A moment later, the woman walked back into the room, carrying a tray. "Crackers? I'm sorry I couldn't give you something more. This was all I could get on such short notice."
"It's okay," Julie said. She was about to grab the food off the tray, but Kevin stopped her.
"We're not eating any of your food until you tell us how far the next town is," he said.
Julie gave him an irritated look, as if she were saying "Why are you being so rude?"
"Hmph," the woman uttered. Then she sighed. "I thought you'd want to stay a bit, especially after all that walking."
"How did you know that ..." Kevin began.
"It doesn't take a genius. You were wearing hiking gear," she said, gesturing to their packs, which were now lying on the floor near the sofa they were sitting on. "I thought you'd want to rest a bit." She paused. "And to answer your question, the next town is only a one-hour walk from here."
Kevin settled down a bit. But he still felt like this woman was hiding something from them, some sort of hidden agenda.
"Cracker?" she asked Julie.
"Thanks," his girlfriend said, taking it from the tray.
