A Change in Direction: Chapter Fourteen

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Chapter Fourteen

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I took my time at the store since Edward wouldn’t be home until six. I probably bought too much, but he wouldn’t have to worry about those kinds of things for a while. I had a feeling I would end up putting up a lot of food for him, anyway. 

When I returned, Jacob wasn’t in the garage, and I was grateful for that. I left the keys on the desk for them to be put away later. 

I carried my bags inside, and I felt stupid at the very idea of knocking, so I just went in. I checked on my soup, giving it another stir and a taste. It needed more salt, so I threw some in before glancing at the clock. It was fifteen minutes past five. 

It was time to start my potatoes. I peeled a few russets, cutting them into chunks before pouring cold water over the top. It didn’t take them long to begin boiling away on the stove. I got my strainer and masher ready, looking for something to keep my hands busy. 

The bag of Tupperware was the only thing that caught my attention. I turned Edward’s radio back on and filled the sink with hot soapy water. The music morphed into something else, something new I hadn’t heard before. It was beautiful, a piano solo. It was quiet and relaxing. 

So, I rolled up my sleeves and washed the new plastic bowls and containers. I let my mind drift comfortably, feeling myself relax as my hands worked in the sudsy liquid. 

I felt fingers on my waist and a pair of lips against my ear before I heard Edward speak. “Do you know how amazing it is to come home to find a beautiful woman in your kitchen, cooking you a delicious smelling meal?”

Turning around in his grip, I carefully arranged my wet hands to keep from dripping on him and his nice suit as I put my arms around his neck. “Do you know how stereotypical that is?”

He laughed quietly and brought his mouth slowly to mine, his eyes closing as he did. I returned the kiss, our tempo matching the music. As it picked up, Edward backed me up against the sink. My body bent against the force of his eagerly, ignoring the water that soaked the back of my shirt. 

I would have stayed there forever, but the timer on my phone went off loudly. 

“My potatoes,” I whispered as I pulled away. He made an effort to push himself back, swallowing hard as he did. “Dinner is almost done. Why don’t you go get washed up and changed?”

“Okay,” he said as he lifted my chin for a quick peck. The smile he gave me was slight but natural, curving into his rounded pink cheeks. It was enough to make my heart skip a beat. 

I set up the pretty table in the formal dining room with two bowls and spoons, along with the soup and mashed potatoes. Then I took a bottle of red wine I had gotten and brought it out, just in case Edward wanted some. I was setting the salt and pepper out when he came in with fresh clothes, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and his lovely bare feet. 

“That’s an interesting combination,” he commented, looking over the meal. I picked up my bowl and spooned some potatoes into it before putting a ladle of the thickened beef and veggie soup over the top. “Ah, so it’s a reversed shepherd’s pie.”

“Exactly. Is that okay?”

“Bella, it smells great. Can you make me some? I’m going to get a bottle of water. Would you like some as well?”

“Sure. Want some wine?”

“Uh, just a small glass.”

I poured us each a little, making his bowl too. He sat at the head of the table, and I did to the right of him. We were silent as we ate, Edward taking a careful bite of the hot liquid before spooning more quickly into his mouth. Smiling to myself, I took a sip of my drink. 

“Like it?”

Nodding, he blushed for some reason. I wanted to ask why, but I decided it was best not to. I didn’t want to embarrass him. Clearing his throat, he reached for his glass. “So, what did you tell your friend on Monday?”

“Oh.” I hadn’t even thought about it since then. “I told her the truth.”

He took a long sip, not looking at me as he did. Swallowing hard, his tongue peeked out to lick up a rogue drop on his bottom lip. “And what’s that?”

Considering it for a moment, I reached over to touch the top of his hand. “I told her who you were, and it was my day off. And that you were only doing exactly what I wanted you to do. I also asked her not to tell Jasper.”

A small smile returned to his lips, his eyes glancing over in my direction for a second before he took another bite of his soup. “Oh...”

“She won’t tell anybody. You don’t have to worry about that. I’d trust her with my life.”

“I don’t care if she tells anyone. Bella, I didn’t want you to lie to your friend. Does she know what we’re doing here?”

“Kind of.” I shrugged. “But honestly, it’s none of her business. This is between you and me. That’s it. I want to keep it that way.” I squeezed his hand, grabbing his attention. “Edward, what we’re doing isn’t bad. I’m not embarrassed or ashamed. Are you?”

He shook his head and turned his over, so our palms were touching. Our fingers tangled together. “No. Not at all. Why did you ask her not to tell Jasper?”

“Because I don’t want him to think you’re taking advantage of me. He’d kick your pretty ass.”

Laughing, he picked up his glass and took another slurp. He made a face, shaking at the slight tang of the wine. “I doubt very much he could.”

“You’ve never seen him mad before,” I informed him. “I’ll tell him one day when the time is right, but he’d be uncomfortable with it being so soon. Jasper is protective of me.”

“He’s a good friend.”

