostly ignored him, though her voice was softer when she said, "Diss Moey Awiss Masen!"

"Good job. We're here to talk about Daddy today."

"Daddy died," Alice informed the room.

"Yeah. Do you miss him?"

"Uh-huh. Miss Daddy."

"Can you tell our friends some of the things you used to do with him?"

"Um. Um. Payf sum toys."

"Yeah, you like playing with toys, huh?"

"Uh-huh. Hassum dysoze, a-hosies, a-paydo, a-jwums."

Edward didn't catch all of that, but he figured it probably wasn't necessary. "Those sound like great toys. And did you go places with Daddy?"

"Uh-huh. Doh-a dinoo."

That took him a second. "The diner?"

"Uh-huh. An-a pote."

He glanced at Carlisle for help, and Carlisle murmured, "The park."

"Right, the park. How about . . . swimming?"

"Oh, yes! Wimmeen! I'n-a moomaid!"

He grinned. "Yep, you swim just like a mermaid. You did a lot of fun things with Daddy, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh. Habba tabyet. See it!" She held up her tablet for everyone to see. "A-win!"

Edward figured he was starting to lose her, but he was glad she'd been a part of it. "I'm so glad that Daddy got to spend a couple of years with you. And even though he's gone now, I'm going to make sure you always know that you were very special to him."

"Uh-huh. Pesho."

"Thank you for helping me," he said, then addressed the room again. "I'd like to invite you all to join in now and share a memory or two with us."

Carlisle was standing up before he'd even finished speaking, so he handed off the mic and settled down in his chair with Alice on his lap.

"When I first moved to town," Carlisle said, "I was in a dark place. I was estranged from my family and was looking to separate myself from the things they were involved in. Since I had a couple of weeks until I started my job at the hospital, I'd intended to spend some time locked away at home and wallowing in self-pity. And then my new neighbor showed up with a bottle of really good wine."

Carlisle continued, telling the story of how, while he was getting to know Ted, his moving company had called to report that they couldn't get to his house because the road they were on had been blocked by a fallen tree.

"Ted told me, 'Don't worry, we can take care of that,' and he started calling a bunch of his friends to meet him out on the road. Then he and I drove out to meet them, and out of the trunk of this gorgeous Alfa Romeo, he pulled a chainsaw."

Edward's eyebrows raised at that. He wasn't going to jump up in the middle of Carlisle's story and tell him he'd gotten it wrong, but . . . Edward was pretty sure he'd gotten it wrong. There was no way on God's green earth that Ted had ever used a chainsaw. That he'd organized the party, Edward had no doubt, but he was certain that his father's participation had been supervisory.

The group, Carlisle said, had met back at Carlisle's house, where they'd helped to arrange the furniture that the movers delivered and then enjoyed an impromptu pizza party, courtesy of Ted. Carlisle told them how welcome the show of support had made him feel, and how he'd always seen in Ted an eagerness to find solutions to problems. He closed with a hope that everyone could find a friend that they could love and admire as much as he'd loved and admired Ted, and with tears in his eyes he replaced the microphone on the stand.

Bella was on her feet next, which Edward appreciated. He'd asked her to stand and offer a memory, and she hadn't let him down. It didn't seem like it had been necessary, though, because even as she took the microphone from its stand, a line started to form in one of the aisles.

Bella was telling a story about a fundraiser that Ted had held on behalf of the library when Edward felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at Carlisle, who nodded toward the back of the room. Edward followed his gaze, searching for whatever was important enough to hold Carlisle's attention, when he spotted a woman hovering in the doorway.

He almost didn't recognize her. Edward had only ever seen Morgan Fernall in a photograph, and she hadn't been nearly as thin or as wasted as she was now. It physically pained him to see how her health had been sapped, most likely by her drug habit. But it was definitely her, and Edward reacted with a flood of contradicting emotions.

He was terrified, because what if she was here to take Alice? And he was so relieved, because what if she was here to take Alice? It would be so much easier to pass off the responsibility to Morgan and get his life back again. He could get back to Olympia; he could work uninterrupted; he could sleep the hours he wanted to sleep, blissfully alone in his bed. But it also meant that there would be no more snuggles in the rocking chair at naptime; no more post-bath streaking around the house; no more swimming lessons and triumphant baby giggles when Alice managed to tread water for a few minutes. And that hurt.

Regardless, he wasn't going to waste the opportunity to talk to Morgan. He shifted Alice into Carlisle's lap and strode toward the door. As soon as Morgan saw him coming, she turned and headed into the lobby, but Edward hurried after her and caught up to her in the parking lot.

"Wait. Please. Can I just talk to you for a minute?"

She stopped, but she clearly wasn't happy about it. She crossed her arms over her chest in what looked like a defensive maneuver, though it might have just been to protect herself from the light drizzle that was falling.

"You're Morgan, right? You're Alice's mom."

"I'm not anybody's mom," she spat.

"Right. Sorry. But . . . you carried her. Am I right about that?"

The nod she gave was a reluctant one.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to make this harder for you. I just have a lot of questions and I'd really love it if you could answer a few."

She huffed out a breath. "What do you want to know?"

