Prepper's Apocalypse | Book 2 | Prepper's Collapse
the ranch belongs to Granny B. Granny’s house – Granny’s rules. Rule number twenty-one is no unmarried shenanigans in the bedrooms under her roof.”Kate whimpered. “I’ll throw myself at her mercy and plead that it’s an apocalypse and she has to cut us some slack.”
Tom had peeked out of his room. “Oh, crap! Did Granny B catch us?”
Jackie, Rick, and Kate all replied at the same time. “Busted.”
Kate said, “I’ll take the blame.”
“Kate, Granny B won’t mention this to you. She’ll slice me up with that razor-sharp tongue. I’ll get the no ‘fornication under my roof’ speech. She might give you a few dirty looks but would never say anything to you.”
Jackie and Tom were anxiously waiting for Granny B to scold them. Nothing had happened all day as they went about their business until after supper. Granny B tapped her fork on her glass. “I’d like to announce that Rick and Jackie’s wedding has been moved up a week. They’ll tie the knot the day after tomorrow. Congratulate them,” she said and then stared at Jackie, who only smiled and gave Rick a kiss on the cheek.
After the congratulations died away, Granny B said, “I want to have a family meeting after dishes are done. Kate and Rick, please join us in the library for a short meeting.”
Jackie and Tom looked at each other, and both shrugged as Granny went to her room. Tom said, “Darn, I think we’re all going to get the ‘no fornicating’ speech.”
The four of them sat around the table in the library, waiting on the family's matriarch to arrive. Jackie wrung her hands like a schoolgirl who’d just been caught cheating on a test. “I know I’m a grown-assed woman, but I hate to disappoint my Granny. I’m so sorry Rick and Kate have to feel her fury.”
They all quietly sat until the door opened, and Granny B walked in with a book in her arms. “Y’all look like death warmed over. Get some life in your bones. I need some help figuring out how to approach Jerry about his rotten no-good grandfather. I hate to do this in front of you. Well, Rick is Jackie’s fiancé. What do I call Kate, Tom?”
Kate’s ears perked up, and her interest was piqued. Tom stuttered as usual when he was on the hook. “I … uh … should say girlfriend … .”
Kate’s smile turned upside down, but then Tom took her hand and said, “She’s so much more than a girlfriend to me.”
Kate’s smile returned, and then Tom said. “Let’s leave it at girlfriend, until Kate and I talk in private about our future.”
Kate kissed him on the cheek and whispered in his ear. Tom turned and kissed Kate. They embraced for an embarrassingly long time for his family, only able to twitter with red faces. They broke apart. “I have a timely update. Kate is now my wife-to-be. We’ll discuss a date for the wedding as soon as possible.”
Granny B smiled. “Grandpa Jonas and I fell in love at first sight in the middle of a war. Who am I to stand in the way of young love? When the zing is there – everyone has to get out of the way. Now, get your hormones in check long enough to help me with this problem.”
Kate was shocked at what she heard. “So, the bastard was a pedophile. Why didn’t someone kill him?”
“My Jonas went over to shoot the sumbitch after we caught him alone with one of our kids. Jackie and Tom never met my daughter Sarah. She ended up in a mental hospital and killed herself about the time we adopted you kids.”
“We had an Aunt Sarah? Wow. Let’s go find the bastard and kill him,” Jackie spouted.
Granny B said, “Luke would be seventy-three years old and probably not worth killing. The last I heard, he was the preacher at a large church in Medford. The asshole has been fooling people for sixty years.”
Kate looked perplexed. “You said this Luke character was seventy-three off the top of your head without thinking. How did you remember that?”
“Luke was born on April 25th, 1965.”
Jackie’s head snapped around to face her grandma. “Whoa, why would you know the jerk’s birthday?”
Granny B cupped her hands over her face for a minute. “Because he wasn’t just Jonas’s brother. They were identical twins.”
Tom blurted out his thought without thinking. “Holy crap! The plot thickens!”
Granny B snorted. “Crap always thickens in the sun – and draws flies.”
Granny B told them that their grandfather was almost ten years older than she was and stressed that Jonas had never been bad. Luke had started taking drugs while in high school and running with the drug crowd. Jonas joined the Army and made a good life for himself and his family.
Tom made an observation. “Jerry brought his family up here in the hills to find his long lost family. Is it possible that he knows we’re his family? Could he be a devious turd like his great-grandfather Luke?”
Granny B patted Tom on the shoulder. “That’s why I brought my brain trust together. How do we get those answers?”
Kate grinned and then said, “Out of the mouths of babes. We pump the boy and Doris for as much info as possible without tipping our hand. We work on that while we figure out how to do a better job of getting the information. Tom and I can take the boy up to the barn and let him play with the baby goats, bunnies, and Jackie’s dog, what’s his name. We’ll tactfully ask him about his home, animals, pets, and such before asking about family.”
Jackie said, “Granny B and I can work on Doris if someone can keep Jerry busy.”
Rick offered to keep Jerry busy up in the high up pastures. “Jack already told