CHAPTER FIVE
KATE
The next day while the kids were at school—we sent them back quickly hoping to get their lives back to as normal as possible—Adam and I had an appointment with Beth and Will’s attorney. The will was simple. The house was paid off by their life insurance and any extra from the insurance policy was to be put in equal measure into four separate trusts for the kids to go to college. With the house being paid off and initial money set aside for college, it gave us a little breathing room, but we still needed to provide for daily living expenses.
“There is some money in savings, but as a young family…” the attorney trailed off, not needing to tell us anymore. Basically, we were lucky with what we had, but I’d still need to keep my job in order for us to survive day-to-day living. “I have the keys to their house. Is it true the children have been living with you in your apartment?”
“Yes sir,” I replied.
“It was Will and Bethany’s wish that all of you,” he looked pointedly between Adam and me, “would stay in the house. They wanted the children to continue to live in the house they grew up in.”
“With all due respect sir, they lived in Pasadena and my job is in downtown Los Angeles,” I said getting irrationally agitated. What I should have been was thankful that at least we weren’t in dire straits and the kids had a home, but the week was too overwhelming and my nerves were already frayed.
Adam turned in his chair and grabbed the arm of mine, turning me toward him. “Kate, the commute isn’t that much longer, right?” he coaxed.
Nodding in agreement, he continued, “You know they just wanted us to give the kids as normal a life as possible, and I’m positive when they made this will, they never thought this would ever come true.”
Shit, he was right and I was feeling like a selfish bitch. Adam looked at me and said quietly, “It could be one of the reasons we’ve been having problems with April and Jax. Maybe the kids just need to go home?”
He was making total sense. Kids were creatures of habit and didn’t like change. As I thought about it, it was the least I could do for my friends who were no longer there, who would never see their children grow up. “Yes, we’ll stay in the house. You’re right, the children might be more comfortable there anyway.”
After a few more requests, which we readily agreed to, we walked out of the attorney’s office in silence. Adam followed me to my car. “I need to head to the office for a bit. Are you okay to pick the kids up from school?”
“I’ll be there.” He smiled and squeezed my arm in reassurance. “It will be okay, Kate. We’ll get them through this.”
“How are we supposed to walk in that house, sleep in that house, knowing that we’ll never see them again?”
He pulled me into his arms then and rubbed soothing circles on my back. “Maybe being in the house will help us all heal. It might make us feel closer to them.”
“Maybe, but where will we all sleep?” I looked up at him wide eyed and he smiled.
“What’s the matter, princess? You afraid you’ll have feelings for me again?” He winked and I pulled away from him.
“You know it wasn’t like that. Us breaking up had nothing to do with how I felt about you; it was because we wanted different things. We both had dreams,” I replied more than a little defensive at his teasing.
“I know, I’m sorry. I was trying to lighten the mood.” He ran his hand through his longish hair. “I failed miserably.”
“It’s fine.” There was no reason for us to start a fight. We’d managed the breakup without one, we should be able to manage talking about it calmly as well. “Are you going to get your stuff and take it to the house tonight? Should I move the kids back in immediately? I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.”
“How about this?” he offered. “I’ll pick the kids up from school and take them for ice cream or to the park or something, and you grab dinner on your way home from the office. We can all have a nice dinner at your place, and we’ll explain what the lawyer said about the house and leave it up to them.”
Looking my ex over, I was more than a little surprised at how easily he was managing to sort through everything, while I was getting mired in the details, completely overwhelmed. “That’s actually a great idea. Thank you, Adam. For everything.”
He reached by me and grabbed the door handle of my Mercedes and opened it for me. “I’m here to help however I can. You know all I ever wanted was to see you happy.” He gave me a sad smile before turning and walking back to his car.
I thought about that conversation and all the hidden meanings behind his words. We were both skirting around our past, not sure what the other was feeling. My emotions were muddled, which probably had more to do with the death of my friends, than any feelings I had for Adam.
Ha! Liar, a little voice taunted me in my head. It didn’t matter though. That was my lie and I was sticking to it. It didn’t matter what I felt for him all those years ago, we were totally different people now.
I had noticed something different in his gait since we had been seeing each other again. I hadn’t really asked Beth or Will what had happened to him. I didn’t know why he left his dream job in the military or why I could sometimes smell the barest hint of alcohol on him.
But, as I watched him walk away with that slight limp, I wondered what had happened to him. My phone ringing brought me out of my daze. It was Casey. Something catastrophic must have happened for her to be calling me when I had taken a week off work. “This is Kate.”
“Oh my God, Kate. I’m so sorry to call but Alexis called and she won’t speak to anyone but you and I didn’t know what else to do, and-”
I interrupted her, “I’m on my way to the office right now. Calm down, I’ll be there in five minutes. Tell her I was out to lunch and I’ll call her back shortly, and Casey? Breathe.” I laughed and I heard her huff out a breath.
“Okay, see you in a bit,” she said and hung up the phone.
I got to the office and called Alexis back. She wasn’t very happy about my absence over the past week. “I’m sorry, Alexis. A very dear friend of mine and her husband were killed in that car accident last week. I have guardianship of her kids now.”
“Women work every day with children at home. You must try harder,” she snapped at me.
Her reaction was one I should have expected, but the shock of hearing her callousness was startling. I was getting angry but calmed myself down and simply agreed with her, thankfully realizing that arguing with that degree of rude would get me nowhere. “Yes Alexis I know. Once the adjustment period is over, I will be much more focused. Until then if you have any questions, you have my cell number. You can call me anytime.”
