Envy and Evelyn || The Twilight Saga

Chapter Four: Note

The rest of the week was fairly normal as Bella, Dad, and I fell into a steady rhythm within our home. Bella typically made dinner, I did the dishes, and Dad fussed that the two of us were spoiling him. Really, Bella just didn't want him in her kitchen. She was a bit of a control freak that way, though she'd hate to admit it.

    Another revelation was that Edward Cullen was nowhere to be found. The rest of the week, he skipped school. Apparently, this wasn't all that uncommon for the Cullens. Jess told us that, every time it was sunny, Dr. Cullen would take the kids out on an outdoorsy trip to the mountains for some family bonding time. However, Bella still didn't appreciate the fact that Edward had acted like he did and then completely skipped town.

    It was Friday, and she was angrily making spaghetti in the kitchen as I leaned against the counter. "Don't let Cullen get to you. He's a weirdo."

    "I did nothing wrong," she hissed, stirring the boiling spaghetti and splashing some of the water out onto the stove. "But he acts like I killed his dog."

    "Hey, we should get Dad a dog," I said. "You know, so he'll have company when we leave."

    She mulled over the idea. "I don't know if Charlie even likes dogs."

    She had a bad habit of calling our dad by his first name, fostered by our mother. I rolled my eyes. "Everyone likes dogs. Besides, you've only got a year and a half left of school. I'll be gone a year after that. He's gonna be lonely."

    Bella considered it again. "We'll talk about it. What kind of dog would we even get him?"

    "Something houndy." I said, inspecting my nails, which were in dire need of a polish. "Like a beagle, or a basset or something. A good ol' hunting dog. Like in country music."

    Bella laughed. "What, you listen to country music now?"

    "No," I scoffed. "But Dad and Billy need a little buddy to go fishing with."

    "Speaking of Billy," Bella said, "how'd it go with Jacob?"

    I sighed. "It was fine. We've been hanging out."

    "So, is he a boyfriend-type?" She raised an eyebrow.

    I shook my head. "No, he's just Jake. Jake, plus a stupid moment of weirdness."

    Dad came through the door as Bella started plating the spaghetti. I heard him hang up his holster and shrug off his jacket. "Girls?"

    "In the kitchen," I called.

    He came through, sniffing the air. "Somethin' smells good."

    "Bella made spaghetti," I replied as the three of us sat down around the table.

    Bella handed us our plates– spaghetti and meatballs, with a side of garlic bread. It was a simple kind of dinner, like the kinds she used to make back in Phoenix.

    "Oh, before I forget to tell you," Dad said between bites of spaghetti, "Neither of you go in the woods, okay?"

    "Why?" Bella asked. Not that she was going to go waltzing in the rainforests of Washington or anything. Bella had a naturally curious spirit that I assumed she got from our cop father.

    "There's been a couple animal attacks," he explained. "They found Waylon down at the docks this morning. He, uh, was torn apart."

    "Jeez," I whispered. "I'm sorry, Dad, that's rough. Anything we can do?"

    "Unless you know where a tiny cougar is, then, no," he muttered.

    I grinned. "Oh, I know a tiny cougar. She's in Jacksonville right now."

    Bella scoffed. "Evie."

    Dad, despite himself, fought a grin. "Now, Evie, that's no way to talk about your mother."

    I smirked. "Sorry, sorry."

    After we'd finished dinner, I washed the dishes by hand, then dried and put them all away in the cabinets. There was something comforting about a clean kitchen. I sighed and went up to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

    I brushed out the tangled waves of my hair, pulling the chestnut locks up into a messy bun before washing my face, clearing it of my makeup and the feeling of Washington mist. I dressed in my pajamas, an oversized t-shirt and some sweatpants. I went to brush my teeth before noticing that the toothpaste was empty.

    I hissed in annoyance before hunting through the bathroom cabinets and drawers. It didn't take long to find a new tube of toothpaste. But when I pulled out the toothpaste, I noticed something strange.

The bottom of the drawer was chipped, but there wasn't a hole where I could see through to the floor.

I hummed in confusion, placing the toothpaste on the counter before sticking my finger in the hole, where it hit a second bottom.

I stood shocked for a minute before I cleaned out the mostly-empty drawer and pulled out the bottom, revealing the true bottom of the drawer. In the new bottom, there was only one thing– a note, crumpled and clearly old. My mind reeled.

I pulled out the note and read it.

My dearest Renee,

I got your email. What happy news. I'm sure Charlie will be over the moon for his second child. It has to be his, even if it isn't.

I'm leaving town. Please don't come looking for me, and don't contact me again. I'm sorry. This is goodbye.

All my love,

A.

If my mind was reeling before, now it was swimming in confusion. I stuffed the note into the pocket of my sweatpants and restored the false bottom and its contents, brushing my teeth quickly. I went to my room, silently crawling under my sheets and staring at the ceiling. By the light of my lamp, I glanced at the note again before shoving it under my pillow.

It wasn't hard to tell. This A, whoever he was, had made it clear. He was my mom's lover– my father. He had also made it absolutely clear that he wanted nothing to do with me, and that he would leave town before he'd have to accept responsibility.

Never in my life had I wanted to know my true father. Whoever he was, he was an enigma, and he'd screwed me up irreparably. But now, I couldn't help but wonder– who was he? Who was this mysterious A? Why had he left without a proper goodbye?

And how could I find him?