Page 55 of Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined (The Twilight Saga)

I T WAS JUST BEGINNING TO RAIN WHEN E DYTHE TURNED ONTO my street. Up until that moment, I’d had no doubt that she’d be staying with me while I spent a few hours in the real world.

And then I saw the black, weathered sedan parked in Charlie’s driveway—and heard Edythe mutter something angry under her breath.

Leaning away from the rain under the shallow front porch, Jules Black stood behind her mother’s wheelchair. Bonnie’s face was impassive as rock while Edythe parked my truck against the curb. Jules stared down, looking mortified.

Edythe’s low voice was furious. “This is crossing the line.”

“She came to warn Charlie?” I guessed, more horrified than angry.

Edythe just nodded, answering Bonnie’s stare with narrowed eyes.

At least Charlie wasn’t home yet. Maybe the disaster could be averted.

“Let me deal with this,” I suggested. Edythe’s glare looked a little too . . . serious.

I was surprised that she agreed. “That’s probably best. Be careful, though. The child has no idea.”

“ Child? You know, Jules is not that much younger than I am.”

She looked at me then, her anger gone. She grinned. “Oh, I know.”

I sighed.

“Get them inside so I can leave,” she told me. “I’ll be back around dusk.”

“You can take the truck,” I offered.

She rolled her eyes. “I could walk home faster than this truck moves.”

I didn’t want to leave her. “You don’t have to go.”

She touched my frown and smiled. “Actually, I do. After you get rid of them”—she glared in the Blacks’ direction—“you still have to prepare Charlie to meet your new girlfriend.”

She laughed at my face—I guess she could see exactly how excited I was for that.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want Charlie to know about Edythe.

I knew he liked the Cullens, and how could he not like Edythe?

He’d probably be insultingly impressed. But it just seemed like pushing my luck.

Trying to drag this too-beautiful fantasy down into the sludge of boring, ordinary life didn’t feel safe. How could the two coexist for long?

“I’ll be back soon,” she promised. Her eyes flickered over to the porch, and then she darted in swiftly to press her lips to the side of my neck.

My heart bounced around inside my ribs while I, too, glanced at the porch.

Bonnie’s face was no longer impassive, and her hands clutched at the armrests of her chair.

“ Soon ,” I said as I opened my door and stepped out into the rain. I could feel her eyes on my back as I jogged to the porch.

“Hey, Jules. Hi, Bonnie,” I greeted them, as cheerfully as I could manage. “Charlie’s gone for the day—I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

“Not long,” Bonnie said in a subdued tone. Her dark eyes were piercing. “I just wanted to bring this up.” She gestured to a brown paper sack resting on her lap.

“Thanks,” I said automatically, though I had no idea what it could be. “Why don’t you come in for a minute and dry off?”

I pretended I didn’t notice her intense scrutiny as I unlocked the door and waved them inside ahead of me. Jules gave me a half-smile as she walked by.

“Let me take that,” I offered as I turned to shut the door. I exchanged one last look with Edythe—she was perfectly still as she waited, her eyes serious.

“You’ll want to put that in the fridge,” Bonnie instructed as she handed me the package. “It’s a batch of Holly Clearwater’s homemade fish fry. Charlie’s favorite. The fridge keeps it drier.”

“Thanks,” I repeated with more emotion. “I was running out of ways to cook fish, and he’s bound to bring more home tonight.”

“Fishing again?” Bonnie asked. She was suddenly intent. “Down at the usual spot? Maybe I’ll run by and see him.”

“No,” I lied quickly. “He was headed someplace new . . . but I have no idea where.”

She stared at my face, her eyes narrowing. It was always so obvious when I tried to lie.

“Julie,” she said, still eyeing me. “Why don’t you go get that new picture of Aaron out of the car? I’ll leave that for Charlie, too.”

“Where is it?” Jules asked. Her voice sounded kind of down. I glanced at her, but she was staring at the floor, her black brows pulling together.

“I think I saw it in the trunk,” Bonnie said. “You may have to dig for it.”

Jules stalked back out into the rain.

Bonnie and I faced each other in silence. After a few seconds, the quiet started to feel awkward, so I turned and headed to the kitchen. I could hear her wet wheels squeak against the linoleum as she followed.

I fit the paper bag into a space on the top shelf of the fridge, and then turned slowly to meet the eyes I could feel boring into me.

“Charlie won’t be back for a long time.” My voice was almost rude.

She nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

“Thanks again for the fish fry,” I hinted.

She continued nodding. I sighed and leaned back against the counter.

“Beau,” she said, and then she hesitated.

I waited.

“Beau,” she said again, “Charlie is one of my best friends.”

