Page 10 of Lost Little Boy (Pride Camp 2025 #5)

Chapter Eight

Wex

The details of Perry Castle’s life had me dumbstruck. That night when I arrived at the corporate apartment where I was staying in Arlington near the Liberty Building, I went to bed, tossing and turning all night.

I’d heard of people’s lives falling apart with the death of a loved one, but his mother had five children—five young children—depending on her. How could she let them down that way?

When I woke early the next morning, it was hard not to feel sorry for Perry, though I was sure that wasn’t what he wanted. I decided instead of pitying him, I’d do everything in my power to lift him up and help him get the life he wanted. The life I believed he more than deserved.

The first step was to find out more about the camp, so I showered, dressed, and went to the office. I walked down the hallway to Nancy’s office to find fucking Richard Jenkins sitting in her guest chair, hands flailing. I didn’t knock, opening the door to surprise the two of them.

“Uh, Wex, I’m having a staff meeting.” Nancy stared at me as if I’d lost my mind.

I picked up the phone extension by the couch and dialed Human Resources. Victoria Wintz was the director, and I’d been so frazzled the previous day that I’d forgotten to call her.

“Human Resources. This is Victoria.”

I was surprised she’d answered her own phone. “Hi Victoria. Wex Grassley here. Can you come down to Nancy’s office please? There’s an employee issue we need to address.”

“I’m on my way, Wex. ”

I hung up and turned to Nance. “We have a problem with Mr. Jenkins. Did he tell you what happened yesterday afternoon in the Children’s Center?”

Nancy gave me her mom look that told me she didn’t want to deal with my bullshit, but tough. We were equals in the company, and with Dad on vacation, it was time for Nancy to show him she had the balls to run the company. Firing Richard Jenkins would be a great way to do it.

“We were talking about Richard’s advancement potential, Wex.

Rory Flannery gave me notice yesterday that she’ll be leaving in June, so Richard and I are exploring the possibilities of restructuring the division to make the most of this new opportunity.

Why did you call Victoria? I’m not ready to enlist HR at this point.

I still need to discuss my thoughts with Junior. ”

That was a surprise. “Oh, Richard didn’t tell you what happened last night when he showed up an hour late to pick up his twins?”

Mention kids, and my sister was a pit bull. “What’s Wex talking about?” Nancy’s glare shifted to Richard.

I walked over to the phone and called the switchboard. “Grassley Industries. How may I direct your call?”

It was Pearl Lack, the company receptionist. She’d been around since my grandfather was running the company .

“Hi, Pearl. It’s Wex. Can you connect me with Daphne Cruz in the daycare, please.”

“Sure, Wex. Hold on.” A moment later, the phone was ringing. I could feel both of their eyes on me.

“Nancy, it was just a misunderstanding. I owe Miss Daphne an apology, which I was planning to give her tonight. My kids are with my mother-in-law today, which is something else I need to talk to Daphne about.”

“Well, how about we do that now, and I’ll get Perry Castle here so you can apologize to him as well.” I was fuming at the asshole’s attitude as though he’d done nothing wrong. There was a knock on the door, so I said, “Come in.” Victoria Wintz stepped inside with her tablet.

I pointed to the chair next to Richard as the call was connected. “Arlington Children’s Center, Daphne speaking.”

“Hi, Miss Daphne. Can you come up to Nancy Grassley-Williams’ office. It’s about the incident last night with the Jenkins twins.”

“On my way. Should I bring Perry?”

I’d wanted to get him and try to talk to him after the awkward way our evening had ended, but maybe it would be best if Daphne brought him with her since my issues with him were separate from the situation at hand. “Yes, please,” I said.

I walked over to stand next to Nancy’s desk. “Miss Daphne is on her way up. She’s bringing Mr. Castle with her.”

Jenkins’ face flashed red, and I couldn’t hold the smile. There, motherfucker .

He quickly schooled his expression. “Why do you care about the janitor ?”

