Touchdown Daddy by Ava Walsh

the fire going, but after pacing for several hours, she couldn't do anything anymore and got to work.
    By the time dusk had fallen, she had washed all the dishes and had started on the laundry. Andre didn't have a machine, but he did have a large bathing tub in the bathroom, and plenty of bars of soap. Mary started with the shirts, scrubbing one at a time before wringing them out and spreading them on the chairs and table to dry. After that, she washed all the towels, realizing that she was going to want to bathe herself before too long, and needed something clean to dry off with.
    It was dusk before Andre returned to the cabin. Mary savored his look of surprise as he surveyed her work. While the clothes she had been washing were still damp and spread everywhere, there was a neatness now that had been lacking before.
    He looked under the table and frowned. "Where are all my pants?"
    "In the bathroom by the sink. It's more efficient to keep the clean clothes separated from the dirty ones." Mary hid a smirk as she added another log to the fire and stepped to the stove to stir the bubbling pot on it. "Soup's ready. Are you hungry?"
    Andre stared at her as if soup was a totally foreign concept.  Mary cleared an area on the table and dished out two bowls of soup.
    "Well, I am glad you're keeping yourself busy," he said stiffly. "Tomorrow I'll show you where the woodshed is—"
    "No need. I found it earlier." Mary gestured at the neat stack of logs she had put in the little alcove next to the fireplace. "I also saw that you have four sheep and a goat. Your ewe looks like she's about ready to give birth."
    Andre nodded, cautiously sipping a spoonful of soup.
    Mary watched him a moment, then took a deep breath. "Andre, I know that you're afraid that I will tell my family about you, but I won't. The truth is, I wasn't going to the city to visit a grandmother. I was running away."
    He set his spoon down. "I thought you might be. You don't like your husband, then?"
    Heat flared in her cheeks. "I'm not married."
    Andre's eyes widened as if he couldn't believe it. "No? Why not?"
    "I…" Mary's chin dropped, and she gazed at the carrot bits in the soup. "Nobody wants me. I'm not pretty."
    "I wouldn't say that."
    "You mean I could be pretty." She'd heard it often enough. You would be so pretty if you just dropped a few pounds. Mostly from her mother. But whenever she tried, whether eating less or waking up extra early so she could go for a walk before her chores began, she just ended up exhausted all the time, and hating her body even more. She had resigned herself to being 'almost' pretty long ago, preferring to feeling healthy enough to do her chores.
    "No, I mean you are pretty. You're beautiful."
    Mary's eyes widened. She didn't know how to respond, so she bent over her soup, cheeks growing hot.
    "The roads are too dangerous for the time being," Andre said suddenly. "We're not on a major highway, so the state does little more than scrape the snow off the asphalt. But once the snow clears and winter is over, I'll take you to the city so you can fly away."
    Mary's eyes widened. "Really?"
    He nodded. "Really. In the meantime, I think I might enjoy having a werewolf around if you cook like this for every meal."
    Her heart glowed at the compliment. "Oh, I can," she promised. "If there's one thing I am good at, it's cooking."
    "Good," Andre smiled at her. "Good."
    She felt herself beam in return. Maybe she would like living here after all.

Chapter Four
     
    Two weeks after Andre first brought her to his home, their meat supply began to run low. Andre told Mary he was going hunting, and she assured him that she could take care of everything just fine for a day. He disappeared into the forest with his Bear and didn't look back once, trusting her to stay.
    Secretly, Mary was glad that he would be out for longer than normal–she needed to string a clothesline across the main room so that she could finally wash up the blankets and pillows. She