"Can we sit?" There was a bench placed beneath some overhanging eaves and Edward gestured to it. They sat, but she stared straight ahead of her, arms folded.

"I'm Edward Masen, Ted's son."

"I know who you are. Even if you didn't look just like him, he showed me a thousand pictures of you."

Edward smiled at that.

"What did he tell you?" she asked.

His smile fell. "Not a damn thing."

"When did he tell you about Alice?"

"He didn't."

She barked out a surprisingly loud laugh. "Coward," she muttered, but there was fondness behind it.

"Did he say he was afraid to tell me?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Some bullshit about replacement and sibling rivalry."

"He thought I'd see a baby as my rival?"

She shrugged, softening a little. "People like to be needed and kids need a lot. The people you love the most are the ones you take care of."

"So . . . he thought he'd love Alice more than me?"

She shot him an unsympathetic look. "Yep. And he was probably right, at least temporarily. Babies have a way of taking over everything."

Edward struggled with the idea. One thing he could always count on was that he was more important to his parents than anyone else. But didn't every kid know that? Well . . . with some exceptions, anyway. Wasn't it typical for kids to get to come first? He'd always assumed it was, but he hadn't thought hard about how it worked if you weren't an only child.

"So Alice was his favorite."

"The baby's always the favorite." She looked at him and gave him a sympathetic frown. "Look. He was obsessed with you, all right? He knew the kid was going to take up all his attention and he didn't want you to feel like you didn't matter anymore. So he was afraid to tell you."

"Yeah, but so afraid that he never told me?"

She shrugged. "He was a really insecure guy."

Edward didn't know what to say to that. He just blinked at her. He'd never once thought of his father as insecure.

"What, you didn't know that?"

He shook his head.

She shrugged. "I blame that little stunt you pulled, running off to North Korea to get away from him."

There . . . was so much wrong with that statement that he couldn't even begin to address. All he managed was, "South Korea."

"Whatever," she said, annoyed.

It seemed like a pretty important distinction to Edward, but he let it drop. "Okay, well . . . were you two in a relationship?"

She snorted. "Hardly. I met him at a Karaoke bar in Port Angeles and we fucked a few times. I should have kept my birth control up to date, but there were a lot of drugs and a lot of booze, and I didn't."

He nodded, hoping she would go on.

"I asked Ted to pay for an abortion, and he agreed. He went with me to my first doctor appointment, and then we went to lunch. And he asked me if I'd consider carrying to term."

"Wow. Big ask."

"No kidding. Especially because it meant staying clean for seven months."

"Why did you agree?"

She shrugged and looked away. "I don't know. Stupid, I guess. It's just . . . here was this rich, stable guy who wanted the kid and could give her a really good life. And I just thought maybe that wasn't something to waste."

Edward nodded.

"Plus, he paid me."

He chuckled. That was predictable.

"But I couldn't do it on my own. He found a really nice rehab retreat in California, and he used to come out every couple of weeks to see me. He must have bribed the staff to let me out or something, because he'd always take me to this place on the beach and we'd spend a few days together. It was nice. He was nice."

"Is that the house he left you?"

She shot him a querying look.

"Didn't anyone get ahold of you? Dad left you some money and some property in California."

She looked thoughtful but didn't answer.

"I'd love to get you in touch with the lawyers so you can sign the paperwork."

She shook her head. "I'll take the house, but I shouldn't have the money."

Edward hesitated. "It's an expensive property. You're going to be looking at a fairly hefty property tax bill every year. What if we put that money into a maintenance fund?" She looked worried, so Edward added, "I'll have my accountant manage it. I'll give you his number in case you need cash for repairs or whatever, but he'll make sure the taxes get paid."

She finally nodded.

"Great. Can I get your number so we can make arrangements with the lawyers?"

She gave it to him and he put it into his phone.

"So . . ." he said, once that was taken care of, "do you want to meet Al—"

"No."

Right. Her tone told him that was a line he shouldn't cross. "What about family?" he suggested tentatively. "Do your folks know about her? Should I be taking her to visit her grandparents?"

She stared into space for a long time. Finally, she shrugged. "I never told them."

"Did Dad?"

"I don't know."

"Okay. Um. Do you have any objection to me contacting them? I wouldn't want Alice to miss out on a chance to get to know them."

She shook her hair back as though she didn't care, but Edward suspected it was a lie. "Dad's dead. My sister moved to New Mexico. But my mom still lives in La Push."

"Would you mind if I took Alice to see her?"

She shrugged.

Edward took down her mother's number as well.

"What about you? Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No." Her voice was hard and flat, and Edward decided not to push.

"Thank you for this. I really appreciate you talking with me."

"Whatever." She fished a cigarette out of her purse and lit it up. "You took him for granted, you know."

That stung, but he would have had a hard time refuting it. "You're probably right."

"I did too. That was the thing about him. You'd use him and he'd let you. Make you feel like you were doing him a favor."

"To be fair, you really were doing him a favor."

She took a drag on her cigarette. "Not the whole time, though. Not before. And he still always acted like he was glad to see me."

"I'd be willing to bet he wasn't acting."

She stood up and tossed a glance at him over her shoulder. "You're as bad as he is." She smiled a little, and that made it feel like a compliment.