“He is,” I agreed. “We have been since high school. He and Alice have been together forever. Though I guess when you go through what they did, it makes your bond strong.”

“What did they go through?” Edward asked curiously, getting himself more potatoes and soup. “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“It’s not a secret or anything. Um, she had cervical cancer when we were freshmen. People were freaked out by her. By her condition and appearance. She lost all of her hair, and she was weak, but she refused to stop going to school. He was a senior, and he was so amazing. They had some classes together, and he was the only one, besides me, that really talked to her like she was normal. They started dating in the middle of it all. He even took her to his prom. Alice had two rounds of chemo and a full hysterectomy before she finally beat it, and he held her hand through it all.”

“Wow. How old was she?”

“Fourteen or fifteen,” I responded, taking a bite of my now cooled soup. 

“Poor girl.”

Sighing, I shoved my bowl away. “She’s alive. That’s what matters. They can’t have kids, but I don’t think it bothers him much. It bothers her, of course. I’m sure they’ll adopt one day.”

“Do you want children?” he asked suddenly. He blushed again and pushed away his glass of wine. “I mean, in the future. The very distant future.”

“I don’t know,” I truthfully answered. “It really hasn’t mattered. I haven’t had a boyfriend, and I haven’t had a job, so it’s not like I can adopt. My parents want me to reproduce, but I’m an only child. They have no one else to bother.”

“My little sister, she’s barely twenty-two, has three girls. They’re one, two, and three. They’re a blast, but I don’t know how she handles them. She’s married, so she has the help. But still.”

“Wow,” I giggled, swirling the wine in the glass. “She must like children.”

“She must like sex.”

Choking on my drink, I laughed in between coughs. “Edward, that’s your sister!”

He chuckled. “It’s the truth, though. My older brother is worse. I’m surprised I’m not an uncle many more times over. He’s a slut, honestly. I pity the woman that tries to tie him down.”

“And what about you?” I inquired with a raised eyebrow, picking up the potatoes and soup as I stood up from the table. Edward followed me into the kitchen with the dirty dishes. 

“What do you mean?”

“Do you pity the woman that tries to tie you down?” I asked teasingly with my back to him, setting it down on the counter so I could put it away. 

I felt his strong arms coiling around my waist as he pushed the hair away from my face with his cheek. His rough scruff sent a chill down my spine as his warm breath flowed over my ear. I turned into utter mush against his firm chest. His soft lips pressed on the spot right behind it as his nose brushed against the lobe ever so gently. 

“No, my dear. I welcome it.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about his words or his kisses. They replayed in my mind repeatedly, even while I cooked the following day.

“You know, you didn’t have to make me fried chicken,” Edward said as he sat down at the table the next evening after work. “I could have waited until Monday.”

“Yeah, but the thing is,” I began as I placed the platter on the tabletop. “Once you have this, you’ll never want to buy it from a restaurant again.”

He smirked. “Oh, someone is rather confident about their cooking skills.”

I laughed. “No, not cooking. I’m confident about my frying abilities. I did not get these hips,” I pointed to my jean covered butt, “by eating bland, baked, skinless chicken breasts.”

“So, what am I going to do when this turns out to be the best in the world? You’ll have spoiled me for life! Ruined me to all other chicken,” he teased playfully as he scooped a pile of baked beans onto his plate. “How will I ever satisfy my hunger in the future?”

I placed a leg and a breast onto it. “I can teach you how to make it, of course.”

Edward scoffed before he took a sip from his bottle of cream soda. “Okay.”

“A man that can fix a hot water heater by watching a video online but doesn’t think he can cook his own meal with an amazing and patient teacher guiding him?”

Liking my words, he smiled at our banter. “It’s because I’ll be spending too much time staring at the sexy instructor to figure out how to make the damn chicken,” he chuckled, bringing the leg up to his mouth. In his teenage-boy way, he took a huge bite. “Holy shit, this is amazing,” he moaned through the food, his face an utter mess of crumbles stuck to his cheeks. 

“Told you,” I retorted with pride, taking a bite of my thigh. I ate the crispy outside first before nibbling on a piece of meat. Scooping up a pile of beans onto my fork, I gazed at the beast next to me as he tore into his meal. “You know, it’s dead. It won’t run off the table. You can slow down.”

“This is really good,” he mumbled, working on his breast. He hadn’t even bothered with his side yet. “How did you make it so good?”

“Marinated the meat for twenty-four hours in buttermilk. I then sprinkle my personal spice mix all over the entire thing. A lot, so you get some in every bite. Then I use a mix of cake flour and all-purpose. It makes the outside extra-crispy.”

“That just went over my head,” Edward claimed as he put it down like he finally remembered his manners. He patted his mouth with his napkin before taking a long drag from the glass bottle in front of him. “Where did you learn to cook?”

I shrugged. “I did a lot for my dad. My mom isn’t the greatest of chefs, so I had to fend for myself sometimes when I was with her, but once I got to my father’s...” I shook my head. “His fridge was like yours, but with a ton of fish in the freezer. He’s a fisherman.”

