The List

Chapter 3: Accomplice

BellaPOV

By the time we got to the caterers to taste-test items for the menu, I was a nervous wreck. It had nothing to do with the wedding planning. It had everything to do with my damn omniscient best friend and soon-to-be sister-in-law. Alice.

Oh, there didn't seem to be anything to be nervous about. Alice was her usual cheerful and chipper self, making perfectly pleasant conversation about the guest list and our wedding registry and an upcoming shopping trip and my bachelorette party. But the whole time I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. WHEN IS SHE GOING TO START GRILLING ME ABOUT THE DAMN NOTEBOOK ALREADY?

At least I wasn't nervous about the notebook itself. Anymore. After my shower, I had shoved it three feet in between my mattress and box spring. Not the most creative hiding place in the world, but I felt confident Edward wouldn't find it there. He would have no reason to look.

A nervous stomach was not the best for taste testing, especially since Alice couldn't help me, but soon I had made my selections and I was quite pleased with them. Having selected the menu myself also had the unexpected benefit of making me feel like I was in control of something related to the wedding, which made me feel exponentially better about it, more relaxed. Or maybe that was still the shower.

After spending the past several hours with Alice without her saying anything, I had finally relaxed. We were on the way back to her house when the sun broke through the clouds. After all these years, the effect of the sunlight on their skin still delighted me, and as I watched enraptured as the light reflecting off Alice's hands threw prisms across the roof of the car, she giggled.

I looked at her with a smile, wondering what had amused her. She had her hand across her mouth, trying to restrain herself.

And then my weight was thrown against the seat belt as Alice jerked the car onto the shoulder and parked.

"Alice, wha-"

Her laugh finally burst out full force.

I blushed furiously. I knew she wasn't going to let me off the hook. I glared down at my hands in my lap.

"Oh, come on, Bella. Don't be like that." She took one of my hands in hers and squeezed.

I looked out the front window. We were at least a mile from the turnoff to their driveway.

"Why did you stop? I thought your vampire brain allowed you to torture me and drive at the same time?"

That elicited another round of laughter, and she let me pull my hand from hers. I crossed my arms across my chest.

"It does, silly. I stopped so that I could talk to you without Mr. Big Ears hearing." I waited. "It's sunny out."

"Yep." Where is she going with this?

"It would be a nice afternoon to have a picnic in the meadow."

And my blush intensified.

"Oh, come on, Bella. I want to help."

"Huh?"

"Well, I can see that Edward will hold firm on consummating your relationship until after the wedding, but I believe it would be possible to push his boundaries in other ways beforehand. He just needs a little encouragement."

"Encouragement." La, la, la. Conversation not happening. La, la, la. I resisted the urge to plug my fingers in my ears like a child.

"Yes. And I think we can make some of the things on your list happen, at least partially."

I groaned in embarrassment at her actually verbalizing the existence of the list.

"Listen, I don't want to make you uncomfortable...." I glared at her. "Well, okay, maybe I enjoy it a little." She giggled. "But, just think about it, if this works it could be Edward making you feel more relaxed instead of you having to do it yourself...which I'm completely in favor of by the way. It certainly took you long enough...."