Restoration

Chapter Three

"I love her, Garrett," Edward breathed. "I'm in love with her. I want it all with her and I hate that her ex-husband made her doubt herself, doubt us. I abhor the fact that she ran away from us because of what happened. Why couldn't she ...? Why couldn't she let us try?"

"I know you love her, Edward. The feelings you have for Bella are deep. You want the white picket fence, the dog, kids, the whole shebang," Garrett smiled.

"Don't you want it?" Edward asked.

"You are head over heels, balls deep in love with that woman. I love her, but I'm not in love," Garrett explained. "Could I see myself with her down the road? Not so much as a girlfriend, partner or wife. Bella is my friend, my pretty girl. She's always been your love."

"Not anymore," Edward spat bitterly.

"You don't love her anymore?" Garrett asked.

"I do, but she doesn't love me. Us!" Edward sighed, finishing his beer and grabbing another one from his fridge. "She gave up."

"Edward, please sit down and eat something. We need to go to the condo and meet up with Esme to discuss what she wants us to do," Garrett chided, guiding his friend back to his seat. He put a plate of food in front of Edward. "I know you're hurting, but I'm trying to make it better. What happened with us sucks, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Esme has told me that Bella still has strong feelings for us. We need to help her realize this is worth it. That you're worth it."

"What about you?" Edward asked, taking a bite of his food, not really tasting it.

"Like I said, I love her, but you are in love with her. You and Bella are the couple. I'm just the extra cock," Garrett snickered. Edward rolled his eyes at his friend's brash description of his role in their relationship. "Besides, I have a date on Friday."

"A date?" Edward said, arching a brow.

"Yeah. You know the cute girl from the granite place? The one who always flirts with us? Kate?" Garrett asked. Edward nodded, wrinkling his nose. "Well, she asked me out. I said that I'd go and we're meeting for drinks after she gets off work."

"A date," Edward practically growled, anger bubbling through his veins. "You're not going to sleep with her, are you?"

"What? No! We're going on a date. I'm not ready to jump into bed with someone. I may be moving on, but I still have some pretty intense feelings for Bella. If I do sleep with Kate, it won't be for a long time," Garrett explained. "Besides, I'm hoping that Bella does give both of us another chance. Going out for drinks does not mean that Kate and I are going to get married and have 2.5 kids, a cat and a swing set."

Edward didn't say anything. He just mushed his food on his plate. He was pissed at Garrett for even entertaining the idea of going out with another woman. "I'm sorry, Edward. If you don't want me to go out with Kate, I'll cancel with her."

"Yeah, do that," Edward hissed. His ire was irrational. Garrett could live his own life, but for some strange reason, he was so pissed at the fact that his friend was even entertaining the idea of going out with another woman. "You can't seriously be ready to date."

Garrett sent Kate a text, asking for a rain check. He was concerned about Edward's reaction. But he didn't want to lose his best friend over a girl. Kate responded and said that she was amenable. With a cute little flirty emoji, she said that he had her number, to call any time.

The rest of their dinner was spent in silence, save for the quiet sounds of Sports Center on the television. Garrett didn't say anything else about Kate or his conversations with Esme. Edward eventually calmed down and they spent the rest of the evening going over Esme's requests for the condo, creating designs on the iPad that Bella had gotten them.

The next day, they drove to the condo on Seaview. It was a gorgeous building overlooking the water of Puget Sound, but the condo they were working in had been nearly destroyed in a kitchen fire. Essie knew that Edward and Garrett would be perfect for this condo restoration. The owner was a good friend. They were living in another home in Portland while the renovations were being completed. The client gave Essie carte blanche to do whatever needed to be done and to hire the best crew to restore their condo to its original two million dollar glory.

"Thank you for meeting me," Essie said, hugging both men. "I think that both of you will enjoy this project."

"Unlikely," Edward grumbled.

"Don't mind him. He's just grumpy," Garrett said, smacking Edward's back. Edward snarled at him, but kept his mouth shut. "You said that this place was damaged in a house fire?"

"Yeah. My client's elderly mother got confused and tried to make something to eat. She turned on the gas, but not the fire. It stayed on for over an hour. When she did turn on the fire, the entire kitchen was engulfed in flames. Thankfully, the mother was knocked to the ground and only suffered minor injuries, but the kitchen, front foyer, living room and dining room are charred," Essie explained, showing them pictures from before the fire and then after. "There's no hurry, either, but I think we can use this for that thing." She poked at Garrett and he smirked.

"What are you talking about?" Edward asked, confused at their cryptic behavior.

"Do you think I don't notice how miserable you are?" Essie asked, arching a brow. "Garrett puts on a better show, but both of you are downright pitiful. So is Bella. She insists that she's fine, but I hear her cry every night." Edward looked at her jumbled as to why she knew that. "I'm staying with her until this weekend. She's back at work and throwing herself into her job."

"So, Bella's back in Seattle?" Garrett asked, his heart stammering, the pain of the breakup sizzling to the surface.

"She is. We're going to get you all together. I hate seeing her so broken and Edward, I miss your crooked little grin," Essie said, ruffling his hair. "Let's get this done. You can start demolition today. I've already put in for the appropriate permits with the building and the city."

"This wasn't an interview," Garrett said. Essie shook her head, unlocking the door and leading them into the charred mess of a condo. They spent an hour going over what they needed to do for each space. The design was simple and modern with dark wood cabinetry, grey flooring, white counters and white furniture with sleek chrome finishes and stainless steel accents. Essie had the design all figured out. She just needed the muscle to complete the work. Edward called in crew of guys to begin the demolition of the charred drywall, flooring and remaining furniture. He worked beside his crew, taking out all of his frustrations on the walls of the condo.

It was exactly what Edward needed.

A/N: Pictures of the destroyed condo are on my blog, along with pictures of Edward and Garrett's apartments. Link for that is in my profile. You can also find me on Facebook: Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation and twitter: tufano79. Leave me some loving!