Page 44 of Nyx

"At six?" I ask.

In my experience, the schools wait until they're a little older.

"Of course," Em says. "The district is unlikely to test him until he's so far behind he'll have to repeat a grade to fully catch up, and we don't want that to happen."

"Signs show much earlier," Beth adds. "Kids as young as three can show risk factors, and Dean has had all the markers, according to Dana. Delayed speech, trouble recognizing letters, and a family history of it. We need to figure out if the struggles are because he is dyslexic or if the delay is from the witnessed abuse."

"Ah, okay," I answer, once again encouraged about my job here since they seem so willing to get the residents the resources they need.

"And Daisy?" Em asks.

"In school? She's a rock star. She's about caught up with all of her missed assignments. She still has that horrible attitude problem, but we're working on it," Beth says.

I noticed the bad attitude last night when they stayed out in the living room a little while after dinner to watch an hour of television. She is mouthy to her little brother and her mom. The anger is understandable, and actually very common in little kids who have left an abusive situation.

"One of the visitors coming tomorrow is the counselor for Daisy. I'll mention the issue to her before they meet," I say.

"Perfect," Beth says with a gentle smile. "I hate that we didn't get to chat much today, but we'll get a chance soon. It was so nice to meet you, Juliet."

"You as well."

"We're going to head out. I bet Diego and Shadow are ready to be back home," Em says. "Let us know if you need anything. Have a good evening."

"You too," I tell her and follow them to the front door, peeking out the window blind and watching them go.

The men climb out of the SUVs, each one of them looking at his wife with a wide smile as if they missed them so much and hadn't seen them in a week rather than just a handful of hours.

Gentlemen that they are, they open the doors for them, waiting for them to settle before closing them and climbing back in themselves.

"Stick your nose where it doesn't belong, and it'll get bitten off."

I snap the blind closed and turn back to look at Daisy.

I smile at her, despite being startled by her appearance.

"I haven't heard that saying in a very long time," I say, casually lifting my right wrist and pressing the fingers of my left hand against my pulse point.

"Who used to say it to you?" she asks, a slight tilt of curiosity in her eyes.

"My grandmother."

"Was she mean?"

I open my mouth to tell her no, but I close it, honestly considering the question before responding.

I shake my head. "I don't know that I would call her mean, but she was very strict, and she most certainly didn't like being spied on."

"Would you get into trouble?"

"Not in the way you're probably thinking," I say. "I didn't get a spanking or some sort of formal punishment, but her words of disappointment to me at the time were just as bad."

She watches me for a long second, and I wonder whether the attitude I saw last night and the one Beth mentioned earlier is going to come out.

"I didn't mean it to hurt your feelings," she says.

"Thank you," I tell her, rather than saying it's okay or giving her a reason I was looking out the window in the first place.

I don't want to excuse away something that could be a problem for her later.