In all the café books in all the world, he has to walk into mine, Bella thought as she watched Jacob strode into the—suddenly small looking—café, a nervous giggle bubbling up her throat at the way his dark eyes honed in immediately on her once he opened the door. She hoped desperately that the guilty flush that rose up her throat was not interpreted as anything else but that, and—her flush deepening—she hoped fervently that he hadn’t heard anything that her friends talked about.
The odds were not in her favor.
“Jacob.” She waved from her place from behind the counter with a limp hand, ignoring the way Brian, Lulu, Tina and Misha stared up at them from their perch at the corner booth. Jacob nodded at them politely but walked silently toward her. “Charlie wanted me to give you this.”
Bella frowned. “Dad?” For the first time, she realized that he had a plastic bag in his hands. She got several tupperwares out of it, the ones that she usually leaves at the house filled with food for Charlie to heat up.
She looked up at him in question.
“He was with dad today, he mentioned that he was going up to see you to deliver this.“ He shrugged those massive shoulders. “I promised to come by after work so I might as well take it up for him.”
“I told him not to do that, I could pick it up if he only told me.”
Jacob gave her a weird look, a look that he got when she was missing something obvious. “I don’t think he comes here for the tupperwares.”
Bella blinked, once again finding herself wondering on how much Jacob actually saw. He’s just so perceptive that most of the time it makes her feel…immature. “How is Billy, by the way? I mean, Charlie talks about him…”
“He’s good.” The answer was clipped and short, as if he realized he was being way too friendly and wanted to just go back to business, he shifted his feet to look over her head at the espresso machine. Bella couldn’t help but feel a little stung by—what she saw as—his dismissal of her. “You don’t really have to if you’re too busy, you know.” She bit her lip at the sharp, petulant tone in her voice. It was unreasonable of her, she knew. Here he was, after work and she was pouting because he didn’t want to talk to her.
Well, if he was being all business-like about it, so could she. “I have to pay you of course-“ she trailed off when Jacob place a large hand on her right shoulder and pushed her gently but firmly aside so he could walk through, his voice tired and flat, “Shut up, Bells, and let me work.”
She gaped at him but was ignored as he planted himself in front of the espresso machine, but even as she realized that Charlie and Billy must know that they’ve met and were probably gossiping like mad, and from the corner of her eyes she could see her staff elbow each other like their trying to break each other’s ribs, she couldn’t quite smother the happy voice that sighed in her mind because she also realized something else; he called me Bells.
The warm fuzzy feeling didn’t last, instead it was replaced by irritation and—she cringed—irrational jealousy at the way her staff twittered around Jacob. She couldn’t quite decide whether she was jealous of the way Jacob immediately bonded with her friends or because her staff was encroaching on her time with Jacob.
Maybe a little bit of both.
She folded napkins in her solitary corner—actually felt her face settling into a sulk—all the while glaring at the happy group in front of her. Brian—who was so intimidated before—had stars in his eyes as he watched and listened to Jacob who—patiently and generously—explained to him how to fix the espresso machine. Looking at them, it reminded her of how Jacob was with Seth and that of course made her think of the pack and Emily and life at the reservation.
She was not surprised by how her friends immediately gravitated and liked Jacob, she would have been more surprise if they hadn’t. He just had a way with him that made everybody trusts him.
She pressed on a napkin with far too much force when Lulu—for the third time—pressed Jacob to eat one of her cookies while Misha topped his coffee.
He’s not here to eat and drink coffee, he’s here to fix the espresso machine.
And make up with me, a small and mutinous voice added to her rant. A voice that sounded way too much like a spoiled child that wasn’t getting enough attention.
“Hey, Bella.” Tina came back from the kitchen with a big smile. “Can we eat the peach pie that’s in the oven?”
The napkin in her hand crumpled into a pathetic ball. “Sure.” Yeah, whatever. Why not? You already have my friend, why not my pie, too?
Brian surfaced enough from his hero worship to hear the word pie, his head popped out of the counter. “Peach pie? Want some of that.”
“Me, too.” Lulu chimed in, spoon already in hand. “You’re in luck, Jacob. Bella’s peach pie is fit for the Gods.”
“I’ll get you a plate, Jake.” Misha followed Brian, bickering as they go.
Jake, is it? Bella’s fingers twitched around the crumpled napkin.
She lifted her eyes and met Jacob’s dark ones. “They’re nice.”
“Yeah, sure.” She caught the bite in her tone and tried to fight the guilty flush that resulted. “No, I mean, they are…” She trailed off as he merely stared at her with a shadow of familiar amusement. “They are.” She muttered inaudibly.
