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Caledonia- Chapter 18

Edward POV

"We had some strange comments on Google," James says as he helps me set up the kitchen.

"Strange in what way?"

"Negative comments sayin de food was brought in from other places, like ya da's. Others sayin de kitchen wis a mess. There were aroun six dat I cood see. Dey all claim ta be fro differen people, but de wordin wis like dey oor all done by de same person. Me thin its de same person floodin de comments."

I hum. "I need to have a look," I tell him. "I've been reading the main food critics, so far."

"Ave ya been movin tings aroun in the fridge?"

"No," I say, moving to James.

"I wis sur dat dere wis enou chicken fir de day but dere's none in dere."

I walk to the fridge. "Is there anything else we need?" I ask knowing that there was chicken left.

"I'll da a stock check noe, but who will take food."

I shrug. "Not sure, but I think we should keep the kitchen door locked and tell the cleaners that we'll take care of the kitchen for now," I say looking to him.

He nods, clearly not wanting to point any fingers at anyone at the moment, until we have proof that food is going missing.

"How was your date with Steven?" I ask, moving on.

"Wen well," he says with a wiggle of his brows.

"Did you take him home?"

"I don' kiss an tell," he says with a chuckle, but I see a faint blush on his face.

"Are you seeing him again?"

"Ye, hopin' so, less sleepin' with a sous chef from other restaurant is not allowed?"

I shake my head at him. "No, you're fine, and Steven is a nice guy."

James just looks at me.

"I may have dropped in at my dad's to see what he was like."

James keeps looking at me.

"What, I was curious," I say with a shrug.

"Di Bells go wit ye?"

I just grin at him and he sighs.

"She almos as bad as Jake and me, wen she checks out me dates ... boyfriends," he smiles a little. "She's just as protecin' for sure."

"I can see that, she seems to have a big heart." I stop and think for a few minutes. "Sometimes I find it hard to believe that she is Charlie's daughter. She's nothing like him."

James hums a little and moves closer to me. "Jake in me huf been talkin ta maw, an paw an dey no overly happy dat no one tol Jasper bout wat Charlie is capable of."

I sigh and open my mouth to defend both Bella and Alice.

"Dey understan her reason, and sympathies as dey ken it woold be har, but dey hins she just tryin to bury her head in the sand. She hink dat maybe we shoold tell him."

I run my hand through my hair. "Let's give them until Sunday, as she's having dinner with him then. If she still hasn't said anything then maybe we should organize a dinner for all of us, my mom too, to get together and lay it all on the table."

"Souns like a plan," he says looking at the door. "I do hink she hinks that Charlie will not want to see him, so Jasper will not be in any dange. But also I hink she hinks she'll hurt Jasper in some wa to tell 'im jus how evil 'is dad is."

I nod my head at him. "Yeah, I can see that as well. She's right it would be hard to hear something like that. I couldn't imagine how I would feel if someone said my dad had abused them." I snort a little. "In saying that, it has only been a short two weeks since I have found out about Charlie." I raise my brow as it feels much longer. "Until then it had been eight years since he was last in her life, and she may still be in shock."

~Caledonia~

The second week of reopening seems to go smoothly, despite the occurrences of odd things going missing or being moved around. Then there are the negative reviews that keep cropping up online. But like James said when reading the reviews, they all have a similar vibe to them, in the way the reviews are worded, with the same words being spelled incorrectly or the way sentences are structured. With that in mind, I think the same person is writing each review, just using a different account, and name. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be Eric or Taylor.

Adding to that, we have also had bookings that haven't shown up. If it is them, then they are both pettier than what I originally thought. If we hadn't changed the locks after they had left, I would have said that they were also coming in here and moving or taking things. Sadly, I have no proof , but Peter has put me in touch with someone that is researching the IP address of the negative reviews.

Besides being at Renney's Soul, Bella and Jasper have spent more time together this week, and seem to be getting along swimmingly. Tonight, they are going out together for a meal, but unlike the other times, it will only be the two of them as I am staying here.

"What do you think? '' Bella asks. My eyes go to her seeing that she is wearing a nice small black dress.

"Besides thanking God that it's your brother that you are going out with?" I say eyeing her up, as I start to wish that it was me taking her out so that I could enjoy seeing her in that dress at dinner.