"Hey, one more thing," Edward said, acting on a sudden hunch. "Do you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers?"

She looked back at him, and a small, wistful smile tugged at her lips. "'Under the Bridge,'" she said. "Sang it every time at Karaoke." She didn't wait for Edward to follow up this time. She just strode out into the rain toward the street.

Edward watched her for a few seconds, but he didn't linger too long. His father's funeral was in progress, after all, and it was bad form for him to be missing it. He stood and brushed some wet pine needles off of his pants before he headed back inside.

Alice reached for him when he settled back into his seat, and he lifted her off of Carlisle's lap. He snuggled her into his chest and let her whisper to him about the fun new game she was playing where she matched color blocks with items of the same color. He was pretty pleased. He'd only managed to talk with Morgan for a few minutes, but he felt like he understood the situation now. And it was good to have confirmation that her preferences regarding Alice weren't being ignored.

That Alice wasn't going to disappear from his life.

"I love you so much," he whispered in her ear, giving her a squeeze.

"Yuh-yoo, Uh-wud," she whispered back with a little dimpled smile.

"Everything okay?" Carlisle murmured.

"It's fine. I'll tell you about it later."

Edward spent the next hour and a half listening to stories about his dad. There were several about him investing in businesses or helping people apply for grants to help them keep their homes. But there were also stories about poker games, town gatherings, funny moments at the historical society, and plenty of instances where Edward got to see glimpses of his dad as a friend or neighbor. He loved it, and he missed his dad so much that he thought his chest might crack from the intensity of the aching.

Alice, for her part, fell asleep. Edward didn't notice until her tablet fell on the floor and startled her awake for a moment. He cuddled her close and rubbed her back, and she drifted off to sleep again. She snoozed quietly as the line of storytellers diminished and then as Miranda stood to thank everyone for coming. She announced the catered luncheon that would be held at the Lodge in an hour, and everyone started packing up their things to go.

Bella approached them, arms folded across her chest, and she gave Edward a challenging smirk.

"Is that why you asked me to say some things about your dad? So you could walk out in the middle of it?"

Edward cringed. "Shit. No. Sorry, that must have seemed really rude."

"Alice's mother was here," Carlisle said, coming to his rescue.

"I haven't been able to get in contact with her since Dad passed," Edward added. "I really needed to speak with her, but I'm sorry I missed what you said."

Bella shook her head with a laugh. "I guess I can let you get away with that excuse."

Tanya came up beside him and hooked an arm through his. "So there's a luncheon too?"

"Yep. See you there?" Edward asked Bella.

She nodded and gave them a wave as she headed back to where Charlie waited.

Edward adjusted Alice's position against his chest, and Tanya helped out by tucking Alice's tablet into her diaper bag and carrying it for him. With their things collected, they headed toward the back of the room where Rose was helping Esme to her feet.

"I don't think I'm going to make it to the luncheon," Esme told him with a regretful frown. "I'm hurting."

"Not a problem. Do you need me to take you home?"

"I've got it," Rose said. "And I'm going to head back to Sekiu after I drop her off."

"Thanks so much for coming," Edward told her. "It means a lot. More than I'd thought it would, actually."

They said their goodbyes and Edward carried Alice outside to get her buckled into her carseat.


It was a good thing that Google Maps knew how to find the Lodge, because Edward never would have made it there without help. As it was, he'd seriously doubted the app as he made his way miles out of town through dense forest until he finally found the oversized, faux-rustic restaurant. Edward was unimpressed with the gravel parking lot, but he had to admit that the place made up for it by offering a hell of a view.

The decor was also uninspiring. The whole place was decked out with taxidermy, and Edward was glad that Esme hadn't come out for this part. She wouldn't have appreciated the dead-animal theme.

Edward carried Alice to one of the round tables and dropped their bags. The restaurant was still mostly empty, but there was a buffet set up at one end of the dining area, and a waiter was circulating with some glasses of wine. Edward flagged him down and collected glasses for himself and Tanya.

"I wouldn't have figured this as a wine kind of affair," Tanya said, eyeing the buffet. It was mostly sandwiches, with some charcuterie and fruit trays to supplement. It was certainly a lot more casual than the kind of event Ted had thrown in Seattle, where the catered food had been as artistic as it was delicious.

"Yeah, well, I'd have a hard time imagining Dad throwing any event without wine. He loved him a cabernet sauvignon."

She sipped her wine and hummed in appreciation. "Not complaining. This is lovely."

Alice had woken up grumpy and had been burrowed into Edward's chest. She straightened up now, and Edward had to jerk his head back to avoid being stabbed by her tiara.

"Hassum," she said sleepily, reaching for his glass.

"No, this is for grown-ups."

She whined and made grabby-hands at it. "Hassum juuuuuuice."

"It's not juice. Come on, let's see if they've got some kid-friendly stuff at the buffet."

She wailed, stretching for the glass, and he shook his head.

"Alice, you won't like it."

"Uh-huh. Hassum juice."

"Okay, fine." He helped her take a sip of wine, and then laughed when her face screwed up in disgust. "I told you."

But Alice was in no mood to be the butt of his joke, and she started crying disconsolately.

