I walked up the porch, my hand feeling empty. It had gotten used to holding my suitcase the entire trip, but now she insisted that she carry it in for me.
"I'm sorry that Patrick isn't here to greet you." she spoke to me while carrying my small suitcase in for me. "He was waiting around trying to catch you but then his boss called him."
"No worries."
"And that's not to say that... you're late or anything. I'm just saying that he really wanted to see you when you arrived." she spoke erratically. It made time feel like it was passing slow. But strangely she didn't seem anywhere near out of breath.
I told her everything was fine to reassure her that I didn't mind that Patrick wasn't around. "It was a long trip so I'll probably just crash for awhile. No worries that Patrick's not around. He'd probably want to go to the bar right away or something."
This put her at ease. Allowed her to laugh. "Come this way"
She showed me to the guest room. "So this is where you'll be staying," and then she pointed over to the side "there's the bathroom, just let us know if you're needing more towels or anything else."
She thought about going on a bit more before a flash happened in her face. "But you're probably very tired after your long trip, so why don't you just get settled in. I can make you a cup of
tea
, if you'd like?"