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I shoved the bag onto the crowded top shelf of the fridge, and spun around to confront him. His deeply
lined face was unreadable.
"Charlie won't be back for a long time." My voice was almost rude.
He nodded in agreement, but said nothing.
"Thanks again for the fish fry," I hinted.
He continued nodding. I sighed and folded my arms across my chest.
He seemed to sense that I had given up on small talk. "Bella," he said, and then he hesitated.
I waited.
"Bella," he said again, "Charlie is one of my best friends."
"Yes."
He spoke each word carefully in his rumbling voice. "I noticed you've been spending time with one of the
Cullens."
"Yes," I repeated curtly.
His eyes narrowed. "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."
He raised his graying 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 informed him in a hard voice. This surprised him. "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 his tribe pulled him
up short.
"That's true," he acceded, his eyes guarded. "You seem& well informed about the Cullens. More
informed than I expected."
I stared him down. "Maybe even better informed than you are."
He pursed his thick lips as he considered that. "Maybe." he allowed, but his eyes were shrewd. "Is
Charlie as well informed?"
He had found the weak chink in my armor.
"Charlie likes the Cullens a lot," I hedged. He clearly understood my evasion. His expression was
unhappy, but unsurprised.
"It's not my business," he 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 he even understood my confused question as I struggled not to say anything compromising.
But he seemed to. He thought about it while the rain picked up against the roof, the only sound breaking
the silence.
"Yes," he finally surrendered. "I guess that's your business, too."
I sighed with relief. "Thanks, Billy."
"Just think about what you're doing, Bella," he urged.
"Okay," I agreed quickly.
He frowned. "What I meant to say was, don't do what you're doing."
I looked into his eyes, filled with nothing but concern for me, and there was nothing I could say.
Just then the front door banged loudly, and I jumped at the sound.
"There's no picture anywhere in that car." Jacob's complaining voice reached us before he did. The
shoulders of his shirt were stained with the rain, his hair dripping, when he rounded the corner.
"Hmm," Billy grunted, suddenly detached, spinning his chair around to face his son. "I guess I left it at
home."
Jacob rolled his eyes dramatically. "Great."
"Well, Bella, tell Charlie"  Billy paused before continuing  "that we stopped by, I mean."
"I will," I muttered.
Jacob was surprised. "Are we leaving already?"
"Charlie's gonna be out late," Billy explained as he rolled himself past Jacob.
"Oh." Jacob looked disappointed. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, then, Bella."
"Sure," I agreed.
"Take care," Billy warned me. I didn't answer.
Jacob helped his father out the door. I waved briefly, glancing swiftly toward my now-empty truck, and
then shut the door before they were gone.
I stood in the hallway for a minute, listening to the sound of their car as it backed out and drove away. I
stayed where I was, waiting for the irritation and anxiety to subside. When the tension eventually faded a
bit, I headed upstairs to change out of my dressy clothes.
I tried on a couple of different tops, not sure what to expect tonight. As I concentrated on what was
coming, what had just passed became insignificant. Now that I was removed from Jasper's and Edward's
influence, I began to make up for not being terrified before. I gave up quickly on choosing an outfit 
throwing on an old flannel shirt and jeans  knowing I would be in my raincoat all night anyway.
The phone rang and I sprinted downstairs to get it. There was only one voice I wanted to hear; anything
else would be a disappointment. But I knew that if he wanted to talk to me, he'd probably just
materialize in my room.
"Hello?" I asked, breathless.
"Bella? It's me," Jessica said.
"Oh, hey, Jess." I scrambled for a moment to come back down to reality. It felt like months rather than
days since I'd spoken to Jess. "How was the dance?"
"It was so much fun!" Jessica gushed. Needing no more invitation than that, she launched into a
minute-by-minute account of the previous night. I mmm'd and ahh'd at the right places, but it wasn't easy
to concentrate. Jessica, Mike, the dance, the school  they all seemed strangely irrelevant at the
moment. My eyes kept flashing to the window, trying to judge the degree of light behind the heavy
clouds.
"Did you hear what I said, Bella?" Jess asked, irritated.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, Mike kissed me! Can you believe it?"
"That's wonderful, Jess," I said.
"So what did you do yesterday?" Jessica challenged, still sounding bothered by my lack of attention. Or
maybe she was upset because I hadn't asked for details.
"Nothing, really. I just hung around outside to enjoy the sun."
I heard Charlie's car in the garage.
"Did you ever hear anything more from Edward Cullen?"
The front door slammed and I could hear Charlie banging around under the stairs, putting his tackle
away.
"Um." I hesitated, not sure what my story was anymore.
"Hi there, kiddo!" Charlie called as he walked into the kitchen. I waved at him.
Jess heard his voice. "Oh, your dad's there. Never mind  we'll talk tomorrow. See you in Trig."
"See ya, Jess." I hung up the phone.
"Hey, Dad," I said. He was scrubbing his hands in the sink. "Where's the fish?"
"I put it out in the freezer."
"I'll go grab a few pieces before they freeze  Billy dropped off some of Harry Clearwater's fish fry this
afternoon." I worked to sound enthusiastic.
"He did?" Charlie's eyes lit up. "That's my favorite."
Charlie cleaned up while I got dinner ready. It didn't take long till we were sitting at the table, eating in
silence. Charlie was enjoying his food. I was wondering desperately how to fulfill my assignment,
struggling to think of a way to broach the subject.
"What did you do with yourself today?" he asked, snapping me out of my reverie.
"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." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]