Page 26 of My Girlfriend is a Werewolf

“How long have you and your wife been married?” Athena asked.

“Coming up on fifty-five years. We married young. Eighteen years old.”

“High school sweethearts?” she queried.

“Of sorts. I accidentally knocked her up and had to make an honest woman out of her.”

“Grams says you did it on purpose,” Derek interjected.

“And if I did? She was the hottest girl in school. Smart too. Too smart for a dumb farmer like me, so I put a bun in her oven to make her mine.”

Athena’s mouth rounded. “You intentionally impregnated her?”

“Yup.” Gramps sounded proud. “Best thing I ever did.”

“Does she agree?”

“I’m still alive, ain’t I?”

Derek muttered, “It’s a wonder given how much you smoke.”

“Bah. I’m more likely to croak if I stop at this point.” Gramps skewed a gaze at her. “So, what you do for a living?”

“I was a lab technician.”

“Was? Did you quit? Kids nowadays, never sticking to stuff,” grumbled Gramps.

“More like fired since I stopped showing up. Not on purpose, I should add. I ran into some trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

She eyed Derek, who murmured, “Up to you what you want to divulge, but you should know Gramps is cool.”

She hesitated before murmuring, “Kidnapped and held hostage by a doctor who thought I had interesting genetics for his experiments.”

Gramps stiffened beside her. “Wait, you’re hiding from a doctor?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you report him and have him arrested?”

“If only it were that simple,” she muttered. “Let’s just say he’s got friends in high places. It wouldn’t go well for me if I came forward.”

“Bloody quacks with their pills. Don’t you worry, little sweetie. If that doc comes sniffing around the farm, we’ll make him wish he’d become a car salesman,” Gramps declared.

Derek leaned close to whisper, “One down. One to go.”

Wait, did that mean his grandpa liked her?

The ride didn’t take long, and soon they were pulling into a long drive. Very long. Lined with trees, the asphalt only wideenough for one vehicle. The rising sun bathed the forest and then the fields that followed with warm rays. The crops had all been mown and the ground churned, ready for winter. She saw some goats grazing and pointed.

“I didn’t know you had animals.”

“We have a couple. A few goats for weed control and poison ivy. Chickens for eggs and meat. Two pigs, a handful of cows, some horses, a few dogs, some barn cats?—”

She interrupted. “That’s more than a couple.”

He grinned. “Maybe more accurate to say a couple of each.”

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