The only solace, the only hope I had left, was knowing that I was young and in love. Maybe, if I could just see his face again, I would also be able to see the solution that eluded me now: maybe in his high cheekbones I would find my future.
When the phone rang, I returned to the front room, a little ashamed of my behavior. I hoped I hadn't offended either of them, that they would still think of me as Bella Duck the beautiful, Bella Swan the divine.
Alice was talking as rapidly as ever, but what caught my attention was that, for the first time, Jasper was not in the room. I looked at the clock—it was five-thirty in the morn.
"They're just boarding the plane," Alice told me. "They'll land at nine-forty-five." Just a few more hours to keep breathing 'til he was here.
"Where's the Jap?"
"He went to check out."
"You aren't staying here?"
"No, we're relocating to a hideout closer to your mother's house."
Out of nowhere the phone rang again, distracting me. Alice looked surprised, but I was already walking forward, reaching hopefully for the phone.
"Hello?" Alice asked. "No, she's right here." She held the phone out to me. Your mother, she mouthed.
"Hello? Mommy?"
"Bella? Bella? Bella? Bella?" It was my mother's voice, in a familiar tone I had heard a thousand times in my childhood, anytime I'd gotten too close to the edge of the sidewalk or

427

Chapter 21

←

→

main contents contact