Free Kids Is A 4-Letter Word by Stephanie Bond Page A

“How much what?”
    “How much you gonna pay me?”
    She should have seen that one coming. Jo pondered the question, crossing her arms and tapping a finger on her chin. “Does your dad pay you to do everything?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    Just like a guilty parent, Jo decided. “Tell you what—I’ve got a set of Nancy Drew books I’ve had since I was your age. Fifty-four, I think, plus the cookbook. If you help me, they’re yours.”
    Claire’s eyes bulged. “Really?”
    Jo smiled. The books were among her most prized possessions, but she and Alan didn’t plan on having a family, and she’d probably never meet another girl who enjoyed reading as much as Claire obviously did. “Really.”
    The deal struck, Claire skipped to the kitchen and started gathering used napkins from the table. When the table had been cleared and the dishes loaded in the dishwasher, Jo spread her catalogs open on the smooth surface of the wooden table. “First, we decide on a color scheme for each room. Let’s start with your room,” Jo suggested, and Claire noddedeagerly. Pointing to a page covered with matching swatches of solid, striped and polka-dotted fabric, she smiled at the plain little girl and asked, “How about pink and white?”
    This nod was enthusiastic enough to cause Claire’s glasses to slip down to the tip of her nose. She poked them back in place, her eyes shining. Jo felt a funny little stir in her heart for this solemn little bookworm, denied the warmth and love of her mother at such an impressionable age.
    For the first time, Jo scrutinized the girl’s clothing, and her heart squeezed. While undoubtedly good quality, her clothes were dull and shapeless, unflattering to the child. She wore stiff little khaki pants and a button-up shirt that was too small for her. Her small feet were shod in ugly, sensible black shoes. Her father hadn’t recognized that her fair coloring required bright accents. The child nearly disappeared in all that bland.
    Jo looked back to the samples and carefully said, “Do you pick out your own clothes, Claire?”
    Shaking her blond head, Claire replied, “No, mostly I just wear clothes I wore at our old school in Atlanta.”
    “Was it a private school?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    Which explained the uniform quality of her outfit. “The spring semester starts here pretty soon, doesn’t it?”
    Claire nodded. “One week. We’re going to a public school, though, so I don’t have to dress like everyone else.”
    “Have you gone shopping for new clothes?”
    She shook her head vigorously. “Aunt Cleo’s coming over from Atlanta next Saturday to take me—she said it would be a day for just us women.” She smiled timidly, and Jo nodded, satisfied the Sterling family had the situation under control. It had been foolish of her to think otherwise.
    Heads together, they pored over the heavy sample books. They quickly chose shades of blue for the boys’ bed and bath, then moved on to the guest room.
    “Granny Watts would like the rose color,” Claire asserted, pointing.
    “Good choice,” Jo responded, impressed. “Rose is a greatcolor to lie down beside your pink room and the boys’ blue one.” She couldn’t resist finding out more about John’s relatives. “Tell me about your grandparents.”
    “There’s just Granny and Grandpa Watts. They’re my mom’s parents and they live in Atlanta. Granny took care of us after Mom died, but then she got sick and we moved here.” Her mouth drew down and she chewed on her lower lip. “We were too much trouble, I guess.”
    Jo wanted to hug her, but instead she swallowed and said, “I’m sure that’s not true. People just get sick sometimes, that’s all. I bet you miss them.”
    Claire nodded. “They were going to get us a dog.”
    “You’ll be able to visit them,” Jo said kindly, immensely sorry she’d raised the subject. “And thanks to your help, the house will look great when they come to see you.” This coaxed a smile from