Chapter 1

It was a warm day in the town of Forks, Washington; June 20th to be exact. The sun was up and there was a slight breeze running through the air. Everyone in the extremely small town were set to work and Isabella Swan was finishing up feeding the horses in her family's stable.

Well, it was her stable now – it had been for quite some time – but she still thought of it as her father's stable. He had died almost a year before from a bad illness and her mother had died about five years before that while giving birth to Renesmee.

Along with the stable, her younger sister Renesmee was also her responsibility now. After almost a year, the thought still took some getting used to.

As if on cue, Renesmee ran past her then, chasing an orange cat that hung around the stable. Isabella had hated the mangy furball when her sister first took an interest, but from time to time Renesmee would insist on letting the horrid thing into their home. Isabella, still not as strict as she should be with Renesmee, would eventually give in. Now she found herself looking for the cat every once and again, and she would smile slightly when it approached her, purring. The thing had the look of a wild animal, but it was no wilder than a little mouse scrounging for food.

Isabella put the horse feed away and walked outside through the large stable doors that she almost always left open. Her father and mother's home stood just a few feet from the stable and she could see Renesmee sitting on the front porch, teasing the cat with a small stick.

"Renesmee."

The young girl, only about six and a half years old, looked up, her brown hair pulled back into two long braids.

"Time to go." Isabella said and grasped Renesmee's hand when the girl reached her.

They lived on a small road that branched off the middle of town; only a short walk's distance away. That day they were headed for the blacksmith's and the corner store, but Isabella was sure Renesmee would drag her off to other places. Their trips into town were always longer than she had anticipated.

"Now, don't go running off." Isabella told her sister as they entered town, small buildings and houses reaching out on the left and right of them. "We're not staying long."

By the way Renesmee was dragging her feet, Isabella knew, without looking, that she was pouting.

They walked up the two steps of the small porch of the store and walked inside. Renesmee went right over to the wooden barrel that was filled with assorted candies. Isabella picked out a set of long candles to replace the ones that had burned out the night before when she had been closing up the stable after dark.

"Isabella," Renesmee pulled at Isabella's dress. "Can I have some candies?"

"One piece for after supper." She replied and watched Renesmee run back to the barrel to decide exactly which piece she wanted.

After Isabella paid for their things, they headed for the blacksmith's. She stopped Renesmee outside the door and handed her their purchases.

"Hold these and stay right here." She instructed the younger girl, then turned and went in to the open brick building.

"Isabella!" Emmett wiped his hands with a rag and came towards her. Emmett was big and burly, and was like an older brother to her. They had grown up together and, even though he looked intimidating, he was really a big teddy bear on the inside.

"Hello, Emmett." She smiled back and pulled a horse's metal mouth bit out of her apron's pocket. "I was hoping you could fix this for me."

He took the piece of metal from her and inspected the broken loop at the end. "Of course. Is tomorrow alright?"

"That's fine." Isabella nodded and touched his arm. "Thank you so much."

"My pleasure." He smiled one last time and turned to go back to work.

Isabella walked back outside to find Renesmee missing. "Renesmee?" She called as she looked around frantically.

She sighed with relief when she spotted Renesmee standing a few buildings down, in front of the tavern. Isabella hurried over and across the road. She took hold of her sister's hand immediately. "I told you to stay put!"

"Oh, it's alright, Isabella. She just came over to say hello."

Isabella looked up to see Jacob Black walking outside with two small glasses of lemonade. He gave one to Renesmee and offered the other to Isabella.

"No, thank you." She shook her head.

Jacob owned the tavern. Like Isabella, he had also taken over when his father had died a few years before. She and Jacob had been seeing each other before her own father had passed away. Soon after her father had passed, Jacob started talking about marriage; about how her father would have wanted someone there to take care of her.

Isabella had soon broken it off with him, suddenly aware of her new responsibilities. She needed to take care of Renesmee… and she was not ready for marriage.

"I'm sorry if she bothered you at all." She said.

"She has never bothered me. You know you and she are welcome here any time." He gave her a genuine smile.

She knew he still had feelings for her, but she was too busy for that sort of thing. "Thank you." Her eyes dropped to the wooden floor of the front porch.

"Look!" Renesmee spoke up, pointing down the road.

Isabella and Jacob looked to where she was pointing and saw a horse pulling a carriage up the dirt road. The carriage passed the tavern and stopped in front of the old physician's building, which was a few buildings down.

"Who is it?" Renesmee asked Isabella.

"I don't know." She replied, her own curiosity evident in her voice.

The carriage door opened and, as the driver of the carriage grabbed the luggage, a man stepped out slowly. Isabella couldn't get a good look at him from so far away.

Isabella glanced at Jacob before looking back at the new arrival. "Could he be the new doctor?"

"Seems that way." Jacob replied, not as surprised as she was. "I overheard a couple of guys the other day saying a new doctor could be arriving soon."

"Can we say hello?" Renesmee tugged excitedly on Isabella's arm.

"No… he'll be busy unloading his things. We shouldn't bother him."

Jacob laughed. "You worry too much about bothering people, Isabella." When she turned and smirked at him, he glanced past her to see Renesmee running towards the carriage. "Renesmee!"

Isabella turned back to see her sister running down the road and immediately rushed after her. Renesmee stopped next to the carriage. She, again, took Renesmee's hand. "You have to stop running off like that!"

Renesmee started to whine an excuse but the new arrival cleared his throat. Both girls looked up to see the new doctor standing in the doorway.

Oh my, he's beautiful, she thought as soon as she set her eyes on him.

He had a set of stunning green eyes, a chiseled jaw and tossled bronze-tinted hair. She could tell he had a nice build; strong shoulders and arms, though not muscular like Emmett.

Isabella tried to snap out the daze she momentarily fell into. She stood up straight and tried to give a welcoming smile, no matter how awkward she felt about just running up to his door.

"Hello," she began nervously. "I guess my sister wanted to welcome you to town."

"Hello! My name's Renesmee!" Renesmee said excitedly. "Do you have a stethoscope? Can I see it?"

"Renesmee!" Isabella whispered harshly.

"Maybe another time." He replied. He stepped past them and went to the carriage to get the last of his luggage.

"I'm Isabella." Isabella finally introduced herself. "I take care of the town's horses. If you need anything, I live down that road there." She pointed to the road that led off the middle of town.

He nodded and pulled his last bag off the carriage. Seeing that she was just standing there waiting, he sighed inwardly and introduced himself. "Edward Cullen." He lugged his bag past her and into the small building he was now in charge of.

"And you're the town's new doctor?" Isabella asked, stepping just inside the doorway, keeping Renesmee held tightly in front of her.

"Yes," he said shortly.

Isabella nodded and smiled wearily. "Well, we'll be going now." She pulled Renesmee outside and turned back just for a moment. "I hope you like it here."

With that, the two girls headed for home.