In the middle of the conversation, someone rang the doorbell.
Marion had not been expecting a delivery, nor any visitors. The children were home, and that alone made her cautious. She placed the dress she had been folding onto the basket and stepped out of the laundry room, only for Melisha to dart ahead on her tiny feet and reach the door first.
By the time Marion arrived, the girl had already pulled it open.
Cixi had followed Marion out and stopped just behind her.
A massive man dressed in a pitch-black suit stood squarely on the welcome mat. His dark eyes scanned past Melisha, landing squarely on Marion.
Marion stepped up and gripped the heavy edge of the wooden door, pulling the young girl behind her legs to establish a protective barrier, and frowned at the stranger. "Yes?"
"This is for your family, madam." The man extended a paper bag, and the warm scent of pastries drifted out at once.
