Chapter 11

I would like to thank Mama4Dukes for being my Beta thus far. But… Unfortunately, her Computer and a Stanley Cup had a knockdown drag out fight! Her Stanley won! So, this will be one of those last chapters with her as my Beta! :(

But I can't wait to introduce Y'all to my new Beta… Until next Friday! Hugs!

RR

Charlie's POV

Song for this Chapter: There Goes My Life by Kenny Chesney

When the band showed up a few hours before the pre-wedding party last night, I was shocked. They told both Sue and me how my Bells had sent them as a present. But her coming to the party itself had really been the shock of the night. I couldn't believe how grown up and beautiful she looked. To tell the truth, the girl took my breath away.

I watched the way she now carried herself. She seemed to have a confidence that I'd certainly never seen in her before. She didn't trip, even though she was walking in high heels. Her shoulders were held back with her head held high.

The fake smile on her face wasn't that pleasant to see, but a girl like her can't have everything.

I'd been hoping for a very long time that she'd come back home. I've missed her quiet presence under my roof. Not to mention her cooking and baking skills.

I'm the Chief of Police, and you don't get to where I am in my occupation without having a keen eye for the things that are going on around you.

I watched how the pack, Elders, and even my own fiancé seemed to watch my daughter with unforgiving eyes.

I'd known about the pack since before Seth graduated high school. He's gotten mad at something Sue'd said. He slammed the back door. Before he saw me standing there, starting the grill, he popped right out of his skin and into a huge giant dog before my eyes. I must have screamed or made some sort of loud noise cause the next thing I knew, both Leah and Sue were picking my sorry ass off the wood decking.

Not too long after that, Billy, Sam, and Jacob came over to tell me all about the pack, including some of the things I'd known from hearing the Elder's stories growing up. I couldn't be friends with Quil Jr., Billy, and Harry without going to at least a few council meetings down off of the first beach.

I'd known the cold ones were what had started the change, but I really didn't believe in vampires. So when they informed me that the Cullens were those vampires, my world was instantly turned upside down.

I could see it all then. The way they acted around me. The way they acted around my daughter. It made sense now about why she'd been so depressed after they left. It's not like she could tell me or anyone else about how her vampire boyfriend broke her heart.

When Billy had Sam take him home, it left only Jake and me in Sue's backyard. Jake went on to tell me about imprinting, how with one look, the wolves' whole reason for living changed, how they would do or be anything for that one person. I wondered if that's why Sam loved Emily, even with all her scars.

Then he dropped that he had imprinted on my Bells.

Billy and I joked when the kids were little that someday they'd grow up and get married, making us a true family. Jake then went on about how Bella knew about the imprint before she took off. She said she didn't want to be tied down to him or LaPush. And all I could see in my head was her mother telling me those things before leaving and taking Bells with her.

So when she showed up last night, I kind of hoped she and Jake could work things out. I saw how he never took his eyes off of her, though there was definitely obsession in those eyes. And I thought, if they got married, too, well, she might not be living in my house anymore, but she'd be a hell of a lot closer to me than Jacksonville.

Hope.

It welled inside of me.

Until the band started talking to her about music and Nashville.

I saw how the people from the reservation seemed to cling to every fact that was being told about Bells, and I got to say, I didn't like it.

I watched as Leah seemed to try to intimidate her and how my daughter brushed her off.

I was, again, amazed by her confidence.

I knew from the moment Bella walked into the backyard that my Sue wasn't acting right. She was off. Shaky, nervous, and anxious. She'd been handling the spotlight great until that point. Hell, she was the one who wanted to have this pre-wedding party to start with.

I saw how pale Sue had gotten when Bella asked for a moment alone with me. Seeing Sue so upset made me add a few other questions to my growing list.

I'd been forming questions about the music bullshit since that young man had said something about it.

So I decided to follow Bella to her car. I'd been paying so much attention to those from LaPush. I hadn't even noticed that several of my deputies had taken their wives home already.

When Bella gunned her Audi R8 into first gear, I could see Paul and Jared following us in their wolf foms from the forest-lined roads. So now we were being watched and listened to, too. Interesting.

