Three Weeks Prior
I set the kitchen timer for ten minutes as a reminder to check the bread before I ran off to find out who had the nerve to ring my bell so close to dinnertime. At the last second, I remembered I was still wearing my apron, and pulled it off to toss in the general direction of one of the parlor chairs. I tucked a piece of stray hair behind my ear and took a deep breath before twisting the doorknob to reveal my visitor.
“Hello, Mistress, I am Maimoona,” she said. “I have traveled a long way to—”
I glared at the girl on my doorstep. Even her angelic olive-toned face, with its adorable almond-shaped eyes, was not enough to keep me from being short with her.
“Listen, sister,” I said. “Let me stop you right there. I don’t want any magazine subscriptions, and I’m not in the
