The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter XXXV

Dad came in and tossed his keys on the table, kissing my head as he walked by. "It's been a while since I've seen you in my kitchen," he said. I smiled meekly over at him. "What you got cooking?"

"I figured it's been a while since I made burgers," I said, up to my elbows in ground beef, egg, oats, and ketchup.

"You talked to your sister?" He asked. I shook my head. I hadn't talked to Bella, per say. Jake had spoken for me and made decisions about where I was going to be and who I was going to be with. And now that I thought about it, I was a little pissed off about that. Yeah, no, I was pissed about that. We were going to have to talk about that. 

"She must've been tired from driving," he said. I nodded again.

We fell silent then, Dad with his boots on the table and me at the stove. If it wasn't so damn cold outside, I could grill the burgers like normal. But the rain was relentless-again. It was actually kind of nice, though. Dad was sitting, thumbing through his paper, making little clicking noises with his tongue every time he came across something that irked him and I was staring intently at the stove. If Jake's presence in the house was known, it would be just like our lives before Bella showed up.

"I know Sue's been cooking up a storm for Billy, but she could use some rest; you should call and see if Jake and the old man have eaten yet," he said. Maybe he was a mind reader. I nodded, darting to the phone and dialing Jake's cell. Thankfully, it was on vibrate. 

"Hey Jake," I said.

"I'm in the living room and you're going to call me."

"Yeah, Dad just got home and was wondering if you and Billy had eaten yet," I said, trying to hold my laughter.

"I guess I should start sprinting for the truck, huh?"

"I mean, it couldn't hurt. Your dad hasn't seen me since I passed out at the house yesterday...or was it two days ago?"

"I was asleep too, so I wouldn't be the one to ask."

"If you quit running your smart mouth, you could probably get the Rabbit running," I said.

"Oh, low blow."

"Consider it pay back."

"For what?"

"Help your dad into the car and get here and I'll tell you," I promised.

"Okay, okay. Ten minutes. Love you."

I rolled my eyes. "Goodbye, Jacob." I hung up the phone before he could give me some lecture about not saying it back. I had always said it back, even when we weren't-whatever we are now. 

"They'll be here in ten minutes," I said quietly.

"Good; just like old time, huh?" I smiled and nodded, turning back to the stove. "You okay, Beans? You've been a little bit off lately." Naturally Dad would notice. Well, better to be honest.

I set my spatula aside and looked at him. "Dad, I don't know if you want to hear about this," I began, trying to warn him about what I was going to say.

"You and Jake are a thing, aren't you?" he said barely looking up from his paper.

"What?"

"Sarah called it; she always said when you two grew up we were going to have our hands full," he continued. "Is that why he was losing his mind when you left?"

"We're not a thing, Dad," I said, although I'm sure that I was flushing bright red now. I didn't want to talk with him about this.

"But you want to be?" he said, laying down the paper. He was blushing just as hard as I was. "Rye, this really isn't my specialty. From a guy's point of view, I would say talk to Jake. There are days where I think that your mom and I could've worked things out if she had talked to me."