The Art of Redemption: Chapter 4 teaser

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story over on fanfiction.net! Your support means more to me than you will ever know! Here is a small teaser of the chapter to come.


There was a soft knock at the door, successfully breaking me from my mental tirade. “Just a second!” I called while turning on the DVD player and popping in the DVD. I stood up and strode over to the door, tripping on the corner of the area rug Drew insisted we have. “Stupid fucking rug,” I mumbled under my breath.

I made it to the door unscathed, barely, and opened the door to reveal a smiling Jasper. He looked fucking amazing in a pair of low hung dark wash jeans, a black fitted t-shirt that hugged his delicious muscular body, and a pair of square toe cowboy boots. “Was the rug giving you a hard time there Darlin’?” Of course he had heard me.

“It has a personal vendetta against me and tries to trip me every chance it gets,” I joked. I really didn’t like that thing. “Come in,” I said, opening the door further to allow him entry.

“I come with a peace offering,” he said with a smirk, holding out a cup of Starbucks coffee. I smiled brightly at him. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I hope its okay,” he said.

“Thank you that’s very…sweet,” I said honestly, taking the cup of coffee from him. Our fingers touched from the briefest of moments and I found some comfort in the contrast of our temperatures. “I was just about to watch a movie. Care to join me?”

“Well it depends…it’s not some sort of chick flick is it?”

“I wouldn’t make you sit through that torture. Besides, that’s what I have Drew for. If you don’t particularly like chick flicks, I should warn you now…don’t come over on Monday nights.”

“What’s Monday?”

“McConaughey Monday. On nights there is nothing decent on TV, we watch our chick flicks, Monday’s are dedicated to the hotness that is Matthew McConaughey,” I explained. “But right now, I was planning on Gods and Generals, unless you want to watch something else…”

“I haven’t seen it since it came out. The Civil War wasn’t exactly Alice’s favorite topic,” he chuckled lightly.

“Well, I’m not Alice and the Civil War happens to be my favorite topic. So, take a seat and make yourself comfortable. Mi casa es su casa,” I said with a small smile. Jasper returned my smile with one of his own, which made me smile more. I was starting to think I would do anything just to see him smile. Jasper sat on one side of the couch and I sat at the other, curling my legs up underneath myself.

Watching the movie with Jasper was a completely new experience. He was just like me, only in male form. Both of us were cheering after the first battle of Manassas as we watched Union soldier after Union soldier fall under the hands of the South. Throughout the movie, predominantly throughout the boring dialogue, Jasper kept explaining what it was like in the Confederate camps in detail and I couldn’t help but wonder how he knew all of this.

At the end of the movie, a tear ran down my cheek as I watched Stephan Lang take Stonewall’s dying breath and utter his last words, “Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of trees.” I could feel the sorrow and respect coming from Jasper as he bowed his head.
“It’s just so sad,” I said quietly as the credit rolled. “I mean, he gets his arm amputated and then fucking dies from pneumonia!” I chuckled.

“Disease was very common back then and the doctors didn’t have the knowledge that they do now. Pneumonia was one that struck often and was mostly fatal. The conditions in which we lived in camps weren’t exactly…sanitary and disease spread fast. Soldiers had less to fear from bullets than they did disease.” The use of ‘we’ did not go unnoticed.

“We?” I asked with a raised brow. Was he implying that…Oh. My. God.

Jasper smirked. “Bella, what did Edward tell you about my past?”

“Just that it was yours to tell,” I said, smiling softly. I wanted to know; I wanted to know everything about Jasper Whitlock.

“It was 1861 when I joined the Confederate States Army,” he started with a smirk. “I was always a really charismatic person so it didn’t take long for me to move up the ranks and become the youngest Major in the Civil war. I was the Major of the 1st regiment of the Texas cavalry,” he explained. I felt his pride and I’m sure he could feel my surprise. It’s not as if I was hiding it as I was currently sitting completely slack-jawed.

Jasper continued to tell me stories and about his experience in the Civil war. By the time he was done, I hadn’t even realized that I moved closer to him, completely enthralled by his stories. “I…I had no idea…” I stammered out, not quite knowing what to say.

Real intelligent Bella. I mentally chastised myself…what the hell, I mentally rolled my eyes too.
“So what about you? Why are you so interested in the Civil war?”

“It’s in my blood,” I said proudly. I looked Jasper who raised his eyebrow and looked at me skeptically. “Okay, bad choice of words,” I laughed. “But seriously though, it is. My great-great-great-however many greats ago grandfather is, believe it or not, General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson.” Now it was Jasper’s turn to look at me in shock.

JPOV

I was shocked and I knew she could not only see it, she could feel it. She was the descendant of one of the most influential General’s in America’s history. If it weren’t for Jackson’s leadership skills, Lee wouldn’t have been able to keep the larger Union armies at bay for as long as he did.

“I found out when I was really young. When I was younger, Charlie always made sure to let me know where I came from. It’s because of him that I have such a deep rooted love for the Civil War,” she said sadly but with a small smile. Throughout the few times we’ve spent together, every time Charlie or her mother were brought up, her emotions would immediately shift to sadness and despair; the kind that could only come from mourning the loss of a loved one.

“Bella, what happened to Charlie?”

Bella took a deep breath and let it out very slowly. “Can we talk about this after lunch?” she asked. Her voice was unsure and her emotions were all over the damn place.

***

There ya have it folks...the update should be up in a few days.

Amber