Page 7 of Hero

Gone is the kickass, scowling, mountain man-warrior, I met back at the church and in his place a giant cuddly puppy.

“Do you have something you’d like to share with your mother, young man?” she asks, posturing with her hands on her hips once again, tapping her foot.

Silas avoids her eyes and combs a hand through his hair before shaking his head. “Can you be more specific?”

“I’m talking about the video floating around Facebook of you kissing a bride and carrying her off to your truck. I hear that’s your girlfriend,” she says, the glee in her tone is unmistakable. “Others are calling you a homewrecker.”

“People don’t have anything better to do than make stories up.”

“Are you staying they’re lying.”

“I’m saying people have overactive imaginations. I don’t have a girlfriend and I’m no homewrecker.”

“That’s what your aunt Judy believes. She’s already made a post telling everyone that you’ve always been very particular when it comes to falling in love and that you wouldn’t kiss a random bride and whisk her away in the middle of her wedding ceremony if there wasn’t a good reason.”

Silas groans. “How big is this?”

“It’s the biggest news we’ve had since Harper started her Mountain Man series on YouTube.” She frowns. “You’ve never been the reckless type.”

“I know, sorry,” he says.

It’s remarkable seeing this mountain of a man shrink in the presence of his mother.

“You know how people around town get, they gossip, I wouldn’t want them to think of you as a bad character.” She peers around. “Which is why I’d like to meet her.”

Silas looks stumped. “What? Why?”

“To dispel the rumors,” she says. “You’ve scared off the lovely girls I’ve tried to match you with. Behaved like an uncivilized mountain man during dates. And because of that, you don’t have the best reputation around town. Now if it turns out you have finally found someone then I would like to meet her so I don’t have to be ashamed when I go out in public.”

I feel for him and before I can stop myself, I decide to act. I remove my wedding dress and check his closet for something decent to wear. I should have guessed that there would only be flannel shirts or bedsheet-sized tee shirts.

I grab his flannel.

I wrap myself in it and the shirt comes down to my knees, which I feel is better than introducing myself in my wedding dress.

With my heart on edge, I pull on the bedroom door and stand at the foot of the staircase to peer down at Silas and his mother.

“Oh,” she says, bringing a hand to her chest. “It seems that the rumors were true.”

Beside her, Silas gazes at me with smoldering intensity and tracks down my body clothed in his flannel shirt before he sucks in a ragged breath.

I come down to meet his mother and she immediately pulls me into a hug.

“Mom, Delilah Harrington, Delilah meet my mom.”

Silas’s gorgeous gray-green eyes ask,What the blue blazes are you doing?But with expletives I’m sure.

I reply with a gaze of my own,Saving your hide.

“Mrs Draven,” she says with her eyes sparkling in delight.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs Draven,” I say.

“And who might you be?” she asks

“His new girlfriend.”

She squeals and hops onto her toes.

---