Chapter Song: Brand New Day by Tim Myers ft. Lindsey Ray
Bella was cooking a week later when they had a surprise visit from her parent's lawyer, J. Jenks.
He was a mannerly looking man about Charlie's age with silver trimming his hair line.
He smiled at Bella after shaking hands with Charlie. "I remember you, Isabella, when you were only knee high. My, how you've grown."
"Uh, thanks," Bella murmured after shaking hands with him.
Charlie showed him to the living room after offering him something to drink. Jenks politely refused the beverage but followed and perched himself on the edge of the couch. He looked almost comically out of place in their simple living room with his pressed dark purple suit and carney yellow tie. His attire was...strange to Bella, but he surprisingly pulled it off.
He didn't waste time dawdling in small talk and got down to the brass tax of things. His words.
He showed them how much money she'd inherited. Respectively, she'd only be receiving half until she was twenty-one. She still had enough to have a full ride at any college without the help of a scholarship or she could choose not to go at all, and buy a very expensive house, and keep a small job or no job at all while she figured out what she wanted, and still have a lot of money left. This all being before she received the rest when she could legally drink. She could set up her nonexistent children with the amount she was given—and their children too. Shoot, if she was smart, she could make a small dynasty for herself.
Charlie and her stared at the paper, then up at Jenks, then back down at the paper that turned their normal day into something else entirely. She looked at her uncle. "Did you know?"
He shook his head. "I had no idea."
"Of course you wouldn't," Jenks said. "This was a private matter."
"My aunt seemed to have known," Bella said almost to herself.
"She had a clue," Jenks amended. "She didn't know for certain, that I assure you."
"How did they make this much money?"
Her parents had respectable jobs, him a foremen for construction and she an accountant for a large business, but not even their combined incomes could dream of amounting to what she was looking at.
"Duel life insurance policies," Jenks answered simply.
Bella nodded. "I see."
In reality, she was having a hard time seeing anything, including the coffee table inches away. Her world was shifting and changing right before her, she could barely catch her breath with how swift it was. All she could think was, What will Edward think? Would he treat her differently now that she was...rich? The whole idea of her being wealthy was strange. It just wouldn't fit in her head. She knew she was going to get money, but not this much.
They chatted a bit more before Jenks bid them adieu.
Her and Charlie stared at each other in the narrow hallway, neither moving for a really long time. Eventually a smile stretched over her uncle's face. "Alec was always a trickster. Good to see death hasn't changed anything."
Bella smiled besides the melancholy inducing things he just said. "Looks like neither of us are going to be wanting for anything now."
Charlie grew serious in a heartbeat. "I don't expect anything from you."
She set her hands on her hips. "I didn't ask you to. You'll accept it, though."
He frowned at her. "To an extent. Now, don't get any ideas about buying me a new house. I like this one just fine."
"You can't stop me from buying you a fishing camp."
His frown fell as a small smile tugged at his mouth. "You're just like you damn daddy, so bullheaded."
Bella lifted her chin, but her smile ruined the assertive stance. "Yes, sir. Better get use to it."
He shook his head as he pulled her in for a hug. "I'm happy for you, Bella. You deserve this."
"Thank you," she murmured against his shirt.
Though the money made her life much more simple and secure, she'd give it back in the blink of an eye to have her parents back.
"What about this one?" Edward asked her three days before their first day of senior year, pointing at a new red Mustang.
She just looked at him.
"What?"
"You're such a guy."
"This is a good car."
"Yeah, if you're in Need for Speed."
"Hey, that's a fun game."
Bella rolled her eyes as she kept walking.
They'd been at the car dealership for at least an hour and still Bella couldn't decide what she wanted. The fact that she could buy a dozen without putting a dent in her account was irrelevant, she wanted to make a sensible decision. Plus, none of the cars...spoke to her, as stupid as that sounded to her.
She hadn't waited long to tell Edward everything about the inheritance. She wanted it to be like a band-aid, quick and painless.
He'd been shocked. Dumbfounded, really. He'd just looked at her as if she'd just told him she'd decided to become a nun.
He'd finally smiled at her. "You could be the owner of an island, baby."
She shoved his shoulders. "Be serious."
He'd smirked, pulling her to him. "Sorry. So what do you want first, little millionaire."
That's how they ended up here. A place she was quickly trying off. She wished she could just waste money as if it were tissue paper, but she couldn't. She just couldn't. It was all too...daunting. The phrase, easy come, easy go, kept running through her head.
She was about to give up when she walked in front of the most perfect little car, a lime green Nissan Cube.
She clapped. "This is it."
"Bella," was Edward's disgusted voice.
"What?" she asked defensively.
"This is what those stupid little gerbils drive."
"That's a Kia Soul, and they were hamsters. Plus, I think they're adorable, just like this car."
"That thing," he pointed an accusing finger at the thing in question, "isn't a car."
"What is it then?" she challenged with a cross of her arms.
He pulled at his hair, huffing loudly. "It's a cubical disaster."
"You just want me to get the Mustang."
"Not true, the Charger is a promising choice too."
"I want this." She was resolved at this point and nothing would change her mind.
Edward smiled at how cute she was when she was determined, besides the fact that the vehicle was a huge eyesore for him.
"I'm shocked you agreed to let me drive us to school," Bella said to him with a smirk, driving The Cube down the main road.
He slinked lower as he peeked out the window. "No one can see me, right?"
She smacked him. "A-hole."
He smiled, rubbing his chest as he sat up. "Baby, as long as I'm with you, I wouldn't care if I was in a hooptie."
Bella smiled, shaking her head as she pulled into the school parking lot.
"You don't believe me. Here, I'll show you." He proceeded to roll down the window and stick his head out, waving and hollering at everyone.
She yanked him back inside as she laughed so hard she almost scrapped a car she was parking next to. "You're too much."
He smiled crookedly. "You love it."
"I love you."
"Ditto, baby."