"Okay, I'm sorry. Let's see if they have something you'll like." He left his glass of wine on the table and carried Alice to the drink station. There were several coffee urns. along with jugs of water, iced tea, pink lemonade, and milk.

"You want milk or pink lemonade?"

"Peent wun."

"The lemonade?"

"Uh-huh."

"It might be a little sour."

"Yes. Habbit."

"Let's see how you do with it." He put some lemonade into a cup and diluted it with a little bit of water before giving it to her to taste. Alice drank it, and once again her face puckered up in distaste.

"You want the milk instead?"

"No." She shook her head. "Peent wun."

"It doesn't look like you like it very much."

She drew in a breath to start crying again.

"Okay, okay. You can have more lemonade." He filled the cup half full with a mix of lemonade and water and gave it to her.

He didn't make it back to the table before he was waylaid by a couple he remembered seeing at the memorial service. They hadn't been brave enough to stand up in front of everyone, they said, but they really wanted to share their memory of Ted with him. Edward listened and chatted with them for a few minutes, and when they left him, he tried to get back to his table. But another woman stopped him and had to tell him how beautiful the ceremony was, and wasn't it thoughtful of him to let them all participate? Before she was even finished, a woman with two impatient kids cut in to tell him how much she appreciated his father's help with . . .

Well, he might have lost track of what Ted had helped her with, because he was distracted by the distance between himself and his wine glass. It seemed that he would never be able to bridge the gap.

Alice was less inhibited. When she got bored, she simply wriggled out of his arms and went back to the table. Bella, Charlie, and Jacob's family had all joined Tanya there, so Edward felt pretty comfortable letting her go off on her own. He watched until she invited herself into Billy's lap and then turned his attention back to the woman—whose name he had definitely forgotten.

Three conversations later, he was somehow farther away from the table than when he'd started. He was hungry, and without his glass of wine, the small talk was getting really hard to take. He didn't want to be rude to the well-meaning friends of his father, but he recognized that he was in an emotionally fragile place, and he was worried that he wasn't going to be able to bear the weight of their expectations for much longer.

And then a glass of wine was being held in front of him. Edward looked over, and Bella was there, offering him dry salvation with notes of blackcurrant and vanilla. He accepted it gratefully, along with the plate of food she pushed into his hands. He looked down at it, and then raised his head to thank her, but she was already walking away.

"Of course, you know he invested in the store," the latest well-wisher was saying, "and I just don't know what we would have done if he hadn't. During the pandemic, when everything shut down . . ."

Edward hummed sympathetically and sipped the wine. Sweet Jesus, this was so much easier with wine. And the food . . . it was carefully chosen, Edward realized. Bella hadn't just grabbed whatever and put it on his plate. Everything there was a single small bite, something he could eat without setting the plate down and without having to interrupt his conversations.

When he was finished with his food and wine, Bella wandered by and collected his dishes, and then she was back in a moment with more wine. Edward caught her eye this time and tried to convey his gratitude with his expression. He sipped this glass slowly, not trying to get sloppy, but appreciating that little extra social lubricant that helped him get through the many conversations about the irreplaceable man who was now permanently absent from his life.

He never had to worry about Alice. He checked on her every now and then, but she was making the rounds among Ted's closest friends, eating bits of fruit off of their plates. Edward even saw her in Tanya's lap once, helping herself to a kiwi slice. It was really nice to know that he had someone to take care of her while his attention was needed elsewhere.

It was at least an hour after Bella had brought him the second glass of wine that he found a break in the flow of conversation and made his way back to the table. He collapsed into the vacant chair beside Tanya's and sagged against the back.

"You're the best person in the entire world," he told Bella.

She gave him an understanding smile. "You looked like you needed it."

"So very badly. Thank you. And thank you all for looking after Alice."

"Hassum tannayope," Alice said, holding up a chunk of melon. Her mood had improved since she'd left him.

"Cantaloupe? You lucky kid!"

"Uh-huh." She stuffed it into her mouth with a happy growl.

"And there you were, thinking you don't understand her when she talks."

Edward looked up to see Carlisle standing just behind him. He had pulled a chair over from another table, and Edward scooted his closer to Tanya to make room.

He chuckled. "Yeah, okay, I'm starting to catch on."

"I was starting to worry that I'd never get a moment to talk with you. I've been dying to ask you about Alice's mother."

They immediately had the attention of everyone at the table. With the exception of Alice, anyway, who was wholly fixated on a chunk of pineapple.

"She cleared a few things up," he said. He told them what he'd learned from Morgan, and Carlisle nodded along.

"That fits with how I understood things."

Edward shrugged. He still didn't get why him knowing about Alice would have been such a bad thing. He didn't think he'd have had a strong enough response to justify his father's extreme aversion to it. Though it had rattled him just a little when Morgan had been so frank about Alice replacing him.

And yet, he thought he understood a little of what she'd been saying. Alice had won him over awfully quickly, with her little round cheeks and her uninhibited nature. Something about being responsible for her, about the diaper changes and feedings and bathtimes and bedtime arguments, had made her special to him. Edward wouldn't say he was a fan of kids in general, but he sure liked this kid. And maybe his father had known that. Maybe, having raised a child before, he knew how quickly a tiny little person could become your first priority. Maybe it made a little bit of sense that he hadn't wanted to admit to Edward that someone else had become more important to him.

