Page 30 of Noble Neighbor
Molly frowned as she climbed into the eating nook. “That’s what I said,” she mumbled, biting into her sandwich.
Kenzie slammed the door shut behind her. “I hate Clement,” she announced before racing through the kitchen and up the stairs. A second door slammed.
“Clement said Sam’s a bully. Kenzie yelled at him,” Molly added.
“Who is Sam, and why did Kenzie yell at him?”
“Mommyyy, you’re not listening proply.” Molly huffed a breath. “Kenzie yelled atClement, not Sam.”
“Who isSam?” Sunny repeated.
“He’s a boy.”
And everything was as clear as mud. Sunny bit back a sigh. She was bone weary, having spent the morning slapping paint on her bedroom ceiling, but this needed her immediate attention. “Are you okay to eat by yourself? I need to go check on Kenzie.”
Molly nodded vigorously, and after a quick kiss to her girl’s head, Sunny trekked up the stairs. At one stage, Kenzie had been as easy going as Molly, but then life went to hell in a handbasket, and … well, here they were.
Stopping before the closed door, Sunny took a deep breath and counted to ten.Take it easy. Do not overreact. She’s dealing with a lot of change.And you did the absolute best you could, Sunny, never forget that.
Giving a light knock, Sunny opened the door and found Kenzie in her favorite place — the window seat.
“Want to tell me what that was about?”
Kenzie continued her morose stare out the window. Sunny moved closer, sat beside her daughter’s huddled figure, and prepared to wait. As she did so, she scanned the bedroom, pleased with her handiwork. She’d taken immense pleasure in painting her girls’ rooms, and Kenzie’s had turned out so well. Painted mostly pale grey with white trim, the dark teal accent wall behind the double bed contrasted with the padded five-tine, crown-shaped, grey headboard. The bed had been a fun buy, one she and Kenzie had fallen in love with when seeing the image on the internet.
It was a room Kenzie could grow into and enjoy through her teenage years.
“Clement—”
Kenzie lifted her head and glared at Sunny. “He had no right to do what he did.”
“What did Clement do?”
“He,” she spat, “told Sam to stay away from me.”
“Who is Sam?”
“A boy.” Kenzie blew out a breath, lifting a lock of hair lying across her forehead.
Sunny raised her brows.
“He’s in Clement’s class.” Her daughter’s gaze shifting from angry to entreating. “He wants to be my friend, Mom.”
Sunny hackles rose. A boy two grades higher wanted to befriend Kenzie?Hell, no.She pursed her lips, breathing a deep, calming breath through her nose before asking, “Why does Clement say he’s a bully?”
Kenzie dropped her gaze before Sunny’s enquiring look. Smoothing a lock of hair away from her daughter’s eye, Sunny lifted Kenzie’s chin with the tips of her fingers. “Kenz?”
“He … he sometimes says mean things,” she admitted in a low voice.
“Honey, you don’t have a lot of experience being around other kids. Bullying is not acceptable behavior. Underanycircumstances. It hurts the person being bullied, and that hurt can last for a lifetime. Why would you want to be friends with someone like that?”
“He’s like me.”
The misery in Kenzie’s statement tore at Sunny’s heart. “Why would you say that, hon?”
“’Cause his daddy’s a bad man. Like mine,” Kenzie whispered.
“Kenz …” Her heart breaking for the miserable girl, Sunny moved closer and pulled Kenzie into her arms.Had I not succeeded in my endeavors to keep the girls shielded?“Why do you say your father’s a bad man?”