He licked a crumb off, his eyes on his plate. “May I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,” I said, taking a bite of beans. 

“Why did you move in with him? When I did your background check, I saw that you moved a lot when you were a kid until you stayed with him.”

“I don’t really remember moving. A lot of it was before I was old enough to understand,” I admitted. “My mom moved to get away from him, but he always followed. Until he finally stopped, and she could emotionally move on. Then she met my step-father. He played ball. Baseball, I mean, and he traveled. And she loved it, and I hated it. So, I moved in with Charlie. She’s in Florida now with him. He’s a coach.”

He gazed at me. “You talk about it with so little emotion. Did you prefer living with your mom?” he asked, his fork playing with the baked beans. 

Tilting my head to the side, I thought about it for a moment. “She is a mixed bag of nuts, but she was fun. My dad is more serious, but I always felt stable with him. I had to be the parent with my mother, so I’m grateful I got to be a teenager with him. I’m not sure where I’d be right now if I had stayed with her.”

Edward reached across the table and took my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. I glanced away, feeling my cheeks heat. I felt very open and exposed. “I’m glad you’re here with me right now.”

“Me too,” I remarked quietly, smiling at him. It was suddenly time to change the subject. “So, a masquerade ball, huh?”

“Oh! I forgot all about that!” he exclaimed, putting his hand to his forehead as he thought. He pushed his hair away from it. “Yeah. It’s for the March of Dimes. My sister was a preemie, so the cause is close to my heart. I’ve already got two tickets. It’s swanky, so you’ll need to get a gown or whatever you girls wear. And I need to get a mask. I suppose you do, too.”

“I can do that for you. I know where I can get some pretty ones. Anything else I need to know? I’ve never been to anything like this. I haven’t even been to a prom.”

“You didn’t go to yours?” Edward questioned in surprise. 

“No,” I laughed. “I was above all of that.”

“No one asked you?” 

I raised my chin in the air. “As I said, I was above all of that. I didn’t date in high school.”

He smiled. “I would have taken you,” he commented, taking the other leg off the platter. He glanced in my direction, then back to his plate as he grinned to himself. “Though, I suppose a twenty-something-year-old man wouldn’t have been the coolest date in the world.”

“Please, all the cheerleaders would have killed themselves when they saw you. They would have eaten their hearts out with a frickin spoon.”

Laughing, he shook his head before taking a large bite. “Well, Ms. Swan, I’m glad I have this chance to share a first with you. Hm, let’s see. You don’t want to bring a big purse. I’ve seen my stepmother lose more of those things at these kinds of parties. I figured we’d eat before or after. The food is always awful. Um, I think that’s it. I can’t think of anything else.”

“Got it.” I nodded. I watched him quietly eat after that, my turn to play with the few beans left on mine. “Will there be dancing?”

“Yes.” I frowned at his response. “What?”

“I can’t dance.”

“I can show you.”

“Can you?” I asked, standing with my plate. Edward followed though he was still eating his chicken as he came up from behind. He watched me put the dishes in the washer, clearing our stuff away from dinner. 

“I know enough to get by. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll get us through. It’s all in the leading.” He tossed the bare leg in the trash, his eyes going over the platter. “Don’t freeze any of this. I’ll take it to work with me for lunch.” There were five pieces left.

“At least bring a salad with it, so you get something green in you.” I rolled my eyes, wondering how much chicken one man could eat. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he chuckled, licking his fingers clean. I could have watched him do it all day, each digit going into his mouth and gently being sucked on. I could only imagine how his tongue swirled around each one. It was enough to make any woman weak in the knees. 

“I’ll make you one. I’ll even put it in a sack in the fridge, so you can grab it and go.”

“That would be lovely. Thank you,” he said graciously, finally washing his hands. “Why don’t I pick out a movie for us to watch?”

“Sure, but I wanted to ask you something first,” I started, thinking back to my best friend’s request. I had been too distracted the night before by his sexiness, and it was happening once more. “Alice makes clothing and stuff, and she’s doing this thing in November. It’s the Maker’s fair. She asked me to help her. You don’t have anything going on that Saturday. Would you be okay on your own that day?”

Edward frowned a bit to himself but nodded his head. “Yeah, that would be fine. Remind me later, okay?”

“Sure,” I promised, pulling the head of lettuce out. “Are you positive you’re fine with it?”

“Bella,” he smiled. “It’s fine. I think it’s nice you want to help your friend. Yeah, I can take care of myself one Saturday. I’ll just miss you.”

I came over to where he was standing and placed my hands on his cheeks so I could pull him down to my height. I left a gentle peck on his lips, the first we had shared that day. “Go pick out a movie. I think I’m in the mood for some action. Maybe a superhero flick.”

“I can do that,” he nodded with a smile, offering me another kiss. I took it eagerly. 

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Thanks to Gina for proofreading this chapter!

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