It hurt. It probably hurt a little less because Edward had become so attached to Alice himself. And yet, Edward thought he would feel a little less replaced if his dad had included him in the process to begin with. Maybe Ted hadn't wanted to upset him by flaunting this new relationship, but he'd upset Edward more by leaving him out. It had absolutely been the wrong decision.

And Edward could accept that. He'd been holding a grudge ever since he'd found out about Alice, but today, after hearing so many people recount stories of his father's kindness, Edward was ready to let it go. It had been a mistake—one of many that the two of them had made over the course of their relationship—and Edward could be okay with it.

He hadn't spoken for a moment, and Carlisle was looking at him with concern.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." He nodded, finally feeling like that was true. "Yeah, I'm just . . . forgiving him."

Carlisle responded with a relieved smile, as though Edward's anger at his father had been a personal affront. "I'm glad."

The others at the table seemed equally pleased, and Edward wondered how much of a wedge his annoyance at his father had been between them. They were Ted's closest friends, after all, and they would have been sensitive to any criticism of him. Edward had felt like his own relationship with Ted had been more important than theirs, that his right to offense had taken precedence, and yet he could see that it mattered to them that their friend's memory was honored. He liked them a little better for their loyalty.

"So, are we having dinner at your place tomorrow?" Jacob asked.

"My place? Why?"

"Not necessary," Carlisle said. "I'll host it again."

"Were you not going to?" Edward asked feeling like he was missing something.

"Carlisle and Ted used to trade off," Charlie said. It would have been Ted's turn to make dinner tomorrow."

"Oh. Well, hey, I'm in. I mean, you might be getting funeral leftovers . . . but yeah. I'll pull something together."

He was definitely not going to serve them funeral leftovers. But it was last-minute, after all, and he did want to manage their expectations.

The luncheon started winding down about then. A few people still stopped by the table to express their condolences, but the crowd thinned out. Colin and Phoebe started to get cranky, so Jacob and Grace decided it was time to go. Carlisle and Alice walked them out, and Edward turned to Bella, who was glancing at her phone.

"I'm sorry again that I missed your eulogy. Maybe you could tell me what you said?"

She shrugged and shook her head. "It wasn't a big deal. I'm glad you got to talk to Alice's mom."

"I thought it was a big deal," Charlie said. "Bella mentioned how Ted and Carlisle went around to a bunch of businesses around here and helped them install ramps at the entrances. It made a difference to Billy and me."

"I'm sorry," Edward said, "you're saying Dad bought materials to install ramps at the businesses, right?"

"Yeah, and then he helped install them.

"And by 'helped,' you mean he acquired some plans, recruited people, directed the work, that kind of thing?"

Charlie was giving him an odd look. "I mean he got down on his hands and knees and hammered nails into planks."

Edward shook his head. "Look, I know you all loved him, but let's be realistic. My dad wasn't a manual labor guy. If he tried to hammer a nail, he'd miss it more often than he hit it."

"He was no master craftsman," Charlie said, his mustache twitching, "but he did his part."

"I think you're misremembering." Edward was certain. He was like ninety-eight percent certain that they were wrong about his father's involvement. "And I think Carlisle was misremembering too," he said, seeing the man returning to the table with Alice on his hip. "Because there's no way in hell my father was out there clearing roads with a chainsaw. I'm sure he helped with other stuff, but he just wasn't that guy."

Carlisle looked amused. "You don't think he helped clear blocked roads?"

"I would believe you if you'd said he paid a bunch of people to come out. But there's no way in hell my father ever put his hands on a chainsaw."

"Why does he keep one in the back of his car, then?" Bella asked, looking far too amused.

"There's no chainsaw in the back of his car. I've been driving that thing for a week; I think I'd have noticed."

"Maybe he moved it to the garage," Carlisle suggested.

"Or maybe you just don't recognize a chainsaw when you see one," Bella pressed. "It would have been in a case."

Edward stilled. There . . . there was a case. A molded plastic something-or-other that he'd never actually looked at, just kind of shoved out of his way. But there was no way it was a chainsaw. There was no way. "There's no way."

Bella's smile broadened. "Really? Should we go look?"

"There is no fucking way." Edward shoved his chair back and stood up.

"Tumishoo!" Alice squirmed out of Carlisle's arms and hurried after Edward as he headed for the door.

Edward didn't want to slow his stride, so he scooped her up and took her with him. Bella followed, holding back a laugh.

But Edward was right about this. The case wasn't a chainsaw case. It was oddly shaped, but the shape didn't look anything like . . . well . . . No, there was no way. He was going to be right, and he would absolutely rub it in Bella's face.

"Dit inna taw?" Alice asked.

"Not yet. We're going to look in the back."

"Why?"

"Because Bella says there's a chainsaw back there."

"Shayshaw?"

"Yep. But she's obviously wrong, huh?"

"Iss jainjwiss."

He didn't know what that meant, but he'd reached the car, so he popped open the hatch.

"Diss!" Alice said, pointing to the case.

Edward dragged it over and released the latch. He opened it up, and . . .

"Son of a bitch."

