The Passing Years-12Tangled

The song that inspired Jacob/Bella scene at the end of the chapter

“Bella,” Brian poked his head in the kitchen. “The new order of books are here.”

Bella dusted off her hands and joined Brian at the back door of the store where they dealt with loadings and unloadings. It’s been a week since then, a week since they last saw each other but strangely, Bella wasn’t worried. Some would say she was too busy to worry with summer coming in and with it a large flux of customers, new books and new recipes and new displays to plan. But it wasn’t that, not mostly anyway, somehow, Bella just knew that they were okay.

Bella wiped her forehead with a hand and signed the order papers before helping Brian and Sean to carry the boxes in.

But then again, she thought, it has been a week.

She stopped at Lulu’s side and pondered her choices. “Lu, would you please box 3 of the apple pies you made, three dozen of your chocolate chip cookies, those macadamia nuts, the oatmeal too. Put some cold milk and hot coffee into a thermos and ring me up, okay? I’m going to take the afternoon off.”

Lulu didn’t even raise an eyebrow, Bella knew that the crew had noticed Jacob’s sudden absence but they showed impressive self restraint by not commenting upon it. “Sure thing, boss.”

“Might want to take a bath, though.” Tina appeared at the doorway.

“Yeah, wear that flirty skirt I gave you last Christmas.” Misha joined the conversation.

Bella scowled at them before passing them by, mumbling. “I am not wearing a skirt just to go to a garage.”

Misha, Tina and Lulu followed Bella’s progressed up her stairs then exchanged silent screams of excitement.

***

Bella did take a bath but she didn’t wear a skirt. However, as she parked, she threw a nervous glance at the rearview mirror, checking the lip gloss that she swiped on her lips and her teeth just in case the chocolate she sneaked out of the numerous boxes decided to make an appearance. She wore her usual get up, a dark green long sleeved T shirt with a tan jacket and blue jeans. Summer or no summer, it was still cold. She stopped at the doorway of the big, wide garage that was simply named, JEQ (Jacob, Embry, Quil) and stood in awe of its size and productivity. There were a lot of cars in it, antiques, expensive cars shared places with sedans and minivans. She recognized one or two of the faces that were washing some of the cars. Charlie had explained to her that Jacob and the boys were taking on more responsibility toward the tribe by giving some high schoolers with jobs outside the rez, and even taking in some in their garage on weekends as part timers. Some people were doubtful about giving their cars under the care of a pack of teenagers but they seemed to be doing well.

Remembering the way Jacob obsessed about machines, Bella was sure that he wouldn’t let anyone close to any kind of engine without being absolutely sure that they know what they’re doing.

Bella had to grin when Quil appeared out of nowhere and zoomed in immediately at her. “Bella, what a surprise.”

Bella pulled out something from her jacket pocket and had him skidding to a stop.

“Is that…?”

“Chocolate chip cookies, especially for you.”

Bella let out an oof when he wrapped his arms around in an exuberant hug that lifted her off her toes. “You’re—can’t breathe—welcome.”

It wasn’t a surprise that when Quil let her down and stepped back from her, the package has removed itself from her hands onto his. Bella shook her head at the excited grin on his face as he opened the foil and sniffed, his eyes closed in ecstasy. She tilted her head when footsteps clattered nearer and nearer and unsurprisingly, Seth, Colin and Brady toppled over each other, a mischievous twist on their lips as they zoned in on the package in Quil’s hands. To prevent bloodshed, she tossed the keys to the store’s delivery van. “Boys, there are still some boxes inside my car, can you take it out, please?”

Seth grinned as he caught it in the air. “Sure, Bella. Come on, guys.”

Quil sat on some crates and munched on a cookie, all the while grinning at her in a way that made a slow itching flush creep up her cheeks. “What?”

“Jake’s out back.”

Bella knew that denying that she was searching for Jake was a useless and stupid endeavor but she wanted to do it anyway because of the way he was smiling at her. But she walked toward the way he pointed, passing through the many engines and machines and people that lifted their heads when she passed by. She had a feeling that as soon as she was out of hearing range, Quil was going to be bombarded by questions.

She poked her head into a section that parted the work area into what seemed to be a communal area, with an office upstairs and a little kitchen underneath it. Couches and sofa’s and chairs riddled the room like mushrooms poking out from the ground, worn and awfully comfortably looking. There was even a book rack filled with automobiles models and books about cars that, she laughed, ranged from children’s books until the newest automobile magazine. She could see Jacob, Quil and Embry here, resting and goofing off with the pack and their crew. A sudden roar of laughter pricked her attention to a door that went out back and peeked through to see Jacob who was, not surprisingly, bending over a car with five Quileute boys who were grinning at whatever he was saying.

“I’m serious.” Jacob added to whatever it was he said that made them laugh. She saw him straighten and place a hand on the hood of the blinding pink sports car he was working on, caressing it like a living thing. “A car,” he paused for effect. “is like a woman.”

Bella lifted an eyebrow at the serious and heartfelt statement and couldn’t help but snicker with the teenagers.

“You mean they’re moody, high maintenanced and change their minds every freaking second?”

Jacob tsked and sent the boy who said that a pitying glance. “It’s that kind of attitude that makes you womanless, Caleb.”

Bella rolled her eyes in amusement at the general good humored ribbing. She watched as Jacob swiped a loving hand at the car’s paint and bent again under the hood, his arms working and twisting and lifting. “Like women, every car is different but underneath the gloss and glitter, its inner workings are pretty much the same.”

Caleb’s face, pretty as it was, widened into an unholy grin that had Jacob’s hand sneaking out to slap the side of his head to the snickering crowd’s amusement.

