New Moon Hollow - Chapter 1

The early morning fog cast an eerie haze over the entire area of New Moon Hollow. I sighed and stretched in my bed at the sound of Fred, my grandmother's once prized rooster, now late for my early morning wake up call.

As a child, the smell of Papa James's coffee would linger I the air. However this morning, the only things I could smell were the old mothballs that filled the closet of my childhood bedroom.

A heavy sadness filled my heart as I realized that the easiness of my childhood was gone. First, my dad Charlie and my mother Renee were killed in a hit and run after celebrating their wedding anniversary. I was left to be raised by Granny C and Papa James. Growing up on this farm was as great as it could get for a girl who lost both her parents at the age of six.

The interior of the farmhouse was immaculate despite the fact that Grandma Charlotte couldn't keep up the housework in her last days. Before Papa James died, he and Granny C hired a crew to come in and restore the entire interior. They had plans to sell the farm and move to Ft. Lauderdale to spend the rest of their days enjoying their retirement. It wasn't in the cards though, and Papa James died on a ladder outside the kitchen window. As hard as I tried to convince Granny C that I could come home from Chicago, she wouldn't let me. She said my education was more important, so I stayed.

That was a decision I would learn to regret later.

The morning that I got the call to come home was one I'd never forget.

It was an hour before I was supposed to get up to prepare for work that the call came in that my grandmother had died. My then boyfriend, Mike Newton, was the one to break the news to me.

As I cried on his shoulder in my living room, I glanced at the door and saw that his bags were packed. He was going to leave me. Kicking him out of my apartment, I felt completely alone for the first time since I had turned six.

New Moon Hollow was left to me, and I had a difficult decision to make. I could either sell the farm and return to Chicago or stay and try to run a farm that I had no idea how to work. Despite every part of me wanting to return to Chicago, the moment my feet planted back on New Moon Hollow, I instantly knew what I wanted. I couldn't let anyone else take this farm.

My grandparents set aside enough money to complete the outside renovations, and there was enough left for feed for the animals to last the rest of their lifetimes. I called my boss at the Chicago Tribune and explained my situation. He hesitantly let me go with a promise that I would continue to write freelance for the paper. I agreed since jobs were limited in Forks.

After the movers finally arrived with the rest of my belongings from Chicago, I slowly unpacked everything that I had acquired in my years living there. It didn't seem to fit with the decorating job that my grandparents had done. I tried to adjust things around my items and found it pointless. There was a certain feeling left in this house that I wanted to hold onto as long as I could, so I put the things that didn't blend into storage.

I sighed again as I thought about the work I had ahead of me. It was only six in the morning, and I put my face into my hands before making my morning chore list.

By the time chickens were fed and the pigs slopped, my back was killing me. I sat down on the stump that Papa James cut wood on each fall and wanted to cry. All this was overwhelming, and I started regretting my decision to keep the farm. I headed into the house and called Angela, my best friend since I moved to Forks to live with my grandparents.

"I can't do this," I started off our conversation.

Angela sighed as I began to sob.

"Maybe you should hire a farm hand. I'm sure someone in this town could use a job."

That was the best thing she could have said to me. As overwhelmed as I was, I couldn't fathom giving up so easily.

"Where do I start looking for someone?" I asked.

"Try putting up a flyer up at the grocery store or something in the paper."

As soon as Angela let me off the phone and gave me the promise that if I needed any help I could ask, I called the local paper to put a want ad in for a farm hand. The next couple of hours were spent with me nearly cussing the cows out for not letting me milk them and then not moving out of the barn when I asked them to.

I so missed my Papa James.

To relax, I saddled up my horse, a gelding named Peter for a quick ride around the farm.

The sun was setting over the horizon and the sky turned the most beautiful shades of oranges and pinks. I smiled as geese flew overhead. I knew immediately that I'd made the right decision by keeping the farm.

.....................

The next morning, five a.m. came too early for me. As a kid waking up so early didn't bother me so much. However as an adult I learned to enjoy sleeping in. I headed to the hen house and collected over six dozen eggs. Everything I collected from eggs to honey at the beehive would be sold at the market on Saturday morning. As long as I could remember, Saturday mornings were filled with smells of fresh produce and cattle in the trade market. Even though Granny C and Papa James made most of their money before the stock market fell, they enjoyed the farmer’s market because it gave them a chance to see all the townspeople and catch up on all the local gossip.

It felt awkward being there without them, but as I unloaded the truck full of farm fresh produce, I felt like I was home for the first time since I left home for college.

As I placed the “Help Wanted” sign on the stall, Mrs. Cope, the local high school secretary, stopped to say hello.

