Dad,
I hope this finds you well. I'm sorry it's been so long since we've talked.
Mom and I are all packed up and ready to hit the road. I'm so excited to see all the places along the way, and to be able to share those memories with you. My plan is to share it with you as we go. We'll see if I'm able to stick to it, but I'm hoping to send you a postcard with a note from each stop we make. Then maybe when I am able to visit you again, we can look at them together and I can tell you more about the trip.
We're hoping to make it to Jacksonville in 10 days, but knowing Mom, that is probably going to be doubled. She has serious fomo, and there isn't likely to be a tourist stop along the way that we don't stop at. So get ready for a lot of postcards!
I hope you know how much I love you, and how much you mean to me. I look forward to visiting Forks soon.
Love,
Bella
Bella reread the letter for the hundredth time, wanting it to sound like something her human self would have written. Having so few memories from her human life made that difficult. How had she talked to her dad? Had they talked often? Was this out of character for her? Did this sound like the goodbye letter that it was?
Satisfied that it was as good as it was going to be, she folded it up and put it into the prepared envelope, sealing it with a damp sponge.
She set it on the two postcards, already completed.
One was a kitschy card that had a small green alien on it and "Roswell, New Mexico" written across the bottom in cartoonish font.
No UFO sightings, but still holding out hope.
Love, B
The other was colorful and fun, and had "Austin" written across it in big blocky letters.
Coolest city I've visited so far! Would consider U of Texas if I wasn't already set on Berkeley and it wasn't so humid out here. Feels like I'm swimming through the air.
-B
The mail had never been through the postal system, but had authentic "Return to Sender" tags and postmarks on them as if they had been sent and returned during that fateful road trip.
Bella wasn't sure how Jasper had accomplished that, but she didn't care. It had been Edward's idea to give Bella a way to tell her father "I love you" one last time. To potentially help him find some closure. She desperately hoped that it would.
So Bella had addressed them slightly wrong with no return address. Alice would plant them in the Forks post office and assured Bella that it would not raise too many questions. Misdirected letters apparently often got bounced around, and sometimes they found their way. Once they were found, they'd know how to find Chief Swan.
Bella collected her carefully-constructed messages and walked downstairs, maneuvering through packed boxes and wrapped pieces of furniture that Esme wanted to bring with them to Massachusetts. Emmett and Rosalie had already left to pick up the moving truck they would drive across the country.
"Ready?" Alice asked as Bella reached the first floor.
Bella nodded.
They took Carlisle's Mercedes first to the post office, where Alice made quick work of dropping off the letters. That wasn't the stressful part of the trip, though. Not even close.
As they approached Chief Swan's house, Bella held her breath.
They weren't going to get out of the car, but Alice knew that if they parked down the street and waited about five minutes, Bella could get one last look at her father before they left. Probably the last look she'd ever get. She fidgeted, twisting the hem of her shirt between her fingers and wearing a hole in it. Alice didn't even reprimand her for ruining her clothes.
They weren't technically breaking the deal she had made with the wolves. She wasn't going to go into the house this time, and she certainly wasn't going to approach him. She wasn't even going to step foot outside of the car.
No harm, right? They couldn't get mad about that. But trusting werewolves didn't come easily, so Bella tried not to focus on that potential issue.
"Can you see him, Alice? Has anything changed?" Bella asked.
Alice nodded, a sad grin on her face. "He'll be okay, Bella. He will always grieve for you, but the letters will make a big difference. Billy is going to make him get professional help, too, which is going to help him through the process. And there's something blurry there, but I think he finds happiness down the road."
Bella nodded, contenting herself with that knowledge. She had been able to help her father, even if it was from the grave.
Sounds of activity came from the Swan house and Bella turned back to look ahead, anxious to see her dad.
He was dressed in sturdy clothing and carried fishing gear, which he loaded into the car before going back to lock up.
His face was lined and there was more gray in his hair than she remembered him having the last time she saw him, but he didn't look as weighed down.
"The guys from the department are taking him out fishing for the weekend," Alice said, her eyes focused on the future. "They're really rallying around him."
Bella smiled, still holding her breath.
They watched as Charlie got into his cruiser and pulled out of the drive, then drove in the opposite direction of where they were parked.
She had only seen him for a couple of moments, but she would treasure them forever.
"He'll be okay," Bella said.
"Yeah, he will be."
Alice's reassurance held far more weight than anyone else's, and Bella felt herself take a relieved breath for the first time in a long time.
A sudden noise in the woods to their right drew their attention immediately, and Bella tensed.
Not even the car windows could keep out the reeking stench of wet dog.
"Hey, can we talk for a minute?" The wolf man had emerged from the woods, wearing only cutoff shorts.
Bella recognized him as Jacob, the son of Charlie's friend. The one who had been the first to recognize her.
"Bella, no!" Alice reached to try and grab her, to hold her in the car, but Bella managed to get out anyway.
She closed the door and turned to face him, his tawny skin gleaming with sweat as if he had run here. He looked too young, a child. Too young to be fighting a supernatural war. Too young to have such a hardened expression. Bella suddenly felt a kinship with him, surprising herself.
"You're the one that used to be Charlie's kid," Jacob said, looking her up and down with a neutral expression.
At least it was better than the pure disgust she had seen before.
"Still am, actually," Bella said defiantly.
She wasn't about to allow this little pup to talk to her like that.
Bella heard Alice get out of the car and come around to her side.
Jacob scoffed a little, but didn't press the issue.
"What are you doing here? You said you wouldn't come back. Sam is going to flip, you know."
"What's it to you? I didn't go inside, I didn't get close to him."
"Let me remind you that the town is still our territory. We aren't breaking any rules," Alice said coldly.
"Yeah, but we had a deal, remember? Or do you leeches even know how to honor things like that?"
"Watch it," Alice said, but Bella waved her down.
"I wanted to see him one more time, that's all. To make sure you guys were holding upyourend of the deal," Bella said.
"You think we need some kind of deal withvampiresto help Charlie? He's practically family. We're going to take care of him no matter what," Jacob said indignantly.
Bella let out a breath of relief she hadn't realized she was holding.
"You care about him," Jacob said, watching her reactions with narrowed eyes.
"Of course I do. He's my father."
Jacob didn't answer, but just kept looking at her with an unreadable expression.
"Do you remember me at all?" Jacob asked, taking both her and Alice by surprise.
Bella considered lying, but realized that probably wasn't a good idea. She shook her head once. "I barely remember my mother's face."
Jacob nodded at that, then looked over at Charlie's house.
"We used to make mud pies together," he said, laughing a little.
"Were we close?" Bella asked.
"No," Jacob said, looking back at her.
"Take care of him," Bella said, her voice almost cracking on the words.
"I said we would. I meant it," he responded, but there was no edge to his voice.
"Goodbye, Jacob. Thank you for your help. I'll always be indebted to you and your tribe," Bella said as she and Alice got back in the car. It had been hard to admit, given the animosity, but it was true.
She owed the Blacks for watching out for her dad. She owed the wolves for stepping in and fighting alongside them. She owed the tribe leaders for allowing them to help.
And now she owed Jacob, for being decent enough to talk to them after finding them outside Charlie's house instead of calling in backup and escalating the situation.
"He seems okay," Bella said, watching as the street flew by on their way back home.
"Okay enough, I guess," Alice said doubtfully. "For a werewolf."