He heard Bella's laugh behind him.

"A-tuchitt," Alice said, shaking her head emphatically. "Jainjwiss."

"You knew about this?" he demanded, turning an accusing look on Alice.

"Uh-huh. Daddy shayshaw."

Edward sank down on the bumper and shook his head. "There's no way. He wouldn't have had the first idea what to do with it."

"I guess he learned," Bella said.

"And he kept it in the back of the car?"

"Sure. A lot of us around here do. I've got one in the truck."

"Why?"

"Because the trees outnumber us here," she said with raised eyebrows.

Edward still couldn't believe it. His brain wouldn't picture it. Ted had been so very, very white collar. Before Forks, apparently.

"He just fully fucking assimilated."

Bella patted his shoulder. "Resistance is futile."

Edward started to laugh. He had to. The whole situation was just so ridiculous. And maybe a little bit sad, because there was this whole side of his father that he'd never seen. But mostly it was just ridiculous. "The man was a venture capitalist, a wine aficionado, an art collector, a world traveler. And then he came here and became this guy who builds ramps and carries a chainsaw around with him." He looked up at Bella. "You guys broke my dad."

"Or we expanded his horizons. It's not like he stopped investing and drinking wine. He just added a few skills to his repertoire."

Skills Edward wouldn't have thought he'd been interested in.

"Stick around," Bella said. "I bet we can make a logger out of you."

He snorted. "I'll stick to drawing, thanks."

"Fine. But hang onto that chainsaw. You never know when it's going to come in handy."

Edward latched the case again and lifted Alice into his arms.

"A-home?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's probably about time to go home. Let's go get our stuff."

They walked back inside with Bella and collected their things. The caterers were starting to break down the buffet, and Edward made arrangements with them to have the leftovers delivered to the house when they were finished. Once that was all settled, he and Alice walked Tanya to her car.

"Your friends are a treat," Tanya said as they strolled across the lot. "Bella especially. That woman is gold."

"Yeah? She's certainly got her moments. You know that book I love that said I was a crucial voice in developing a realistic view of American history? Bella wrote it."

Tanya stopped and turned to him. "No kidding?"

"No kidding."

"Your dad paid her to say that?"

"That's what I said!" Edward laughed. "But she claims she wrote that part before she met my dad."

"Uh-huh." Tanya started walking again. "So are you sleeping with her?"

"Ha. No."

"Why not? She's hot and she likes you."

"She likes my work. Maybe not me so much."

"You don't think so?"

"She yells at me a lot."

They reached Tanya's car and turned to him with a shrug. "You can't really fault her for that. You're pretty annoying."

"Yeah, well. That's fair."

"Iss fayo," Alice agreed.

"Hey." Edward tickled her in retaliation, and she giggled and squirmed.

"She was concerned about you today," Tanya said. "She stepped up, helped you out. That's more than I can say for some other people in your life."

"Naw, cut Tori some slack. She's not great with the heavy stuff, but she's got other qualities."

"I'm sure she does. But maybe you deserve better friends than just the good-time gang. I like these friends."

"Uh-huh." He pulled her in for a hug. "Don't get too attached. I'm out of here as soon as the graphic novel is finished."

She gave him a squeeze and stepped back. "Too bad. This would be a nice place to take vacations. Would've been nice for me to have a friend in the area I could crash with between hikes."

"I could be persuaded to keep the house. I'll even let you use it if you're extra nice to me."

"I'm always extra nice. You just don't appreciate me." Tanya slid into her car and waved at Alice. "Bye, sweetie! Don't let Edward be a putz!"

"Bye!" Alice waved enthusiastically, and Edward joined her. They watched Tanya pull away, and then Edward took Alice to the Volvo and got her buckled in.

Esme was asleep on the sofa when they got home. If she hadn't woken to the sound of the door opening, Alice's happy "Muzzmay!" would have done the trick. She hurried to the sofa on her baby legs and latched onto the T-shirt that Esme had changed into.

"Hey, kiddo!" Esme yawned and sat up. She lifted her cast off of the couch and made room for Alice to climb up beside her. "How was the luncheon?"

"Iss nummy! Hassum teewee!"

"Ooh, that sounds great!"

"How are you feeling?" Edward asked, dropping down beside them.

"Not too bad. Achy, but the drugs help—or at least, help me sleep through it."

He smiled and nodded. "You know, I was thinking. All of your stuff is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, and I know we were talking about moving you into my apartment in Olympia. But what if you stayed here?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure you want me to? You always said you liked living alone."

Edward poked Alice and made her giggle. "That ship has sailed."

"Family is one thing. I'm an outsider."

"Yeah, but when you're here I don't have to be freaked out about what Alice is getting up to while I'm in the shower."

She laughed.

"For real, though. It's going to be hard for you to get around on that leg. I can help you out until you get back on your feet again—and apparently most of Forks has been modified for disability access, so there are worse places you could convalesce."

"Okay," she said thoughtfully, "I'm considering it. Is it going to drive you crazy always having to have vegetarian food around?"

"Uhh. No? But I don't actually cook much of it, so you may have to make suggestions."

"How about I cook?" she offered. "You'll probably have to do some fetch-and-carry for me, but I could plan meals and make grocery lists, and if you'll pitch in a little I can do most of the prep."

