Turn to Stone by nikkipattinson, ch 49

This was quite a chapter! Things have come to a head now! Once the jury deliberates and draws their conclusion, it is over!

Excellent job! I have never been in a courtroom when the judge gave instructions to the jury, and you presented it so clearly. I have read of lawyers' shenanigans, though!

"The truth of the matter... and that is why we're all here... the truth... is that James Cavanaugh is not guilty of rape. He is guilty of treating these poor, misguided women less than honorably. He is guilty of having multiple sexual partners... some ‘available' and some... not so much. The things that he is guilty of are not prosecutable offenses. He's not a rapist. You can't convict him of a crime, because he didn't commit one. Thank you." ----- Aro is such a slimeball! It is hard to figure why he would blatantly lie! Oh yeah, the almighty dollar!

I was a bit confused over "available" and "not available" partners. Is he referring to the deceased? Or someone who would not come to testify?

As Aro turns to take his seat beside James, he glances briefly in our direction. I'm surprised by the emotion I see in his eyes. He looks remorseful. I'm completely taken aback by the expression on his face. Maybe I'm mistaken. He made such brief eye contact with me. I shake my head and refocus on Eleazar as he steps back to the lectern. ---- Slimeball! I say his glance was the equivalent of crocodile tears!

"Mr. Anastas tells a compelling story, but that's all it is... a story. He has presented absolutely zero evidence of a relationship between James Cavanaugh and any of these victims." ----- That is the truth! Aro has merely made innuendo and tried to talk up a smoke screen. He is just nasty!

This was odd: " Aro practically runs past us as he leaves the courtroom. His head is down and he doesn't make eye contact with me before he bursts out the door." ---- For some reason, due to his strange behavior, I am wondering if Aro has learned from Connor that Connor will let James go to jail as long as Aro prevents any legal troubles from happening to Connor. I will be fascinated to see where you take that part of the story!!

The wait will not be fun! I hope Edward is right and Bella is not about the jury convicting James. With as many strings as his family has already pulled, there my be someone on the jury who is on the Cavanaugh payroll. One person is enough to free James.

I look forward to seeing where you take this story next!

Thanks for the update! I was thrilled to get it!

I am glad to see J & A so happy! Vegas was a great idea!

Why do I have a feeling that E has marriage on his mind, too??

Please keep up the good work.

Please solve the Edward mystery for me SOON!! i NEED for B & E to be together!!

So good! You make art so interesting!! Or maybe that is Edward.....? Enjoying this so much!!

You must know a lot about painting! Great descriptions of colors & what the students had to do!

Loved the hamlet talk! I hope that they go see it together!

Getting hotter all the time! I am ready for Bella & Edward to OFFICIALLY be together!!

Great job!

I love Disneyland! I live in NC but went to disneyland before I ever went to Walt Disney World!

Good Job! love how Bella is taking charge!

Good chapter! But I noticed no mention of a condom one time. Are you going to have bella end up pregnant? That would be OK with me! As long as it is with Edward...

Author's Response:

no pregnancy, I just got tired of writing the condoms in...

"So you're headed to North Carolina? Aren't you afraid of being kidnapped by a bunch of freaky in-bred hillbillies?" .... "Do you think they have Thai food in North Carolina?" "I don't know. Maybe." ----- OK, so I am trying not to take offense, but I live in NC, and I love it! We have mountains and ocean and big cities and small ones. And professional football and basketball. We are not the Dukes of Hazzard! And yes, we do have Thai. We even have sushi! So, I think Bella will have a great time here! I hope you share her time in NC!

I had to look up Penland, and I see that it is really in the mountains! It would be a beautiful setting!

I hope she will get together with Edward while she is in NC and he is in New Orleans.

This was a good chapter. I am glad that B & E are talking! I love that Bella sold most of her paintings! Her self-portraits sound so interesting, and I look forward to what Edward will say when he see that one in person.

I don't think we have met Edward's parents. I would love to see them appear in the story!

Keep up the good work!

I want to recommend another artist story to you.

Title: " Walking Out of the Still Life " By Pbroken on FanFiction
Summary: Bella drifts through life alone, keeping everyone at a distance. Dirty Edward breathes only for his girl, the one he can't stop dreaming about & painting. When a chance encounter forces them to stop existing & start living, will life prove to be too hard?
AU/AH Twilight - Rated: M - English - Romance/Drama

Pbroken is one of my FF buddies and is doing a good job with this story.

Author's Response:

I've been to North Carolina and I know it's not all hillbillies and country bumpkins, but that is Alice's perception of the South.  I won't bring up the crazy way NC folks make bbq...

"Emmett and Jasper carried boxes and furniture and loaded up my truck while Emmett whistled the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies. " ---> Ever'body on the truck! Wait! I think that was the Andy Griffith show.

The Beverly Hillbillies was an appropriate theme song. All we needed was Ma sitting in a rocking chair on top of the heap of stuff to make the picture complete. --> I believe that would be Granny.....

Good chapter! It is good to see Bella feeling a bit better, but I miss Edward!

I just hope you bring Edward back in soon! You haven't talked about the bender from his point of view yet, have you? I really want to read that!

Another story with a tiger kitten:
"Clipped Wings and Inked Armor" by hunterhunting on Twilighted

A rec:
Title: "The Moment of My Dreams" by dlpash. On FanFiction.net

Story URL: http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5728066/

Cute that Edward ended up at the ranch of Bill and Jacob BLACK! HA!

I hope Edward gets his act together soon and gets back to Bella! He needs her.

"my Lady Mac-Bella painting was freaking me out a little" --- Good name!

I wonder how she plans to get the self protrait to Edward, assuming she ever gets it done?

I hope you feel much better now! please update as often as you can~thanks.

Beautiful ball! Lovely lemon! Keep up the good work.

In his middle years, he was still attractive enough to turn heads when he entered the room. Bella had watched many female patients, some in extreme pain, unconsciously smooth their hair down or try to sit up straighter when Dr Cullen walked in. .... And despite his movie star looks, Carlisle Cullen was a fabulous doctor. *swoon* I love Carlisle! It doesn't hurt that I saw Peter Facinelli at a Twilight convention in May and he was wonderful in answering questions from the audience!

He really was one of the handsomest men she’d ever seen. His face looked like a master sculptor had sculpted his face, all perfect lines and angles. Green eyes, framed by the longest of lashes looked at her, as if taking in her appearance as well. His hair was a strange, red bronze colour. It was styled casually, brushed back off his face although she could see a tuft of it sticking up, as if he’d run his hands through it. Combined with a full lower lip, Edward looked like he’d just got out of bed, having spent the night having wild, passionate sex.---> One word: YUM!!
I love your description of Edward!

I can't wait to meet Alice! And to see how you work the rest of the "gang" into the story!

Great start to this story! I am glad that I found it!