“Here we go.” Tina balanced the pie and a pot of coffee on her two hands while Lulu, Brian and Misha followed her like chicks, banging spoons and plates together.
It made her smile.
Brian closed his eyes at his first spoonful. “Oh, man. I swear. It gets better and better every time.”
Lulu squinted at her spoonful before gobbling it up. “Someday, Bella. Someday. I will know your secret and you will bow to me.”
Bella felt her lips widened in a smug grin, feeling pretty triumphant that Lulu—the baking wizard—didn’t have a clue on why her peach pie tastes so great. It made the older woman crazy. She was feeling pretty satisfied that she totally forgot her earlier tension on having Jacob sit beside her, if he wasn’t so big, if she wasn’t so in tune with his every movement, she could even—almost—forgot that he was there.
“Well, it still tastes the same so she probably still used…” Jacob blinked when Bella—much to the frustration and surprise of her cronies—suddenly slapped a hand on his mouth. Shock rippled across her palm and up her arm at the touch, she’d forgotten how hot he was.
Slowly—like she accidentally came upon an irritated bear—she took her hand off his mouth, grimacing inwardly—flushing outwardly—and tried to ignore the residue of heat and the feel of his lips on her suddenly damp palm. She forced herself to meet his eyes. “Sorry, it’s just…it’s a secret.” She explained listlessly.
Jacob merely looked at her without acknowledging her explanation but the pulsing tension between them burst to bits when Lulu hissed in frustration, her blue eyes flashing with aggravation. “Jacob, you know? You do, don’t you? That’s just not fair.”
Jacob’s wide lips spread in a teasing smile. “Of course I know. I was the one who created the secret recipe.”
Tina, Misha and Brian gawked while Lulu sucked in a breath. “No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Jacob and Bella answered simultaneously and then stared at each other.
“I did.”
“You didn’t.”
Jacob scoffed. “I was the one who got the idea—“
In a fit of self righteousness, Bella huffed, forgetting her wariness and her earlier hesitation. “You were horsing around and accidentally knocked over…” Bella trailed off when she noticed the four pair of multi-colored and multi-shaped eyes that observed them with far too much interest,”…the stuff.”
“And who bought…the stuff?”
Bella stared at him with disbelief. “And who told you to buy...the stuff?”
“Who finally figured out the right combination of the,” His eyes flicked to Lulu who was nearly salivating,”…stuff?”
“I did.” Bella narrowed her eyes in irritation. “You merely tasted and say..’yeah, this is good’, which was no help at all, by the way.”
Jacob ignored her. “And wasn’t the one that got my mark of approval was the one that tasted the best?”
Bella opened her mouth to debate but couldn’t quite find fault with what he said. She frowned, thought over, conceded, than negotiated. “Joint effort?”
He wasn’t quite looking at her but a small smile quirked his lips. “Agreed.”
Bella didn’t realize she was smiling at him until she saw the flicker in his eyes, she fought the searing hurt when he suddenly stood up. “It’s late, I better finish the machine.”
She huddled onto the booth she was sitting on, it wasn’t until he stood away that she realized that he was unconsciously warming her. She felt the lost of warmth immediately. “OK.” She kept her voice as light. “I’ll wrap some of this for you to take to Billy.”
He brushed a hand over his shoulder-length hair and she had to stop herself from sighing at the familiar sight, her heart ached when he didn’t spare her a glance. “Yeah, that’d be great.”
Bella returned her gaze to her half-eaten pie when he took a few steps toward the counter and focused so much on it that she almost dropped her spoon when Jacob called her name.
“If you have something for Charlie, I don’t mind taking it up to him, too.”
She couldn’t look up; she was too busy blinking away the moisture in her eyes. It wasn’t quite an olive branch, but it was close enough that Bella wanted to grab at it with both hands, she wondered if she did, would he pull away?
“Yeah, that’s…that’s nice of you, Jacob.” She couldn’t help the softness in her voice. Her stomach sunk when—from the corner of her eyes—she saw him step back, his usually warm and husky tone of voice lowered and chilled like an invisible wall between them. “Don’t mention it.”
He didn’t look at her after that and she stayed at the corner, away from the warm, cheerful circle of her friends that crowded around Jacob. She ignored the inquisitive gaze of Tina’s and Misha’s and the sympathetic look in Lulu’s.
Brian however, didn’t seem to notice a thing.
“Say, Jake.” Tina propped herself on the counter. “Are you a Quileute?”
