Page 5 of Paroled on Love

Overalls and no makeup, she'd look just like they did, hicks.

A little before noon she went downstairs and Carol was cooking and getting ready to set the table.

"I can do that," She told her as she came into the kitchen.

"Fine darlin'. There will be six of us at the table." She told her.

Leah passed out the plates that were stacked on the counter, and the silver ware, and she began helping put the food out too.

Carol gave her a couple of looks. "You help your mother a lot, hon?"

"N-no, my mother is rarely home, neither is my dad. I help our maid though." Leah told her. "My mother doesn't do housework of any kind. It's beneath her, I think that's what she told me once, when I asked why we needed a maid."

"That's sweet of you dear. To help the maid."

"She does the work of my mother so I sort of treat her like she is my mother." Leah told her. "We're pretty close."

"You must miss them a lot?" Carol asked her turning to watch her.

"My parents? No, I'm used to not seeing them very often. They travel a lot. Actually, I don't see them enough to miss them." She told her. "I do miss Gloria, our maid though."

"That's a shame. Too many times we get kids in here that say the same. It's rather heartbreaking if you ask me."

Leah shrugged, "You get used to it."

"Well around here, I’m home all the time and you can call me Carol, or Mrs. Douglas or hey you. I answer to them all." She chuckled.

Leah looked at her. She was pretty lady even if she was overweight. She had shortish blonde hair and blue eyes and they danced when she talked. She'd never seen eyes with such expression before, she reminded her of Gloria.

"Have you been doing this long?" Leah turned to ask her.

"Doing what?"

"Having girls and boys out here to work with you?"

"Oh yes, several years now. Of course it wasn't always with the same courts. Different ones in the area. You see, sometimes we could use an extra hand, and there are so many that don't want to hire on, so we started this program with the courts in the area. It seems to help us and the kids. We enjoy meeting new people and we hope we have helped a few along the way."

"Helped them, how?" Leah asked innocently.

"Open up, and talk about their troubles and feel better about themselves. Now days too many parents don't communicate with their children. We think this is where society has gone wrong. Kids are buried in electronic because their parents won't talk to them or notice them. Here, we've got all the time in the world to talk and try to understand."

These people, these backward people thought they'd teach her something? Wow! But she wouldn't mock them.

Chapter Three

Leah sat through the lunch watching the three sons and parents talk to each other and share their morning together. It was a new experience. Was it some kind of show they were putting on for her benefit. She wondered. Well, she'd be here twelve weeks, she'd soon find out.

Mr. Douglas showed her around the farm after lunch and she realized her duties were going to be numerous and she'd have a lot to learn. She was up to it. She could handle anything, and staying busy made the time pass faster.

By that afternoon she was hot and tired and glad to be able to sit on the porch and relax.

Jeremiah came by and joined her. "So what do you think of the place?"

"It's big and there's a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, but it's not like you punch a clock or anything. You just do what you have to do and before you know it, it's the end of the day. Of course I'm used to it. It might take you a while to get used to it." He informed her.

"So, do you get along with all the kids that come out here?" She asked.

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