The children rushed her as she pulled them out, asking politely for another. She gave them each one but said that was the last one until after supper.
“Sydney dear,” Matilda said. “Richard told me about the room flooding. I was asleep by the time it happened. Are you okay?”
Sydney looked surprised she was being checked on. “I’m fine. They had to move me because the rest of the rooms were taken.”
“Where are you staying then? We have some room here if you need,” my mother said as she came in from the kitchen.
“She’s fine,” I said a bit too quickly. “She’s staying with me.”
The room fell into what could be described as stunned silence.
My mother seemed to snap out of it first. “That’s great. It’s close so she won’t have to come all the way from the mountain.”
“Yes,” Sydney said in her extreme professional tone. “Brooks has been an excellent host.”
Something about thewayshe said that grated on my nerves. It was just so… detached, in a way I didn’t like.
“I’m glad you found somewhere to go,” Matilda said before she carried on with her reading.
“She seems to be good with them,” Sydney said from behind me.
“She’s great,” Beau agreed. “She watched them yesterday when she was here too—at least when she wasn’t napping.”
Sydney gave a small smile. “We can just leave her here then, I suppose.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she affirmed, still acting a bit strange. “Let’s go.”
I followed her out. As I trailed behind her, I couldn’t help but stare. She was gorgeous in her slacks and blouse with boot-like heels.
She was gorgeous in anything. Like yesterday, when she had been wearing my clothes.
“Are you sure you don’t need help?” I asked. “I’m sure Matilda expected to work.”
Sydney shrugged. “Matilda is nice and all, but she’s not the fastest, and I don’t think she’s been out on site since before the internet. I think it’s better this way; I’ll get it done faster.”
I nodded. “I guess that tracks.” Though the thought of her workingfasterbummed me out. I wanted her to stay longer, though I knew that was a silly thought.
As we drove, I realized that, if we were going to the field today, there was no way she could wear those pretty heels. I should have warned her. Though a lot of the rainy season had passed, it was still pretty muddy.
With that in mind, I turned right instead of left at the bottom of the hill and started driving us into town. She was playing something a little different today. It wasn’t quite as bubbly, but it had more of a beat to it, and I still enjoyed it.
“Where are we going?” she asked after we’d been driving for a little while.
“Oh,” I was so in my head I had forgotten to tell her. “To town. You need new clothes.”
She scoffed. “There’s nothing wrong with my clothes.”
“I’m not saying there is.” I chuckled. “But it’s muddy out in the fields, and I don’t think your heels are going to cut it.”
Her eyes moved down to her feet. “But they’re boots.”
“Maybe in the city. But three seconds with those out there and you’ll be as stuck as your car was.”
“I see your point,” she said.
Soon we were off the dirt roads and out on the cracked pavement leading into town.
