Half Breed Teaser

I went a bit crazy with this chapter.  It's 26 pages long.  It could easily be split into 3 chapters, but I'm not that cruel.  ;)

So here's a snippet from page 10.

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Saturday arrived and I prepared for Charlie's stupid barbecue.  I loved Charlie – I really did – but I didn't see why the hell-on-earth I had to attend these stupid things.  Not only did I not know the kids of any of Charlie's police co-workers, but I hardly knew any of the rez kids who came either.  I mean, I guess I was acquainted with several, but we really had nothing in common and I didn't get out to La Push often enough to ever really socialize with them.

The only one I really knew at all was Jacob Black.  Charlie and Billy Black had been buddies since they were kids, and Jake was Billy's only son.  But even Jake and I hardly saw each other, and he was almost two years younger than me.  Last time I'd seen him was probably a year ago during the last fall barbecue, since Jake hadn't been at the spring barbecue.

But most of the reservation people had been missing from that one, actually.  It was only three weeks after this horrible accidental death had happened on the reservation.  One of the kids – a guy named Sam, I think – was killed in some kind of wild animal attack.  The whole thing had really shocked everyone, and it was understandable that most of them didn't feel like going to a beach party.

As if this bi-annual tradition wasn't already miserable enough to attend, this last spring barbecue had been downright depressing.

I had really hoped that I'd be able to take Edward with me to this thing, and he'd seemed really excited about the idea at first too, so it was a pretty significant bummer when I found out he had to go to Seattle today.  But I had been hogging his last couple weekends, not to mention his afternoons.  He probably didn't get to spend a lot of time with Esme these days, so a drive to Seattle would probably be nice for them.

I just had to keep reminding myself that I'd get him all day tomorrow, and try my hardest not to let my mind linger on the fact that we had something 'important to discuss'.

I talked on the phone with Edward for a bit while I finished up a couple dishes I'd made for the pot-luck portion of the barbecue, but eventually had to end the call and load the food into Charlie's cruiser.

Part of me would always hate riding anywhere in his police cruiser, but I tried to appease my insecurities by reminding myself that half the people attending the damn barbecue were cops, so we wouldn't be the only ones arriving in one of these stupid vehicles.

After the silent awkward drive to La Push we parked in one of the spots near the beach where we held this thing, every year, and Charlie and I got out of the cruiser and grabbed the food.  There were already tables set out and several familiar faces from my Charlie's work, and their wives, were milling about setting things up.

Another twenty minutes passed and the place was starting to get crowded as more people arrived.  I was sitting on one of the large logs that were placed in a large circle around the small bonfire that had already been started.  It was cool out and the wind coming in off the sea water was giving me chills.

The fact that some of the kids were already out there in wet suits trying to surf just baffled me.  It was late September for shits sake.  It's cold damn it!  Haven't they noticed?  I mean, granted, at least it wasn't raining.  But it was still gray and overcast, just like every other day in this sunless hell hole.

People are just crazy sometimes.

God I wish Edward was here...

“Hey! Bella!”  I heard a voice call from behind and I turned around on my solitary log to see Billy Black being wheeled towards the bonfire by his son, Jake.

“Hey Billy!”  I called back, half heartedly before my eyes traveled up to Jacob.  “Holy shit Jake!  You're huge!”

“Hi to you too, Bella.”  Jake said, chuckling.

I stood up and walked around the log as they drew closer.