Chapter FiveMAGGIE PAUSED ON THE SHORT STONE STEPS outside of Bella Bella, next to the gnarled hickory tree where the squirrels liked to chase each other. She had made a point of being early for her morning pickup to the embassy, but she had overdone it by about twenty minutes.
Well, just enough time to get a cup of tea from next door while she waited. Maybe it would calm her nerves.
She smoothed her full skirt. She often wore one of her own dress designs, but today she had chosen a definitely more professional belted black shirtwaist dress she had found in the little-used part of her closet, a holdover from the series of other failed jobs she'd taken in DC. A balance between elegant yet feminine, she thought, pleased with herself.
She heard some familiar chattering and reached in her p
