“Did you hear what happened? The whole testing issue.” Actually, Jamie hadn’t heard anything more. He’d assumed that the Dean had taken care of it and that was the end. “The Board asked the President of the college to resign, and he stepped down. It was his son who broke into the college system using his father’s credentials. He was behind the whole thing.” She made it sound so dramatic.
“Honestly, I think that the Board was looking to get rid of him, and this gave them a legitimate excuse,” Jamie explained. “He wasn’t doing well, and the college needs someone fresh and clearheaded. Dr. Lund was always trying to get the organization to do things that were outside our scope. And they kept failing. And this way they don’t need to pay him to go. They can terminate him for cause, and the college will be better off.”
Her skeptical expression said she didn’t seem so sure, but Jamie was glad it was over and that he hadn’t been in the line of fire.
“How old are you?” Adrianna asked Kenny.
“I’m five. I’m here with Jamie because my daddy is at an interview.” He took a bite of his grilled cheese. “I like it.”
“Do you want to go to college?” she asked.
Kenny was clearly confused by the question, and she backed off from that. “What do you have with you?”
“My math book,” Kenny said, and showed it to her. Adrianna looked through it, her gaze meeting his. “I like numbers.”
“Did he do all this?” she asked, and Jamie nodded.
“We’re going to have him tested,” he told her.
She leaned over the table. “You need to. My Louis can’t do this work, and he’s two years older. Maybe you’d like him to learn French. I could give him lessons during the summer to see if his aptitude carries over.”
“I’ll speak to his father, but I think that’s a great idea.” It was going to take some time to see where Kenny’s talents lay. Jamie finished his burger, and once Kenny was done, they returned to his office and then headed out for his next exam.
“Are wegoing to get Daddy?” Kenny asked once they were back in the car.
“Yes. Did you like being with me at college?”
“College is boring.”
Jamie laughed. To a five-year-old it probably would be. “I suppose it’s boring to you now. But when you get older, you’ll find it’s very important. You learn a lot of things in college.” He seemed to take his word for it. “And you have a long time before you got to college anyway. You have to finish elementary school and then middle school. Finally, you go to high school, and then college. There’s lots to learn before then.”
“Will you be my teacher when I go to college?” Kenny asked as Jamie reached the outskirts of town and made the turn toward where Todd’s interview was located.
“It’s possible. I should have a long career ahead of me, long enough to still be teaching when you’re in college.”
“Okay.” That seemed to be the end of that discussion. “Is Daddy here?”
“There he is,” Jamie said as he pulled up near him.
Todd hurried to the car and got inside. He gave Kenny a grin.
“How was it? Did you get the job?” Kenny asked.
“They said they were interested and would send me an offer. I guess these centers are really looking for people. They said they pay between twenty and twenty-three an hour to start. I did tell them that I had another offer. I hope that’s okay.”
“Yup. Maybe they’ll offer a little extra money. You never know.”
“I was at college, and I did math, and we had lunch with a pretty lady,” Kenny chimed in.
“Adrianna is a French professor, and she offered to teach Kenny French this summer. She has some interesting teaching methods that seem to work well. If you’re interested, it might be fun for him to learn something new like that.”
Before Todd could answer, Kenny piped up from the back seat. “Jamie said you were his boyfriend. Daddy, are you and Jamie boyfriends?” He giggled. “Kissing boyfriends.” He giggled some more.
“Yes. Jamie and I are kissing boyfriends.” He leaned over the console and gave Jamie a kiss right there. “Is that okay?”
“Kissing,” Kenny said, and giggled even more. Apparently, there were few things funnier to a five-year-old than kissing, except maybe anything to do with poop. At least Kenny didn’t get upset, so he’d take that as approval.
“Let me drop you two off at home, and then I should go back to the school for a few hours to make sure that I’m available foroffice hours.” He headed to town, and after ten minutes, pulled up in front of the house.
