Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 58 (Eclipse 17)

The phone rang a third time just as I was finishing up the dishes.

"She's not home yet," I said, getting somewhat exasperated by Jake's tenacity. Honestly, he was getting to be as obsessed as Ed-

"Well I should expect not," the voice of my ex-wife zapped me through the phone like an electric shock. "I just dropped her off at the airport a few hours ago! Honestly, Charlie, is that how you always answer the phone? I can only imagine the poor people of Forks calling 9-1-1 in an emergency, only to get you on the other end."

"That's not- that's not how it works. And anyways, sorry, I thought you were Jake. He's been calling all morning to see if Bella was back."

"Awe Jacob. Is he doing well? How's Billy? They must all be devastated, what with what happened to Harry. You be sure to tell them, and especially Sue, that I'm thinking and praying for them okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll pass along the message." I couldn't help but harbour some resentment that Renee's condolences about Harry didn't seem to extend to me. And the idea of bringing Ren up with Sue felt all sorts of wrong.

"Look, you don't have to, if you're going to be that way, I just thought it would be nice to let them know I-"

"I'm not being any sort of way, Ren, I just. I don't think it does much for anyone who's grieving to hear that someone they knew two decades ago is currently thinking about how sad they are right now, okay?"

"Well you very much are being a way, case in point. And who are you to decide what it does for anyone? To know that people care about them and are praying for them? That's a nice thing to hear, especially after such a tragedy. Look, I was really hoping we weren't going to fight again, but you obviously can't help but being offended any time I even try to extend an olive branch, so-"

"No, no. It's fine. I'm... sorry. It's a sore subject, still. I'm still... grieving, myself," I choked out through gritted teeth. Apologizing to Ren was an agonizing affair, but I knew it was the only way to keep her on the line, and I wanted to know what had happened over the weekend.

"I can sympathize with you, Charlie, I do, but that is no excuse to take such an antagonistic tone with me! Especially after hearing from Bella and Edward all weekend just how much you've been terrorizing that poor young man. Honestly, you had him on two hour visitations? Are you running a penitentiary over there?"

"Oh that's what he told you, hey? Did he happen to say anything about taking out Bella's battery so that she couldn't go see Jake?"

"He did, in fact. I asked him point blank about it and he said that Bella had asked him to do some work on the battery, to revamp its charge, or whatever, and Bella corroborated the story. So I think you've got some more apologizing to do to him when they get back there, making such a big deal about this."

I was aghast. "That's not even how car batteries work, Ren. You don't do work on them. You might jump start them sometimes, but you don't need to take it out of the damn truck to do that. And Bella told me that night that her truck wouldn't start – she didn't know her battery was gone!"

"She said she forgot he'd done it," Ren answered matter-of-factly, not addressing the prior point. I nearly hung up in frustration. "Anyway, I think Edward is quite the gentleman. Bella would be lucky to land a man like that. It's not exactly a buffet of offerings out there for young women these days, Charlie, and he really does seem to be in love with her, and her him."

"I don't doubt their love for each other, I just... You didn't feel like anything was weird or standoffish about him? Did he even eat meals with you?"

"Well, he was a bit withdrawn. He said that he was on a special diet, due to stomach issues, and could only ingest a specific meal replacement drink that he brought with him. You didn't know that? I can't believe you didn't know that. Have you even tried to get to know him at all? This might be Bella's future husband, Charlie, you'd better start trying to get to know him a little better and go easier on the guy, he was really charming when he was here! Poor guy's stomach troubles stopped him from joining us on a few hikes, I sure hope he's doing well on the plane..."

I couldn't be bothered to debate Edward with Renee anymore, it was clearly a lost cause.

"How was Bells, Ren? Did she seem... happy, at least?"

"Oh yeah! She mostly talked about Edward and his family, of course, they seem like quite the bunch! It's nice to hear that Bella has so many friends to hang out with at their place. And that Alice! She called me a week ago to, how did she put it, 'make my acquaintance.' Isn't that so sweet? She invited me to come visit and stay with them if I wanted to, to be there for Bella's graduation, and I may just take her up on the offer – from what I hear their house is more of a mansion. I'd love to see it. Charlie, are you there? Are you even listening?"

The thought of Renee over at the Cullens' place felt like a punch to the gut. I'd never once been invited inside that cold mausoleum, and Renee was being invited for an extended stay?

"Would Paul be coming as well?" I choked out. "Obviously you'd be welcome to stay here instead, I could take the couch, but I couldn't... It wouldn't... It would feel weird, obviously, if Paul were coming too."

"No, no, he's busy with the team. But honestly Charlie, it would be even weirder for me to come stay there with you all by myself, don't you think? I mean, Paul isn't a jealous guy or anything, but it would probably be a bit too much for me, and for you, and Bella too of course... It's okay, thank you for the invite, but I think I'll stay at the Cullens' if I do come. That's partly why I called, I just wanted to make sure you'd be okay with it if I did. Or I guess to give you the heads up, not that I'm asking your permission, or anything, she's my daughter just as much as she is yours, but I knew it would be, uhm, jarring, perhaps, for me to just show up, or for you to find out about it through Bella."

"Yeah, no, it would be fine," I said, stonefaced. Would it be fine? Or would it be devastating to see Renee back here? Having her and Bella both spending the majority of their time at the Cullens', while I sit here in this ramshackle old home, all alone? It'd be a cross I'd have to bear when it came to it. "It would be good, I think, for Bella. To have both of us here for her graduation. She hasn't had her whole family together since she was a baby. It'd be good. A full circle kind of thing." She started her childhood with us here in Forks, and she'd be ending it with us here as well, I thought, but didn't say.

"Okay, well I'll let you know when I know, alright? God knows plane tickets from here to there aren't cheap. Alice, bless her, said that her father would be willing to pay, but they've already done so much for Bells, I couldn't possibly accept. Oh shoot, I've gotta run. I'm glad we had this chat, Charlie, really. Please remind Bella to let me know when she's gotten back home safe, okay? Bye!"

She hung up the phone before I had a chance to ask her anything more about how Bella was over the weekend. As much as Ren talked a big game about being in tune with chakras and the moon and people's spirits or whatever, she tended to be a bit blind to seeing anything she didn't want to see. Bells had been struggling this past week. I'd thought it mostly to do with picking a college to go to, or Edward being his controlling self, or any number of other bullshit things that a teenage girl has to navigate, but after visiting Billy's and talking with Jake on the phone, I wondered just how big a piece he fit into the puzzle. It seemed likely to come to a head when Bella got back, either way. I just hoped she was ready for it.