Chapter Six: A Dream Float
Ephram
I stayed still for a moment in an unfamiliar room and listened.
The Snowdrop Inn was awake. Voices drifted up from below, overlapping in a way that suggested several conversations were happening at once and none of them had agreed on a leader. Someone laughed sharply, cut off by another voice explaining a story. A cabinet door closed with unnecessary force. Footsteps crossed the floor in the hallway outside my door.
It wasn’t unpleasant,l just unfamiliar.
I got up and moved through the room with the careful efficiency of someone who preferred order. My bag sat where I had left it. I grabbed out the necessary items to start the day. The bathroom door opened easily, and I was rewarded with exactly what I needed.
Hot water with privacy.
I showered longer than strictly necessary, letting the heat sink into my shoulders and undo what the night had stiffened. When I dressed, I did it the same way I always did. Shirt pressed. Boots checked. Everything in place. Just as I liked it.
Downstairs, the dining room was already near capacity.
“I am telling you,if you were to organize and keep putting things back where they belong, everyone could find them,” a young woman said, obviously related to Lydia Bennet.
“That assumes people put things back,” the older woman responded.
“Some of us do put things back. We would have to train the others,” she insisted.
“If you think Kitty or Lydia will be trained, I will allow you to have the contents of my bank account,” the older woman scoffed, handing plates of heaping breakfast to a table of two. “Enjoy your meal.”
“There is nothing in your bank account,” the younger woman dryly remarked as they both left the dining room.
Lydia came into the dining room, serving a table before noticing me.
“Good morning,” I said.
“Coffee?” Lydia asked immediately, pulling a menu out of her apron to give to me.
“Yes,” I agreed.
She disappeared for a few minutes, returning with the coffee and asking for my order.
I ordered a standard breakfast. “I was wondering if I could talk to you later about the float entry you made.”
“Of course,” Lydia gave me a bright smile, but part of me wondered if it was strained around the edges. She quickly went to another table to clear dishes, before heading out of the dining room.
“Is this seat taken?” a man asked with a peculiar haircut. I remembered him from standing behind Lydia at the front desk during my check in. Before I could say a word, he simply sat down across from me. “The SnowDrop Inn is simply marvelous, don’t you agree? I mean, it could stand for some improvement and direction, but overall, I think it could be quite successful.”
“I suppose so,” I stated neutrally.
“Forgive my manners, I’m Collin Bennet,” he introduced himself, forgetting that we had met before.
“Ephram North,” I replied.
He leaned in slightly, lowering his voice as if we were sharing a confidence. “I’m part owner of the inn.”
I took a sip of coffee so that I wouldn’t have to answer and filed that away. For some reason, Collin took my silence as an invitation to continue to speak.
“As part owner, I’m very keen to keep a tab on my investment. My business mentor, Catherine de Berg always tells me to stay involved when it comes to money." He grabbed the napkin, making a show of putting it in his collar before inspecting the flatware.
“That seems sensible,” I cautiously commented.
Collin breathed on the butter knife before polishing it on his sleeve. “Now, that is not my only motive for coming to the inn.”
