Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem

"...Alright."

A deep, rumbling growl echoed through the woods again. Tarquin quickly turned to

Evan, desperate for a distraction.

"How on earth are you making that growling noise?"

"Growling? Oh! Not me-it's him!"

With a theatrical flourish, Evan yanked the sheets aside, revealing the truth.

Tarquin's heart skipped a beat. It was a bear-a real, hulking bear!

Evan was perched on its shoulders, clutching its ears and kicking his little legs in excitement.

"This is my new friend, Benny! Benny, say hi to my dad!"

The massive black bear looked seriously unimpressed. It let out a thunderous roar, right at Tarquin.

The sound rattled Tarquin's bones. It was like the bear was venting all its pent-up frustration directly at him.

Tarquin's lips twitched. Was he really the easiest target here? Did Benny the Bear think he was just a pushover?

"Alright, let's get moving," the old man cut in, already turning away. "Your grandma said we need to wrap this up quick. She and Elysia are waiting for us to get home for dinner."

man started to scurry off, Tarquin called after

Bernard turned, "Yeah?"

at Evan. "Evan, did you

blinked, suddenly remembering the

furrowed with concern. He hopped down from Benny's back and ran over

man

"Huh?"

demonstrated a few moves right there in front of Bernard. "He showed me

darkened instantly, the lightness vanishing

that? He actually found

meeting. Evan quickly summarized the

see him? If don't, I can go

silent for a long moment as Tarquin and Evan

sighed heavily. "I'll

"Will

neither nodded nor shook his head. "If he wants a real fight, so be

what we came here

man

"A fight

he just said,

both took off after

they reached

men were