She dismounted, and looked at Monroe. "You have electricity."

He gave her a wry smile. "Yes. We're not as tough as you and your family. We like our modern conveniences."

She had never considered her family tough. They merely made the best of what they had. It wasn't as if they didn't want electricity and all the conveniences that went with it. Until that moment, she had never actually thought of them as being poor. Seeing what Barrett called a camp made her realize how the things others considered necessities were far beyond their financial possibilities. She had never felt jealous of other people, but at the moment she felt resentful. She and Billy Ray had got up early in the morning to come help these people. They didn't need help. In fact, they were offering the charity of their luxuries.

"I'm sorry." Monroe's gentle voice interrupted her thoughts. "I didn't think you'd mind if we had a generator. If it bothers you, we can get rid of it."

Everyone was looking at her, probably trying to figure out why she was upset. The worst part of it was that her expression was so revealing. It was one thing to feel this way, but quite another to act on it.

She shook her head and forced a smile. "No - I don't mind. I just didn't expect to see…all this." She spread her hands to indicate the camp and all its modern conveniences. They probably even had an inside privy.

Billy Ray looked from her to Monroe and back again. He obviously didn't know what they were talking about. He'd never seen a generator before and probably had no idea what it was or did. He didn't even know what electricity was. He only knew that she and Monroe were not in agreement, and that troubled him. He didn't know who to follow.

She took Billy Ray's arm and looked at Monroe. "We'd love to have breakfast with you."

Billy Ray grinned. "I'm hungry."

Mary Jo squeezed his arm and grinned at him. "You're always hungry."

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Monroe indicated the red headed man with the fuzzy beard cooking at the grill. "That's Joe." He nodded at the black haired man pouring coffee at a table. "That's Tom." He turned back to the new arrivals. "These two young helpers are Mary Jo and Billy Ray. I'll let you guess which is which."

Joe was a big man, maybe forty, with friendly brown eyes. Tom's troubled gaze rested on Mary Jo for a moment and then shifted to Billy Ray. Mary Jo had the feeling he didn't want them there, but maybe he was only concerned that they were too young or inexperienced. The hair at Tom's temples was beginning to get gray and he had deep crow's feet. Both men nodded in acknowledgement.




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