seemed to forget that she was his mother and that she—and she alone—should know best. The comments and advice had slowly chipped away at the maternal instinct Paige had always trusted until she’d begun to wonder whether she was acting in Owen’s best interests. And then there were the most hurtful comments, the ones from people who thought that she should just try forcing Owen to speak, as though he were withholding his words on purpose for attention. Attention? She wanted to scream at these people that attention seemed to be the last thing Owen wanted. In fact, he seemed, to her shattered heart, to want to withdraw from the world completely, to retreat from life at the ripe old age of six.
Like the thousands of similar overtures, Liam’s offer to help felt as if it had been a criticism of her ability to parent masked as innocent concern.
“There’s nothing more that you need to know,” Paige snapped. “As I’ve said numerous times now, unless he has problems in class, I really don’t want to talk about it any further.”
Her answer didn’t seem to satisfy him. She could see curiosity, but also kindness, behind his green eyes, neither of which she cared to indulge. She’d seen the same look countless times before.
“It’s just that, the more I think about it, the more I’m certain I can help him,” Liam insisted, taking a seat next to her as the cafeteria cleared.
Paige glanced at the clock. Almost time for her next parent meeting.
Why couldn’t this man just leave her alone? What was it about her son that had him so intrigued? He’d said himself that he’d seen cases like Owen’s before, so if her child wasn’t unique, then why was he pushing so hard? Maybe she needed to be more direct because Liam apparently wasn’t getting the message.
“Owen and I are fine, Mr. Campbell,” she said abruptly, rising and gathering her still-full plate and notes. “Please just leave it alone.”
She gave him no chance to respond and left the table, tossing her food into the trash on her way out the door.
Liam could tell by Paige’s reaction that he’d gone too far when he’d spoken to her at the meeting earlier that afternoon. Normally he wasn’t so pushy, but there was just something about Owen that he couldn’t resist. Although the boy hadn’t spoken, Liam had seen a quiet seriousness, a depth and sweetness about him beyond his six years, an understanding and gentleness that the other kids seemed to pick up on. Rather than respond to Owen’s silence by teasing or ignoring him, his peers seemed to stick by him.
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