Page 91 of Kiss Me at Christmas
“I think I’m starting to get that. What are you up to tomorrow?” he asked.
She stretched contentedly like a cat as she thought about her Sunday plans. “Lazy morning, lunch at Emma and Pete’s, FaceTime with Maisy, lazy evening. You?”
“Brunch with Lyra, catch up on some paperwork, watch the footie.”
“You’re into football?”
He laughed at her surprise. “Is that so unusual?”
She shrugged. “I guess I had you down for following something like fencing, or televised chess championships.”
He shook his head, smiling.
They were quiet for a moment, each of them not quite ready to burst the little bubble of harmony they’d found inside the car. Harriet considered inviting him in but after the commotion of today, she was looking forward to getting into her pj’s and watching a movie.
“Who knew there’d be so much drama outside of the play?” she said, yawning.
“I had an inkling the moment Gideon showed up,” James replied dryly, and Harriet laughed. “So much for the first official run-through. I hope it’s not an omen.”
“Oh, there’s plenty of time yet.” Harriet laid her head back against the headrest.
“You’ve changed your tune.” James smiled. “A couple of weeks ago, you were panicking that we’d never pull it together and now you’re Little Miss Chillaxed.”
She turned her head to face him. “I wouldn’t go that far. But maybe I’m starting to realize that I can’t control everything and that’s okay. Schnitzel’s going to happen whether I worry myself stupid or not, so I may as well go with the flow.”
“Have you been at Grace’s sherry?”
She pressed her forefinger and thumb together in the universal sign fora little bitand giggled. “She kept offering me ‘snifters.’ ”
“Tess and Arthur seem nice,” James said.
“They’re lovely. They’ve been so good for Billy. And Sid.” She smiled, thinking about the many changes she’d seen in Billy over the years. “You should have seen him when he first started at Foss Independent. Lordy, I thought for sure he’d be expelled before the end of year seven. It was like he’d been raised by wolves. I am so proud of that kid.”
“You really care about them, don’t you?”
“I really do. They’ve got so much potential; they could change the world. You’ve got to know them a bit by now—you must see it too?”
“I do. I’ve been thinking…”
“Uh-oh!” She smirked in his direction.
“I could start a legal surgery at the theater, a couple of evenings a week. You know, pro bono, offer advice to people who couldn’t otherwise afford it. I think there’s aneed for it. Well, I know there is, even just in our own little expanding community. And I could help people like Farahnoush and Ava with their documents, that sort of thing. What do you think?”
Harriet unclipped her seat belt and with little to no grace at all climbed over the gear stick and hand brake to straddle James’s lap. The steering wheel bit into the base of her back, and the cup holder was definitely going to leave a ring on her right knee, but she didn’t care.
“This is what I think,” she whispered as she pressed her lips to his, her hands cupping his face. She felt his arms snake around her back, pulling her down onto him.
“Now I wish I’d mentioned it sooner,” he growled into her mouth. His hands fumbled with her layers. “How many cardigans are you wearing this time?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know!”
Her phone rang and they both froze. This was when she would usually be compelled to answer no matter what she was in the middle of, but a quick glance at the screen showed her it wasn’t a number that she recognized and she breathed out her worry and let it ring, and James’s kisses became even more fervent as a reward.
The snow had picked up again, and the street was quiet. The windows of James’s car were opaque with condensation, and anyone who was brave enough to be outside didn’t bother knocking.
Twenty-four
Saturday’s full run-through had beenrescheduled for Monday afternoon. Billy had just picked Sid up from school. Sid’s cheeks were two red apples, and his gloves were caked in snow. Billy pulled them off him and took them outside to beat off the excess ice.
