Apparently, there was more to this nanny thing than snacks and funny hats. Yasmine had never been trained for any kind of counseling. She just hoped she wasn’t making things worse.
“Maybe I don’t want the whole world to know I’d rather draw than play ball,” he said after a minute.
The whole world, or just your dad?
“Why not?” she asked.
“I… I don’t know,” he said.
“I think you should talk to your dad about it,” she told him. “Maybe if he wasn’t worried about you playing, it wouldn’t seem so important.”
“People don’t feel sorry for a big kid on the team,” Jax said, suddenly. “They don’t even notice him.”
“And you don’t want people noticing you,” she guessed. Pia wasn’t the only one who liked to hide.
“I belong on the team,” he said. “I don’t belong in the Art Club.”
“I hear what you’re saying,” she said. “You feel like right now you’re where everyone expects to find you, doing what they expect you to do. Making a change would be an effort, and you’d open yourself up to unwanted attention.”
He met her eyes again and nodded.
“Yeah,” he said. “It’s exactly like that.”
Sweet outer rings. She was glad she’d landed on the right thing.
“That sucks,” Yasmine said honestly. “I’m really sorry you feel that way, but I’m not going to tell you you’re wrong. If you ever want to talk about it, or strategize, you can always get in touch with me, whether I’m still here or not, okay?”
He nodded and then gulped down his soda, like he didn’t want to get mushy.
“I hate to say it,” she said, “but I have to go. I kind of left your sister in the kitchen making cookies, and I’m afraid they’re going to let her eat as much dough as she wants. Want to come with me? I know she would love you to taste test her cookies.”
Her heart soared with gratitude when he pushed his chair back and got up.
They headed down to the kitchens in silence. But it was a companionable silence now.
Why do I have to leave just as I’m getting to know him? He needs all the non-judgmental adults around that he can get.
But it wasn’t in her hands, not really. And surely the next nanny would see what a special kid Jax was and make a real effort to get to know him.
Wouldn’t she?