The broken soldier looking for some peace. The brooding bouncer. The beautiful and aloof hero that didn’t have the time or patience for wasted words and actions. The loyal friend. The southern gentleman. The consummate loner with miles and miles of walls erected around him. Those were all the parts of Church that I knew and still managed to fall for, but there were the new parts that I wasn’t so fond of. The battle-weary warrior carrying years and years of war around inside of him, so heavy and weighted down he couldn’t move forward. The man who had lost too much. The standoffish son. The reluctant to return small-town boy. The jaded child scarred from years of being told he was different and not enough of one thing to be a whole anything. The man that needed me to help him out but didn’t want me enough to step out of his comfort zone. There were a lot of sides to Church that should knock the rose-colored glasses right off of my nose, but my foolishly determined heart was having a hard time letting go of all the things it decided it loved about him.

“You’ve had a situation that needed figuring out here since you left.” She turned her sharp gaze to him and Church ducked his head. “I don’t care why you stayed away, alls I care about is the fact you’re back. One of these days me and you are gonna sit down and you’re gonna tell me why you couldn’t come home. You’re gonna tell this old woman why you went chasing after bad guys and nearly broke your daddy’s heart, but for now you’re gonna give me another hug and promise me that you aren’t going anywhere until I got two good legs so I can chase you if you decide to run again.”

He bent down and wrapped his arms around her and gave her a squeeze that made her laugh. He put a soft kiss on her cheek before he stood to his full height once again.

“I’m home for the foreseeable future. Dixie is hanging around with me for a little bit so we can get you settled. I told her all about your cookies and your sweet tea.”

“You aren’t stayin’?” The woman was sharp as a tack and didn’t miss a beat.

“Well … I … ugh … I’m here for as long as Church needs me to stay.” I winced when she narrowed her eyes at me when I used the only name I knew him by and it obviously irritated her.

“I don’t know anyone named Church. I know an adorable boy that wouldn’t want to disrespect his momma by throwing away the name she picked out for him.” I shifted my gaze to Church and watched as he moved his weight nervously from foot to foot. Well, wasn’t that adorable. Add chagrined and scolded Church to the list of parts of him that were impossible not to care for.

“Haven’t been Dashel in a long time, Elma. Went to war and earned the name Church. I got it from a man I respect and admire, a man that I still call a friend. I think Mom would understand.” His voice was quiet and the sentiment was clear. He liked his name and he was proud of how he came by it. He wasn’t a kid that needed her to look after him anymore, he was a man that had seen things and done things that fundamentally changed a person. He couldn’t be Dashel anymore. That innocence and naïveté had been stripped away.

The older woman made a noise low in her throat and threw up her hands in exasperation. “Fine, you be Church for your woman and for everyone else, but for me you’ll always be little Dashel with the wild eyes and the too tender heart. I’m so mad I fell, but God was looking out for me and He had a plan. If that tumble was what brought you home to me and your family, then I would gladly take a hundred more.”

Church rumbled out a laugh from low in his chest and walked over to where I was still hovering by the doorway. His shoulder brushed mine and he reached down to grab my hand. His fingers were no longer shaking but there was a coiled tension running all throughout his body, making him so rigid and stiff that it felt like I was standing next to a stone statue.

“No more falling. I’ll borrow Jules’s truck tomorrow, assuming he still has it, and come and pick you up when it’s time to go home. I missed the shit out of you, Elma.”

“Language!” She shook a finger at him and gave me one last knowing look. “This old woman missed you more than you will ever know. Looking forward to seeing what’s so special about your girl, Dashel.”

Church muttered another good-bye and hustled me out of the room before he had to further defend my honor. We were in the elevator when I told him flatly, “You brought me all this way, and she hates me.”

He gave me a hooded look as he crossed his arms over his chest. “She doesn’t hate you. She’s just protective of me, and it’s been a long time. I don’t think she was ready for the actuality of me being grown and having lived an entire life she had no part of.”

“One of these days do you plan on sharing why she had no part of that life?” I tilted my chin back so that I could look him in the eye. “I think that’s a story I would like to hear. Also I’m not at all surprised you were scared to go see her on your own. She’s something else.”

His eyebrows shot upwards so fast I was amazed they didn’t go flying off his forehead. His gorgeous eyes widened and colored with disbelief. “I wasn’t scared to go into her room alone.”

I made a face at him and pushed past him so I could get out of the elevator. “Oh right. You’re a big, badass soldier, you aren’t scared of anything. That’s why you were pale and shaking at the door. I get it, she talks to you like you’re five and you clearly adore her and don’t want to let her down. I would be nervous about my reception, too.”