31
Dinner with the Millers was great. Ryan’s mom was a good cook, and the spaghetti was tasty. It wasn’t fancy – she just simmered some hamburger meat in spices, then added some spaghetti sauce in a jar – but it was still a nice break from dining hall food.
Before dinner, Shanna disappeared with Ryan upstairs for a few minutes. As the seconds ticked by, Mrs. Miller started looking more and more agitated – and then Shanna came back down wearing one of Ryan’s oversized rock t-shirts over her halter top.
Mrs. Miller relaxed noticeably.
All through dinner, Ryan’s sisters chattered incessantly to Derek, telling him everything they were learning in school. He acted very interested, and admonished them to study hard and get straight A’s – which made Mrs. Miller smile.
And Mr. Miller wasn’t a pervy old man at all. He was actually a very nice, very handsome guy in his 40’s with salt and pepper hair and a loud laugh.
After we were through, the siblings argued about who was supposed to do the dishes.
“Mom, I have friends over,” Ryan whispered.
“Girls, you do the dishes tonight,” Mrs. Miller commanded. “Let Ryan say goodbye to his friends.”
“Mooooom!” they ranted, but then Derek kissed them goodbye on the tops of their heads and they practically floated off to the kitchen.
“Thank you for having us for dinner, especially on such short notice,” I said to Mrs. Miller.
“You’re welcome, dear. Come back any time.”
“Yeah, thanks… it was great,” Shanna said.
Mrs. Miller smiled tightly. “Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
I noticed she didn’t say ‘come back any time’ to Shanna.