Read Online Love Finds You in Frost Minnesota by Judy Baer - Free Book Online

another teacher I wasn’t being taken care of, but I am. My mommy takes good care of me!”
    Merry shot Jack a pleading glance.
    He shrugged helplessly. What was he supposed to do?
    “I’ll walk you inside, Greta. I’d like to speak with Miss Lori myself.” Merry turned to Jack. “Thank you so much for the ride.”
    “What time shall I pick you up?”
    “I’ll try to get a ride home, thanks.”
    “No problem. I’ll bring your vehicle. It will need to run for a while anyway.”
    Distracted, Merry sighed. “My kindergarten class is over at lunchtime. Twelve thirty would work.”
    “See you then.”
    Jack drove off before Merry could protest. Something in that little girl’s eyes nearly broke his heart. Fear and confusion marred that innocent face, things that should be far removed from the life of a five-year-old child.
    * * * * *
    Greta was unusually quiet this morning. Even Danny, who’d brought his pet hamster, Puffy, for show and tell, couldn’t draw the little girl out of her somber mood.
    Troubled, Merry went to the teachers’ lounge in search of Lori Olson at recess.
    Three teachers were seated at the long lunchroom table that constituted their break area. Lori was relating her thoughts about Greta’s home situation to the others who listened raptly. “Poor little thing. Have you seen the getup she has on today? Her jeans are so long the folded cuffs are a half-inch thick. Everything she wears is either too big or too small!”
    “Sometimes that happens when you shop rummage sales, Lori. The fashion designers have a day off.” Merry’s voice was soft but steady.
    Lori spun around and a flush spread up her neck and across her cheeks. “Merry! I didn’t hear you come in. We were just talking about . . .”
    “I heard what you were talking about, Lori, but I’m not sure your opinions about Greta’s welfare are well-founded.”
    “Her clothes . . .”
    “Are always clean,” Merry said firmly. “Just old. That doesn’t mean she isn’t well cared for. It does indicate that the family is being frugal.”
    Silently the other two teachers stood up, tossed their coffee cups in the trash, and slipped out of the room, apparently unwilling to witness the confrontation.
    “What is it with you and this little girl, Merry? You keep saying you think her home life is okay. It’s obvious by the way Greta’s dressed that it’s not!”
    “There’s more to parenting than clothes. Greta is cheerful, happy, engaged, and bright. She shows a lot of potential. She’s untroubled by her family’s situation”—Merry gave Lori a hard look—“as long as others stay out of it.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lori’s eyes narrowed. Merry wasn’t eager to say more, but she didn’t like Lori’s openly verbal opinions floating around the school.
    “Greta is upset today.”
    “I told you so . . .” Lori looked smug, as if she had seen something others hadn’t.
    “About the things she heard you saying.”
    That made Lori pause. “Me?”
    “She overhead you tell another teacher that her parents weren’t taking care of her. She told me you said that her parents will be in trouble because they don’t have a house to live in. Now she’s afraid she will be taken away from her family. Lori, that’s unacceptable behavior! Talking about one of the children so that they overhear it? You don’t know what’s going on in that family, nor do I. I’ve discussed it with the administration, who have talked to Greta’s mother. They don’t see any need for immediate concern.”
    “I certainly didn’t mean for her to hear what I said.” Lori had the grace to look ashamed. “I’m sorry, Merry. It’s just that when I think a child might be being mistreated . . .”
    “That child is in my class, and I think she’s anything but mistreated. Her family is poor, not cruel!”
    Lori stared at Merry. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”
    “I’ve never been this angry, that’s why. That little