Six hours and three bandages later, Bella's phone pinged on the nightstand. Despite how her freshly waxed legs felt like they'd been dipped in lava, Bella dove across the bed to answer it.
Just landed. Everyone made it to Alaska in one piece. Will call when we get to the campsite. Love you, Edward. Read the text.
Bella let out a deep breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in. Edward was safe in Alaska. Now all she had to worry about was bears, freak ice-related accidents, and the plane ride home.
Two seconds later, another text came through.
Ps. Don't worry.
Bella couldn't help but smile. Emmett wasn't kidding when he called Edward a mind reader.
"See?" Alice said, reading over Bella's shoulder. "The guys are fine." She tossed Bella one of the thousand count thread Egyptian cotton pillows covering the guestroom bed. "Now try and relax before you end up making yourself sick."
Bella leaned back into the pillow and closed her eyes. Maybe Alice was right. The last thing she needed was another stomach ulcer. People went to Alaksa every day and lived to tell the tale. There was no reason to believe the same wouldn't be true for Edward.
Rosalie entered the room carrying three sodas and a convince store worth of junk food. "I've got the snacks, now all we have to do is pick the movie. As the lady of honor, it's your choice, Bella."
"The Princess Bride," Bella said with zero hesitation. She couldn't be with Edward, but she could watch his favorite movie.
By midnight, Bella was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Movies were no longer enough to keep her worries at bay. She'd checked Google Maps twice. The guys should have made it to their stop hours ago.
"You want any more of this?" Alice asked, pointing to the bowl of popcorn and M&M's.
Bella shook her head. "No, I'm not hungry."
How could Alice even think about eating at a time like this? The guys could be in serious danger and they were powerless to help.
Rosalie paused the movie. "Are you okay? You usually eat your weight in this stuff."
"I'm fine, just a little worried," Bella said without tearing her eyes away from her phone screen. "Edward should have called hours ago."
Alice shrugged. " I wouldn't worry too much. Jasper said phone service might be a bit spotty so far north."
Bella didn't know if that was true or not but appreciated Alice's attempts to comfort her.
"Did I show the picture Emmett sent me?" Rosalie asked.
Bella shook her head no. Rosalie unlocked her phone and passed it to Bella. There was a picture on the screen of Edward riding a mechanical bull. Other than a cowboy had on his head, he was naked from the waist up. While Bella didn't approve of underage drinking, she was relieved to see Edward alive and well.
"See? Edward's having the time of his life." Rosalie said. "I bet he and Emmett are passed out drunk in the back seat while Jasper drives two miles an hour down the highway."
Bella could imagine that. The same thing happened during Emmett's infamous bachelor weekend. Two years later, Jasper still complained about the vomit stains in the back of his Jeep.
Alice smirked and texted herself the picture. "This is so going in the slideshow. It's even better than the mugshots from last time."
"They better not end up getting arrested again." Rose huffed and laid her phone down on the bed. "If they do, I say we leave them there. Let the Alaskans put them to work on a chain gaining building igloos and scooping husky poop."
Alice snickered. "Edward would swell up like a balloon if he came within fifty feet of a husky."
Dogs were Edward's kryptonite. One whiff of dander was enough to reduce him to a red-eyed, itchy skinned, sneezing mess. As for cleaning up after a whole pack of dogs, forget it. There wasn't enough Benedrel in the world.
Bella tossed a handful of popcorn at Alice. "You think Jasper would do any better?" He'd end up taking a bath in bleach if someone made him touch poop!"
"At least the villagers wouldn't come after him with pitchforks and torches." Rosalie teased. "Edward would end up looking like something out of The Walking Dead if a dog so much as sniffed him."
While Rosalie was probably right, no one insulted Bella's perfect fiancé and got away with it.
"Not before they run Emmett out of town! He'd end up knocking over an igloo and chasing away all the game in the state within the first hour!" Bella said, laughing. "By the end of the day, Alaska would probably pay you to take him back!"
"Not for all the money in the world!" Rosalie shouted. "Finders keepers! If they arrest Emmett, they have to keep him!"
"Till death do you part," Bella said.
Alice hummed the bridal march.
Rosalie threw a pillow at Alice. "Just you wait, one of these days Jasper will work up the nerve to propose then we'll all be married to felons!"
"Well have to dye our hair!" Alice moaned as she ran her fingers through her waist-length brown hair.
"Not before learn how to ride motorcycles and get tattoos!" Bella exclaimed. "I'm thinking of full sleeves. You guys in?"
Hearing the noise, Esme popped her head in the room. "What's this I hear about tattoos?"
Alice looked and Bella and giggled. "Nothing. Bella was just saying how she wants to get Edward's name tattooed on her chest."
Even the thought of needles made Bella feel queasy. She could barely make it through a flu shot without fainting. A tattoo was definitely out of the question.
Esme raised an eyebrow."Okay then." She turned to leave the room. "Try not to stay up too late. I'm making us all breakfast in the morning."
Bella smiled. Until she met Esme, she'd thought the kind of mom who made breakfast, sewed Halloween costumes, and showed up sober to her kid's school events while holding down a stable job only existed in movies. There was no one in the world she'd rather have as a mother in law.
As soon as Esme left the room, all three girls dissolved into fits of giggling and snorting. While it was only for a moment, Bella forgot her worries and allowed herself to enjoy the company of the sisters she never knew she needed.