I wanted to fire back that Perry Castle was a million times the better human than Jenkins, but Victoria said it far more eloquently than I could. “Grassley Industries cares about every employee, regardless of their job title. We all work by the same rules, Richard. What happened last night?”

The door opened and Daphne walked in with Perry behind her in a set of denim coveralls with the company logo on the left front pocket. Even in smudged coveralls, he still had my blood racing south.

I pointed to Daphne to answer Victoria. “I phoned Perry Castle last night about five o’clock to see if he’d mind helping me out in the daycare center.”

Daphne closed the door after Perry was inside and continued.

“I had a phone interview to fill an open teacher’s aide spot, and Perry and I are friends.

He agreed to drop by and watch Mr. Jenkins’ twins so I could take the call, and when Mr. Jenkins finally arrived an hour later, I smelled alcohol on his breath.

He accused Mr. Castle of doing something untoward to his sons when all the three were doing was making clay flowers.

He made a derogatory inference and called Mr. Castle a hateful name. ”

I glanced at Perry, whose face was crimson as he stood near the door, his gaze studying the large area rug on the floor.

I walked to him and leaned close. “I’m sorry to drag you into this, but Nancy was about to promote him, and I wasn’t letting that happen.

” I stepped back and put my hand on his shoulder, hoping my touch could comfort him.

Nancy stared at Jenkins for a moment as though she couldn’t believe what we were saying. My sister was like our mother in that she always tried to see the good in people—even someone as hateful and pompous as Richard Jenkins.

Nancy, unlike our mother, had a knack for eventually seeing people for who they were, and she wasn’t a fan of letting things go with a bullshit apology. Once someone was on her bad side, they didn’t get a second chance.

“Mr. Jenkins, is there any truth to Miss Cruz’s statements?

You do understand that the use of the Arlington Children’s Center is a privilege Grassley Industries offers its employees.

It’s not a right that your children can use the daycare.

We offer the facility to the employees who may not get to spend time with their children due to their demanding work schedules.

It’s not meant to be abused so employees can go out for happy hours and pick up their children when they want.

I’m afraid we’ll need to revoke your privileges for three months. ”

Victoria tapped something into her tablet before she turned to Perry. “Do you want to file harassment charges against Mr. Jenkins?”

“ Yes! ” Maybe I was too exuberant when I answered for him, but no way was fucking Jenkins going to intimidate Perry from taking the appropriate action against him. The guy was a dick and deserved to be called out for his behavior.

“No. If you’ll apologize, I won’t go any further with any sort of personnel actions.” I stepped in front of Perry and saw tears in his eyes.

“Excuse us.” I led him into Nancy’s bathroom, closing the door. I pulled a few tissues from the box on the counter and bent my knees so I could dry his eyes. My heart broke for him.

“Sweet boy, you are owed a hell of a lot more than an apology. If his accusations get out, it could damage your reputation. I don’t want to see that happen.” I pulled him into my arms and rested my chin on the top of his head. “Perry, you can’t let people take advantage of you. ”

He sniffed and stepped back, taking the tissue from my fingers. “Sir, you’re a nice person, but I think if I pursue any action against Richard Jenkins, word will get out about his accusation even faster. It’s best if I accept his apology and move on with my life.

“Thank you for coming to my defense, but I’m just a janitor, and Mr. Jenkins is an executive. I don’t see Mrs. Grassley-Williams letting him go over something he did to me.” He turned his back and blew his nose.

I wanted to tell him he deserved someone to come to his defense, but as I thought about what he’d told me the previous night, I realized something important. Perry wasn’t used to having anyone in his corner, so he never expected it.

I let out a heavy sigh. “Okay. If that’s how you want it, then I’ll support you.” I kissed his forehead below the widow’s peak.

We returned to the office where everyone was waiting for us. “Mr. Jenkins, I’ll accept your apology, and we can both move on.”

Jenkins stared at me before smirking. “I want an apology from Wex Grassley for all of this when I didn’t do anything worth getting HR here.”