“Bella Swan, is that you?” Mrs. Cope asked as she smiled. “I haven’t seen you since your grandfather’s funeral. How are you doing?” She almost pulled me over the stall table to give me a hug.

“I’m doing well,” I said trying to breathe. “How are you?”

“I’m okay, just you know, usual spring allergies. I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I was going to go to the funeral, but my son was getting married that weekend.” She sighed.

“It’s okay; I completely understand.”

Then the awkward silence hit that normally takes place when two people who’ve known each other forever can’t find something to talk about. As she was about to walk away, Mrs. Cope backed up a minute.

“Do you need some help at the farm?” she asked, pointing at my help wanted sign.

“Actually, I do. I have no idea how Papa James took care of everything at New Moon Hollow. I just need someone to take on some of the manual labor. Everything else, I think I can handle.”

Mrs. Cope nodded. “I think I may know of someone that can help you,” she said. “Esme Cullen, Dr. Carlisle Cullen’s new wife has a son about your age who’s been looking for work. He seems like the kind to not mind manual labor. Maybe you’ll see them at church tomorrow, and you can ask Mrs. Cullen if her son is interested.”

“What happened to Carlisle’s first wife, Kate?” I asked. Granny C. never mentioned to me anything about Kate anymore.

“She died about a year ago. He just remarried a couple of months ago.”

I shook my head. Poor Kate; she was an amazing woman.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’ll talk to Mrs. Cullen tomorrow about her son.”

“Great, see you there tomorrow.”

I sold out of all the left over winter vegetables that I could salvage from the farm and hot house. As I sold the last couple dozen eggs, I glanced up to see a smile that looked familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“Hey Bella,” a squeaky voice said, staring at my tomatoes. “I heard you were back. It’s so good to see you.” She smiled warmly and I quickly realized it was Alice Cullen. This was a very small town, and it was only a matter of time before I started running into the entire Cullen family.

Alice was a dear friend of mine from high school, but we’d lost contact after Alice moved to Italy to study design. I had heard from Papa James and Granny C. that she was working as an intern with Donatella. I could only imagine the things she got to see.

I walked around to the other side of the table and gave her a huge hug. I’d missed Alice all these years, and it was great to see her again.

A tall, older looking gentleman was standing next to her.

“Bella, this is Felix, my husband. I met him while touring Volterra. He spoke nothing but Italian until a couple of years ago.”

Felix smiled, “Ah, but my little buttercup taught me all she could about the ways of the English language.” I laughed. His English was almost better than mine.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said.

“I heard you are fixing up your grandmother’s farm? How’d you like the interior?” she said, beaming.

“It was beautiful,” I said.

Alice laughed. “I’m glad. I designed it just the way your Granny C. wanted it.”

“You did that?” I asked.

“I did. You should have seen her helping me pick out window coverings and wall paper. She was so excited to see it come together. I’m so sorry to hear about her. We didn’t make it back in time from Italy but we’re home now for good. We’d love to have you over for dinner sometime.”

I nodded, “That sounds great. Oh Alice, I’m sorry to hear about Kate.”

Alice’s face expression changed, and she tried to choke down some tears. “We knew it was coming. I mean I know that Kate wasn’t my biological mother, but she did the best she could to take care of Edward and I. I like Esme though. She’s been a huge help for my dad after losing Kate.”

I smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. I heard they just recently got married?”

“They did. Dad actually knew Esme since college, and when Kate died, Esme came to the funeral. I guess you could say she never left.”

“I gotcha. Well I’ll take you up on that dinner thing soon.”

She smiled, “Great. I’ll also take that last basket of hot house tomatoes off you too.” She handed me a twenty and was rewarded with the last sellable thing on my table for the day.

“Thanks, now I can go home and get some rest. Will I see you tomorrow,” I asked.

“You will. I can’t wait for you to meet Esme.”

********

Sundays at New Moon Hollow meant rest and relaxation and a day off from the major farm chores. I still had to feed the chickens and make sure the pigs and cows had plenty to eat, but it was the day that Granny C. and Papa James would take me down to the local Baptist church. If you lived in Forks, it was almost guaranteed you would be found sitting in the pews during Dr. Webber’s sermon. His daughter Angela was the one who was my best friend since my first day in Forks. I had actually met her in that church.

The moment I walked into the sanctuary, I was greeted by the many people that were my grandparents’ friends. I’d already seen most of them during the funeral, but I’ll be honest, the funeral went by so fast that I didn’t remember seeing half of those people there. One by one, they extended their condolences again, and as I took a pew towards the middle, I was greeted by a familiar face.

