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“See?” said Jules, leaning forward now. “Most problems aren’t insoluble if you put your mind to them.”
“Mmm.” Billie was still somewhat taken aback. Why would Jules agree to help her like that? But she couldn’t deny that the thought of having Jules there to facilitate things made her feel better. “And then you can work on practicing your song.”
“The song that isn’t at all stupid.”
Billie blushed. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry.”
“It’s no Mozart concerto or anything, but it’s a good song,” said Jules. “Alea has good taste in music.”
The warmth in Billie’s stomach shrank a little. “Yes, yes, I’m sure she does.”
“Right then,” said Jules. “I’m off. If I don’t get down to the pub, Josh’ll have my head. I won’t ask you to come.”
Billie managed a smile at this. “Thanks.”
Jules’s eyes were sharp. “But you should come back at some point. We’re not all monsters and we’re not judging you as hard as you think. The one doing the most judging here is you. Besides, Amelia owes you a drink.”
Billie nodded. “I’ll, um, I’ll think about it.”
“Good,” said Jules.
As Billie closed the door behind her she was smiling to herself despite a stomach full of sugar. Jules Hawthorne was full of surprises. And a little part of her wondered what surprises might be still to come.
Chapter Sixteen
Billie was an odd duck, to say the least, Jules thought as she made her way home from work. For an instant back there, everything had come together and Jules felt like she’d had a glimpse of who Billie was and where she’d come from.
And the thought of a lonely little girl told by everyone she knew just how special she was and different she was almost broke her heart.
Yeah, alright, so Billie had been good at music, so what? She’d obviously also been singled out and socially awkward, all because her parents hadn’t cared enough to make sure that she had a normal childhood. Or maybe they’d cared too much, Jules couldn’t quite decide which.
What was obvious was that Billie had been alone and scared growing up different and had expressed that by coming across as cold and brittle, leading her classmates and everyone else to think that she thought she was better than them.
Now she was back and she had the self-awareness to know that she hadn’t treated people here well, which Jules thought spoke in her favor. But she didn’t have the self-awareness to know that most people, the important ones at least, would understand how she acted if she just gave them a chance to.
She sighed as she turned the corner toward the little row of terraced houses. Mind you, that wasn’t to say that Billie couldn’t be a complete pain in the arse. She absolutely could be. She didn’t think hard enough before she spoke and she was set in her ways.
She was a good teacher though, Jules had to admit that.
And conscious enough that her own upbringing wasn’t right that she didn’t want to inflict the same on Agatha Browning.
When Jules opened the front door, light was streaming from the living room. She hung up her light jacket and went in to see Amelia sprawled in front of the TV.
“Where’s Cass?”
“Early night,” Amelia said. “Or more likely watching some of the Korean soap opera bullshit in her room where she thinks I won’t judge her for it. What about you? No pub tonight?”
“Josh let me off early, dead as a doornail in there tonight,” Jules said, collapsing onto the sofa next to her sister. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always,” Amelia said, turning down the volume on the TV.
“Did you ever meet Billie Brooke’s parents?”
Amelia shook her head. “Don’t think so, why?”
“It’s just…” Jules sighed. “I don’t know. She seems so unhappy.”
Amelia considered this and nodded. “Yeah, that about sums her up. She’s always seemed that way, I suppose. Mind, it didn’t help that she didn’t have friends.” She reached up to scratch her nose. “We weren’t always kind to her.”