Bella saw Jacob tipped his head back to look at her. “Yeah.”
Tina grinned, turned and crossed her legs on the counter—the one that Bella had just wiped. “Do you know the Redcreeks? Matthew and Gabriel?”
Jacob’s hands stilled as he twisted toward her, his frowning expression made her laugh. “I take it you do know them?”
He wiped a hand on his cheek, a small grin on his face. “Yeah, what are you doing hanging out with those trouble makers?”
Tina giggled. “No choice. They’re my stepbrothers.”
“Step brothers?” Jacob’s brow furrowed. “I never saw you around the rez.”
The pursed her pouty lips. “It’s not like you know everybody in the rez, Jake.”
Bella stifled a scoff when she saw Jacob hid a small smile.
“I know that David hasn’t remarried.”
“No, but their mother did. She married my dad.”
Jacob sidled a look at the teen. “And you get them as brothers by marriage. Poor you.”
Tina scowled at him. “They’re not that bad. They’re fun.”
Jacob merely mm’d.
“They’re actually going to pick me up today, I’m gonna stay in the rez for the weekend, they promised to take me to the rez bazaar. They say it’s kind of cool.”
Jacob’s face was sardonic. “Really?”
Tina’s brow furrowed at his reaction. “Isn’t it?”
Jacob smiled. “No, the bazaar is great. Lots of stuff happening. It’s one of our biggest events. It’s just that your brothers haven’t done a thing to help.”
Tina gave him a cheeky grin. “And aren’t you glad they haven’t?”
His warm, even chuckle drove needles into Bella’s heart. When the bell chimed and two boys came in, hunching over the cold, Bella swore it was a conspiracy.
Matthew’s black eyes inched toward Bella and grinned a mile wide. “Is that peach pie I smell?”
Bella sighed and gave up her half-eaten pie to keep the peace. Gabriel loitered to the table and blinked identical eyes and grin an identical grin as his brother.
“There’s more in the kitchen.” She shook her head as the twins stumbled to the kitchen. They’ve been a constant infectious pain but she’d come to look at them as her connection to the reservation, some could say, to Jacob. She’d hear glimpses of Jacob and Sam and the other pack members in their conversation that she encouraged their visits.
“Ah, Bella, my love. When are you going to marry me and cook me delicious stuff everyday for the rest of our lives?” Gabriel mumbled over his full mouth as he walked toward her, an impish look in his eyes. Bella winced inwardly at the flirtatious tone in his voice and tried very, very hard not to look when Jacob stood slowly from his perch behind the counter that hid him from sight. Matthew, who’d just walked out of the kitchen, did catch sight of him and screeched to a stop behind his brother who remained oblivious of the tall, shadow that towered over them all. Tina—still on the counter—lifted both eyebrows at Matthew’s reaction—mouth open, eyes twitching wildly and back military straight—while Brian and Misha kicked each other under the table.
Lulu however, merely leaned back and smirked.
Swallowing hard when Jacob spared him a glance while he wiped his big, strong hands on a cloth, Matthew inched toward his brother. “Gabe.”
Gabriel shrugged his brother’s hand off as he grinned into Bella’s eyes. “Wait for your turn, Matt. Come on, Bella. Can you think of anyone worth cooking for than me…”
Matthew’s hand smacked his brother’s back, whispering from the corner of his mouth. “Jacob.”
“Jacob?” Gabriel asked, his brow furrowed, wondering what his brother was getting at. “Well, yeah. Jacob is big and cool but…”
Not waiting for his twin to incriminate them much further, Matthew pulled his brother around where he came face to face—well, more like face to chest—with Jacob.
“Jacob.” Gabriel squeaked out, nearly dropping his plate if Matthew hadn’t anticipated his reaction. “Jacob. Hey. You’re here.”
Matthew propped his plates along with his brother at the table was at, then shuffled near his brother, both of them looking like kids caught while doing something wrong by an authority figure.
Bella figured that if she was caught sneaking out of the house by Charlie when she was not suppose to, she would probably look like that too. Though it was just so odd to think of Jacob as an authority figure since he was more likely to break the rules than following it but looking at him stand before the two teenage boys, he did look like an authoritative figure, especially with his height and built, the way he towered over them, the way his face settled into calm and forceful lines.
“It’s late boys.”
“We know.” Matthew started to argue but quailed under the weight of his stare. “We were just going to pick up Tina then come back home.”
“Is that why you snuck out?”
“Yeah.” Gabriel mumbled and shuffled his feet when Jacob stared him down.
“The mouth freshener is a good idea, but you still stink.”