“It is so good to see you here today,” Dr. Cullen said as him, and I would assume Mrs. Cullen sat down next to me. He reached and gave me a one arm hug. “Bella, I’d like for you to meet my wife. This is Esme Cullen.”

Esme came to the other side of me and gave me a quick hug. “I’ve heard so much about you from your grandmother. She always spoke about how proud she was of you.” I had to hold back a sniffle.

Esme patted my hand as she reached for a tissue in her clutch purse. I wiped the tears away from my eyes. “Thank you. I think it gets easier, and each time I hear her name I find myself a blubbering mess,” I say.

“I know how you feel,” Dr. Cullen said, with sadness in his eyes. I knew he was talking about Kate but Esme just patted his hand too and said, “It never gets easier; don’t let anyone fool you, but the sting eventually goes away.” She was talking to the both of us.

Just as Esme was about to say something else, Dr. Webber stepped to the podium to start the sermon. Esme quickly sat on the other side of Dr. Cullen, and we listened intensely. I glanced down the row and saw Alice sitting with Felix. She waved and smiled.

Once the sermon ended, I reached for my bag and remembered the main reason I’d wanted to talk to the Cullens.

“Mrs. Cullen,” I said. “Esme please,” She responded.

“Esme, I ran into Mrs. Cope, the school secretary, and she said that you had a son that needed work. I’m looking for a farm hand to help me with some of the things that I can’t do.”

Esme glanced at Dr. Cullen then back to me.

“I’ll, um… I’ll ask Jasper if he’s available.”

“Thank you so much,” I said back. I reached into my wallet and handed her a small card with my information on it. “If he can meet me tomorrow around eight in the morning, I’d love to talk to him.”

She hesitantly took the card, and when she looked to Dr. Cullen he nodded. She took the card and put it in her purse.

“Thanks again.”

I walked out of the sanctuary and to my Papa James’ restored 56 Chevy Truck. I couldn’t get the sneaking suspicion that something wasn’t right with Jasper. Either way, I needed someone to work on the farm, and if he was of sound mind and body and could lift a 50lb bag of feed on his shoulder, he was my guy.

*******

The dreaded rooster woke me up Monday morning bright and early. My day started with a pot of coffee, the morning paper and a list of questions and chores that I would normally do around the farm. I was meeting with Jasper this morning to see if he would be willing to work on the farm.

By the time the chickens were fed and I’d watered the hot house tomatoes in the greenhouse, it was nearly half past seven in the morning. I took a quick shower, put my hair up in a bun and waited on the front porch for my hopeful new employee.

The spring was right upon us and all the more reason to need help. I was sure that one of my cows was pregnant, and I produce more eggs in the spring. This was going to be an impossible task to do all on my own.

Right on the dot, an older model pickup truck slowly came down the dirt road that led to my front yard. As I sat on the front porch, I smiled. Finally, help.

Jasper got out of his truck and started walking towards the porch. He wore a pair of dirty jeans, brown, worn out cowboy boots, a flannel shirt and a cowboy hat. His long hair was tied back behind his head. I caught my breath as his blue eyes shown in the sunlight. I almost lost my voice to speak.

“Ms. Swan?” he asked as he stopped at the front step.

“Yes.” I replied. It was all I could say.

“I’m Jasper Whitlock, ma’am,” he said as he tipped his hat towards me. Be still the southern belle inside of me.

“It’s nice to meet you. Would you join me at the table so we can talk?” I pointed towards the card table that I’d set up on the front wraparound porch. He nodded and walked up the steps. As he walked past me, the smell of Old Spice hit my nose, and I smiled. It reminded me of Papa James.

He waited for me to sit before he sat down. He has manners I thought to myself.

We sat down, and I pulled the list out of my book.

“I talked to Mrs. Cope at the farmer’s market the other day and she mentioned you by name. I asked your mother to give you my business card. I’m glad you came.”

He nodded and smiled. “Esme was really glad that you asked about me. It’s been impossible to find work since I came home January a year ago.” His expression changed from happy to sullen.

“I know the job market is horrible right now. So could you tell me about your previous work experience?”

He sighed. “I’ve only known one job to be honest,” he said looking at the table. His blue eyes finally met mine again. “I was in the United States Army for almost eight years.”

“That’s amazing. Did you serve overseas?”

He nodded. “Yes ma’am. I spent almost six years of that in Afghanistan.” He dropped his eyes again, and I tried to change the subject. He acted as though he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Well, I have an opening for a farm hand. The barn in the back has a studio apartment on the top floor. The rent is free, and utilities too. Pay is based on sun up to sun down and anything you can get done in between would be of a great help to me. I’ll be honest, Jasper, I have no idea how on earth my grandparents ran this farm all on their own.”