"I am glad you like the dress, it means you'll love what I have on under it."

My eyes leap to meet hers and see that she has a cocky smile on her face.

"Fuck, honey, he's due here right now, and all I want to do is rip that dress off your body to see what you have on under it."

"Don't worry you can do that when I get home," Bella pauses, "I mean, well besides actually ripping the dress, I like this dress."

"I'll buy you ten new ones just the same as this one," I tell her as I start to kiss her sweet lips.

"Why ten?" she breathily says as my lips move to her neck and start to unzip her dress.

"So that I can rip a few off of you," I tell her, pulling her to me. Just as my hand gets inside the fabric, the doorbell rings.

"Fuck," I hiss, having gotten lost in the moment.

"Go fix yourself up, and I'll let him in," I tell her, kissing her one last time before leaving her panting.

I get to my door just as the bell rings again. I pull it open but frown seeing Alice standing there with a bottle of wine, and what looks like take-out food containers.

"Bella's going out with Jasper," I say with a questioning tone to my voice.

"I know, I thought we could chat some more."

I look at her for a few seconds, but there's a sadness in her eyes that shows me she's still in pain.

"Come on in," I say with a smile, knowing she may just need some company, but doesn't want to say it.

"Don't like my cooking?" I ask, looking back down at her bag of take out.

"I love your cooking, but it's not polite to drop in at someone's house without an invitation and then expect them to make you dinner. Don't worry, the food I brought is from a good place."

I lead Alice into the kitchen, grabbing two plates.

"Hey Alice!" Bella says as she joins us. "God, that smells so delicious," she hums.

"Next time, we'll have to get something for all three of us, or five if Jake and James want to join us," Alice says.

Bella nods at her. "We may have to make that six, as I think things are going well between James and Steven ..." she pauses only for a few seconds. "This is their third date."

Alice smiles a little. "We need to hook Jake up with someone, before he gets too lonely. He was chatting up Jessica yesterday."

"She's rather pretty, now that she has tamed her clothing choices," Bella says.

"I agree but she dated Mike," Alice says looking a little sick.

The doorbell rings again, and Bella looks at Alice, then her eyes fall on me. "That will be Jasper," she says kissing Alice's cheek and then moves to kiss me. "See you tonight," she says looking at me. "Keep an eye on him for me, Alice."

"Will do, and you look beautiful," Alice calls out as Bella opens the door.

"Wine?" Alice asks and I raise my brow at her.

"Are you joining me in drinking the wine?"

She nods her head at me. "Sure, I can pick up my car tomorrow."

I shake my head at her. "Just stay here tonight, you're not due at Renney's Soul until lunchtime," I tell her, making her look at me.

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude on your and Bella's alone time."

I grin as I look at her. "The spare room is far enough away that you will not hear anything," I say, winking at the end.

"You've really fallen for her, haven't you?"

I look at Alice for a few seconds and then shrug, but don't answer her question.

Alice and I start to dig into the food she brought, and I find that she was right. It is rather good.

"I know Jasper has invited you to the anniversary party for my parents next month. I want you to know that you are still welcome to come. Jake, James, and probably Steven are coming too."

"I'm not so sure that is a great idea," Alice says softly.

"There will be loads of people there, if you're worried about bumping into Jasper."

"It's not just bumping into him that I am worried about, what if he brings someone?"

I shake my head at her. "I know Jasper, he wouldn't do that. Even if he were dating a new girl, he wouldn't invite her if he knew you were coming."

"But he doesn't know that I am considering going, so he may have already invited her."

"He hasn't said anything about dating anyone."

"I've seen him with her a few times," Alice says with a sigh.

"What does she look like?" I ask.

"Young, tall, thin, beautiful, long blonde hair."

"Blonde?" I ask with a small chuckle. "Jasper doesn't go for blondes, he never has."

I take a long drink of the wine. "Maybe we should just tell him about Charlie."

Alice looks down at her plate, and I cover her hand with mine. "Is there a reason why you don't want to tell him? Besides what you have already said?"

"What if he doesn't believe my side of things?"

