"Hi there, kiddo!" Charlie called as he stepped over the jagged remains of the kitchen wall. I waved at him, wondering what he was so happy about.
Jess heard his voice. "Oh, your dad's there. Never mind—we'll talk tomorrow. See you in Trig."
"See ya, Jess." I hung up the phone. "Hey, Dad." He was scrubbing his hands in the sink. "Where's the fish?"
"I put it out in the freezer," he said, winking.
"I'll go grab a few pieces before they freeze—Billy dropped by to drop off some of Harry Earthwater's fish fry this afternoon." I tried to sound enthusiastic.
"He did?" Charlie's eyes lit up. "That's my favorite."
Charlie cleaned up while I got dinner ready. It didn't take long 'til we were sitting at the table, eating in silence. Charlie was enjoying his food. I was wondering desperately how to fulfill my assignment, struggling of a way to broach the subject.
"What did you do with your bad self today?" he asked, snapping me out of my reverie.
"Well, this afternoon I just hung around the house... " Only the very recent part of this afternoon, actually. I tried to keep my voice upbeat, but the butterflies in my stomach were hollering out for the truth. "And this morning I was over at the Cullens'."
Charlie dropped his fork onto his lap. It landed fork-first and he screamed out in pain.
"Dr. Cullen's place?" he asked in astonishment, unable to feel pain anymore, he was so astonished.
I pretended not to notice his reaction. "Yeah."
"What were you doing there?"
"Well, I sort of have a date with Fredward Cullen

357

Chapter 17

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