and this is my wife Jenny." Peter answered, trying hard to not call jenny his sister. Jenny blushed but said nothing.
"Please help yourself to some cookies, you look like you need something to eat."
They were hungry, but peter didn’t like someone telling him what he needed. He kept his cool, deciding that they were in a new place and neither of them was worldly enough to complain about small annoyances.
After they had finished their second glasses of water and each eaten several cookies in silence, Mary asked "What are you going to do?"
"We’ll find a place to stay and get jobs." Peter said nervously.
Mary looked at them for a few seconds, trying to gauge what she might say. They were young and looked to be inexperienced with matters of the world. She thought carefully before offering "I have an apartment in the back you might stay in."
"We ain’t lookin for charity, ma’am." Peter said defensively.
"I am not offering charity, just help to get you started. If you choose to take up my offer, I expect you to pay rent once you get work. The apartment isn’t much, my husband converted the garage when my mother moved in with us. Both of them are gone now and it is just sitting empty. Think about it and let me know."
Peter wasn’t certain, but jenny said "We don’t have anywhere else to go, maybe we can look at it and try it for a bit?"
Her brother was going to object, but saw the look in Jenny’s eyes, seeing that she needed some certainty. Finding a place to stay, if only for a short time, would help her to regroup after the events of the past few days.
"I guess we could look at it before we decide." He offered.
"I’ll get the key and you two can look it over." Mary stated.
She went into the house and returned shortly, leading them around the side of the home. The garage had been at the end of the drive, sitting beside and slightly behind the house. The main door was still in place, although covered inside. Entrance was a door on the side. Inside, the place was small and still had the feel of a garage, although the walls were covered with dry wall and the floor was carpeted. The apartment was one large room with a small bathroom walled off in the back. There was a sink and apartment sized appliances also, the rest of the room filled with several chairs and a sofa.
"I told you it isn’t much, but it will be cheap and I think it will suit you for a while. Let me know if you decide to accept." Mary said.
Peter and Jenny looked at each other before Jenny said "We will give it a try."
Peter nodded and the decision was made.
There's No Place Like Home - Chapter 2
T he Greys sat on the sofa, wondering what to do next. Mrs. Simmons had gone back to her house and they were now alone. The apartment was warm, although it was in the shade of some large trees. There were 2 windows and peter opened them to see if some air would help to cool things off. Jenny was still wearing the hat and now took it off for the first time since she had put it on. Peter could see just how upset she was, even though he had seen her before. She was still pretty, but the savage way the hair had been cut off was not very flattering to her. They took their few clothes from the suitcases and put them into a chest of drawers.
"Are you sure we are doing the right thing?" Jenny asked as they sat.
"I only know that we had to leave, if we stayed I know they would have separated us. I don’t want to lose you Jenny."
Jenny could see the beginnings of tears forming in his eyes, she was also on the verge of crying. As they pondered their next move, there was a knock on the door.
"Who?" peter asked.
He went to the door and opened it to find Mary, holding a platter of sandwiches out to him.
"I know you haven’t had a chance to get any shopping done, and I haven’t had anyone here to cook for in several years, so I hope you won’t mind if I made these for you."
Peter was again ready to state his adversity to charity, but jenny got up and