Page 140 of Life and Death
“Youwill be watching,” Edythe clarified. “Wewill be playing baseball.”
I looked at her skeptically. “Vampires like baseball?”
She smiled up at me. “It’s the American pastime.”
17. THE GAME
IT WAS JUST BEGINNING TO RAIN WHENEDYTHE TURNED ONTOmy street. Up until that moment, I’d had no doubt that she’d be staying with me while I spent a few hours in the real world.
And then I saw the black, weathered sedan parked in Charlie’s driveway—and heard Edythe mutter something angry under her breath.
Leaning away from the rain under the shallow front porch, Jules Black stood behind her mother’s wheelchair. Bonnie’s face was impassive as rock while Edythe parked my truck against the curb. Jules stared down, looking mortified.
Edythe’s low voice was furious. “This is crossing the line.”
“She came to warn Charlie?” I guessed, more horrified than angry.
Edythe just nodded, answering Bonnie’s stare with narrowed eyes.
At least Charlie wasn’t home yet. Maybe the disaster could be averted.
“Let me deal with this,” I suggested. Edythe’s glare looked a little too . . . serious.
I was surprised that she agreed. “That’s probably best. Be careful, though. The child has no idea.”
“Child?You know, Jules is not that much younger than I am.”
She looked at me then, her anger gone. She grinned. “Oh, I know.”
I sighed.
“Get them inside so I can leave,” she told me. “I’ll be back around dusk.”
“You can take the truck,” I offered.
She rolled her eyes. “I couldwalkhome faster than this truck moves.”
I didn’t want to leave her. “You don’t have to go.”
She touched my frown and smiled. “Actually, I do. After you get rid of them”—she glared in the Blacks’ direction—“you still have to prepare Charlie to meet your new girlfriend.”
She laughed at my face—I guess she could see exactly how excited I was for that.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want Charlie to know about Edythe. I knew he liked the Cullens, and how could he not like Edythe? He’d probably be insultingly impressed. But it just seemed like pushing my luck. Trying to drag this too-beautiful fantasy down into the sludge of boring, ordinary life didn’t feel safe. How could the two coexist for long?
“I’ll be back soon,” she promised. Her eyes flickered over to the porch, and then she darted in swiftly to press her lips to the side of my neck. My heart bounced around inside my ribs while I, too, glanced at the porch. Bonnie’s face was no longer impassive, and her hands clutched at the armrests of her chair.
“Soon,” I said as I opened my door and stepped out into the rain. I could feel her eyes on my back as I jogged to the porch.
“Hey, Jules. Hi, Bonnie,” I greeted them, as cheerfully as I could manage. “Charlie’s gone for the day—I hope you haven’t been waiting long.”
“Not long,” Bonnie said in a subdued tone. Her dark eyes were piercing. “I just wanted to bring this up.” She gestured to a brown paper sack resting on her lap.
“Thanks,” I said automatically, though I had no idea what it could be. “Why don’t you come in for a minute and dry off?”
I pretended I didn’t notice her intense scrutiny as I unlocked the door and waved them inside ahead of me. Jules gave me a half-smile as she walked by.
“Let me take that,” I offered as I turned to shut the door. I exchanged one last look with Edythe—she was perfectly still as she waited, her eyes serious.
