Charlie Swan had always thought that Edward Cullen boy was a little different.
His father, Carlisle? Now, he was a pillar of the community from the day the family arrived. He was the most accomplished doctor that sleepy little Forks, Washington had ever seen, and he could have gone anywhere else, but he came here. His wife Esme seemed lovely, too—pretty, sweet, and an excellent baker—he couldn't complain.
Their kids had worried him at first, as much as he tried not to let their background as foster children color his opinion, but five teenagers coming to one town with money and some trauma—well, that had worried the Chief of Police. Turns out, he never had a single problem with any of them, save for a few complaints about driving too fast, though he never did catch any of them himself. Still, the youngest boy had always seemed to stare just a little too long at people and always seemed to react to things they hadn't said. Never caused a single problem, though, so Charlie set aside any concerns.
Until Bella came, of course. He'd thought it would be hard enough to adjust to someone else in the house while he watched the news every night and found something for her to do during his longer fishing trips, but he wasn't ready for her to go and fall in love already.
It wasn't long after her arrival that the youngest Cullen boy's name was casually falling from her lips, and before he knew it, he was seeing his baby girl off for a date. He wasn't the sort of boy he'd pictured with Bella, but what did an old bachelor like him know?
Then, Phoenix happened, and it seemed a little too convenient how close by the Cullen family had been when Bella had that freak accident. But everything checked out, and Bella seemed happy as a clam all through the summer – as much as he'd seen her, that is.
The night she went missing was the worst night of Charlie's life. He had seen a surprising amount of horror for a small-town cop, but nothing prepared him for the helplessness he felt as he realized he couldn't find her, and nobody else was having success either. The hours ticked by, and friends and neighbors came and went, joining the search or bringing food and blankets for everyone out there on that cold, wet night.
Thank God for Sam Uley, another odd one, running shirtless through the forest during the search. His methods were unconventional, but they worked, and Bella was back.
Mostly.
Days became weeks and months, and the light behind her eyes never quite returned until the day he threatened to send her back to her mother in Florida. If she'd thought the fit she pitched was going to keep her in Forks, she was dead wrong. She would need that kind of spit and vinegar to get past the cycle of zombie by day and banshee by night she'd been in since the day the Cullens left.
Bella Swan was going to Jacksonville.