I frown as I look at her. "Alice what happened?" I ask again knowing there is more to it than Charlie making inappropriate comments, and the light touching.

"After Bella left for Scotland, he hit me; when I was talking to Liz about her."

I nod my head to tell I know what she's talking about.

"I went to the police and sat in the interview room for three fucking hours telling them everything he had ever done to me. Including the times, he brushed his hands across my breasts, touched my bottom, and squeezed my ass cheek. The times he walked in on me when I was in the shower, because I had stayed the night, and he stood there watching me, before grinning and walking away. The times I woke up, and he would be in my room." She shakes her head. "They made me feel as if it was my fault, like I had done something wrong because I kept going back, because I would stay over. But I couldn't leave Bella alone with him, not when he was clearly intoxicated. They made me feel as if I was the one in the wrong. That he had a right to hit me, to lay his hands on me if I refused to leave Renney's Soul after he told me to. They made me feel as if it was all me, that every choice I had made was wrong. I don't think I could cope if Jasper looked at me thinking that I got what I deserved."

"Jasper would never think that," I tell her in shock.

"He could, every time he talks about Charlie, he has him on this pedestal, like he is untouchable and some kind of god."

I sigh rubbing my face, knowing she is right in that Jasper has never been open to seeing the flaws of Charlie Swan.

"I know that he does that, but if you and Bella were to tell him, he would believe you." I keep my eyes on her "Did your parents believe you ... did you tell them?"

"Yeah, I told them, and they thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill. They thought he was just being friendly, and I misunderstood him."

I wince a little, it's one thing to have people you don't know to not believe you, but it's something completely different when it's loved ones who don't.

"I'm sorry," I tell her.

She shakes her head at me. "It's not your fault. Bella believes me, and Liz ... well she did before she had her stroke; you and even your mom believes me."

I smile as I haven't thought about Alice knowing my mom. "You should have seen how happy she was when I was the one dating Jasper. It is the reason she liked me from the start. Of course, part of it was because we had met when Bella was in the hospital. She didn't say anything to Jasper about knowing me, so I never mentioned it either." Alice shakes her head.

"You were with Bella at the hospital?" I ask and she nods her head.

"I went to pick her up from school, and was told that she had been sent to the hospital that morning. I arrived at the hospital before Charlie. The fucker didn't care that she was in the hospital, and I know for a fact that he hoped that if he left her there long enough, she would die. He doesn't love her, nor does he love Jasper. Personally, I don't think he is capable of loving anyone. I really fucking hate him, but yet I love Bella, and I'm still madly in love with Jasper." She stops and closes her eyes. "Why is this so hard?"

I shake my head at her. "I don't know." I snort a little. "I don't think you expected to fall in love with Charlie's son, any more than I expected to fall for his daughter."

Alice's eyes sparkle a little. "I said fall," I repeat but she just smiles stupidly at me. "I would like for her to hear me say it first."

"I take it you're waiting until the Charlie situation is out of the way?"

I nod at her. "Yes, he's two weeks late from the date he said he'd return to collect his 'money'," I say with a roll of my eyes. "He is planning something; I just don't know what it is yet."

"Maybe he knows that you'll make her go to the police if he turns up again. And there's the fact that James and Jake are here now."

I nod at her. "I know, but I've seen him confront others before. He seems to think he is bullet proof, and I have witnessed him not backing down from bigger men. Nothing really gets in his way when he wants to say something to someone, and his silence concerns me. Besides, I know he's not scared of me. He thinks of me as some weak kid who needs my daddy to wipe my ass."

"I agree but I'm hoping that he realized he has no chance, and has moved away ... far away."

"I'll drink to that," I say downing the rest of my glass of wine.

"What were you doing before you started working at Renney's Soul?" I ask her.

"I was a sales assistant in a clothing store. Clothing and designing clothes are my second loves," she looks at me with a smile. "I love the chef jackets that you had made for Bella. It makes me wish I was Scottish so I could get one of the tartan skirts that Bella has."

"They are rather cute."

"Is it the skirt on the girl or the skirt that you find cute?"

"The skirt," I answer right away, "The girl I find sexy."

Alice breaks out in a laugh as she shakes her head at me.

"Did you know we went to the same school?" she asks me.

I tilt my head at her.