Edward gave her a suspicious look. "Are you a good cook? Because food is very important to me."

"I make better food than what you can get at that diner."

"Sold! Starting now. Tomorrow we have like fifteen people coming over for dinner. Take care of that, would you?"

"What? Are you serious?"

"Serious that they're coming? Yes. But I don't actually expect you to handle it."

"I could, though," she said. "What if we did like a coconut korma? With some naan and maybe something else on the side?

"We're probably going to have some leftover fruit from the platters they served at the luncheon," Edward offered.

"I'll take it! I can make a nice honey glaze and turn it into a fruit salad. What else should we have?"

"That's enough. I think they usually all bring side dishes, so there will be other food."

"Will you shop for me tomorrow?"

"Psh." Edward pulled up the Instacart app on his phone and passed it to her. "I delegate chores like that."

"Great! I'll start making a list."

Edward saw Carlisle's car pull into the driveway next door, and he waved. "The nice thing about sticking around," he told Esme, "is that you'll be able to have a fling with the hot neighbor."

"Oooh." She leaned to the side, trying to see Carlisle even though his car was already pulling into the garage. "Silver lining." She frowned. "How old do you suppose he is?"

"I don't know. Somewhere in the neighborhood of forty. Though I should probably warn you, he seems to have been pretty hung up on my dad."

Her eyes snapped back to Edward.

"Not that I want to discourage anything. If you want to have that fling, by all means, fling. Just be aware that he might be looking for a rebound kind of thing."

"Works for me. I don't plan to stay long." She sighed. "But somehow I already feel like he's going to be the one that got away."

"I mean, you could always stay. Catch yourself a man and put down roots in this here town."

"Oh my god, can you imagine?" She laughed. "What would I do with myself? Join the Ladies' Aid? Host sewing bees and coffee klatches?"

"From what I hear, you'd have to buy a pickup and keep a chainsaw in the back of it," Edward muttered.

"Um. Okay? Actually, I could get behind that."

He snorted. "Yeah, you probably could." He glanced out the window at where Carlisle had disappeared and he stood. "There's a thing I've been thinking about, and I'm going to go ahead and do it. Could you keep an eye on Alice for a minute?"

Alice was sitting between them, singing an unintelligible song and rocking from side to side. Esme smiled down at her. "Sure."

Edward strode down the hall to his father's bedroom and picked up a wooden case from the dresser. He'd opened it a couple of times since he'd moved himself into his father's bedroom, but so far he hadn't taken anything out. Now he took the whole case with him and headed next door to Carlisle's.

When the man answered the door, Edward held up the case. "Do you have a minute?"

"Of course." Carlisle stepped back and gestured to the sofa.

Edward sat and placed the box on the coffee table. He opened it up to reveal a dozen luxury watches, all in different styles, all gorgeous and ridiculously expensive.

"These were Dad's," he said.

Carlisle didn't speak, and his hard swallow suggested the reason for it.

"I'm sure you've seen at least some of these."

He nodded.

"I thought you might like one."

He cleared his throat. "Are you sure? These are . . ."

Gorgeous. Sophisticated. Incredibly valuable. Yeah, he knew. "They're not half of what I owe you. I've been leaning hard on you, and I want you to know how much I appreciate your support. This is a memento of my dad, but it's also a thank-you from me."

Carlisle looked down at the watches and then reached out and withdrew a brushed steel Piaget, a piece beautiful in its simplicity. He glanced up at Edward. "Is this one all right?"

He nodded.

"This is so kind," he murmured as he slipped the watch onto his wrist. "Truly, Edward, I can't thank you enough."

"Then I think we're even." He closed the box and lifted it into his lap. "How are you doing? I saw you making the rounds at the luncheon. I'm sure it was pretty draining."

"It was," Carlisle replied. "But Bella was so kind. She made sure I got food and a glass of wine. That helped a lot."

"You too, huh?" Edward shook his head. "Here I thought I was special."

Carlisle chuckled. "It sounds like the two of you got off on the wrong foot, but she's a very thoughtful person. And she has strong ideas about what people owe to each other."

"No kidding. Really?" He shot Carlisle a blank look, and the man laughed.

"Yes, you may have noticed. But she practices what she preaches. She tries to find ways to help people, and she'll rarely say no to someone who needs her."

"Is that why she's always taking care of Jacob and Grace's kids? On top of Charlie and Billy?"

"That's partly true, but there's more to it. About the time Charlie got hurt, Billy's nerve damage was starting to get the better of him. It was getting more and more difficult for him to keep up with his chores. Billy's place was too small for a wheelchair, and Bella was already looking at having to do some renovations on Charlie's house to put in a first floor bathroom. So they decided to move Billy into Charlie's house and just fix up the one place. Bella agreed to take on the care work if Jacob helped with the remodeling expenses, and now he and Grace both put in extra work to cover the costs. The hours aren't always convenient for daycare, so Bella takes the kids a lot to let them work."

"Hm." Edward thought about the blankets tacked to the walls. "Pretty grim remodel."

"It's not done yet. They put in a bathroom, and once that's paid off they'll see about dividing the den into a couple of bedrooms."

