14
Quinn followed Sister Maryam to a long room off the kitchen, with a dozen tall, narrow windows looking out over the fields. A number of the elderly women and two of the men were already seated at a table carved directly from the stone. Leila was also there, and she looked up when he came in. Her beauty was like a lantern; like the first star of evening.
He took his place across from her, and Sister Maryam sat beside him. Two women brought the food: bowls of white beans in a tomato sauce and a salad of roasted eggplant, goat cheese, sliced cucumbers, and arugula dressed with lemon and garlic. They ate from the communal bowls, tearing off chunks of the tough, deliciously sour bread and dipping it into the stew. The food was simple and hearty, accompanied by nothing except water, and tho
