Chapter 3

Bill asked a few noncommittal questions while they finished eating their pizza. Linda assured him that they weren't running from the law, but had recently got away from a very abusive boy friend. He was right about them coming from a much colder climate. The three of them had traveled from a little town in northern Idaho, almost to the Canadian border. Bill got the impression that there was more to that story than was being told but he believed her when Linda said the law wasn't involved.

He decided to start the relationship he was planning off right. "Why didn't you tell me about your daughters on the phone?" Bill asked.

Linda looked down and blushed before hesitantly answering. "I was afraid you wouldn't hire me, or wouldn't even give me a chance."

"Well, I advertised for a house keeper and cook in return for pay with room and board. I was only planning on feeding one mouth," Bill said gruffly.

"We don't eat much." Susan said, in a quiet but defiant little voice.

Bill glanced at the girls and saw their big eyes as they gazed at this big, rough sounding man. He looked back at Linda and said, "I guess the food isn't a problem, but I still only have one bed for whoever I hire."

"We have been sleeping in the same bed for a while anyway, so it isn't anything different," Linda replied in a quiet, tired voice as she looked at the table top. "I just want a chance."

Bill had to calm himself at her words. Her story, what he could remember of it, plucked at his heart strings. He wanted to help this mother and her children, but he thought he could do it and still live out a couple of fantasies. He had a brief concern about living with his conscience if he was successful with his idea. "They really need help thought," Bill rationalized to himself. "There isn't anything wrong with getting something out of helping them," he consoled his conscience.

"Well," he said, and then paused. He took a drink of his coke and looked around the room. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and continued. "How does this sound. Today is Tuesday. We can try it until the weekend. If it doesn't work then I can put you back on the bus to wherever you want to go with money for food, say $300. If it works for all of us, then we can go for a longer term. We can do the employment papers next weekend for taxes and social security if this lasts until the weekend."

There was a squeal of excitement from the two girls and Linda seemed to brighten the room with her smile.

"We'll do a good job," Hanna piped up. It was the first words the 12 year old had said.

"Yes we will," Susan seconded.

"Now wait a minute," Bill admonished looking at the girls. "I am hiring your mom. Not you. I have some things you can do around the house for some extra money, but your mom's tasks are her own. There will be a couple of jobs you can help with but most will be up to her."

"Thank you Mr. Black," Linda burbled in excitement. Her expression clouded for a moment and she asked, "Will your wife be OK with that?"

Turning to Linda he said, "There is no Mrs. Black." He stopped for a moment and looked at the wedding ring that he still wore and sighed. "She died awhile back." Bill sighed again and said, "Here's the deal. I will give you instructions and you will follow them. If you disobey, then we will need to decide if the infraction is bad enough to stop the trial period or if you just need to be punished for the infraction. Is that fair?" Bill asked.

"Yes, yes sir," Linda said smiling broadly. "Thank you Bill."

"First rule," Bill said to the three of them. "You will all address me as sir or Mr. Black. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," they said in unison.

"Good. Let's get back to the station to get the rest of your luggage and we can go out to the house.

"But sir, we don't have any more luggage, ah, sir," Susan said softly.

"Oh," Bill said momentarily stunned. All they owned in the world was in his truck. "Well, in that case we will need to stop at Wally World to get something comfortable for your mom to work in and you girls to be comfortable in hanging around the house for a couple of days."

There were more squeals from the girls and an even bigger smile from Linda. "I guess that was worth the few bucks I would spend at Wally World," Bill thought.

It turned out to be more than a few bucks. It was closer to $250 bucks but Bill truly enjoyed it. He bought some lightweight sweat suit style shorts for all three of them, and some t-shirts and tennis shoes with socks. Bill noticed that it could have been a lot more, but each time there was a choice between two items, Linda always chose the less expensive. Bill helped by holding some of the selected items up to Linda's front and asking the girls how it looked. Bill accidently brushed across her breasts once in the process. Linda blushed but didn't say anything so he contrived a few more 'accidents'. She tolerated them all with only pink cheeks. He did the same thing when he held items in front of the girls for an opinion. Linda blushed even more when she saw what Bill was doing with her daughters but the girls didn't even seem to notice in their excitement. Bill added a light jacket for each of them.

"Those heavy coats might be OK for winter up north but we are almost into summer here," Bill explained.

It was about six when they finally arrived at the Black home because they stopped by a fried chicken place for a fast supper. Linda protested that she could cook when they reached his house but Bill just said that he didn't want to mess with cooking when they got home. Bill showed Linda and the girls the bedroom where the three of them would be sleeping and wondered if Linda had said something to the girls about their exuberance.

Hanna had run into the room as if she were going to jump onto the bed and stopped dead. She looked over her shoulder at Bill with dread on her face. He hated that look. It was right back to the dog cowering from its master.

"OK," Bill announced. "Put your things on the bed for now and let's meet in the kitchen. We need to set some ground rules so all of us know what to expect. That way everyone can be comfortable."

Bill turned to leave but stopped and turned around when Hanna asked, "Mr. Black Sir, can I go to the bathroom first. I have to go real bad."