This shouldn't bother me, I reasoned. It was no big thing-a road trip to Vegas. I would go one better than old jeans-I would wear old sweats. The ceremony certainly couldn't take very long; no more than fifteen minutes at the most, right? So I could handle that.
And then, when it was over, he'd have to fulfill his side of the bargain. I would concentrate on that, and forget the rest.
He said I didn't have to tell anyone, and I was planning to hold him to that. Of course, it was very stupid of me not to think of Alice.
The Cullens got home around noon. There was a new, businesslike feel to the atmosphere around them, and it pulled me back into the enormity of what was coming.
Alice seemed to be in an unusually bad mood. I chalked it up to her frustration with feeling normal, because her first words to Edward were a complaint about working with the wolves.
"I think"-she made a face as she used the uncertain word-"that you're going to want to pack for cold weather, Edward. I can't see where you are exactly, because you're taking off with that dog this afternoon. But the storm that's coming seems particularly bad in that general area."
Edward nodded.
"It's going to snow on the mountains," she warned him.
"Ew, snow," I muttered to myself. It was June, for crying out loud.
"Wear a jacket," Alice told me. Her voice was unfriendly, and that surprised me. I tried to read her face, but she turned away.
I looked at Edward, and he was smiling; whatever was bugging Alice amused him.
Edward had more than enough camping gear to choose from-props in the human charade; the Cullens were good customers at the Newton's store. He grabbed a down sleeping bag, a small tent, and several packets of dehydrated food-grinning when I made a face at them-and stuffed them all in a backpack.
Alice wandered into the garage while we were there, watching Edward's preparations without a word. He ignored her.
When he was done packing, Edward handed me his phone. "Why don't you call Jacob and tell him we'll be ready for him in an hour or so. He knows where to meet us."
Jacob wasn't home, but Billy promised to call around until he could find an available werewolf to pass the news to.
"Don't you worry about Charlie, Bella," Billy said. "I've got my part of this under control."
"Yeah, I know Charlie'll be fine." I didn't feel so confident about his son's safety, but I didn't add that.
"I wish I could be with the rest of them tomorrow." Billy chuckled regretfully. "Being an old man is a hardship, Bella."
The urge to fight must be a defining characteristic of the Y chromosome. They were all the same.
"Have fun with Charlie."
"Good luck, Bella," he answered. "And . . . pass that along to the, er, Cullens for me."
"I will," I promised, surprised by the gesture.
As I gave the phone back to Edward, I saw that he and Alice were having some kind of silent discussion. She was staring at him, pleading in her eyes. He was frowning back, unhappy with whatever she wanted.
"Billy said to tell you 'good luck.'"
"That was generous of him," Edward said, breaking away from her.
"Bella, could I please speak to you alone?" Alice asked swiftly.
"You're about to make my life harder than it needs to be, Alice," Edward warned her through his teeth. "I'd really rather you didn't."
"This isn't about you, Edward," she shot back.
He laughed. Something about her response was funny to him.
"It's not," Alice insisted. "This is a female thing."
He frowned.
"Let her talk to me," I told him. I was curious.
"You asked for it," he muttered. He laughed again-half angry, half amused-and strode out of the garage.
I turned to Alice, worried now, but she didn't look at me. Her bad mood hadn't passed yet.
She went to sit on the hood of her Porsche, her face dejected. I followed, and leaned against the bumper beside her.
"Bella?" Alice asked in a sad voice, shifting over and curling up against my side. Her voice sounded so miserable that I wrapped my arms around her shoulders in comfort.
"What's wrong, Alice?"
"Don't you love me?" she asked in that same sad tone.
"Of course I do. You know that."
"Then why do I see you sneaking off to Vegas to get married without inviting me?"
"Oh," I muttered, my cheeks turning pink. I could see that I had seriously hurt her feelings, and I hurried to defend myself. "You know how I hate to make a big deal out of things. It was Edward's idea, anyway."
"I don't care whose idea it was. How could you do this to me? I expect that kind of thing from Edward, but not from you. I love you like you were my own sister."