"You left in June and I started the following August."

"Really?" I say and she nods at me.

"Everyone talked more about Rose, the perfect cheerleader, than the book worm, that liked to cook, but yeah the girls still talked about how much they missed your panty dropping smile."

Grinning broadly at her. "I'm not surprised about the talk of me being a nerd, but I am about the smile. However, when it comes to Rose, there is no surprise about the talk of her cheer skills. I bet they still talk about them today. Rose graduated two years before me, and they were still preaching her technique to the cheer squad when I was there. I mean she was great, but let it go," I say with a roll of my eyes only half joking. Rose is two years older than me, and it was bad enough having to follow her in school and have everyone talk to me about how great she was, and why I wasn't joining the football team.

"Hey, don't hate on her, I've seen the videos, she was awesome. I know she inspired us cheerleaders for all the years I was in high school."

"I know she was great, without a doubt, but I lived it in real life, and I'm over it," I say with a chuckle.

"How did she and Emmett come about?"

I laugh, shaking my head at her. "He has worked for my father since he was twenty-one. I swear he lusted after Rose from the moment he saw her. It took him two years and a bet to get her to date him. I could tell she was into him, but she just didn't want to admit it. I think the whole love at first sight thing sort of scared her a little."

"They do make a great couple; it is like they balance each other out. She keeps him from being wild, and he keeps her safe."

I nod my head agreeing, knowing full well that Emmett is good for Rose.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Alice asks and I think on for a few moments.

"Yes, and no. I think you can be attracted to someone from the get go. You may even see them in the rest of your life—but love—I think it takes time, and effort, not to mention work to develop and keep it. I wouldn't want to miss out on any of the feelings I have felt thus far for Bella. The story of how we got here and where we're going, is a part of having a life together. What about you. Do you believe in love first sight?"

"I did ... well I thought that I did. I felt a connection when I first saw Jasper. We looked in each other's eyes and I felt an energy inside of me. But now I am not too sure if I felt love or if it was just lust."

"But your feelings have grown since you first met him, right?"

She nods at me.

"It could have been that you looked at him, and saw something that reminded you of Bella," I say. Over the past few weeks, I have seen that not only does Jasper resemble Charlie, but he and Bella have similarities too.

Alice starts to laugh. "Have you noticed that both are right-handed, but when they eat, they mainly use their left hands?"

I nod at her. "They both have almost the same thinking face too, but Bella's is cuter," I add.

Alice chuckles as she nods at me. "You know, you're not what I expected."

I just look at her and she rolls her eyes at me.

"When Jasper used to talk about you, he'd say that you tended to be standoffish. He also said that you saw work as one thing, and it was never personal. He said work for you was always done with the aim to help the restaurant. He mentioned that outside of work, you found it hard to make friends or trust people. Friendships with co-workers was always something you steered clear of, due to your not understanding if others had agendas or not. Did they like you, or were they faking it? Were they trying to get close to you, because they wanted to have insight to hurt you? I can see ... well I was able to see that Edward from the first week or so you were at Renney's Soul, but not so much anymore."

I smile a little. "Maybe because you do a decent job, and I don't have to be on your back about anything."

Alice shakes her head at me. "Thanks, I've seen you work with Jessica, and how that has helped her grow as a person. Okay at the start she didn't take your comments well, but now she seems to thrive on them, especially if she knows she's doing a good job." She pauses to take a breath. "I guess what I am saying is, you're good at what you do."

I smile again, giving her slight nod. "Thank you."

Alice and I talk until I hear a car pull up.

"That must be them."

Alice has the look of a dear in headlights.

"I'll put him off from coming in."

"You don't need to," Alice says.

"It's okay, Alice." I tell her, seeing the guilt on her face.

I get to the door, just as Jasper and Bella walk up to it.

"Hey," I say as Bella gives Jasper a small kiss on his cheek before she walks inside.

"Is Alice still here?" he asks with a snap to his voice.

"Yes, she dropped by to spend time with Bella, but as you were taking her out for dinner, she stayed to keep me company," I smile a little. "She hung around, so they can have girl talk tonight."

"It's a little late," he says right away, and I look at my watch seeing that it's almost ten a night.

