I buttered the toast and put it on the plate before going to check on Jace. I knocked on his door. “Jace, can I come in?”
“I don’t want to go with Caitlyn,” he said.
I pushed open his door. “I made your breakfast. You need to eat before school.”
“I said I’m not hungry.”
“I know what you said but breakfast is important.”
“No,” he said.
“Jace, why don’t you want to go to school with Caitlyn?”
He walked past me and into the bathroom. Once again, he slammed the door. The doorbell rang a second later. I shook my head and walked out to answer the door. “Hi,” I said with exasperation.
“What’s going on?” Joss asked.
“Long story,” I said.
“Caitlyn, why don’t you go make yourself some toast?” she said.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Jace is not in a good way.”
“I was going to talk to you last night, but I had an emergency client last night.”
“What happened?”
She pulled me into the living room. “He’s having a hard time at school again,” she said in a low voice.
“What? How? Why?”
She slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry. These kids are just assholes.”
“Is it the same bullshit? The ‘he’s not a real boy?’”
“Something along those lines,” she said.
The way she said it told me there was more to the story. “And?”
She looked down at her feet. “And Caitlyn stood up for him.”
I shrugged. “That was nice of her. I’ll thank her.”
“No, you don’t understand,” she said and actually looked pained.
“I guess I don’t. What am I missing? Have I had my head up my ass the last week? I feel like I’m in a dark room and can’t see or hear anything.”
“Now the kids are making fun of Jace because a girl had to defend him,” she explained. “Jace is mad at Caitlyn for sticking up for him.”
“I’m sorry,” Caitlyn said and came into the room. “I saw those boys being mean and I got mad. I told them to leave Jace alone. Then they started making fun of him and calling him a girl.”
“She wasn’t trying to embarrass him,” Joss said. “She was doing what she thought was right.”
“Absolutely,” I said and bent down to look at Caitlyn. “Thank you so much for doing that for him. You did the right thing. I know he’s upset right now, but he’ll get over it.”
“The kids were really mean,” Caitlyn said.
“I know.”
“I’m sorry,” Joss said. “It’s just a bad deal.”
“You know what, I’ll take him to school today,” I said. “I think I need to have a talk with him and possibly the teacher.”
“If there is anything I can do,” Joss said. “If you want to take him to talk with someone, I can give you some recommendations.”
“I’ll try to handle this in-house.”
“All right, good luck,” she said and patted my arm. “Caitlyn, let’s go.”
“What about Jace?” she asked.
“I’m going to take him,” I said. “He’ll see you at school.”
She looked sad. “Will you tell him I’m sorry?”
“I will and thank you so much for standing up for him. I am glad he has you as a friend.”
“I’ll talk to you later,” Joss said as she ushered her daughter out the door.
I grabbed my phone. I was going to be late to work. I wasn’t sure if Nash was going to be in the office, but I didn’t want him firing me or assuming I quit when I showed up an hour late. I found his contact info and was hoping the call went to voicemail.
“Hello,” he answered. “Saige?”
“Uh, yes, sorry, I thought it would go to voicemail.”
“I’m in the car,” he said. “What’s up?”
I cleared my throat. “I’m going to be about an hour late.”
“Why?”
I bit my tongue. I couldn’t tell him it was none of his business. He was my boss. “I need to take Jace to school.”
“That takes an hour?” he questioned.
“There’s been an issue. I need to take a few extra minutes to deal with the teacher.”
“He’s getting bullied?” he asked with concern.
“I have to go,” I said. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
I hung up before he could ask me anything else. I didn’t know what I was doing with him, but I wasn’t going to involve him in Jace’s life any more than necessary. Joss had been right. It wasn’t fair to Jace. I couldn’t drag Nash into this.
“Jace, let’s go. I’m taking you to school.”
He came out of the bathroom. “Is Caitlyn here?”
“No. I’m taking you to school. Your breakfast is on the