I started to tell him to fuck off and meet me on the sidewalk so I could stomp the shit out of him.

But before I could finish, my sister stood abruptly, sending her chair crashing into the bookshelf behind her desk.

“Richard, I’ll remind you that my brother is my counterpart here at Grassley, and my father owns the company.

Either you apologize to Mr. Castle and get out of my office, or I’ll fire you right now. ”

I was proud of my sister. She’d always been a fighter, and I was happy to see her fighting for Perry… and me, I guess, though I didn’t need it as much as Perry.

“Understood.” Jenkins turned and stepped in front of Perry. “I apologize for what I said.”

The fucker looked at me and smirked. “I called your sister to tell her you’d put me on administrative leave, and she laughed and said to get into the office because I don’t work for you.” The asshole stepped over to the door.

I was ready to rip Nancy to pieces, but Perry squeezed my arm. I glanced over my shoulder to see him shaking his head before he winked at me. I gave him a nod and turned back to my sister who held up a finger.

“Richard, make no mistake. Any possibility of you getting Rory’s spot is on hold indefinitely, and you’re on administrative leave for the rest of this week and next.

You, Miss Cruz, and I will discuss whether your children will be returning to the center after you’re off admin leave.

I’ll alert your team that you’ll be out of the office.

Do not discuss this situation with anyone outside this room.

” Nancy arched that wicked eyebrow at him, and Jenkins nodded.

He walked out of her office with his head down, not saying anything to anyone. When he closed the door, I turned to my sister. “Why the fu—hell would you consider giving him a promotion?”

“Wex, I try to give my employees a path for growth. I judge them based on their job performance… ordinarily. For someone to behave in the fashion Daphne mentioned is appalling. I won’t tell him he’s going to be put on a performance review while he’s on administrative leave.

I’m giving Rory’s job to one of his reps. ”

I laughed. “Look at you, pulling the rug out from under him. Well, are we done here?” I glanced around the room to see Victoria and Daphne nodding their heads. When I turned to check on Perry, he was standing by the door looking for a quick escape.

“Let me walk you out.” I gave my sister a salute and opened the door for my three companions. When we got to the elevator, Victoria pressed the up button and I pushed the down for Perry, Daphne, and myself.

When we got into the elevator, Daphne stepped in front of the panel while Perry stepped to the right. I stood between them. “Supposed to be warm today,” I said out of the blue.

Daphne glanced at me and smirked. “It’s that time of year.”

We stopped on two and Perry got off. “Thanks to both of you.” The doors closed before I could say a word.

“You know, he comes into the center after everyone leaves and plays with the toys. Mr. Burger offered to talk to him for me, but I said he wasn’t causing any harm. Sometimes, I don’t clean up if I’m running late to get home, and when I come in the next morning, the place is neat as a pin.”

“I wonder if he… well, never mind. It’s nice that you don’t keep him from going in there to wind down at the end of the day.” Things were becoming clearer to me. I just wondered if Perry knew about his proclivities, or if he did and was hiding it.

“If I thought he was interested, I’d get him literature for classes to become a teacher’s aide. Thank you for looking out for him. He’s a special guy. Have a good day, Mr. Grassley.” She unlocked the door and stepped inside. Just as she was about to close the door, I stuck my foot in the gap.

“Something else, Mr. Grassley?” She had a kind smile .

“Say, Miss Daphne. If I were to convince Perry to take you up on the offer of taking classes to be a teacher’s aide, would you be willing to hire him here part-time?

” Not that there was anything wrong with being a janitor.

Everyone had great things to say about him, but knowing it wasn’t his passion had me wondering if I could help him find it.

I had no savior complex, nor did I look down on Perry for his current profession.

If he could find something that made him happy to get up in the morning, I’d support him one thousand percent—not that I thought my support mattered to him.

There was something about Perry Castle that was fascinating and made me want to get to know him better. Even if it was only as a friend.