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“Look at me!” Adonis swung upside down from a tree branch five feet off the ground.
“You’re quite a little monkey.” Rose moved close in case he should fall. “How are you going to get down?”
A puzzled expression marked the boy’s features.
Rose knew she could easily help him get down quickly. But she reasoned that it was better in the long run to teach Adonis how to problem solve. “Can you reach up to grab the branch?”
Adonis swung to reach but fell short. His knees wobbled on the branch. “No.” A little bit of panic crept into his eyes.
“I’ll hold your feet, and you try again.”
He nodded and swung. His little fingers scraped against the bark but didn’t grab hold. “I can’t do it,” he said.
“Yes, you can. Try one more time. I won’t let you fall.”
Adonis screwed up his face and swung once more. This time his hands gripped the branch. “I got it!”
Rose let go of his knees.
With his feet oriented to the ground, Adonis dropped from the branch and landed on the grass.
“Are you hurt at all?” Rose asked.
Adonis stood and wiped his hands on his shorts. “Nope.”
She took his hand and turned around.
Everyone stared at them.
Rose gave a little wave and felt embarrassment inflame her cheeks.
“I think we’re ready to see the mill,” Mr. P said to Titos. “There’ll be less temptation to climb the trees there.”
The group headed back the way they’d come.
Stavros fell in step beside Rose. “You made an interesting choice back there.”
“Is Mr. P upset?” Rose chewed her lower lip. Had he mistaken her teaching moment for careless negligence?
“No. Merely curious as to why you didn’t rush to Adonis and pluck him off the tree. That’s what most people would’ve done.”
Rose’s defenses went up. “First of all, if I’d panicked and yelled, that might’ve scared Adonis into losing his grip on the branch. Second of all, he needs to learn how to get himself out of a sticky situation on his own. At some point, all children grow up. Before he leaves the nest, Adonis needs to learn independence and how to trust his judgment so he can be confident in his abilities. Coddling or helicopter parenting is a disservice to the child. Not that there’s much danger of that in this situation. Sometimes I wonder if the children even know if Mr. P loves them.” The words were out before she’d thought them through. She’d let her prejudice against the wealthy get ahead of clear thinking. Again.
Stavros’s mouth formed a grim line. “You think the children don’t know their father loves them.”
She ran a hand through her waves. “I apologize for what I said. I think the children do know they’re loved. I have difficulty seeing the way he shows affection to them.”
“Ah.”
Rose didn’t think Stavros understood, and his lack of clarity was her fault. “Please forget the last part of what I said.” As he skipped along, she called to Adonis. “Not so fast. Careful of the tree roots.” She paused at a tree and rubbed a leaf between her fingertips. “The leaves are a pretty silver green,” Rose remarked in an attempt to divert the conversation away from her blunder.
“They are.” Stavros sighed. “I wish to understand this animosity you have toward Mr. P.”
“I don’t know him well enough to harbor ill feelings toward him.”
“And yet you lash out at him and all in his financial class. Why? Won’t you tell me, Rose?”
Rose sighed and set out after the children, who were ahead with their father and Titos. They were her responsibility. She needed to look after them and focus on her job, instead of on the man who sent her heart aflutter. “I’ll tell you soon.” A truthful but vague answer.