Malia dried the tears from her eyes with Meemaw’s handkerchief, then folded the cloth and put it back into her pocket. Crying had done her good; her sadness flowed away with her tears, like baggage lost in a flood.

Malia rose from her dark place in the hall, feeling cleansed. Now, her hardened heart could handle seeing Charles and Chloe together. She would return to the party and do her job.

But Malia could not find her way back. In her prior haste, she had paid ...