Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
I watched him walk away, feeling more confident after our talk. Carter wouldn’t steer me wrong. He never had.
“No, I’ll get the boys,” I said to Beau, hearing the distinct sounds of the churning ocean lapping in the background. Beau’s voice jostled in and out. I swore I heard the zip of a fishing line being cast. My guy never tired of being on the water.
“Then go inside and find out why the school wants to talk to us about Fisher.”
My brows knitted together. That was news to me.
“They want to talk to us?” I asked, watching the rear camera as I backed out of a garage.
“Yeah. They asked me to come inside this afternoon when we were in the drop-off line this morning. I didn’t ask if it was negative or positive. I can only assume…” I waited for him to finish his sentence, but he didn’t.
“What’s the assumption?” I asked, again feeling left out of the loop. And my family was a circle I tried my best to stay within.
“Amelia had to sign a couple of notes about Fisher bein’ disruptive in class. When I found out, I upped the way I work with him to learn to contain his urges. He’s such a sweet guy, full of energy. He can’t help his outbursts right now. He knows he’s annoyin’, but he’s tryin’, and that’s all we can do until he learns to control himself.”
Again, all of this was news to me. I was at a loss for words.
“I think they believe it’s ADHD. I feel like they’ll want our approval to have him evaluated for their special ed program,” Beau said, as if we were in a typical Tuesday where life happened and I didn’t know about it. Oh wait, we were. Fisher was barely more than a baby. Sure, he could have ADHD but that was an awfully young age to pin him down like that.
Instead of going in that direction, I stuck with my thought on why this was the first time I’d heard about this. Amelia was getting a talking-to too. A simple updating text message wasn’t too much to ask for.
“Well, if you know the problems, and it’s news to me, why do I need to go in?” I said with hostility. Except, I recognized that was the exact opposite of what I wanted to happen.
“Slow your roll,” Beau said in a mix of compassion and authority. “We all know Fisher has some energy and focus problems. I was the one who happened to be droppin’ them off this mornin’. You’ve got a lot goin’ on…”
“Oh come on, being late one night…” I shot out, ready for one of our rare arguments. If he and I were a team, I needed to be informed no matter the situation.
“No, that’s not what I’m sayin’. I just forgot. That’s it. You were preoccupied. I gave you space then forgot to say anything. We had a nice night. I don’t know anything except he’s gonna be fine because we’ll take care of him. Now my head’s occupied with everything you got goin’ on. The idea of bringin’ your shitty family back into our lives is a worry. Not for me but for you.” Beau stopped and took a breath as I pulled the SUV to the side of the road. He wasn’t appeasing me, only causing me to worry more. “And I fuckin’ hooked myself this mornin’. It hurts like a bitch.”
I let go of a heavy sigh. Beau was always doing things that caused him physical pain, and I freaked out every time.
“Sorry about that. I don’t know how you deal with that kind of pain every day.”
Stone’s contact number appeared on the screen interrupting the call. Thank goodness that Stone called to save us from any further discussion over Fisher.
“I’ll let you know what they say once you’re home. Stone’s calling,” I mumbled.
Or I’d let Beau know whenever I remembered to tell him.
“Tell them we’re workin’ with him and we want him to have the tools he needs to be successful in the classroom. He’s gonna be fine,” Beau said. Damn right he was going to be fine. “Bye, good luck.”
“Bye.” The phone automatically connected to Stone’s call. “Stone,” I said and gave an inward chuckle. It always threw him off when I answered the phone using his name.
“Not today,” he said, after several seconds. “You’re working me entirely too hard to deal with your shenanigans. I’m connecting Teresa and Lucia with you.”
“Hang on. I haven’t read the document you sent to me. I will once I pick the boys up. I’ll make the pitch then pivot questions to you.”
“Sure. I’ve created a list of independent counsel, a few we’ve worked with before, who can help them understand what they’re signing,” Stone said. A common practice we regularly used. I tried to have integrity in the way I handled my legal practice. In today’s world, it was hard, but still incredibly important.