“Yes.”

She spoke each word carefully in her deep voice. “I noticed you’ve been spending time with one of the Cullens.”

“Yes,” I repeated.

Her eyes narrowed again. “Maybe it’s none of my business, but I don’t think that is such a good idea.”

“You’re right,” I agreed. “It is none of your business.”

She raised her thick eyebrows at my tone. “You probably don’t know this, but the Cullen family has an unpleasant reputation on the reservation.”

“Actually, I did know that,” I said in a hard voice.

She looked surprised. “But that reputation couldn’t be deserved, could it?

Because the Cullens never set foot on the reservation, do they?

” I could see that my less-than-subtle reminder of the agreement that both bound and protected her tribe pulled her up short.

“That’s true,” she agreed, her eyes guarded. “You seem . . . well informed about the Cullens. More informed than I expected.”

I stared her down. “Maybe even better informed than you are.”

She pursed her thick lips as she considered that. “Maybe,” she allowed, but her eyes were shrewd. “Is Charlie as well informed?”

She had found the weak spot in my armor.

“Charlie likes the Cullens a lot,” I said. She obviously understood my evasion. Her expression was unhappy, but not surprised.

“It’s not my business,” she said. “But it may be Charlie’s.”

“Though it would be my business, again, whether or not I think that it’s Charlie’s business, right?”

I wondered if she even understood my confused question as I struggled not to say anything compromising. But she seemed to. She thought about it while the rain picked up against the roof, the only sound breaking the silence.

“Yes.” She finally surrendered. “I guess that’s your business, too.”

I sighed with relief. “Thanks, Bonnie.”

“Just think about what you’re doing, Beau,” she urged.

“Okay,” I agreed quickly.

She frowned. “What I meant to say was, don’t do what you’re doing.”

I looked into her eyes, filled only with concern for me, and there was nothing I could say.

The front door banged loudly.

“There’s no picture anywhere in that car.” Jules’s complaining voice reached us before she did. She rounded the corner. The shoulders of her t-shirt were stained with the rain, her long hair dripping.

“Hmm,” Bonnie grunted, suddenly detached, spinning her chair around to face her daughter. “I guess I left it at home.”

Jules rolled her eyes dramatically. “Great.”

“Well, Beau, tell Charlie”—Bonnie paused before continuing—“that we stopped by, I mean.”

“I will,” I muttered.

Jules was surprised. “Are we leaving already?”

“Charlie’s gonna be out late,” Bonnie explained as she rolled herself past Jules.

“Oh.” Jules looked disappointed. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later, then, Beau.”

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Take care,” Bonnie warned me. I didn’t answer.

Jules helped her mother out the door. I waved briefly, glancing swiftly toward my now-empty truck, and then shut the door before they were gone.

And then I had nothing to do but wait. After a few seconds staring at the empty kitchen, I sighed and started cleaning.

At least it kept my hands busy. Not so much my thoughts.

Now that I was away from Jessamine’s mood fix, I was able to really stress out about what I’d agreed to.

But how hard could it be? Edythe said I wouldn’t have to play.

I tried to convince myself it would be fine while scrubbing just a little too hard.

I was just finishing the bathroom when I finally heard Charlie’s car in the drive. I stacked the cleaning supplies in alphabetical order under the sink while listening to him come in the front door. He started banging around under the stairs, stowing his tackle.

“Beau?” he called.

“Hey, Dad,” I yelled back.

When I got downstairs, he was scrubbing his hands in the kitchen sink.

“Where’s the fish?” I asked.

“Out in the deep freeze.”

“I’ll go grab a couple while they’re fresh—Bonnie dropped off some of Holly Clearwater’s fish fry this afternoon.” I tried to sound enthusiastic.

“She did?” Charlie’s eyes lit up. “That’s my favorite!”

Charlie cleaned up while I got dinner ready. It wasn’t long before we were both at the table, eating in silence. Charlie was obviously enjoying the food. I was wondering how on earth I was supposed to broach the subject of my new . . . girlfriend.

“What did you do with yourself today?” he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Well, this afternoon I just hung out around the house. . . .” Only the very recent part of this afternoon, actually. I tried to keep my voice upbeat, but my stomach was hollow. “And this morning I was over at the Cullens’.”

Charlie dropped his fork.

“Dr. Cullen’s place?” he asked in astonishment.

I pretended not to notice his reaction. “Yeah.”

“What were you doing there?” He hadn’t picked his fork back up.

“Well, I sort of have a date with Edythe Cullen tonight, and she wanted to introduce me to her parents.”

He stared at me like I’d just announced that I’d spent the day knocking over liquor stores.