Bella saw that she wasn’t the only one that was confused on why Jacob thought it was important to grill the boys over their hygiene but by the way Matthew and Gabriel exchanged guilty glances and the way Jacob’s dark eyes focused intensely on their faces, she got the impression that the problem was something bigger.
“I don’t care if you two have a death wish but leave your sister out of it.”
Tina’s eyes widened while Matthew and Gabriel hunched over. “It was only two beers.”
“I don’t care.” Jacob snapped, the sharp edges in his voice made the two boys shrunk even further. “The fact that you tried—an asinine attempt but still an attempt—to hide it means that you know that it’s wrong. The fact that you want to drag your sister into this makes me believe you guys are even more of an idiot.”
“Matt, Gabe. You guys are drunk?” Tina slid down the counter. “You know what I think about drinking and driving.”
“No, we’re not. We just—“ Gabriel fell quiet when Jacob held up a hand, palms up. “Aw, Jake.”
“Give it to me.”
Gabriel handed his car keys over to Jacob with a silent ‘aw, man’.
“I’ll drive you home, all three of you.”
“But.” Matthew started but capitulated at Jacob’s dark stare. “All right.”
“And you’re going to help out with the bazaar cleaning crew as punishment.”
Gabriel pursed his lips but nodded, as did his twin. Bella—knowing them as she did—was sure that they were already hatching up a plan to get out of it and from the look on Jacob’s face, he also realized it. “Your parents are going to know about this.”
Matthew and Gabriel’s face was the very picture of pained betrayal. “Jake.”
“But, they might not take your car if they see both of you helping out with the cleaning.”
Bella hid a smile when Matthew and Gabriel—knowing they were outmaneuvered—sighed. “Alright.“
“Now sit down, both of you. Eat your pie while I get ready.” He caught my eye as they boys shuffled to seats and scarf down their huge slices, ignoring Tina who scowled down at them. “You don’t mind if I keep my bike out front, do you? I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”
“No, it’s no problem.”
He looked around, as if gathering his thoughts. She saw him winced as if he just realized where he was and who he was with but he returned his eyes to her. “Is there a place where I can wash up?”
Bella stood, pushing her hair from her face. “Ah, yeah. The kitchen—“
“Bella.” Tina pouted. “I just scrubbed and washed those.”
Lulu stretched in a nonchalant manner. “It probably better if he uses your bathroom, hun.”
Bella froze, she noticed that so did Jacob and they exchanged awkward glances. “Sure. Up here.”
Bella stepped toward the back rooms where the stairs toward her floor was and Jacob followed her with silent steps.
It didn’t take long for Lulu, Tina, Brian and Misha to crowd the boys.
Tina grinned at her two step brothers who sullenly look back at her.
“Why didn’t you tell us that Jacob is here?”
She shrugged. “How should I know that both of you are his bitches.”
The boy’s eyes snapped back towards the back room as if trying to see if Jacob was there. “Don’t talk like that, sheesh.”
Misha frowned. “I’ve never seen you guys so…repentant.”
“Yeah, you hardly followed mom’s orders.”
Gabriel hissed at his step sister. “It’s different, all right? Didn’t I tell you about Billy Black?”
“Yeah, don’t piss him off.” Tina answered than add as an afterthought. “And he’s sort of the chief.”
“Well,” Matthew continued. “Jacob is his son.”
“Ah.” Brian nodded sagely.
Misha however frowned. “So? It’s not like he’s next to be chief. Right?”
Gabriel scowled at her. “Might as well be but it’s not only that. He also runs with Sam.”
“Who’s Sam?”
“He’s like an unofficial elder, the council listens to them. They’re like the next gen of the tribal council.”
Tina and Misha and Lulu and Brian made an ‘ooh’ sound.
“Why is he here, anyway?” Gabriel pouted.
Tina grinned and leaned closer to her brothers. “It seems that Bella and Jacob has a history.”
Matthew, who’ve been quiet suddenly straightened, seeming to connect the dots. “Well, yeah. Bella is Charlie’s daughter, of course she knows Jacob. Billy is Charlie’s best friend. They hang out a lot.” He slapped his brother at the back of his head, ignoring his brother’s scowled. “And didn’t mom talked about something about Jacob who is still hung up on Charlie’s girl who’s gotten herself hitched in an insanely young age?”
“Oh, yeah.” Gabriel frowned. “But wait, Charlie only has one daughter. Bella.”
Lulu, Brian, Tina and Misha gawked. “Bella’s married?”
No comments:
Post a Comment