"Unless I can get them to go along with that plan of yours and Dad's."

He smiled.

"Bella and I are getting along a little better lately. I'll give it a try tomorrow and see if I can get her on board."

"Thank you."

Edward hugged him goodbye and headed back home. He found Alice sitting on the floor at Esme's feet, scribbling on her cast with one of her markers while Esme looked on.

"She's signing my cast," she said when Edward came in.

"Yeah? Do I get a turn?"

"Absolutely."

Edward sat down next to Alice. "Can I borrow your markers?"

"Um. Yes."

"That's very gracious of you." Edward selected some of the markers and then drew a quick doodle of a weeping willow. He added a photographer poking out the top and then signed his name at the bottom.

Esme examined his work. "I was going to tell everyone that I broke my leg saving orphans from a burning building, but I guess you ruined that for me."

Edward snickered.

"Still, you gave me an Edward Masen original, free of charge, so I suppose I won't complain."

"Who says it's free of charge? You owe me fifty bucks."

"Put it on my tab."

"A-djwah?" Alice asked, picking up another marker.

"I think that's enough drawing on Esme's cast," Edward said. "But we can get out some paper if you want."

"Oh, yes!"

Edward stood and held out his hand. "I bet we'll find some in your desk. Come on, fancy pants."

"Mon passy-pass." She took his hand and let him lead her into the office.

Once they got to her desk, though, Alice decided that she was done drawing and she wanted to read books. She loaded about fifteen of them out onto the floor and proceeded to open all of them, one after another, until she was surrounded by them. It was too cute, and Edward, sitting outside the ring of books, whipped out his phone. He snapped a bunch of pictures of her and then sent two of the cutest ones to Tori. He realized after sending them, though, that he really didn't want just a text message. He wanted to talk to her. He dialed her number, but after several rings the call went to voicemail.

He hung up, feeling a little sad. It was stupid; he knew that she didn't usually answer calls on a Saturday afternoon. She'd be at a spa, or a gallery event, or at something that would be more interesting than her phone. But he missed her and was sad that he couldn't get through to her.

He cast around for a distraction and sent the photos to Bella as well. He probably wouldn't have done it had he not been looking for a band-aid for his wounded soul, but hey, Alice was being cute with books. Bella liked Alice and she liked books. It followed that she would enjoy the pictures, right?

A response came a moment later. She'd sent a heart-eyed emoji and a few words gushing about how cute Alice was. It was oddly healing for Edward. He realized that that was the reaction he'd been hoping to get from Tori all the times that he'd sent her photos of Alice. He just loved this kid so much, and he'd wanted to share with Tori how very special she was. Tori's responses had been unsatisfying, he realized, because she didn't share that same love.

But she'd come around. He had no doubt that Alice could win Tori over if they spent a little more time together. Once he was back in Olympia, he'd make sure to arrange for the two of them to have time in one another's company.

Another text came through from Bella:

What about you? What are you reading?

He sent her back a screenshot of the parenting book that she'd given him, along with a head-scratching emoji. Then he sent another asking her what she was reading. A moment later, she replied with a screenshot of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

He smiled. He'd enjoyed that one.

A classic. What do you think?

Trying to reserve judgment until the end. Maybe failing.

She'd accompanied her text with a red, angry character that Edward vaguely recognized from some kids' movie. He had to challenge that.

What are you talking about? How can you not love Hunchback?

I'm enjoying the hell out of it. Doesn't keep me from wanting to throttle some of these absolute dumbasses, though.

He laughed out loud.

Okay, fair enough. You have to admit that the writing is pretty good if you're having that kind of emotional response.

I admit no such thing. But stupid characters are neither unrealistic nor a barrier to a good story. I'm just not sure yet whether this story is excellent or appalling.

"A-diss?" Alice asked, abandoning the books and crawling into his lap.

"I'm texting with Bella. Want to send her a gif?"

"Oh, yes!"

Edward opened the gif menu and scrolled until Alice's attention was caught by a dog wearing a tutu.

"Doddy!" she said excitedly. "Doddy! Diss!"

"You got it. Touch the picture with your finger." Edward sent the gif, and then added:

(Alice's contribution to the conversation.)

Alice saw it pop up on the screen, and she gave him her scrunch-nosed smile.

Bella's reply came after a moment:

Very on-brand.

Edward laughed and told Alice what it said. He knew she didn't understand, but she laughed anyway. Edward thought it was pretty insightful that she was able to pick up on the expected response and supply it.

His phone buzzed again, and he glanced at it.

I hate to cut this short, but I've got to help Charlie with his physical therapy. See you tomorrow?

Looking forward to it.

He sent the message, and then pressed the voice recorder. "Alice, say bye to Bella."

"Bye!" Alice said.

It was a shame that he couldn't send the cute little wave she was doing, but he released the recorder and sent the message.

"All right, kiddo," he said, looking around at the books. "Do you want to read one of these?"

"Yes! Weed-a tayno!"

"What's a tayno?"

Alice grabbed a book with penguins on the cover and settled back down onto his lap. "Diss wun!"

"You got it." Edward opened the book. "Ooh, look there. The penguins are swimming. Doesn't that look fun?"