She started talking about premade plans and needing some one-on-one time with me. I was over the moon until I remembered my own wedding was in a week. When questioned, my own daughter threatened to leave me and Forks behind forever.

Well, the wedding be damned. I was going with her. Though I made her sweat it out since she'd waited this long to come to talk to her old man.

After getting back to the house, Sue found me in the middle of packing. Let's just say I might be spending my honeymoon on the couch.

Shit… Was I even going to get married now?

I'd taken to Sue's kids like they were my own. I tried to father Leah, though she was much too old to need a father. Heck, I'd told Bells about it over the years in hopes she'd get jealous enough to come home.

I'd helped Seth when he'd gone through that huge growth spurt and wasn't running the plays at the football game correctly. I taught him how to change the oil in a car, fill out a check, and how to act when on a date—things a good stepparent was supposed to do.

What a fucking mess…

On the drive to the airport last night, I'd thought about the last few years I'd spent with Sue. We weren't exactly perfect for each other, but after Harry's death and my daughter's leaving, we seemed to grow closer and closer.

First friends for about a year or so, then into something more. She seemed to need me, and for a man who didn't seem to be needed by his own daughter. It made me feel things I hadn't felt since Renee left me all those years ago. Renee…

No, Charlie, think about that later. You don't have much time to get through this with your girl. And you've got some time to figure all this other shit out later.

So I just went with things with Sue. It was easy. She and I had known each other since we were kids. Harry fell in love with her while they were still in grade school, so our histories seemed to bring us closer. She knew about my time with and without Renee, and I knew all about her and Harry's lives. As I thought, it was easy.

My job was going great. I knew I only had so many years left as the Chief. I'd been working on early retirement since I was in my twenties.

My dad died when I was really young. My mom followed right after, mainly from a broken heart. So I knew retiring early and spending some really good years doing the things I wanted to do was important.

My job was great, and I had a great relationship with my fiance, Billy, and the pack. What more could a man want, right?

I wanted a relationship with my daughter, along with everything else.

I wanted the whole package.

That's why when she drove up next to that plane, my heart stopped for a moment. I mean, who was this confident beauty sitting next to me? How the hell was this type of thing even possible? And what the hell had I gotten myself into?

Bella nudged my knee as I sat thinking about all of this, so I told her everything I'd just thought about. She listened to everything, not interrupting me when my words faltered. She'd nod her head at all the right parts. After I'd stopped talking, we sat in silence for a while.

It was now dark outside. My beers were gone, and my stomach started to growl.

I helped her cut up onions as she fried us a couple of burgers. She was still good at cooking, knowing how to turn nothing into something. She must have gotten that from my mother because Lord knows Renee couldn't cook to save her life.

"I still miss her, you know?" I started halfway through our dinner. "Your mom."

Bella's wide eyes were staring at me now. Even as a baby, I couldn't look away from her eyes when she had that look on her face.

"I never have gotten over her. Our marriage was hard, though. I was working crazy hours as a new cop while she was working as a preschool teacher and taking care of you. We never really saw eye to eye on many subjects. She'd always try to change my view on something like she thought she could change me…."

"Isn't that the point, though, Dad? Marriage? I've always heard that opposites attract. Isn't that how it is between you and Sue?" I watched as she put her half-eaten burger onto her paper plate.

I couldn't answer her. Her question was cutting too close, and I didn't have the bandwidth to even touch that subject yet. When I didn't answer her, she went on.

"I can trust you, right dad? You're not going to go back to Forks and blab all I've been telling you to the pack or Sue. Because if you tell Sue, the pack will know it soon enough."

I watched as her eyes dropped to her plate. She suddenly looked like she was done with her meal.

"No, Bella. I'm not going to tell another living soul what we've been talking about." I told her honestly.

"Good, 'cause I've still got some more to tell you. I hope to get it all out tonight so that in the morning, we start tackling that yellow pad full of your questions over there." She pointed towards the couch.

Well… Shit! What more can there be?

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