Cold As Ice

Chapter 3

"To my cousin: the newest official resident of Forks, Washington!" Allie's cousin Ingrid raised her beer appreciatively in Allie's direction, earning a cheer of approval from her friends gathered around the table. Ingrid had invited them all out to the diner in town to celebrate Allie's official hire at Forks General and moving into her new apartment. Ingrid had spent the whole day with Allie helping her set up her furniture, deep clean the kitchen and bathroom, and hang paintings on the wall.

Allie smiled sheepishly but returned the toast as Ingrid's friends buzzed with conversation around her. Ingrid's friends were kind to celebrate her despite not knowing her, but Allie had been making small talk with them for most of the evening and she was content to sit in silence for the time being. As she sipped quietly on her beer, she felt Ingrid slide into the seat next to her.

"Congrats, my little Allie Bun Bun," she teased, using Allie's childhood nickname. Allie rolled her eyes; even though Ingrid was only 7 months older than Allie, she'd always liked to mother her.

"Thanks cuz," Allie replied sincerely. "This was really nice of you." Allie gestured around the table of Ingrid's friends.

"Heck, least I could do. I've been trying to get another Northington into these parts for years," Ingrid shot back, taking a deep swig from her beer. Allie chortled; that much was true. Ingrid had been grousing at Allie and her older brother, Evan, to give Forks a chance ever since she'd married one of the local Quileute boys and moved onto the reservation. Neither of them had paid her much mind; not until Allie had been all out of options, at least.

"So when do you start at the hospital?" Ingrid's husband, Paul, asked, throwing a casual arm over his wife's shoulder. Allie liked Paul; he had an easy, care-free attitude about him. It matched Ingrid's free spirit and hippie sensibilities.

"Next week," Allie replied with a small smile.

"What department are they going to put you in, do you think?" Ingrid asked.

Allie shrugged. "I'm not sure. I'm starting as a per diem nurse, so wherever they need me I guess."

Ingrid and Paul nodded sagely, their attention drifting as a particularly raucous cheer erupted from the corner of the bar where a table of older men were watching the Seahawks game.

"Your coworkers nice?" Ingrid asked off-handed. Allie nodded, hiding her eyes as a small blush crept up her neck as she thought of the handsome Dr. Cullen's striking amber eyes.

Not one to miss anything - even if she was a bit tipsy - Ingrid immediately caught on to Allie's blush.

"Oh goodness, do tell, Allie Bun Bun," she teased, wiggling her eyebrows at her cousin, who was already protesting and trying to play it off. Paul laughed as he watched Ingrid cajole Allie, occasionally throwing a casual glance up at the football game.

"Come on, Albrun, you can't go all Miss Mysterious on me now!" Ingrid cried in mock offense. Allie rolled her eyes but eventually gave in.

"Well, I don't know how much I'll be working with him, but the head doctor at Forks General is... well, he's easy on the eyes, let's just say that."

Ingrid laughed knowingly at her cousin's statement, clinking their beer bottles together conspiratorially.

"What's this dashing doctor's name, then?" Ingrid pressed, her eyes alight with scheming. Allie knew her cousin desperately hoped that Allie would settle down in Forks: meet a man, get married, maybe have a kid or two. Ingrid was estranged from her parents and didn't have any siblings, so she had always been attached to Allie and Evan, who felt more like her family than anyone.

"Dr. Cullen," Allie replied.

At the mention of the name, Paul's head snapped in Allie's direction, his gaze darkening and the relaxed grin on his face melting away. Ingrid reacted similarly, her brows knitting together as she studiously avoided Allie's eyes.

As quickly as it happened, however, Allie watched with curiosity as both her cousin and Paul quickly reanimated into a faux-casual facade.

"What was that all about?" Allie asked, affronted for reasons she couldn't quite name.

Paul shrugged, trying to look nonchalant as he took a bracing swig of beer from his bottle.

"The Cullens are a bit odd is all," he commented, although Allie heard the subtext clearly. Clearly odd didn't quite cover the depth of Paul and Ingrid's feelings on the subject.

"The Cullens? There's more than one?" Allie couldn't help herself from asking the question, nor could she help the knot of nerves as she braced for bad news. She felt foolish and childish for fantasizing about a man she hardly knew - and she felt quite convinced that for him to be married would be the most natural thing in the world. She decided it would be better to rip the BandAid off now then allow the fantasy to continue to build.

"Yeah, Dr. Cullen's adopted a couple of kids. They're all high schoolers. My friend Jane teaches at Forks High and she said all the Cullen kids are together, or something like that. Like, they're romantically involved. It's real weird and maybe illegal?" Ingrid chewed on her lip as she shot Paul a loaded glance. He avoided it in favor of watching Allie's reaction. His eyes narrowed as he studied Allie's face. Allie wasn't used to Paul being so invasive, and it made her feel a little uneasy.

"What about his wife?"

Albrun, you desperate loser, Allie chastised herself. The question sounded pathetic and so patently obvious that it almost made her squirm.

"No wife," Paul replied, his tone flat. He continued to watch Allie, and she wondered if he could see the knot of nerves in her chest dissolve into butterflies at his words. There was an unsettling expression in his eyes, and Allie couldn't quite put words to it. "It's just Dr. Cullen and his kids."

Allie nodded, avoiding Paul's gaze as she fiddled with the label on her Heineken, trying to stifle a smile as Ingrid moved the conversation off of Dr. Cullen and into safer waters.

It wasn't until Allie was home later that night that she figured out what the strange glimmer in Paul's eyes had been during their conversation about the Cullens: warning.