A Change in Direction: Chapter Twenty-eight

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Chapter Twenty-Eight

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As soon as I got home, I threw myself onto the couch with a big bag of slightly stale donuts and a giant glass of chocolate milk. I was too angry to focus on anything, but I turned on the television anyway, only for background noise. It was unbelievable how quickly sweets can disappear when you aren’t thinking about it. I was just seething. I wanted to cry, and I felt like I was on the edge, but the tears didn’t come. It felt as if I would feel so much better if I could. 

When the nasty little pastries were spent, and the drink gone, I laid down on my couch and stared past the screen as I tried to clear my head. I knew it wasn’t very nice to leave Edward’s without saying goodbye, but he disappeared on me too. He couldn’t blame me for leaving somewhere I didn’t feel comfortable. 

All I wanted to know was why. Why the hell did he dislike me so fast? And I needed to know about Jane and Heidi, whoever they are. It explained part of the reason he was so gun shy with relationships, especially if his father didn’t let him live whatever happened down. I wasn’t angry, and I didn’t expect to know everything about my boyfriend right away, but I had a feeling I needed to know, just in case. I had to prepare myself. 

Sometime along the way, it had started raining heavier. Cracks of lightning brightened the entire night sky and thunder rattled the windows, the wind making everything creak loudly. When the lights flickered, I turned off the television and rolled onto my back to glare at the ceiling. My right side ached again, and I sighed, pleased as frickin punch I was starting the sugar pills of my birth control. 

Just what I needed, my period.

When there was a loud knock on the door, I jumped nearly a mile because my sleepiness had taken over. At first, I thought it was something slamming against it, but when the raps came again, I knew better. I hurried to it, peeking outside before opening it wide. 

“Edward,” I breathed, quickly pulling his soaking wet body inside before he could catch a cold. He came in without a word. Instead, he wrapped his arms around my waist and drew me in tight for a hug. “Oh, sweetheart. What happened?”

“We got into an even bigger fight after you left. I went to look for you in the kitchen, and he informed me you had left and that you had, and I quote, quite a mouth on you. I said if he got told off, he deserved it. And it only went downhill from there. I don’t understand why he’s acting like this. I’ve never seen him like that. Jesus… I am so incredibly sorry.” He held me close, his face in my hair. “I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to leave.”

“I’m sorry I’ve caused so much trouble,” I mumbled against his chest. 

“You didn’t do a thing. He did. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to work with him now,” he breathed. “I’ve never been so mad in my life. I’ve never yelled at him before. Literally, I haven’t raised my voice since I was a toddler. I’ve always respected him so much. And then he does this.” His eyes were unseeing and full of confusing emotions.

Silently, we held each other for a long time, neither exactly sure what to say. It wasn’t until I shivered from being cold and wet because of his clothing that I pulled away. “Come on, let’s get these clothes off of you and into the wash. I’ve got your sleep pants from the other day you can wear.”

“Do you mind if I stay here tonight? I don’t think I can go back home,” he softly whispered, his face pale except for his blushing cheeks.

“You are always welcome here.”

“Are we okay?” He asked in an even quieter voice. 

I stopped walking towards my room so I could turn to look at him. “That’s more up to you than me.”

“But what about my father-”

“Exactly,” I interrupted. “Your father. Your family. They’ve been in your life a lot longer than I have. He must have seen something in me that made him feel like I don’t belong. That’s not up to him, though. That’s up to you. I don’t want to be without you, but I don’t wish to cause trouble. If it would be easier to end things now before it starts a full out war then-”

“No. Fuck no. I’m sorry, that person... he’s not acting like a member of my family. They taught us to care about our fellow man and not judge a person without knowing them first. That it’s what is on the inside that counts. No, I want you- no, no... That’s not right. I need you. I need you in my life. You are my life now,” he said as he took my face in his hands and kissed me lightly on the lips. I relaxed into his touch, some unvoiced fear melting away. 

He wanted me around. He still cared about me. 

I stuck Edward’s clothes into the washing machine and gave him the freshly cleaned sleep pants. I changed into a pair of pajamas too before I tugged him over to my bed. We laid in silence until we both fell asleep, lulled by the now quiet thumping of rain against the roof. 

It was early when I woke, maybe five, but he wasn’t with me. I looked around, and his shoes were still there, so I knew he was still in the trailer. 

The bathroom door was open, so I figured he wasn’t there. I went into the kitchen to find him sitting at my tiny dining room table, the low hum of the dryer in the background with the scent of green tea wafting through the air. I touched his shoulder before going over to the cabinet and pulling out a mug for myself. A steaming pot was resting on a hot pad in the middle of the tabletop and there was a cup in his hands. 

My tiny kitchen was a mess. Normally, I would have been cleaning it like a mad man to get it to an acceptable level around guests, but neither Edward nor I cared. 

I sat down, and he took my mug without a word to pour me some. I smiled in thanks, letting it warm my hands. 

He sighed. “I want to just tell him to fuck off, take my shares, and leave the company. It would be enough to support me, my grandchildren, and my great-grandchildren without me working another day in my life. But I need to stop running away from my issues,” he began abruptly.

“Please don’t quit something you’re good at just because of me,” I breathed. 

“It wouldn’t be because of you.”

“Yes, it would. This started because of me.”

“Isabella, you did nothing wrong,” he told me firmly, sighing again heavily. “I do love what I do. I enjoy traveling and the people. And I get so much pride from the fact that this is a family business.”

“You’ll have to get past it. Last night, I mean.”

He glanced up at me. “But what if I can’t? What if he continues to act that way?” He asked, almost like a child begging for answers. 

