‘And I’m Jacob.’
You’d never seen anyone look so pleased with an analogy.
‘I thought I was in love with Ren,’ she explained. ‘And on paper we make a ton of sense like Bella and Jacob. We have fun, we both have great hair and I had a real glow up in high school, just like Taylor Lautner, but I’m not the one. It’s you. You’re the smart one, you’re theone with all the words, and even if you went to Volterra to get the Volturi to kill you, Ren would save you because you’re soulmates.’
‘You went off the rails a bit towards the end, but I think I follow,’ I replied. ‘Wait, does that mean you’re going to imprint on my baby?’
Bel shrugged. ‘Never say never, I’m only twenty-seven; if you had a kid right now, I’d be forty-eight when they turned twenty-one. Perfect second marriage age. Think about it, who would make a better daughter-in-law than me?’
‘My theoretical child could do a lot worse,’ I admitted. The woman was a wonder. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Say “thank you, Bel, you’re right. I am super horny for Ren Garcia and I’m going to go find him right now and climb him like a tree.”’
It wasn’t the worst idea I’d ever heard.
‘What are you waiting for?’ she asked, placing her hands on my shoulders and physically turning me to face the door. ‘Go find him!’
‘Wait, does he know?’ I asked, excited and scared and a little bit hungry. I’d hardly eaten all day in fear of not fitting into the dress and I was paying for it now. ‘Did you tell him about the letters?’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I figured that part should come from you. We both know you’re better with words than I am.’
It was a lot to process. Ren was officially single, I was a vampire, Bel planning to marry my non-existent child. I glanced around the room, looking for a waiter armed with hors d’oeuvres. Typical man, never around when you needed him.
‘So.’ Bel flashed her dazzling Hollywood smile at me. ‘What are you waiting for?’
‘What if he doesn’t feel the same way?’ I whispered.
‘I should have known that’s what you would say,’ she replied. ‘But Phoebe, what if he does?’
What if he does.
A new voice popped into my head, bright and hopeful and one I very much wanted to listen to. What if he does? Hope was a thing worth holding on to.
‘I wouldn’t even know where to start,’ I said. Every word I’d ever learned swirled around inside me and none of them were the right ones.
‘You’ve already started.’ She closed my hand around the piece of paper in my palm and squeezed. ‘All that’s left to do is to say it out loud.’
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Turning my back on the party raging on around me, I slipped past the guests and down one of the dark hallways that led to the rose garden. I needed to be where people weren’t, to collect myself and gather my thoughts.
The moon was almost full when I found my spot, a little wooden bench right in the heart of the rose bushes, far enough away from the house for the party to feel like a dream. She cast her milky glow over everything, soothing, calm and crystal, and I held the letter in my hand, my mind so full it felt empty, like a sky full of snow.
‘Phoebe, is that you?’
Of all the rose gardens in all the world, he had to walk into mine.
‘Hi,’ I said without standing. I wasn’t sure if my legs would hold me. ‘You’re here.’
‘Where else would I be?’ Ren replied in a hushed and reverent tone. ‘Can you believe this place? I can’t believe Myrna’s selling. It should be on the historical register, no one should be allowed to touch it.’
‘Did you get a chance to talk to her?’ I asked, ignoring the out-of-control thudding that was happening inside my ribs.
He stood a few feet away, his profile edged in luminous white and nodded. ‘I did, but just for a second. She insisted I find her later for a dance so maybe we’ll talk more then. To be specific, she said a horizontal tango but I think she was joking.’
‘She almost certainly wasn’t,’ I replied, the corners of my letter digging into my palm.
‘Some party.’ Ren glanced around the gardens, looking everywhere but at me. ‘Did you see Bel?’
