Page 38 of Kiss Me at Christmas
James’s smile faltered and his cheeks darkened.
“Yes,” he agreed stiffly. “Very nice. Practical.”
Harriet held her hands up. “Let’s leave the subject of my jeans behind, shall we?”
“It’s your behind that started it,” Isabel quipped. This earned her high fives all round.
“Thank you all!” Harriet used her “final” voice and the students quieted and waited for her to continue. “Now, we need to take a methodical approach to this cleanup. So we’ll start at the top of the theater by the exits; each person picks a section of seating and works their way along and down each row until they reach the orchestra pit.” She handed each of them a black sack and a litter-grabber and pointed them toward the stairs.
“I’ve got to pick Sid up from football club today,” said Billy, “but I’ll come straight back after. Sid can help, he loves a bit of litter-picking—they do it at school all the time.”
“Of course, that’s fine, Billy; Sid is most welcome. Why’re you picking him up and not Tess or Arthur?”
Billy shrugged. “I just thought it’d make a nice change for Sid.”
Harriet nodded, but her internal antenna pinged an alert.
“This is going to take forever!” Ricco complained, as he leaned over the balcony surveying the stalls below.
“Not forever, Ricco, and please don’t lean too hard on the balcony until we know it’s safe. The quicker you snap to it, the quicker we’ll get it done.”
“Ugh! Yes, Mum!” he groaned, starting down the stairs with the others following suit.
“Sorry about that,” she said when she and James were left standing on the balcony. “They’re high spirited.”
“No, I’m sorry. I’ve not had much to do with teenagers, not since I was one myself, and I seem to remember being rather awkward and unpleasant most of the time.”
Harriet laughed. “I think most of us were unpleasant teenagers, if we’re honest with ourselves.”
“They like you.” James peered over the balcony at the scattering students below as they took their positions.
“They’re used to me, that’s all. They’re good kids.” She smiled as she listened to their bantering shouts below.
“You say that a lot.”
“Do I?” She gave a self-conscious half laugh. “I suppose I’m used to having to defend them. God knows somebody needs to.” Zoe’s face swam into her mind.
She felt James watching her and plastered a smile on her face. He studied her for another long moment.
“That’s why I went into law. Originally,” he said. “To help people. Somewhere along the way, I appear to have stopped using my powers of persuasion to defend the defenseless and instead protect the interests of people who already have too much.” His own thoughts seemed to drift then as he stared into the black mouth of the empty stage below, and she wondered where they took him.
“Is your career one of the areas in which you are striving to do better?” Harriet ventured tentatively.
He continued to look down when he answered. “Yes, I think it is. I was—” He hesitated. “I was moved by what you said in Evaline’s car, about wanting to create a space that would benefit the community. The idea got me thinking in a way I haven’t for a long time. I suppose this is all my fault, really.” He gestured around the auditorium. “I rather got us into this mess. Perhaps this is what a midlife crisis looks like.”
“Isn’t that supposed to involve buying a fast motorbike and dating women half your age?”
He smiled. “That’s what it says in my middle-aged-man handbook, yes.”
“Have you ticked either of those things off your list yet?”
“I’ve never been much into fast vehicles. I don’t like to feel out of control.” He left a beat before continuing. “And I find I’m rather more attracted to women who have lived a little, preferably ones who consume mulled wine like it’s about to be rationed.”
Now it was Harriet’s turn to flush as she tried desperately not to smile. The blood in her veins seemed to pick up speed, and she felt suddenly very alive.
“And for the record,” he added, tearing off a fresh black sack from the roll Harriet had been handing around, “you do look hot in those jeans.”
He left the words hanging in the air and took the stairs briskly down into the theater. Harriet shrank into the shadows and leaned her back against the wall, trying to control her breathing. What the heck-fire was happening to her? It was like being fifteen again. She bit her knuckles to stop herself from squealing and then bent over and jogged fast on the spot for a full ten seconds, pumping her arms at the same time to try and expel some of her excitement.
