Chapter 9

It took me a good hour to calm Bella down after we found the flowers in our hotel room. I was getting so frustrated with the whole situation. Why couldn’t these psychotic people just leave us alone and let us live in peace?

I was holding Bella tightly to my chest and whispering words of comfort to her. Her sobs had finally calmed down to whimpers. I pulled back and lifted her chin to look at her face.

“Bella, sweetheart, please don’t let Victoria get to you. Honestly, she doesn’t worry me half as much as James did. She just annoys the hell out of me.”

Bella giggled at my confession. “I see your point. James completely terrified me. Victoria scares me, but not to the degree that James did. The fear he caused was debilitating.”

“Why don’t we do our best to not let Victoria irritate us while we’re here? Let’s just blow off all the little things she throws our way. I want to enjoy what little time I have with my gorgeous fiancée in this hotel suite.”

I didn’t give Bella a chance to answer before I kissed her passionately. I gently laid her back on the couch and started to pepper kisses down her neck. Bella moaned and wound her fingers into my hair. I loved all the noises I could coax from her. I had just started moving my hands under her shirt when Bella stopped me.

“Edward, we really need to get cleaned up and changed. We don’t want to be late. The wrath of Alice really does scare me.”

I sighed, “Fine, but only because I fear the pixie too. What I wouldn’t give to be here without our family. We would spend every minute in that comfortable king-sized bed.” I buried my face in Bella’s neck.

“Edward,” she squealed. “I really need to take a shower. Be good, and I promise we will have plenty of time alone before we check out.” I kissed her one more time before leaving her alone to shower and get ready for dinner.

Alice made reservations for dinner at Earth and Ocean, the restaurant in the hotel. She was excited because we were required to dress for dinner. I was surprised Alice didn’t insist on dragging Bella to her room and dressing her up and playing Bella Barbie. Alice always did a great job, but I preferred Bella looking more natural.

Bella took my breath away when she stepped into the living room of the suite. She was wearing a spaghetti strap black satin dress that hugged all of her curves. Even the cast on her arm and leg couldn’t detract from her beauty. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun with a few strands loose framing her face. She looked unbelievable.

I pulled her into my arms and rubbed the apple of her cheek with my thumb. “Bella, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. How did I get so lucky to be able to call you mine?”

“I’m the lucky one, Mr. Cullen. Now let’s get out of here before the pixie hunts us down.”

We walked out of our suite and found everyone gathered at the elevator waiting for us. Alice started bouncing and waving when she heard our door close. Bella joined the girls, and I stood with the guys waiting for the elevator.

“Bella, I’m so proud of your dress choice. I don’t think I could’ve done any better,” Alice said.

“See, I’m perfectly capable of being in charge of my wardrobe.” Bella stuck her tongue out at Alice.

“Very mature, Bella,” Alice said, sticking her tongue out too.

The restaurant was packed when we arrived. A lot of people without reservations were waiting around praying they would be able to get a table. Luckily, Alice had made our reservation a few days ago. We were seated immediately.

“Hey, Bells, you want a Gin Cucumber Martini or maybe a Carrot-Top to drink?” Emmett asked.

Bella had been taking a sip of her water when Emmett asked his question. She nearly choked on it. “Emmett, neither of those sounds too good. I’ll stick with a Coke,” she choked out.

Emmett chuckled. “Yeah, actually you seem more of a tequila kinda girl. Maybe you, Rose, and Alice should do some shots later at the party.”

Rose smacked Emmett on the back of his head. “Emmett, would you like to spend your New Year’s Eve on the couch?”

“Sorry, Rosie.”

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” she huffed.

“I’m sorry, Bellie,” Emmett pouted.

“You’re forgiven, Emmie, but you are really pushing it.”

I didn’t understand what got Rose and Bella both so upset about Emmett’s suggestions. I needed to make sure and ask Bella about it later.

It was nice having dinner with our family. The conversation flowed beautifully. There was no mention of the third degree I gave Drew in the car. Tommy seemed to have moved past his irritation with me. We were talking and cutting up as usual.

I tuned out the girls shortly after we were seated. They were talking fashion and makeup. I was completely lost. Drew seemed to be relaxed and enjoying herself. I leaned into Bella and whispered in her ear. “Hey, beautiful, pay attention to what Drew says. She’s relaxed and probably has her guard down. She might let something slip.”

“I’ll listen closely, but I won’t do anything to provoke her. Tommy is finally back to normal with me and I don’t want to lose it. Let’s just relax until we get something back from the PI you hired.” Bella rubbed soothing circles on the back of my hand.

“As you wish, beautiful.” I kissed her temple and started paying attention to the guys again.

We headed to the hotel’s New Year’s Eve party once we were finished with dinner. The ballroom was packed. Luckily, we found an empty table and ordered a round of drinks. The girls were dying to drag Bella onto the dance floor. After twenty minutes of begging, she finally gave in and followed them out there. We spent the night dancing and laughing.

