Free Another Little Secret by Jade Archer Page B

that Brody could focus on was that Wolf had been involved in a fight. His little brother. He couldn’t imagine the sweet child he knew in his heart being involved in anything like a fight. It just didn’t seem right. And Wolf was clinging to him as if his life depended on it.
    Ms. Gwen laid a hand gently on Brody’s forearm, drawing his attention back to her. “Look…honestly, I don’t think it’s anything to fuss about. Boys do this sort of thing all the time. It’s all a part of learning to be in a group. And it really wasn’t all that serious. I just thought I’d mention it in case Wolf says something to you. It was just a minor altercation. Really.”
    Brody looked down at his brother still clinging to him. It didn’t look particularly minor to Wolf.
    “Do you know what they were fighting about?”
    Ms. Gwen looked distinctly uncomfortable. “As I said, I think Wolf was just defending another little boy that got a bit upset with some things that were said today. We’re going to talk to the whole group over the next few days about what we say to each other and how what we say can make our hearts feel. “
    Brody could feel a politically correct side step coming up. He liked Ms. Gwen. He liked her a lot actually. She had a very natural way with the kids and quite obviously cared for them—he could see that just by the way she spoke to and about them. But Brody could also see she didn’t want to talk names and name issues specifically. It might even be that she couldn’t. Who knew what sort of policies and procedures existed behind the scenes he had no idea about.
    While he knew he could probably work it all out eventually—given time and patience—he figured he’d get a lot more out of Wolf in the long run. And in a much shorter space of time too. He could always come back and talk to Ms. Gwen when he had a few more pieces of the puzzle to go on.
    “Thank you, Ms. Gwen. I’ll have a chat to Wolf. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Ms. Gwen nodded, relief smoothing out the small lines of tension that had gradually worked their way into her face. She reached down and stroked Wolf’s hair. “I’ll see you in the morning, Wolf. Don’t worry about today, honey. All done. We’ll start again and have a better day tomorrow. What do you say?”
    Wolf nodded against Brody’s leg. Ms. Gwen smiled kindly, no doubt imagining that after a good night sleep all would be forgotten. But Brody wasn’t so sure. Wolf had an amazing memory, and a very highly developed sense of justice for a five year old. Whoever had crossed Wolf and made him this upset wasn’t likely to be forgiven overnight.
    Taking Wolf’s hand, Brody walked them silently out and started the short walk home to the apartment above Sandpiper’s Restaurant. Only once they were clear of the building and the car park with its confusing bustle and chaos of parents picking up their small charges, did Brody carefully squeeze Wolf’s hand to get his attention.
    “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
    There was a small pause before Wolf finally broke his silence. “Justin was being mean to Ryan.”
    Ryan. No wonder Wolf leapt into the fray—Ryan was Wolf’s best friend. Over the past few months the pair had become virtually inseparable. In fact, Ryan had become somewhat of a fixture in their lives—with regular play days and his name constantly coming up in conversations with Wolf.
    “Why? What was Justin doing to Ryan?” Brody asked, keeping his voice even and neutral, hoping Wolf would open up.
    “We were making heart cards for Vallenstens day.” Brody smiled as Wolf mangled the word into submission. “He made fun of Ryan when he gave his heart card to me. He made Ryan cry. He was being so mean!”
    The smile faded from Brody’s face. Oh, crap!
    “What did Ms. Gwen say?”
    “She made me promise not to push Justin over again. But he’s not allowed to make Ryan cry.”
    “No, he shouldn’t be allowed to make Ryan cry,” Brody agreed