That Thing Between Eli & Gwen

The thought of that bothered me. “Did they like Sebastian?” I wished the man would just disappear, along with any memories of him.

“They weren’t thrilled about him. I guess they clearly saw what I didn’t. So they'd better like you.”

“No pressure.” My mother and brother were already in love with her; I wondered if her parents would be that pleased with us.

The second we stepped outside, all I could see were tall, deep green trees, around the bottom of which grew more green grass and wildflowers. In the distance, a mountain range stood high against the cloudy white and blue sky. None of the buildings anywhere stood any higher than the trees. The whole place looked like it was taken out of Nature Magazine, or at the very least belonged as someone’s screensaver. It was beautiful.

“Gwen!”

We both turned to our right.

Taigi broke free of his leash, running with everything he had into the older man's arms and licking all over his face.

Her father stood around the same height as me, maybe an inch taller. His skin was tan, his black and gray hair cut short, his face clean-shaven, and around his neck hung a beaded necklace with an arrowhead.

Beside him, a woman shorter than all of us with short black hair that stopped at her shoulders and smooth brown skin pulled Guinevere into a hug, kissing her cheeks. “Welcome home, sweetheart,” her mother said, unable to let go of her arm. She looked young to be a mother and Guinevere had at least five inches on her, obviously getting her height from her father.

“And this one might be?” He nodded to me, brushing back Taigi’s fur. His dark eyes stared—no, glared into me, starting from my feet up to my face, and then back down again.

“Mom, Dad, this is Dr. Eli Davenport, my boyfriend. Eli, these are my parents,” she introduced us.

Before I could speak, her father spoke up again.

“You moved on pretty quickly, don’t you think?” He looked to Guinevere.

“Would you prefer I cried and ate ice cream every day for the rest of the year?” she challenged him.

“Don’t mind them.” Her mother took my hand. “Welcome to Cypress, Eli. I hope the trip wasn’t bad. Gwen here has an awful fear of heights.”

“Thank you, ma’am, and no, it was all right. We just talked. I was actually nervous about coming here, especially for the reason your husband brought up.” I addressed him directly, saying, “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“I don’t like him, he’s all city boy. I can smell it. Come on, Taigi.” He frowned and turned, taking Taigi along.

“Dad, that’s not funny.” Guinevere went after him.

Her mother just laughed at them and, holding on to my arm, walked with me to their truck.

“I hope you really like my daughter, Eli, because he’s going to put you through the wringer. It's safe to say that after what happened, he trusts no man around our Gwen.”

Well, this is just going to be a good ol' time.

“I do—I really like her,” I said to her, stopping just short of the car as Guinevere and her father talked about something.

He pulled her into a one-armed hug, and of course she couldn’t stay angry, even though she was trying her best to do so.

“I do. Really, ma’am. I’m not sure if she told you, but I would rather just get it out in the open now. It was my fiancée that hers ran off with. Are you going to put me through the wringer, too?”

She smiled. “I guess time will tell. You are here for the whole weekend, after all.”

I wasn’t sure what I was in for.

Guinevere came back to where I stood. “I’m sorry about him, he’s just being…well, being my dad. We are ready to go. Have you ever sat in the back of a pickup truck?”

“It’s fine, and no, I haven’t.”

Whatever he was going to throw at me, I didn’t really mind.

Guinevere