Bella woke up the following morning with popcorn in her hair and an M&M stuck to her side. A smile spread across her face as she recalled the events of the previous night. While she still missed Edward terribly, she was looking forward to a week filled with laughter, pillow fights, and goofing off in the most luxurious house in Forks. Knowing Alice and Rose, there would be plenty to tell Edward when he came home.
Bella stretched out in the bed and discovered both Rosalie and Alice were gone. Figuring they were both downstairs chowing down on one of Esme's world-class breakfasts, Bella dressed quickly and went downstairs to the kitchen. Much to her surprise, there were was no freshly squeezed orange juice or mountain of waffles waiting for her. The sight that greeted her shook her to her core.
Esme was sobbing at the kitchen table while a glassy-eyed Alice rubbed her back. Rosalie was sitting next to her staring off into space with a blank look on her face.
Bella was at Esme's side in an instant. "Esme! What's wrong?"
"It's the boys!" Esme sobbed. "They're missing!"
Bella's heart skipped a beat. "What do you mean, missing?"
"None of them are answering their phones." Esme dabbed her bloodshot eyes with a napkin. "I called the resort, but they never made it there!"
No. Edward couldn't be missing. There had to be some other explanation.
"I'll call Edward," Bella said, shaking like a leaf. "Maybe he slept in and missed your calls."
Bella tried three times, but all her calls went straight to voicemail. She tried her best not to panic. Maybe the guys were somewhere without cell service completely unaware of how much worry they'd caused their poor mother.
A pit formed in Bella's stomach when she saw Carlilse enter the kitchen. What was he doing home? He was supposed to be at work saving lives in the emergency room.
Carlisle cleared his throat. "I called every hospital within a fifty-mile radius of Anchorage. They haven't been admitted anywhere." He turned to Bella. "Can you call Charlie?"
"Why?" Bella asked.
Why would they need to call Charlie? People didn't just call the police anymore unless something was horribly wrong. Edward had to be okay. Maybe there had been a change of plans and the guys spend the night outside watching the northern lights dance across the sky.
"They could have been arrested." Carlisle took a shaky breath. "Or maybe…"
Not wanting to hear about any scenarios that didn't end in Edward's safe return, Bella dialed Charlie's number before Carlisle could complete his sentence. The guys always got into trouble when left unsupervised. They were probably locked up in the drunk tank sleeping off a wild night. One call to the family lawyer and they'd be on the next flight back home to face the scorn of their mother.
Charlie, the arresting officer during Emmett's infamous bachelor weekend, didn't seem to share Bella's concerns.
"I think you guys are overreacting," Charlie said, sounding a bit annoyed. "They're probably off terrorizing the locals like last time."
"I don't think so." Bella snapped, angered by her father's lack of concern for his future son-in-law. "He promised to call. Something's wrong."
Charlie sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, one of my buddies from the academy lives up in that area. I could have him ask around, see if anyone picked up three rich punks.
Tired of having the same argument over and over again, Bella let the rich punks comment slide.
"Bella, can I ask you something? Charlie asked, clicking away on his ancient Dell desktop.
Bella sighed. Sure, Dad. Why not?"
Her world was already falling apart. Why not add a few invasive questions and insensitive remarks to the mix?
"Are you sure you want to go through with this, marrying him? Charlie paused and stopped typing. "You're eighteen. There's still time to find a guy who treats you right and won't keep you up all night worrying about his whereabouts."
Bella didn't need to ask where she could find a guy like that. Charlie had already found him for her. His name was Jacob Black. He was the son of one of Charlie's old fishing buddies. Jacob was kind, loyal, and had never shown up wearing a watch worth more than Charlie's annual salary.
Bella rolled her eyes. What did Charlie know about love? His own marriage hadn't even lasted five years.
Not wanting to say something she'd regret, Bella decided to end the call. "I have to go. Just let me know if you hear anything about Edward."
Bella hung up before Charlie had the chance to respond. Why couldn't he just accept she was marrying Edward and there was nothing he could say or do to stop her?
Charlie called back later that evening with bad news. No one had picked up anyone matching the guy's descriptions. The next day, he came by the house to file an official missing person report. While he tried his best to appear optimistic, Bella wasn't buying it. She'd seen enough crime shows to know these kinds of situations didn't often have a happy ending.
72 hours into the guy's vanishing act, Esme and Carlisle decided to fly to Alaska to help coordinate the search efforts. While all three girls begged to come along, the Cullens insisted they remain in Forks in case the guys managed to make their way home unannounced. Hoping His badge would open doors usually closed to ordinary citizens, the Cullens asked Charlie to come with them. Much to Bella's surprise, Charlie agreed without a single snide remark. They returned the following week cold, frustrated, and no closer to find the guys.
By week two, they were desperate for any potential leads. Alice, Rose, and Bella all appeared on the news begging for witnesses to come forward. The Cullens offered a million-dollar reward no questions asked for anyone who called the hotline with information that lead to their sons' safe return. Investigators were soon able to put together a rough timeline of the night in question, but no one seemed to know what happened after midnight. It was as if the brothers vanished into thin air after they left the bar. While every day was a waking nightmare, Bella never lost hope. She loved Edward with all her heart. She'd know if he was dead, right?