“I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Anyway,” Jacob cut off Caleb’s whining, “very much like a woman, if you take care of her, listen to her, pay attention when she tries to tell you something and give her all the lovin’ she can handle,” Jacob, grinning at the slow chuckles, lifted a finger as if asking for silence then turned the key at the ignition. The engine clicked on with a smooth, sexy feline purr. “You can count on it that she won’t let you down.”

Amidst the claps and laughter, Caleb scoffed. “Keep your day job, Jacob. You don’t know anything about woman.”

“And you do?”

“I have five girl cousins.”

“And how old are you?”

“Age doesn’t matter in all things concerning knowledge.” Caleb said sagely.

Jacob flashed a smirk at the teen. “Age might not matter but experience does and before you say some half-assed witty rebuttal,” Bella jolted in place when Jacob lifted his head and looked her way, smiling in an offhand amused manner. “You’re not the one who has a girl waiting for you.”

She desperately pushed against the sudden urge to tuck tail and run when several pair of eyes swiveled to her.

“Hey, Bells.”

She thought that despite the warm and fuzzy feeling she had at seeing him, there should be some bits and pieces of awkwardness left when they actually stood face to face but strangely, there was none.

Zip.

Nada.

“How long have you known I was here?”

“Actually…” He trailed off and sneaked a glance at the pack of teenagers who watched them with interest.

Right, werewolf senses, Bella thought with a scowl. Probably heard me as I pulled up or smelled me, whatever.

Jacob grinned. “I smell food.”

Bella smiled in amusement. “Seth, Colin and Brady are…”

Seth, Colin and Brady ambled in from the side garage door that was wide open, their arms filled with piles of peach colored boxes. “Food.”

Bella wasn’t at all surprised that Quil appeared at her back and Embry came down the stairs from the office. She rolled her eyes when they looked at her with puppy dog eyes. “Bon appetite.”

***

“I will never get use to it.”

Jacob, Embry and Quil laughed at the trickle of awe in her voice as she watched them packed food into their stomachs as if the world was ending. She inched away from the office’s large glass wall that overlooked the commune place where the crew and .co was annihilating her boxes.

“Stay long enough and you will.” Embry patted her on the back in a sympathetic gesture and filched the coffee cup she had in her hands. Bella searched his face for a trace of sarcasm but found none.

Her eyes met Jacob’s who smiled at her over his coffee cup.

“What brings you to our humble abode, Bella?” Embry asked while he circled the table they were sitting around and sat at Jacob’s right.

Quil scratched his chin. “Don’t tell me, you were just passing by…”

She sniffed at the identical sniggers on their faces. “Of course not. I’m here to see Jacob.”

There, Bella thought while she planted her butt in one of the chairs across from where the boys were sitting, think about that.

She wondered whether Embry and Quil realized that they were sitting slightly behind Jacob as if deferring to him even in something as small as this.

“Why?” Quil piped out.

Bella stared back, wanting to bristle at the third degree but knowing that she deserved it. She also wanted to say that it was none of their business but really, being pack and best friends that were closer to brothers, she couldn’t really bring herself to say that or to laugh the question away. “Because.” She wrenched back her coffee cup from Embry and took a sip, she couldn’t back down now and in a show of strength, directed her words solely to Jacob. “I wanted to see you.”

She ignored the two other men and concentrated on Jacob, the well being feeling she had still flowed strong inside her and she could meet his eyes without flinching or second guessing or doubting herself.

Jacob, who sat watching her with an unnerving still intensity, gave a small nod, and just like that Embry and Quil grinned at her and stood up. They waved and walked out the door without saying another word and she returned her eyes back to Jacob. His eyes were as warm as his smile and even though she couldn’t quite put her finger on what had changed, she knew something had, it was as if she felt the sudden loosening of his muscles, heard the breath that was lodged deep inside his chest go out in a sigh. It was embarrassing how she felt eerily in tune with him.

“Are you going to stay a while?”

Bella smiled back. “I might.”

To think that after four years they should have a lot to say to one another, but Bella and Jacob merely sat back, sipped their coffee and enjoyed the perfect, easy comfortable moment. The air between them, for once was still of questions and doubts.

Her lips quirked into a smile when she heard him let out a deep, even chuckle. The tilt of her head was question enough and Jacob rubbed a hand over his hair. “I gave you a couple more days, actually.”

She blinked, not even trying to misunderstand the statement.

“I just never thought that you’d be the one to come to me, at least, not so soon. Not after last night.”

She watched his shifting face. “Is that what it was? You trying to warn me off? To keep me at a distance?”

The hand that held the coffee cup paused in the air before it landed on the table with a soft click. “I kissed you because I wanted to.”

Jacob watched her lashes flutter down, her cheeks a dusky rose color. “It does seem like one of those things that would have made me…”

“Run away?”

She grimaced, her eyes meeting his. “That sounds so juvenile.”

The smile on his face was ageless but heavy with meaning and perforated the air with the weight of their history. Every conversation they had pulsed in the air as if she could pluck one out and see each word unravel before her eyes.

“I would have, I guess.” Bella admitted. “But it just didn’t feel…”

The smoke from their coffee cup swirled silently between them in a slow, seductive dance.

“That’s what makes it so hard.” Jacob met her solemn, vulnerable eyes and waited, waited until she blinked once, twice. Why, he didn’t know, he just wanted to see her blink, but instead he saw her as she was that night; soft, warm, trusting in the curve of his arms. “That it didn’t feel wrong.”

His voice was soft and matter of fact but she felt the impact of each word like a sledgehammer beating away at her heart.

“It doesn’t, does it? It never felt wrong.”

Jacob and Bella stared at each other, totally at loss about what to do with each other but were secure in the knowledge that they were in it together. When Jacob flipped his hand palm up on the table, Bella slid her palm against his.

Their fingers twisted, threaded, squeezed and held on.