"She'll more than likely just stay the night that way they can have a sleepover, slumber party."

He nods and starts to walk away. "Edward," he says when gets to his car. "If there was something I should know, you would tell me, wouldn't you?"

I swallow a little. "Of course," I say, hoping to hide the lie in my own words. The longer not telling him the truth about Charlie goes on the harder it is becoming, and I have to say I think James and Jake are right. We need to tell him.

"How about you come to dinner at my place Wednesday, all of us?"

He looks a little puzzled.

"Renney's Soul is closed, so if you can have that day off it'll give us the whole night to hang out."

This time he smiles and nods his head.

I walk back in to see Bella and Alice chatting away. I lean over Bella, and kiss Alice softly on the side of her head. "Goodnight," I say softly. "Thank you, for keeping me company, I'll leave you girls to chat. I'll see you when you come to bed," I smile at Bella, before kissing her lips.

~Caledonia~

I'm a few chapters into my book when Bella walks in. She walks directly to me, straddling my hips.

I smile at her and put my book down, and she leans forward and kisses me.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this, but what's on your mind?" I ask, pushing her hair back.

"I'm feeling guilty, worried, and stressed," she says as she lets out a long breath. "I feel as if I am betraying Jasper."

"How so?" I ask.

"Dating his best friend for one thing."

I just hum as I look at her.

"I'm also starting to think I should just tell him, but the voices in my head are telling me, I'll be hurting him, and destroying this perfect family he has in his mind."

"I can do it. I'll tell him so that it's me who destroys his mindset of the picture-perfect family, not you."

Bella shakes her head at me. "It's still going to be me, at the end of the day. It'll be me that has to tell him. I have to own it and admit to him that I don't want Charlie in any part of my life. The worst part is admitting to him that I can't have anyone in my life that has Charlie in theirs." She looks down at the bed beside us. "Even when I say it out loud to you, in my heart I feel as if I am being a bitch."

"You're not," I say right away. "Charlie has hurt you. You can't mend the damage between you and Charlie because you don't want to hurt the feelings of someone else. No one has the right or the ability to decide for you, who you associate with. The damage Charlie has done to you, and in your life, far outweighs any good Jasper could bring to it. You should never feel bad for protecting yourself. Do you even think that Charlie would want to mend fences anyway? Do you ever see him asking for forgiveness for what he has done to you? I don't think he would. I bet he thinks that he hasn't done anything wrong. One thing I've figured out about Charlie is that he only cares about himself."

Bella places her forehead on top of my head. "You're right. This just gets to me, you know. Sometimes I feel that this is all because of me. If I had never come back then Alice would still be working at her store, she'd be happy with Jasper. You'd have your restaurant, and Jasper would be blissfully unaware."

"It would have come out sooner or later who Jasper's father was, and yeah, I would have my own place but I wouldn't have you. One thing I can tell you for certain is that I'd rather have you in my life than have my own restaurant. Between a place of my own to run and you, I would pick you."

Bella rolls her eyes. "But you wouldn't have known how this feels. You can't miss what you hadn't known."

I nod, agreeing with her. "That may be true, but it doesn't negate that a piece of me was missing, and I am so much better with it right here with me. So, I'll just have to be thankful that you did come home and that you gave me a chance to show you who I am." I smile and kiss her neck. "And that you let me take your body and mind to places that you had up to then only dreamed about."

She hums. "Yeah, you are pretty great," she says with a cocky tone.

I chuckle softly. "I only got you there, because you took me," I tell her. "I swear this will work out, maybe it'll take months but we'll get there."

Just as I am about to say 'I love you' she kisses my lips and I flip us so that she is under me.

~Caledonia~

The orders are flying in and Renney's Soul is having its busiest day in years. Both the front and kitchen staffs are handling it well, as we keep on top of our orders.

"Table twenty-four," I yell and quickly move to firing another order as James, Toby, Tim, and Angela start to move up to the hot plate.

"Edward," Jasper calls and I turn only a little to see him standing at the kitchen back door.

"Yeah," I reply, turning back to plate up the dishes that were just delivered to the pass.

"This chicken is beautiful, Angela," I call, "As is the beef, Tim."

"Edward, I need a word ... outside."

