Being here with Les and Betsy just drove home how little time I’d spent with my niece and nephews. No matter what my issues were with my parents and sister, I never should have let it keep me from knowing these kids. Even the princess.
He smiled, pleased that I’d asked. “Sherlock Holmes.”
“Fan of mysteries then?”
The kid’s entire face lit up. “I love them. All kinds of mysteries, but Sherlock Holmes is my favorite.”
“I. Want. Ice cream.” Betsy thumped her fist on the table, but she didn’t raise her voice.
Not surprising. One of the ‘rules’ Mom had drilled into us kids growing up was that a Southern lady never raised her voice, no matter how insistent she needed to be. It seemed Ashley had passed that lesson down to her daughter.
“Are you done with your lunch?” I asked. “Because you haven’t finished your apple.”
“I’m done.” As if to emphasize her point, she pushed her plate away.
“You’re not hungry?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Only for ice cream.”
“That’s not how this works, Betsy. You know that.” I glanced at Les, and he shrugged. “If you don’t finish all of your lunch, you don’t get dessert.”
“She’s going to throw a temper tantrum,” Les said matter-of-factly. He ate the last apple slice. “May I be excused?”
“You don’t want your ice cream?”
His eyes went wide, and he shook his head. “Not if she’s not getting hers. You don’t want to have something she wants.”
Damn. The kid was scared of his little sister. Not like ‘pee-your-pants’ scared, but he definitely wanted to be away from Betsy when she threw a fit.
Ashley had moved past the tantrum thing fairly young, so I didn’t really have any memories of her like that, but for as long as I could remember, she’d mastered the art of manipulation and cutting, backhanded insults. I had no doubt her tantrums had been just a more immature version of that.
“Wait a minute,” I said to Les before turning back to Betsy. I gave her my best stern expression. “I don’t know what your parents do when you’re like this, but I’m in charge right now. If you don’t finish your lunch, you don’t get ice cream, but you won’t be in trouble. But if you throw a fit, you’re gonna spend some time sitting on the couch doing nothing.”
I didn’t say anything as Betsy glared at me. I could see the gears working in her mind, trying to figure out if I would actually do what I said. I could feel Les watching me too, apparently fascinated with the fact that I wasn’t going to let Betsy do whatever she wanted.
After a minute, she picked up an apple slice and ate it. I waited until she ate the second one to get up and go to the fridge. “Les, why don’t you come help me get your bowl ready, and then when Betsy’s done, she can help me get hers.”
A couple minutes later, Betsy and I took our bowls over to the table to join Les. I didn’t know if Betsy would behave for the rest of the afternoon, but I’d take this as a little win. I used the time to chat with them a bit more, asking about school and friends, basically trying to get to know them better.
It didn’t take long for Betsy to get bored once she finished her ice cream, but because she’d been good once I’d given her the ultimatum, I wasn’t going to make her stick around just to talk to me. She went straight back to her playroom, leaving Les and me at the table, finishing our dessert.
“Do you like history stuff?” Les asked suddenly.
“I do.”
“Mom got a whole bunch of boxes from Papaw and Mamaw’s house, and she said they have bunches of letters and papers and stuff in them. I can show you if you want.”
Well, damn. I hadn’t even been thinking about my film right now, but it looked like something might’ve just fallen into my lap. I just hoped whatever was here would be relevant.
“That’d be great.” I ruffled his hair. “Do you like history?”
He nodded. “Dad says I can go to college to become a history professor or a detective, but Mom says I have to become a lawyer like Dad or be in politics like Papaw.”
I was honestly surprised that Ashley had even given Les that much of a choice. Then again, having a law degree often led to a political career. I couldn’t see Les having the