The girls were having a blast dancing together when the DJ announced that midnight was quickly approaching. He told everyone to find that special someone we wanted to share our New Year’s kiss with. He changed the upbeat hip-hop song to a slow love song. I grabbed Bella and pulled her close to me. I loved dancing with her.

“As much as I enjoyed watching you dance with the girls, I’m so glad to have you back in my arms, love.” I kissed Bella’s forehead.

“I missed being wrapped in your arms. I always feel so safe when you hold me.” Bella nuzzled her head into the crook of my neck.

When the song ended the DJ started the countdown to midnight. I lifted Bella’s chin with my fingers and stared deep into her eyes. I saw all the love I felt for her reflected back at me. The clock finally struck midnight, and balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling. I lowered my lips to Bella’s and gently kissed her.

“Happy New Year, love.”

“Happy New Year, Edward.”

After exchanging New Year greetings with our family, I escorted Bella back up to our suite. I wanted to ring in the New Year properly. I was good, and Bella had a promise to keep.

***

New Year’s Eve was wonderful, and I was sad when we checked out and headed back to Forks. We had to take Tommy and Drew home. The rest of our family headed back to Portland from Seattle.

We spent most of the trip back to Forks talking about the upcoming semester. Drew was curious about the campus, our classes, and where we would be staying. She wanted to plan a weekend to visit the campus. She was interested in Reed’s premed program and possibly transferring in the fall. She wanted to study medicine and possibly become a pediatrician.

I was starting to let my guard down, and I really liked Drew. I really hoped that Tyler didn’t find anything about her.

We decided to spend one more night with Charlie. School would be starting back in a few weeks and we didn’t know when we would get to see Charlie and Tommy next.

Bella cooked a wonderful brisket for dinner. Charlie and Tommy ate until they couldn’t move. They knew this was the last good meal they would get until the next time we visited.

“Bells, that was great. I don’t know how we survive when you’re gone,” Charlie said, patting his stomach. Tommy nodded his head in agreement.

“I’m sure you keep Al’s Diner and Domino’s in business when I’m gone.” Bella rolled her eyes. “Tommy, help me with the dishes.” Tommy groaned and slowly joined Bella at the sink.

I followed Charlie into the living room and sat on the couch.

“So, I decided to let Mark run Drew’s prints through the database.” Charlie glanced back in the kitchen to be sure Tommy didn’t hear us.

“That’s great, Charlie.” I handed him one of Tyler Crowley’s business cards. “This is the private investigator I hired. If you could please let him know any information you find, I would appreciate it. He has access to a few databases you might not. He would be happy to run her prints through them for you.”

Charlie sighed. “I don’t know about that, Edward. I really don’t know anything about this guy.”

“I understand, Charlie. You can trust Tyler. He has worked for my family for over ten years. He’s been privy to some extremely important information regarding my family and staff and board members of the hospital. He has never taken advantage of this information.”

Charlie thought about it for a few minutes. “Okay, Edward. If you can trust him, then I will too. I’ll get in touch with him and give him any information he needs.”

“Thanks, Charlie.”

We spent the rest of the evening watching ESPN with Charlie. Bella was content just being in the same room with her father. He seemed to feel the same way.

We woke up early the next morning, hoping to get a jump on the traffic for the drive back to Portland. Bella was cleaning the dishes from breakfast while I brought our bags downstairs. I opened the front door and was surprised by another bouquet of flowers. I quickly put the bags down on the porch and closed the door before Bella could see the flowers. I loaded our bags in the trunk and hurried back to the porch. I wanted to hit something when I read the card.

I can’t wait to see both
of you back at school.

I put the card back in the flowers and snuck them into the back yard. I didn’t want Bella to see them. I called Charlie and told him about finding the flowers and where I left them. He was going to drop by the house after we left and take the flowers to the station. He wanted to check them for prints.

Bella and I made it back to my house without her finding out about the latest gift from Victoria. I wanted her to enjoy the last weeks before we went back to school. I had a feeling Victoria was going to make our lives miserable once we returned to campus.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out at my parents’ house with our family. Every time I turned around, Emmett had a carrot or cucumber and kept waggling his eyebrows at Bella. She would always turn bright red and bury her head in my chest. Bella refused to tell me what was wrong. I needed to get Emmett alone and have him explain why vegetables were making Bella blush.

My nightmares were slowly getting better. I was sleeping an average of four hours per night. I was able to function a lot better with that little amount of sleep. Only getting two hours of sleep per night had started messing with my head.

Drew had finally started taking on a nonviolent role in my dreams. She was there with Tommy. In this dream she wasn’t trying to kill Tommy and Bella, she was trying to protect him from Victoria. Every time she would jump in front of Tommy and take the blow from the knife for him. I would always wake up when she would tell him that she loved him. I couldn’t wait for my next session with Dr. Young to talk about the new dream.

