The Sailor and The Shrew by Laura Stapleton

Author:Laura Stapleton
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2019-05-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Bert was a rat, listening to her as she put in her notice. Matilda’s face burned at how much he must have heard about her reasons for leaving. “I suppose I was remiss in not closing the door behind me.” She stood, smoothing out her apron. “If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Bromley, I’ll get started on the day’s work.”

“Of course. Unless you have something to say to Mr. DuBoise here?”

“Thank you, no.” She eased her way to the door. “I appreciate your insight. You’ve given me plenty to ponder today.”

“You’re welcome. Come back if you have questions or concerns.” He leaned forward, folding his hands on his desk. “Do you mind closing the door behind you?”

Somebody was in trouble, but it wasn’t her. Matilda couldn’t help but give Bert a triumphant grin as she replied, “Yes, sir.” She almost skipped out of the room, pulling the door closed. Heading for the kitchen, she gave departing guests a wide berth as they passed by with their luggage. None of the bellboys would look her in the eye. She smiled; glad to be free from faking a politeness she didn’t feel.

Once in the kitchen, orders ready to go out stood in the window. A stack of dishes stood next to the washtub. Her other choice was to go out to deal with customers, so she chose to wash up instead. Cleaning would give her time to really think about her place here at Bromley Hotel. She wanted to leave but Mr. Bromley had given her good reasons to stay despite the turmoil from the others. He simply must be right about newer gossip soon replacing her scandal as the main toping for the idle.

Matilda scraped the food from the plates into a slop pail, before dunking the dishes in the water. Mr. Bromley had recommended looking before she leapt to a new home somewhere else. He didn’t know she had a nest egg. She washed a plate, finding no need to tell her boss about her finances. She rinsed the plate, drying it before setting the dish next to the tub. Janie brought in another stack of dishes with silverware on top for her to clean.

Sighing over not being as close to finished as she’d thought, Matilda dug in to wash faster. When she’d hurried through the dining room to the kitchen, the other servers had given her furtive looks when their eyes met. As if, each knew a horrible, shameful secret about her. She snorted. They didn’t know the half of it. A man in her room with an open door, alone, was the least of her secrets. She glanced at first Dean, then Stew as they mashed sausage patties before breaking eggs for an order. She trusted the cooks here and Mr. Bromley more than anyone else at the hotel, but even they didn’t know about her past.

Having just enough of a break in the cascade of dirty dishes arriving, Matilda took the chance to refill her wash water. She hurried to the side of the hotel before throwing out the dirty suds.

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