home when I got the strangest phone call,” I said with a smile.
“Who was it?” Jace asked. He was on the hook.
“It was the security company. Apparently, someone pulled the fire alarm, and the company couldn’t get anyone on the phone. I was very worried. I rushed to the tax firm. When I got there, it was just your mom.”
“Was the building on fire?” he asked with confusion.
“Nash, please.”
“No,” I said with a smile. “It was just your mom. She pulled the fire alarm so she could talk to me.”
Jace’s eyes grew big. “You did?!” he exclaimed.
Saige shot me another look. “Nash is exaggerating.”
“Did you, Mom?”
I waited for her to answer. I was interested to see how she handled her son. It wasn’t any of my business, but I was curious about her parenting style. Would she lie to her son?
She let out a long sigh. “Jace, sometimes I do things that are not good. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have done it.”
“You did it!” The kid started giggling.
She nodded and looked properly ashamed. “I did, but you can never do what I did. It was wrong. I apologized but it was still very wrong.”
Jace was still grinning. Saige did not look happy with me. Maybe I would have to apologize to her. “This lasagna is really good,” I said in an attempt to change the subject.
“Glad you like it,” she snapped. “I’ll make sure to give you the garbage—I mean the box—to take home.”
I laughed. “Thank you. I’d love your garbage.”
“How was school today?” Saige asked Jace without looking at me. She wanted to avoid the topic. I was probably going to have to apologize for that. It was just too good not to use. I liked seeing her squirm.
“It was fine,” Jace said. He immediately shut down. That happiness I saw in him just a minute ago vanished. The poor kid was really struggling. I didn’t know how Saige did it. How did she not go crazy with worry or anger? I didn’t even know the kid and I felt like ripping heads off.
“I bet you get really good grades,” I said.
He shrugged. “I’m okay.”
“He’s a straight-A student,” Saige said proudly.
“Good for you.”
“The kids say I’m a nerd,” he said again.
“You know, I’m a nerd,” I said. “When I was in school, I got really good grades. Kids used to make fun of me. But you know what?”
He shook his head. “What?”
“I’m rich. I’m rich enough to buy anything I want, and do you know why?”
He shook his head. “Why?”
I looked at Saige. She was smiling and gave me a little nod. She was encouraging me to tell him the rest of the story. “Because I’m smart and I paid attention in math class. I got really good grades and I used everything I learned to make myself successful. My success made me rich.”
“You’re rich?” he asked.
I laughed. I guessed I just assumed he knew. I didn’t want to sound like an arrogant prick. Then again, everyone assumed I was an arrogant prick. “Yes. I am.”
Jace looked very surprised. He looked to Saige. “Mom, did you know he was rich?”
She smiled. “Jace, it isn’t polite to talk about money.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s rude,” she replied. “People’s money is their business. We don’t ask about that kind of stuff, okay?”
“It’s okay,” I said. She shot me a dirty look. I realized in this instance she was probably right. “You can talk to me about money because you know me, but your mom is right. People don’t like to talk about money. It can sound like bragging and make other people jealous.”
“Why?” Jace asked.
I was out of answers. I wasn’t used to being questioned. I looked to Saige for help. “If you get an A on your test, do you run around telling everyone?” she asked Jace.
He snorted. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’ll just make fun of me,” he said.
“They make fun of you because they are jealous,” I told him. “I don’t tell people about my money because it might make them jealous or even angry.” I looked to Saige. “Can I use the word resent?”
I was out of my depth. I didn’t remember what I knew or didn’t know when I was his age. She shook her head. “It makes them sad,” she summed up. “No matter how mean people are, we don’t want to make them sad.”
He shrugged and apparently accepted her explanation. “Okay. But we can talk about Nash’s money.” He turned to look at me. “Do you live in