A Tragic Hero

Chapter 13

Ryder killed the engine of his rumbling truck and stared at his mother's old two story Victorian home that sat silently straight ahead. The house was literally in the middle of nowhere, a real Oregon treasure.
He had called his mother and told her his dilemma with Sky and she had gladly offered a room for his 'special lady friend' as she put it. He had told her to not try any funny business and she had assured him she wouldn't. Not like he believed her. He knew she would try something, no matter how much he threatened her.
"Alright, here's the thing," Ryder caught Sky's attention as she closed her mouth after gawking at his mom's beautiful home.
"My mom can be a little...too out spoken at times. She'll tell you up front exactly how she feels about something. Please, don't be offended by anything she may say. She really is a great woman. She's probably gonna try to pry a little, but don't worry. As long as you are up front with her too, she'll back off. Really, this is gonna work."
Sky simply nodded her head. He read the confused look on her face though.
"What is it?"
"Nothing."
"Don't lie to me. You can't hide that face from me. I know you well enough already to know that you wanna say something."
"Okay," she laughed,"I was just thinking...how bad can she really be? I mean, you're pretty mellow. It's not like she completely insane or anything, right?"
"You could say that, I guess."
He opened his door with a small smirk and stepped out.
"What's that suppose to mean?" He heard Sky ask before he shut his door.
He chuckled to himself. If only she knew. She would know in a couple of minutes just how crazy his mother was.
He opened his trunk, took out her belongings, then made his way over to Sky's side to helped her step down. He placed his arm around her lower back and kept it there.
He felt Sky physically tense up as his arm lingered. He knew she would possibly shy away from his innocent touches after their connective shock, but he hadn't expected it to be this soon. Never the less, he left his hand exactly where it was. She would just have to get use to it, to him. Which, he hoped, would be very close in the near future.
"Ryder, my baby! I've missed you so much!"
The front door of the magnificent victorian home swung open and out stepped his wonderful, but slightly crazed, mother. She wore a red bath robe on top of her kitten pajama. Her blond hair flowed in all directions, untamed like its owner. Her neon pink bunny slippers were pretty much worn out, but she would never get rid of them. His entire family had tried to convince her to, but all that came from their arguments was an even bigger one from mom about letting her just do what she wanted to do and stop snooping around in her business.
Funny, those were two lessons she had never learned to be vise versa about and treat other people accordingly.
"Hi mom," He said as he waved at his mother, dropping his arm away from Sky's side then. His mother's light blue eyes tracked his movement, sparkling a notch brighter. Here we go.
he tried not to bristle up when she pulled him into a tight embrace.
"I love you so much," She cooed as she let him go.
She immediately turned to face Sky next and smiled.
"She's beautiful Ryder. Why didn't you tell she was this breathtaking?"
"Mom."
Ryder rolled his eyes, trying to avoid looking at Sky's now self conscious glance.
"Relax boy. I'm simply complimenting the girl."
She ushered them both with a wave.
"Come on in, come on in. We wouldn't want such a pretty woman like you to catch a chill now, would we?"
His mother entered in first, striding along with a noticeable skip in her step.Ryder held a hand out to let Sky go second. He followed close behind her, shutting the front door as he came in.
His mother had done some interior changes. Just like she did every couple of months. New carpets, new paintings hung up, more fancy vases to fill up space, randomly colored curtains to add some spice to the mix, new throw pillows to put on the classic, brown-leather couch. Now that was something that didn't change. He had grown up with that couch. Strangely, something that was so old, his mom just couldn't part with it. Kinda like her slippers.
"The name's Ella Clinton," his mother glanced at Sky who once again stared wide eyed at all the expensive stuff laying around.
"Wife of the great James Clinton, mother to fabulous Wendy Clinton and dashingly handsome Ryder Clinton."
He glared at his mom, sending her a warning. She laughed in response.
There would be no stopping her tonight. Just great.
"Your house is...is amazing."
"This old place," Mrs. Clinton wiped a speck of dust off one of her vases,"it could use a good fixer upper."
"Really, it's gorgeous."
Sky brought her gaze back to his mom.
"She's well mannered too? How could you not like her?"
His rambunctious mother smiled then, reaching out and taking hold of Sky's hand.
"Come on doll, I'll be showing you your room now. You're gonna love it."
Ryder watched Sky wander off with his mother, shaking his head. Poor lamb was headed towards the slaughter. Not like he could do anything now. Sky was in the clutches of his overly talkative mother.
"Well, what to do now."