A Beautiful Mess

Chapter 3

The evening spent with the Miller's was delightful. Mrs. Miller reminded Sydney of her grandmother who had died when she was a little girl. She was all warmth and welcome, and it was evident that she and her husband were very much in love.

Sydney was sitting at the kitchen table, which had a view of the front desk so that they could keep an eye on things as they ate their dinner. Mrs. Miller had let it slip that they didn't have as much business as they once had so the fact that the University had rented almost all of their rooms was a nice boost to their savings.

Mr. Miller had caught her telling Sydney this, and he had told her, "Hush Mama" in a gentle voice, and then they had changed the subject, but finally it made sense as to why there were only the two of them to run the entire hotel. They had a maid that came in a few mornings a week to help with the cleaning, but otherwise it was all on Mr. and Mrs. Miller.

It had been only three weeks since they had descended on the small hotel and Sydney had noticed that Mrs. Miller was starting to look a little tired and run down which was why Sydney had spent the last ten minutes trying to get them to let her help out a little in the evenings.

"But Mrs. Miller, you feed me, you lend me all of your books, and your daughter's bike, the least I can do is help out a little. Let me sit here in the office a few nights a week and read my book. You have the comfy sofa in the lobby, and it will give me something else to do. You and Mr. Miller are only a shout away if something comes up that I can't handle," she insisted yet again.

"Well it is our anniversary next weekend, and I would like to take Mama out for the evening," Mr. Miller said, thinking aloud.

"Excellent, it will be the perfect trial run. You know all of the students go into town on Saturday so there will be almost nothing to do, I'll lend you my cell phone, and I'll call you if I have any questions." She knew that the Miller's didn't have a cell phone.

"I'll think about it," Mr. Miller conceded as the bell to the lobby door rang.

Sydney, smiling at her success, leaned back in her chair while trying not to upset the Miller's cat, Tom.

Her eyes connected with Dr. Easton's as he entered the lobby. She leaned forward again letting her chair legs land on the floor with a thump that was similar to how her heart quickly rose in her throat and then fell to her feet.

He was supposed to be gone, and she was supposed to be headed out to the site's trailer when she finished dinner. Sydney listened silently, her smile pasted to her face as Mrs. Miller went on about her and Mr. Miller's potential plans for the following weekend, while she stroked the cat with a shaky hand.

She could feel Dr. Easton's eyes on her back as he had a quiet discussion with Mr. Miller, asking him if he had an extra room available for the weekend.

"Who's there Arnold?" Mrs. Miller asked as she rose to join the men. Sydney stood slowly, gently moving the cat to another chair before she began to clear the empty dishes off the table and move them to the sink. She needed to stay busy; maybe then she wouldn't notice him as much.

"No, we won't take no for an answer." She heard Mrs. Miller say as she drew Dr. Easton around the counter and into the kitchen. He had Flora with him, and the dog quickly crossed the kitchen and headed right for Sydney. Sydney looked down at Flora with a smile, giving her a soft hello as she leaned against her leg.

"Have a seat while I fix you a plate young man." Mrs. Miller bustled around the kitchen, patting Sydney on the shoulder as she thanked her for doing the dishes.

There were only so many dishes to wash, and once they were clean she had to turn around to face Dr. Easton, who was observing her as he listened to a somewhat one-sided conversation with Mrs. Miller. The lady was so pleased with the idea of a night on the town that she wanted to tell anyone that would listen.