Understatement, Huck silently argued with the woman named Jennifer.
“I don’t mean to intrude.” Gerald’s voice took on a gentler tone. “When Jennifer was on the phone with me, she mentioned you were having a rough time. So I brought you lunch. I only wanted to help. I’ll be on my way. Jennifer, call me when you get off work.”
“I will. Just go out that back door instead of going through the store. I don’t need the boss knowing you were back here.”
Huck heard the male’s footsteps and made a note to go around and follow the scent as soon as they got as much information as they could.
"Do you think Dillon would leave because she told him she's pregnant?" Orson whispered.
Huck shook his head. "No way. Our young are too few and far between. Half-wolf or not."
“Lilly seemed to act like this Gerald guy was new to town. He had to have shown up in the last couple of days,” Orson pointed out. “That’s not good.”
“Rogue?” Huck offered.
“Probably.” Orson nodded. “Which is even worse.”
The wolves heard scuffling, and neither of the women said anything for several moments. Huck could only imagine Jennifer was giving Lilly a hug.
"Oh, my gosh. That's why Dillon left isn't it? That son of a bitch!"
Again, if he did, that would be an understatement, Jennifer. Keep up. Huck glared at the door that kept him from seeing the two women. Huck took a moment to turn and see if anyone had noticed them. He casually leaned himself so that it looked like he was just waiting on someone. It didn’t seem like anyone had taken an interest in them. In fact, the store was relatively empty. He glanced down and saw that lunch time had passed. Everyone must have headed back to their jobs, having taken their breaks to come do some book shopping.
"No, no, no." Lilly sounded desperate, trying to dissuade her friend’s train of thought. "That wasn't it. He doesn't know."
"You're kidding.” Jennifer huffed and sounded a bit deflated. “You haven't told him?"
"He left before I got the chance." Lilly’s voice sounded wobbly again as if she were once more on the verge of tears.
"Oh, Lilly."
And there it is, Huck thought as Lilly's sobbing returned in force.
Huck shook his head at Orson.
"When are you going to tell him?" Jennifer asked.
"I'm not," came Lilly's shaky reply.
"Lilly, you have to.”
"No, I can't. There's a lot about Dillon you don't know, Jennifer.” She sniffed. “No one around here knows. And I can't tell anyone, but it's enough for you to know that Dillon cannot be a father, not to my child."
"Wait, are you talking about, like, top-secret government-spy stuff? Is he an escaped convict?"
Huck snorted. If it was only as simple as either of those things.
“The stuff humans come up with,” Orson murmured.
Lilly sighed again. "Something like that."
“Not even close, female,” Huck interjected, though the females obviously couldn’t hear his rebuttal. He looked toward the entrance of the store to see if the Gerald guy had come around. He wouldn't be surprised if the male had scented them. If he was a rogue, he’d wait to ambush them. A respectable pack wolf would walk straight up and introduce himself.
"Well, try not to worry, Lilly.”
“Yes, Lilly,” Orson whispered. “Don’t worry that you’re having a half-werewolf baby. No big deal.”
Huck mentally cringed. “He seems to have told her about himself at least. But now she’s here all alone with no one to help her go through this.” He paused. “Except this Gerald character.” He shook his head. “That’s not a good sign.”
