In my head, I went through the conversation again. . . .

Renée and I ambled along the sidewalk, trying to stay in the range of the infrequent palm tree shadows. Though it was early, the heat was smothering. The air was so heavy with moisture that just breathing in and out was giving my lungs a workout.

"Doesn't sound like she would want to live there," Edward said.

"I think she might actually like living in Forks," Carlisle mused.

"Yeah, as long as everyone she loves is there," Esme said. "Well, except her mom, of course."

"Bella?" my mother asked, looking out past the sand to the lightly crashing waves as she spoke.

"What is it, Mom?"

She sighed, not meeting my gaze. "I'm worried. . . ."

"What's wrong?" I asked, anxious at once. "What can I do?"

"It's not me." She shook her head. "I'm worried about you . . . and Edward."

Edward looked tense now, almost like he did when she was in danger, but he didn't have the painful look in his eyes.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad," Esme said, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. Her anger with him she'd had in the last chapter seemed to be gone now.

"I know... it's just a mother's opinion means a lot," Edward said, giving his mother a weak smile before he looked at the book and Esme knew that he needed to hear the next part.

Renée finally looked at me when she said his name, her face apologetic.

"Oh," I mumbled, fixing my eyes on a pair of joggers as they passed us, drenched with sweat.

"You two are more serious than I'd been thinking," she went on.

I frowned, quickly reviewing the last two days in my head. Edward and I had barely touched - in front of her, at least. I wondered if Renée was about to give me a lecture on responsibility, too. I didn't mind that the way I had with Charlie. It wasn't embarrassing with my mom. After all, I'd been the one giving her that lecture time and time again in the last ten years.

Emmett snickered at that.

"There's something . . . strange about the way you two are together," she murmured, her forehead creasing over her troubled eyes. "The way he watches you - it's so . . . protective. Like he's about to throw himself in front of a bullet to save you or something."

"Hm... it seems like she is really perceptive too," Jasper said.

"Unless Eddy is making it really obvious," Emmett laughed.

I laughed, though I was still not able to meet her gaze. "That's a bad thing?"

"No." She frowned as she struggled for the words. "It's just different . He's very intense about you . . . and very careful. I feel like I don't really understand your relationship. Like there's some secret I'm missing. . . ."

"Okay, I could see why she was so relieved to get away now," Emmett laughed.

"I guess that's understandable," Esme sighed.

"I think you're imagining things, Mom," I said quickly, struggling to keep my voice light.

There was a flutter in my stomach. I'd forgotten how much my mother saw. Something about her simple view of the world cut through all the distractions and pierced right to the truth of things.

"So, is that what Bella does too?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know. I wouldn't say she has a simple view of the world," Carlisle said. "She must have gotten her sense in that matter from Charlie, but was still able to retain the ability to see to the truth easily."

This had never been a problem before. Until now, there had never been a secret I couldn't tell her.

"It's not just him." She set her lips defensively. "I wish you could see how you move around him."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you move - you orient yourself around him without even thinking about it. When he moves, even a little bit, you adjust your position at the same time. Like magnets . . . or gravity. You're like a . . . satellite, or something. I've never seen anything like it."

"What does that mean?" Emmett asked as Edward smiled at that, but he looked a little confused too.

"I don't know, but it looks like she is very connected to you," Esme smiled.

She pursed her lips and stared down.

"Don't tell me," I teased, forcing a smile. "You're reading mysteries again, aren't you? Or is it sci-fi this time?"

Renée flushed a delicate pink. "That's beside the point."

"Found anything good?"

"Well, there was one - but that doesn't matter. We're talking about you right now."

Edward was chuckling at that.

"Bella is a lot like her mother," Esme smiled.

"She's a lot like both her parents," Edward added.

"You should stick to romance, Mom. You know how you freak yourself out."

Her lips turned up at the corners. "I'm being silly, aren't I?"

For half a second I couldn't answer. Renée was so easily swayed. Sometimes it was a good thing, because not all of her ideas were practical. But it pained me to see how quickly she caved in to my trivializing, especially since she was dead right this time.

"I know how you feel," Edward said, probably thinking about the many times that Bella had done the same thing.

"Though sometimes it has its advantages," Jasper pointed out. "Or you wouldn't have even been there with her mother."

"Yeah, she would have made you tell her what was really going on," Emmett chuckled. "And she would have yelled at you."

She looked up, and I controlled my expression.

"Not silly - just being a mom."

She laughed and then gestured grandly toward the white sands stretching to the blue water.

"And all this isn't enough to get you to move back in with your silly mom?"