"I'm kind of busy here, Jasper," I reply while garnishing the plate I'm working on. "Table thirty-two," I say, ringing the bell.

"Please, I'm sure James can hold the hot plate for a few minutes," Jasper states.

I turn looking at him with a frown. There's something about his whole demeanor that makes me look to James.

"I won't be long," I say to James.

"Five minutes, is all I can spare," I say to Jasper as I join him outside.

He just looks at me.

"Jasper, what is this about, we've got a full house right now."

Jasper snorts, shaking his head. "You have never lied to me, and I don't expect you to start now."

I keep my eyes on him as my heart starts to race. This is not the time for us to have this talk.

"But I need to know ..." he again stops and closes his eyes. "You're my best friend, you took care of me, and I thought you'd always have my back. I never thought you would ever stab me in it."

"I wouldn't," I say.

"Then tell me that you're not sleeping with her!"

I let out a breath. "Jasper, I have a full house, this is the kind of day that can make or break a place."

"Just answer me, I need to know!" Jasper yells.

Before I can answer Toby is at the back door.

"Edward, we've got a problem."

I look at Toby, and Jasper grabs me pushing me into the wall. "Answer me, are you sleeping with her?" He yells the question in my face.

"I'm sorry it just happened, we can tal﹘" I can't finish my sentence as Jasper punches me square in the jaw.

"How could do this to me? You classified me as your brother. Brothers don't do what you have done!" he yells as he keeps swinging at me. I try hard to push him off without hurting him, but maintain blocking his flying fists.

"Edward!" Bella yells, "Jasper! What the hell is going on?"

Bella moves between us, but I pull her behind me, not wanting her to get caught up in this. James along with Jake runs outside and pushes Jasper away from me.

"Are you okay?" Bella asks and I give her a nod, but she looks stressed. My eyes move to James and Jake who are talking to Jasper.

"What's going on?" I ask knowing that something is wrong.

"The health inspectors are here. Someone complained, he says he has the right to look at the place right now, but he is being weird. It is obvious there is something going on."

I sigh pulling at my hair.

"He's fucking sleeping with her, did you two know that?" Jasper yells clearly angry.

"Look man, we've got stuff going on in here come back later!" Jake says.

"So, you did know. Everyone fucking knew, and none of you thought to tell me?" he yells and looks right at me. "We are done, you are not my brother, nor my friend," he says. I can tell he is not only angry, but he is hurt.

"Jasper," Bella says but he shakes his head at her.

"No, I told you," he says and Bella looks at me and then to him.

"Jasper, it's me he's sleeping with. Me, not Alice!" Bella almost yells the last part.

My eyes move right to Bella as she speaks.

"Yeah right. Just stop it, you don't have to cover for him. He knows what she means to me, I didn't even get a chance to win her back."

"What?" I yell. "You think I am sleeping with Alice? She's not my type, and even if she were, I still wouldn't make a move because she dated you!" I yell at the stupid fucker.

He just shakes his head at me.

"Can you all get in here, the inspector just found a freaking rat," Alice seethes, making Bella move quickly into the kitchen, as I quickly follow her.

With a quick look I can tell that the inspector has closed the kitchen and all of the staff are just standing there looking at him.

"I am closing this premises under section zero-six-five-five-zero, of the food and health standards.

I move to him. "Where was the rat?" I ask. "Because I personally cleaned this kitchen this morning and again after the afternoon service was completed, and there weren't any rodents then."

"Are you alleging that I put the rat there?" he spits back at me.

I raise my eyebrow at him. "Why don't you just show where you found it?" I say moving closer to him.

"Edward," James growls at me, more than likely over, the tone I am using.

"I came in here, the head chef, the sous chef, the manager, and the owner were outside fighting. I found a few minor things, but I cannot and will not excuse the finding of a rat, and the rodent droppings that I found!"

The inspector's voice is rather loud and I know the front of the house can hear him.

My eyes land on Bella and I take the notice from him.

"This place is closed for business effective immediately!" he says. "If you want me to take further legal matters I will."

I shake my head knowing he has us by the balls.

I stand close to Bella outside of Renney's Soul, as we watch our customers leave as the whisper about what just happened.

