Blood Solstice 2 (Sequel)

Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Jacob

Charlie stood there awkwardly, his eyes staring at the ground rather than at me. Jacob seemed mildly surprised to see him, but otherwise betrayed no emotions. And the man in the wheelchair just kept his eyes on me. I looked between the three of them and nervously ran a hand through my hair, not really knowing what to do or say.

I hated awkward silences. And for some reason, being around Charlie always meant an awkward silence. Why was that? Worse still, Charlie was shifting his eyes at me, as if he were waiting for me to be the one to break it.

What the hell? No way! Why should I have to be the one to break the silence?

Oh God, I hope I don't. I hate it when that happens.

"Hello Chief Swan," Jacob said, breaking the silence at last.

Charlie nodded to him. "Hey there, Jake. I see you, um, met Bella."

The man in the wheelchair blinked and looked at him surprisedly. "Bella? Your daughter?"

I winced at the word "daughter" and glared at Charlie, silently daring him to try and refer to me as that title. I was not his daughter, not anymore. Honestly, I wasn't sure if I ever really was his daughter in his eyes. But it didn't matter now; I was Carlisle and Esme's daughter. Charlie grimaced, not only at his question, but at the look on my face. He hesitated for a moment before sighing and shaking his head.

"She's, er, not my daughter anymore, Billy," he admitted, a look of sorrow and shame on his face. Jacob's eyes widened as he appraised me, the man in the wheelchair, Billy, doing the same.

Wait. Billy. This was Jacob's father, Billy Black. I remembered him now.

"What does he mean?" Jacob asked, puzzled.

I sighed. "I was just recently adopted by a new family; one that I know loves me and will take care of me."

"Is that true, Charlie?" Billy asked.

Charlie nodded somberly. "Yes, it is."

"Why?" Jacob inquired.

"It's a long story," Charlie stated, clearly not wanting to talk about it. I scoffed quietly, but made no comment. Charlie glanced at me for a moment before turning to Billy. "Listen Billy, it's been nice seeing you again, but I think I'd best be going. I got a call last night about another disappearance, so I need to go look into that. You take care of yourself, now."

Billy frowned, but nodded. "You as well, my friend."

"So long, Jacob and you too, Bella. Give the doctor my regards," Charlie murmured before walking off. He only looked back once, his eyes looking into mine, reflecting the pain he was feeling as he got into his cruiser and revved the engine up. I watched after him for a few seconds until his car disappeared altogether. It was then that I noticed both Jacob and Billy studying me, confusion and curiosity in their eyes.

"What?" I asked, disliking their looks.

"So what happened between you and Charlie?" Jacob inquired.

"Jacob," Billy chided.

"I'm surprised he didn't mention it," I muttered.

"He mentioned you from time to time, though never much," Billy stated. "He felt bad because he'd let your mother take you and the guilt was eating away at him. He wasn't the same until after the accident, then he got a lot better. He missed you, you know."

I rolled my eyes. "He should have thought of that before he neglected me when I was still his daughter. It's far too late for that. I'm only giving him a second chance because it's my new father's wishes. Otherwise, I wouldn't have even bothered to go see him that day."