Her head snapped up, looking over at me. “Isla girl, is that you?”
Chuckling, I said, “Yes, Mama.” She’d done this every time I came home to visit since leaving for college. She thought I’d lost too much weight and had lost my small-town-girl look in exchange for a trendy city look.
She rushed over to me and wrapped me up in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Of course I’m here. I wouldn’t miss Amy’s wedding.”
“You know, it would be nice if you came home to visit your mama and not just because there is a wedding,” she reprimanded.
“I know, I know.” She also gave me the you-need-to-come-home-more-often speech every time I came back. “College is keeping me busy.”
She pursed her lips and gave a noncommittal hum in resignation. Her eyes moved behind me, rising up. “And who is this fella?”
I’d almost forgotten Slate was standing beside me.
“Oh, this is Slate.” I turned to introduce them. “We met at Waterford and became fast friends.”
“Friends?” She gave me a questioning look.
“I’d say we are more than friends,” Slate cut in. “Wouldn’t you, Isla?” His eyes were full of mischief, and I remembered how he wanted to give my town a show. I hated lying to my mom, but I hated the thought of the town looking at me with pity or disappointment. Better to fib a little to get through tonight, and then I’d go back to Waterford, and this would eventually all be forgotten.
Slate didn’t give me a chance to respond. He held out his hand to my mom and said, “Hi, Mrs. Evans. It’s nice to finally meet you. Isla has told me a lot about you.” He smiled down at her, and I could see his looks and polite greeting working its charm on my mom.
“Oh, uh, nice to meet you, Slate,” she said, slightly flustered. “I’m sorry to say my daughter hasn’t told me much about you, but I look forward to getting to know you.”
The main doors behind us flew open. We all looked up to see a man with weather-worn skin and a bushy mustache making his way toward us in a button up shirt, jeans, and work boots.
“Well, the Wilson’s barn is all ready for the reception,” he said, stopping to stand next to us. He leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Good to see you, baby girl.”
“Hi, Dad,” I said, smiling at him.
He also gave my mom a kiss on the cheek before realizing he didn’t know the third person in our semi-circle.
He took in Slate and blinked a couple of times. “Wait, no way. I can’t believe it.” His voice had gotten louder, echoing off the chapel walls. “Slate Donahue, here in our little town. I’ll be damned.”
“Pleasure to meet you, sir,” Slate said as they shook hands.
“What in Sam Hill are you doing here in Riverdell?” my dad exclaimed.
Slate glanced over at me with a smile. “I was lucky enough to come here with your daughter.”
I wanted to roll my eyes but refrained. Lucky enough? More like he had felt bad for me and been willing to help me not feel so humiliated at this wedding.
“You and Isla?” The excitement in his voice was not lost on me. Here I thought I could leave tonight behind me, but I hadn’t realized that my dad would recognize Slate. He was popular at Waterford, but I hadn’t thought about how famous he might be in the college football world. Slate must have been as good at football as he thought he was.
“Yep, me and Isla.” He looked like he was enjoying this way too much. He probably loved how my dad had recognized him.
“I’m going to go find Amy and get dressed in my bridesmaids dress. We’ll talk more later,” I said, and then turned to Slate. “You okay to wait out here until the wedding starts?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“He’ll sit with us,” my dad chimed in before turning his attention back to Slate. “Now, let’s talk about last weekend’s game. That hit you had on Melbourne was so hard, you could hear it through the TV!”
Who would have known that my dad was a huge Slate Donahue fan? I smiled and turned to walk back to the bride’s room, but my mom caught up with me before I made it.
“How serious is this?” she whispered.
“How serious is what?”
