William stood, the chair almost fell behind him when he turned to the door.

“Should I come—“ Doris moved for her coat.

“No, stay here. I want to talk to the spice guy and work out a deal.” He closed the door before she could ask what he meant. What kind of deal would he mean?

Again, Melody and her poisoning had slipped from her mind. She had to ask him about it before they left but whenever she was around him—Melody was the furthest thing from her mind. As horrible as that sounded.

She ate her food alone and laid on the bed to read when her thoughts tried...