He smiled warmly. “I don’t mind manual labor.”

“That’s a plus then. I have a list of chores that I do each day. Feel free to look over this list and let me know what you think.” I handed him the list, and he laughed.

“I think I can handle this,” he said smiling. His smile was crooked and absolutely adorable.

“Great, you can start tomorrow. Like I said, you can stay on the farm if you’d like. I’m not sure your living arrange…”

“I wouldn’t mind to be honest. I’ve been staying with Mom for a couple of months. I think she and Dr. Cullen could use some time to themselves.”

I nodded. “Well you can move in tonight if you’d like. I get up around 5:30 in the morning. I’ll cook breakfast if you’d like, and you can meet me at my kitchen door around 6. We’ll have a lot to accomplish tomorrow.

He smiled and stood to shake my hand. “You have no idea how much this will help me,” he said.

“Likewise,” I said back.

He walked down the steps, full of pride and took off for the afternoon. I smiled knowing that this could be the best thing that could happen to New Moon Hollow.

******

As the days went by, Jasper amazed me with the things he could accomplish on the farm. My old rusty tractor finally started running again, just in time to till the huge garden we needed to plant. He had the chickens fed before breakfast, the cows milked by noon, and the plants watered before dinner.

I learned that Jasper was a man of very few words. He would ask me what to do next as soon as one chore was completed and always said yes ma’am and no ma’am to me. I would have to call Esme and tell her she raised a very upstanding young man.

Saturday was spent at the farmer’s market again, and Jasper helped me load and unload all the baskets and even did a great job helping the customers. Just as we were packing up, another familiar face came towards the table.

“Bella Swan, so good to see you.” Edward Cullen, Alice’s brother and Carlisle’s son stood in front of me, eyes fixated on Jasper. Jasper ducked out of my way, put a basket of goods in the truck and walked towards the bathroom. I thought it was a little odd, but I didn’t want to pry in Jasper’s private life.

“Hello Edward,” I said. “It’s good to see you too. How are things going with the real estate company?”

He reached into his wallet and handed me a card. “It’s going great. Actually, I’d like for you to meet the Mrs.” A tall red head appeared as he said her name.

“Bella, this is Tanya. We met while I was in Chicago.”

I sighed. Growing up, I had the hugest crush on Edward. Alice tried her best to set me up with him, but I wouldn’t let her. Then one day out of the blue in Chicago, we ran into each other. One thing led to another, and I found myself waking up in his bed. We dated for a while, but I realized that he wasn’t my type. That happened when I found out he was cheating on me. I have a sneaking suspicion I was meeting the same girl.

“Hello,” I said, shaking her hand.

“Edward tells me you got willed New Moon Hollow. Now how is it a city girl such as you is taking care of a farm that size?” The way she said it made me feel two inches tall.

“Oh Tanya, you didn’t hear. She hired Esme’s son. She must have taken pity on him; you know being a war vet and all. Too bad he’s had too many issues to have a steady job.”

I wanted to reach out with my bare hands and strangle Edward. “He’s doing a great job,” I said, trying to sound not only unaffected by his rude words but to stick up for Jasper. He really was doing a great job.

“I’m glad. You know, I heard he threw a fist at my dad when he found out that Carlisle was marrying his mother.”

I wanted to snap. “Well that’s unfortunate. If you don’t mind, I’m almost finished packing. I’ve got a lot to do before the stalls close.”

Edward stopped me before I could turn around. “You know Bella, if that farm gets to be too big for you to handle, let me know. I know a buyer that would love to have their hands on it.”

I gritted my teeth. “I think I’d like to keep in the family, but thanks.” I turned and headed to the truck. Jasper finally emerged from the bathroom just in time for us to leave.

I sighed as the passenger door shut.

I looked over at Jasper, who looked like he could cry.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll pack my stuff when we get back to the farm, and I’ll be on my way.”

“Why the hell would you want to do that?” I asked.

“I heard what Tanya and Edward said to you. They’re right you know. I can’t hold a steady job. Ever since, well… ever since I came home, it’s been hard for me.”

I sighed. “PTSD?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Jasper, listen. I have complete and utter faith in you. You’ve done such a great job on the farm. I’m proud as hell to have you as my employee. Don’t ever doubt yourself.”

He smiled at me, wiping a tear away.

“Thank you Ms. Swan; that means a lot to me.”

“You are very welcome and quit calling me Ms. Swan.”

He nodded as we drove back to New Moon Hollow.