Bella woke up early on Monday. She was so excited to be getting her wrist cast removed. She decided to make breakfast for everyone to pass the time. I helped her make her signature French toast and bacon. Working together, it only took us half an hour to have enough food to feed the entire family. We woke everyone up and enjoyed a nice meal together. Carlisle reminded me to page him when we left Dr. Young’s office. He wanted to be the one to remove Bella’s cast.

***

Dr. Young could see the excitement in my eyes when she led me into her office.

“Good morning, Edward. Would you like to tell me what has you in such a good mood?”

“It’s been an interesting week. I made an effort to talk with Drew and get to know her better. I really like her but I’m still not sure about her. I asked her a lot of questions about her family. She answered every question but hesitated a bit on some of the answers.”

“Edward, I’m glad you made an effort to get to know her better. How have you been sleeping?”

“Better. I’ve been getting about four hours of sleep every night before the nightmares wake me up. My dream has changed. Drew is no longer trying to kill Tommy and Bella. She is actually jumps in front of Tommy to save him from Victoria.”

Dr. Young scribbled a few notes on her legal pad then looked up at me. “If I remember correctly, you don’t know what Victoria looks like. How do you know it’s Victoria trying to kill Tommy and Bella in your dream?”

I took a deep breath. “James is there and he calls her Victoria.”

“Have you had anymore dreams about your parents or the accident?” I shook my head. “This is good. I have a suggestion. I want you to keep a dream journal. I want you to write down every dream you have. Don’t leave out any details.”

I blushed. I didn’t think I could write down every detail of all my dreams. Not all of them were nightmares. I did have a few very good dreams about Bella. There was no way I would be able to share that with Dr. Young.

“Edward, I mean every dream. I don’t care how scary, happy, or even erotic they are. You need to write down every detail you can remember. I will not be reading this journal; however, we will be discussing your dreams. The journal will allow you to look back and pick out things that concern you. Hopefully, we can breakdown these dreams and find out what is truly bothering you.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Dr. Young glanced at the clock and started putting her notes into my file. “Our time is up, Edward. I think you are making some great progress. Please start the dream journal tomorrow. I have a feeling we will have a lot to discuss next week.”

I stood up and shook Dr. Young’s hand. “Thanks so much. I’ll see you next week with my dream journal.”

Bella smiled when I opened the door. I double checked the day and time of my next appointment before we headed to the hospital. Bella skipped, well attempted to skip, all the way to the car. I paged Carlisle when we got settled in the car. Bella was bouncing in her seat. I wondered how many cups of coffee she actually drank this morning.

“Are you just a little excited, love?” I couldn’t help but laugh at her giddiness.

“Yes! I finally get this thing off my wrist. That also means I get this one off my leg in two weeks.”

I shook my head as I pulled into the hospital parking garage. I opened Bella’s door for her and helped her out of the car. She grabbed my hand and started skipping toward the entrance. I loved seeing Bella this happy. She skipped all the way to my father’s office. He was coming around the corner and started laughing when he saw Bella.

“Someone’s in a good mood,” he teased.

“Absolutely! After today I will be one step closer to normal.” Bella gave my dad a big hug before we entered Carlisle’s office and sat down.

Carlisle examined Bella’s wrist. He seemed pleased with her flexibility and strength. “Bella, have you experienced much pain this past week?”

“Nope,” she said, popping the p.

“Good. I think we can remove this cast today. Follow me.” Bella jumped up and started skipping again. She was beaming when Carlisle finished removing the cast. She wiggled her wrist around, giggling.

“Bella, I want you to visit the physical therapy department and get your wrist evaluated. I’ll let the physical therapists decide if they need to work on building your strength and flexibility back up.”

Bella grimaced. “It feels fine. Can’t we just skip that part?”

Carlisle shook his head and sighed. “Bella, your medical records indicate this is not your first broken bone. You know the procedures. The last thing I want is for you to permanently injure your wrist because it wasn’t strong enough for daily use. It has been immobilized for quite a few weeks.”

Bella bowed her head. “I know. I just hate PT. Come on, Edward. Let’s get this over with.”

Bella pouted from the time we left Carlisle’s office until we were finished with her evaluation. The physical therapist decided to schedule her weekly sessions for the next month. He also gave her a few exercises she needed to work on daily.

The removal of Bella's cast was one more reminder of James gone. I decided to make it my mission to rid our lives of everything related to James. The next thing to go would be her leg cast. With the help of Tyler Crowley, Victoria would soon be out of our lives too. Once she was eliminated, Bella and I could move on with our lives. I couldn’t wait.

We were walking back to my car when my phone rang. I was happy to see it was Tyler.

“Hello, Tyler.”

“Hey, Edward. Charlie had no luck getting anything back on Drew’s prints. I had my buddy at the Portland PD run them. You aren’t going to believe what he found.”