He felt that people had been given their proper chance and that it was up to them now to make the effort. But Malcolm also realized that he hadn't made it easy for them to do so.
"Maybe," he finally conceded (if that could be considered a concession--though it was as close as he would come, at least at the moment), leaning back on the bench and bringing the ankle of one leg to rest on the knee of the other.
He smiled warmly at her, inwardly desperate for a subject change of any kind.