I dismiss the staff telling them we will phone them as soon as we have more information on reopening.

"Bella, I'll help you get this sorted don't worry. It should have been me that was here helping you from the start," Jasper says.

I shake my head at her. "I'll get this over turned, don't worry."

"You certainly should, this is all your fault," Jasper says and I look at him with a glare feeling a lot of anger inside of me.

"My fault, really? I'd rethink that theory if I were you and used even a thread of common sense. If it wouldn't have been for you and your bullshit, I would have been in the kitchen and he wouldn't have been able to plant a dead fucking rat in there!" I yell back.

"I wouldn't have needed to speak to you if you weren't sleeping with my girlfriend!" he yells back at me.

"Alice is not your girlfriend, and it's Bella that I am with you idiot!"

"You make it sound as if you've done nothing wrong!" Jasper scolds.

"Shut up!" Alice says. "Both of you shut up," she says again, but as I look at her, she's not looking at me but off to the side. I turn see a smiling Charlie standing there.

"Charlie," Jasper says with a huge smile.

"This was you," Bella says. "The comments on the computer, the inspector, the food missing, all of it has been you."

He shakes his head at her. "Nope, this place is just a shit hole like the people that work here."

Bella snorts as she shakes her head.

"Charlie, what?" Jasper says sounding confused.

Charlie looks his way and then to me smiling. "I just came to tell my ignorant offspring some nice little facts about this great chef you got here," Charlie says and I can hear the hate dripping off him, but I know it is not his hate toward me but Bella.

"He wanted to buy this place; did he tell you that? The first day he came here was to scope the restaurant out to see if he could purchase it for himself."

Bella looks to me.

"I will not deny that, I was told it may be coming up for sale. I always liked the place when Elizabeth owned it, so of course I came to check it out. However, Alice asked me to help you," I tell Bella, unsure of how Charlie could have known about my interest in Renney's Soul.

"Really, so that is why this place is now all decked out just the way you envisioned it as if you had bought it. Tell me this, have you put anything ... any ideas into this place at all Isabella? Or has he just gotten you to deck it out his way, for him, so that it's all perfect and ready for when he buys it?"

I swallow hearing how bad he is making it sound.

"He has been helping me turn this place around," Bella says moving forward. I grab her arm pulling her back not wanting her too close to him.

"Has he? Well why was he in the estate agency then, and what papers has he recently signed with them for a business in this area? You need to think about it. Has he been helping you out or has he been undermining all your efforts? After all, take a look at his review of this place."

"What review?" Bella asks and I feel my heart take off, as I open my mouth.

"I was going to tell you—" I manage to get out but Charlie cackles loudly cutting me off.

"He's Anthony Masen, you dumb twit," he says clearly happy that he was able to tell her. "Thanks for the information, son," he carries on as he looks at Jasper.

My eyes follow seeing that Jasper who is still looking shocked is shaking his head no.

Charlie moves a little forward. "You are a pathetic, sad, little girl, why couldn't you just have died?"

"Ye may wan ta shut de feck up!" James yells out but it only makes Charlie grin wider as he carries on talking.

"Or at least have killed yourself like that bitch of a mother of yours. Here's hoping that this pushes you to make that choice. I can only hope anyway," he shrugs.

Bella leaps forward, but I catch her. I hold her to me, with my arms wrapped around her.

Both James and Jake move to him. "Ye gonna wish ye were dea' ye feckin' wank stain," Jake hisses out, as he rolls up his sleeves clearly about to give Charlie a beat down.

"Stop! Both of you, don't do anything that will land you in jail. This is what he wants, and Bella will be on her own." I yell, making both James and Jake look my way for a few seconds but stay away from Charlie.

"Fuck off, this is a private property. If you don't leave now, I swear to God I'll get my gun and shoot you, and they can take me to jail," Bella says.

He rolls his eyes. "You shouldn't have taken my money, get it back to me. His eyes move to Jasper. "I never thought you'd be any use to me, but I was wrong. You helped me end this place, but now your usefulness has dried up, so lose my number. Oh, and you can have Katie if you want, she's too old for me." With that Charlie gets back into his car and drives away, as Bella wiggles free from me.

"Tell me, you're not Anthony Masen, and that it wasn't you who wrote that blog?"