When she finally stopped berating me about my work ethic, she told me her emergency and I was floored. “Imbeciles,” she ranted. “I have nothing but lazy good for nothing imbeciles working in my factory. The dimensions are all wrong.” God that woman was impossible to please, betting my last paycheck that the dimension weren’t wrong, she’d just changed them.
“Let me send you the dimensions again,” I said, trying to appease her, “and we can make sure that everything is going to plan. We have quite a few weeks left until fashion week and we can always unveil the new line there.”
“Fine. See that you do.” She hung up on me. I slumped back in my chair. No matter what, when I spoke to that woman on the phone I always sat with perfect posture, afraid she’d hit me with a ruler if I slouched. I giggled at the thought of Alexis as a school marm.
“What do you need, Casey?” I pressed the button on the intercom that had just buzzed.
“The twins’ school is on the phone for you,” she said slowly and I wondered why the school was calling me, considering Adam was supposed to pick them up. Looking over at the clock on the wall, it was only late morning, so something must have happened.
“Put them through.” I picked up the receiver. “Hello this is Kate.”
“Ms. Nichols, this is principal Decker. I have Jason in the office, he was in a fight this morning.”
“What? He’s only six years old. What could have happened?”
“I’m not sure. He refuses to tell me, but everyone in the cafeteria saw him throw the first punch.”
“Have you called Adam?” I asked warily.
“No ma’am. Jason asked me to call you. I’m sorry, I know Jason and this isn’t like him, but I have to suspend him for the day tomorrow.” He sighed. “I know this is all an adjustment for all of you and he is just lashing out because of the pain, but I can’t let this happen in my school.”
“I understand Principal Decker. I’ll be right there,” I said and hung up the phone.
I grabbed my stuff and bolted from the office. “Casey can you send any important calls to my cell, please? Jason was in a fight at school and I have to go pick him up.”
“What? Sweet little Jason?”
“Yeah, I know. Something isn’t right.” I shook my head and rubbed my temples. I didn’t know what to do. The only one who hadn’t acted out yet was Peyton. It was only a matter of time before she did something too.
I made it to the boys’ school in record time and proceeded down the hallway to the main office. Jason was sitting there with an ice pack on his face and I flinched. “Jace? What happened, buddy?”
He looked up startled then ran over to me and hugged me tight. “He was making fun of Jax because Jax still won’t talk. I told him to leave him alone but he pushed me, so I punched him in the nose.”
Jason sniffled and I looked down at him. He had a black eye and I was seeing red. “Wait right here, okay? I’m gonna go have a chat with Principal Decker.”
Knocking on the Principals door, I waited until he opened it. “Can I have a word with you?”
“Sure thing, Ms. Nichols. Have a seat.”
“I’d rather stand, thank you.”
“Fair enough. What can I do for you?” he asked as he rounded his desk and sat back down in his chair.
“I was just told a very different story about how that whole thing went down, and I swear if something isn’t happening to the other child in question, I will report you to the district.”
He steepled his hands together in a gesture I fully recognized. Many of the senior partners took the same stance when thinking they needed to explain a concept the rest of us were too stupid to figure out. “The other boy was taken to the urgent care with a broken nose. He will be back in school tomorrow with no punishment,” he said in a tone in which he thought I couldn’t argue with. He had never dealt with me before though and these kids had been through enough without little jerks making them feel worse.
“I thought this school had a zero-tolerance policy for bullying. The child in question was bullying Jaxon because he has refused to speak since the death of his parents!” The principal visibly flinched as I walked closer to the edge of his desk. “Jason stuck up for his twin, and you know what that other little boy did? He pushed him. I don’t give a crap what your policies are but we don’t let people push us around and… Jason had every right to defend himself. So, no you will not suspend that little boy from school and label him a trouble maker for being a hero to his brother and standing up for himself.”
I was shaking with rage through the whole speech tired of bullies and everything they represented. Sick to death of good kids getting into trouble just for standing up for themselves. The principal looked at me shrewdly but I held my ground.
“I’m sorry Ms. Nichols but the suspension stands. I can’t have kids in my school resorting to violence instead of going to a teacher and working things out civilly.”
“Well, then. I hope you’re ready to get your ass handed to you by the superintendent,” I replied and stormed out of his office. I looked at the woman at the front desk and stopped. “Can you get Jaxon Byrd up here? I’m taking him home as well.”
“One moment please,” she said and called Jaxon up to the office.
It was a few minutes before Jaxon came up to the office, looking confused. He saw me and ran to me, hugging me around the legs. I thought he was going to cry.
“Hey Jax, it’s okay buddy. Let’s go home.” He nodded as I shot a dirty look over my shoulder to the principal’s open door. He was standing in the doorway watching the scene. His face was almost apologetic, but I didn’t care. I was done.
Pulling my phone out of my purse I dialed Adam. “Hey, I have the boys. Can you pick the girls up after school and meet me at the house, instead of my place?”
“What happened? It’s barely noon.”
“Jace got into a fight and they sent him home. I’m gonna take them both out for ice cream.” I smiled down at the boys.
“You’re taking them for ice cream because Jace got suspended from school? What am I missing here?” he asked dumbfounded.
“Jace stood up to a kid who was bullying Jax and while I don’t, in any way, condone violence,” I looked at Jason pointedly, “the kid pushed him first and he defended himself.”
“Good deal. I’ll get the girls. Should I order a pizza for dinner?” he asked with a smile in his voice.
“I think that’s a lovely idea.”
“Okay then, see ya later.”