I had none for him. 

“You really have no idea why he reacted to me the way he did? Is it only because I’m your girlfriend? Has he ever acted like this before to anyone else?”

“No, never.”

Running my finger around the rim of the mug, I couldn’t meet his eyes. “What about Jane and Heidi?”

Edward frowned and snorted, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. “I suppose you heard him then.”

Shrugging, I peeked at him. “Yeah. I don’t care that you haven’t talked about them before. That’s fine. Just... what did they do that left such an impact?”

He scoffed, then looked at the ceiling as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. “Honestly, it was my own stupid fault. I was wild in college, especially in my freshman year, before I figured certain things out. I partied a lot. And I fucked a lot of girls. That’s the right word, I think. I used them. I didn’t care about them because I only wanted to have a good time. It was the first chance I got to be crazy, and it went too far. Anyway, uh... I was dating, and I use that term loosely, two women at the same time-”

“Jane and Heidi.”

“Exactly. They knew about each other. We had... um, played together before. I thought I was the one toying with them, but they were the ones doing the playing all along. They got some not very nice pictures of me doing stupid shit. Then they ran to my father and told him to either give them money, or they’d go to the papers with the photographs. Scandal is the last thing he wanted, so he paid them off.”

“What did they get photos of you doing?” I inquired, curiosity eating away at me. I probably shouldn’t have wanted to know, but I did. 

“Besides having sex with two girls at the same time? Drinking, smoking weed, taking other drugs. There were videos too. Let’s just say after everything went down, I changed a lot. I haven’t trusted a woman beside you and perhaps Angela in a very long time. I don’t think my dad ever told anyone else in my family, but it’s always been kind of… there, hanging over my head. Even after paying him back.”

Sitting there silently for a long time, I carefully considered my answer. “Edward, many people do that in college. That’s kind of what it’s for. Lord knows I smoked pot in school, took X, and once acid. But that was a bad trip. And I drank and had sex.”

“Yeah, but in my position, with my family, we have to act a specific way and do certain things,” he replied quietly. 

“Tell that to Paris Hilton,” I mumbled, making him chuckle. 

“Hm, yes, but back when this happened, it would have been big news that would have caused stocks to fall, and not a celebrity joke.”

“So, what now?” I asked, tilting my head to the side slightly as I eyed him. “What are you going to do?”

He took a sip of his drink as he considered it. “I wish I could tell you the answer to that,” he smiled a little sadly. “I suppose, for now, wait for my clothes to dry, go home, get dressed, then go to work and see where it goes from there.”

I sighed as I glanced away. “I wish I knew how to help you.”

“Being with me right now does.” He reached across the tabletop and took my hand. “Will I see you tonight?”

“If you want to.”

“I always do,” he stated sweetly. Edward brought my knuckles up to kiss lightly. The almost full beard he was sporting from not shaving tickled my skin. I came around the table so I could sit in his lap, my arms going around his neck as his went around my waist. My head rested on top of his, my eyes closed as I took in his warm scent. “I don’t know what I’d do without you, my love.”

The phrase ‘my love’ made my cheeks flush. I turned my face into his hair, humming quietly in pleasure. I knew exactly how he felt. 

It was mid-afternoon and raining when I arrived at Edward’s place. He went home after his clothes were dry to get ready for his day at work. I hadn’t heard from him since then, so I had no idea how things went. I fought the urge to call, not wanting to bother him while he was probably in the middle of something important. But I figured I would know all the details later, anyway. I knew he wouldn’t keep his feelings hidden. He hadn’t so far.

Our dinner from the previous night was still laid out on the table, looking dry and rather gross with a few flies buzzing around. The odor wasn’t pleasant, either. Tomatoes, in general, never smell good if they are allowed to rot. I sighed to myself and picked it up, feeling it wasn’t fair to Maria to make her clean it up. 

In fact, I wondered why she hadn’t before. Maybe she took a day off, but that was rare for her. She was amazing with that kind of stuff. I hoped everything was okay. 

After I threw out the food and scrubbed all the plates, I started messing with all the red sauce stains on the white tablecloth. I rubbed at them the best I could before soaking the whole thing in bleach in the washing machine. Hopefully, they would come out. I doubt it would bother him, but it seemed wasteful to throw out something so lovely. 

When all that was said and done, I pulled out a big pot for the stew I was going to be making for dinner. It would be best if it sat a while, and I was glad I had prepped everything the night before. It was simple to get it all going, but it took time. When it was to where I was happy with it, and it could simmer on its own for a few hours, I hauled out all I needed for the sweet cornbread to go with it. I was even going to make honey butter to go on top.
As I hummed to myself, I prepped the butter first in the food processor with some good local honey Edward had gotten at the Maker’s Fair three weeks before. I smiled to myself as I thought about that incredible night.

Wrapping it in wax paper, I stuck it in the fridge so it would harden again. I had almost everything I needed for the cornbread, except a cooking vessel. Frowning, I wondered if he even had a muffin tin. I had baked nothing like that, and I knew he had no idea where or what they were. It wasn’t like he had purchased any of his kitchen stuff himself. All I could do was crawl around, looking through the cabinets until I found one or something else that would do. 

“Ah-ha!” I yelled in success after what seemed like forever. It was pretty much in the very last place, buried in the very back. That always seemed to be the way when it came to stuff you were searching for. When I stood up, I nearly screamed before dropping the muffin tin to the floor with a loud clatter. 

Silent as the grave and stiff as a board, Carlisle was standing on the other side of the island.

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Thanks to Gina for proofreading!

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