I look to the ground. "I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid that you wouldn't want me around anymore."

She shakes her head at me. "We're done," she says. "This place is done, he has won."

"No, we can fix this," I say feeling my heart break in two.

She shakes her head as she walks backwards. "Just leave, all of you, just leave me be," she says and turns and runs back into the restaurant.

"Le' us talk ta her," James says looking at me with pity.

"Tell her I am sorry." I say again wishing there was something else that I could say.

I rub my face feeling as if my life is falling apart.

"You stupid fucking idiot!" Alice yells.

I look to her sadly but she's not looking at me, she's glaring at Jasper.

"He's been your friend for ten years, and has always had your back and you let Charlie-fucking-Swan tell you that he was sleeping with me?" she carries on yelling. "I hate Charlie. I hate him, so much. He is an abusive asshole, and you have no idea what that fucker has done to Bella all her life."

Jasper seems to open and close his mouth, before he's able to talk. "No, you're right I don't. So, why don't you tell me?"

"Not in the middle of the parking lot!" I yell cutting Alice off. "Both of you, come back to my house."

Jasper reluctantly comes with Alice and me to my home, where she doesn't leave anything unsaid. She tells it all, and not just about what Charlie has done to her, but also to Bella. Jasper just sits there listening to everything.

"Why didn't you tell me she was hurt?" he yells at me.

"She didn't want you to know," I tell him and he rolls his eyes.

"You should have told me, I'm her brother, I had a right to know."

"Jasper you asked me not to say anything to her about me knowing that you were her brother; I did just that. When she asked me not to tell you things she needed to tell you herself, I gave her the same courtesy. She means a lot to me Jasper. I didn't mean to fall in love with her, it is not what I set out to happen. I may have just lost her for good. Where I know it's my own fault, I will fight to get her back. So, forgive me if I don't give a rat's ass what you think you were entitled to know!"

Jasper looks at me and swallows.

"I never told him about you wanting to buy a place or that you were Anthony Masen. The girl he is ... was dating, Katie, is that girl Tanya's—the one you were out on a date with—sister. She must have told him."

Alice chuckles. "I doubt she is her sister, more than likely her daughter."

"What no, that would mean she's around twenty."

Alice just nods. "I know a little old for him is what he said."

I look at my cell, and see there are no calls or messages. I call Bella's number, but it goes straight to voicemail. "Hey, it's me, call me, even if it's to say not to call you. But I need to hear your voice. I need to know how you are. Please don't stay at Renney's Soul, come here. I'll go back to my mom's if you don't want to be around me." I close my eyes, and hang up calling James this time.

"Hey," James says on answering. "She's upset, but we are wit her," he carries on. "Why didn't ye just say dat ye were also Anthony Masen? She was upset over wat was written but she woold have heard ye out."

"I know," I say. "I was scared that I would lose her, and then Charlie happened, the opening, things between her and Jasper," I tried to explain but failed to do so. "I was a coward," I say softly. "I hurt her with words, and I didn't want to face up to it," I stop. "Please tell her I am here for when she is ready to hear me out. We can still fix this."

"I will, I'll text ye," he says ending the call.

I put down my cell but feel odd. I look across to see Alice looking at me sadly and Jasper still looking confused.

"You and Bella?" he says and I nod my head.

"I didn't know," he says and I shake my head.

"Night," I say moving toward my front door.

"Edward," Jasper says in a pleading tone.

"Just leave," I respond, not wanting to deal with anymore shit tonight.

"If you'd have told me, then I wouldn't have confronted you. I wouldn't have thought you were shacking up with Alice."

I shake my head. "Not now."

He opens his mouth, but Alice pulls him out of my door.

"Leave Edward alone, we need to talk," she states, clearly still angry at him.

A/N: Well shit hit the proverbial fan ... What do you think will happen now? Lots of information came to light, but who planted the rat? Someone would have seen Charlie in the restaurant, or was it the health inspector, or someone else working against them? What do you think will happen now? Do you think Bella will hear Edward out, or do you think he will struggle to get her to listen? Who do you think this Katie is? Is she Tanya's sister, or daughter? Any ideas what will happen next? Let us know what you think.