Page 69 of Kiss Me at Christmas
It was James’s voice. Calm and reasoning.
“Don’t worry about it.” Billy, sulky.
“She picks at everything, all the time,” came Isabel’s voice. “I mean, all the time. She’s got it in for Billy, he can’t do anything right.”
“And you give as good as you get,” said James.
“I’m not just gonna take it, am I?” Billy mumbled.
“I think it’s fair to say that your personalities clash.”
She heard Billy’s derisive snort.
“I’m not going to ask you to rise above it because that puts the onus on you and relieves Grace from any responsibility, and I believe there to be equal fault on both sides. But I will ask both of you to try and keep the peace and resist falling into name-calling. Does that sound fair to you?”
At a pause, in her mind’s eye Harriet could see Billy, seething, wanting to shout and rail, but James’s calm gave him nowhere to point his anger.
“Fine,” said Billy. “But if she starts—”
“Understood,” said James. “Maybe take a few minutes, walk it off, and then come back when you’re ready.”
Mumbled responses followed, and she heard Isabel’s voice talking softly, growing distant. Harriet opened the bathroom door and James turned, his expression pensive.
“I didn’t know you were in there,” he said.
“I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“You heard?”
She nodded. “You handled that well.”
He sighed and rubbed his face. “After the fact. It would have been better if I hadn’t exacerbated it in the first place.”
“But you made it right. That’s what counts.”
“I have a lot to learn about teenagers.”
“I don’t think I could respect anyone who didn’t think they still had things to learn,” she said honestly.
“You really are a good person, aren’t you?”
She smiled. “You arranged repairs for Evaline’s private lets,” she said.
He gave a small nod.
“I investigated her rentals portfolio and found it wanting. I orchestrated a change of buildings management agency accordingly.”
She smiled. He’d listened and he’d heard, that was worth a lot.
“You’re a good person too,” she said.
“How’s Leo?” he asked.
“He’ll be okay.”
“They’re complicated, aren’t they?”
“Aren’t we all?” she replied.
