When she was on her last call with Ted, an elderly man came in, nearly sneaking and hunched over, his glances at her verging on staring.

“Can you hang on a sec, Ted?” she asked.

“Sure.”

“Can I help you with something?” Ryann asked the man in the room.

He froze, clearly startled, expression nearly panicked. “Uh, no! I just, uh…” He raised his hands in defeat. “All right. I don’t have an excuse. I heard there was a real looker in here, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”

Ryann laughed. “And?”

He smiled back. “Now I understand.”

She laughed again and held up a finger to the man before speaking in the phone again. “Hey, Ted? I’m going to have to call you back later tonight.”

“That’s fine,” he said. “We’re basically in a holding pattern until we know what’s going on in London. I’ll forward you the details about your Skype meetings tonight. Do you want to check in beforehand?” She was talking with the CEOs of Sydney and Tokyo starting at midnight.

“Let’s play it by ear, if that’s okay. I’ll text you.”

They hung up, and she gathered her things, the elderly man she’d been talking to still watching her every move.

“Shall we?” she asked, indicating the main room.

The man held out an elbow, and she let him lead her back into the chaos. If anything, things seemed even busier than before, with more volunteers at the tables and more overall activity as Doris and a few others bustled around helping people. The radio was still blaring (Rosemary Clooney now), and many people were shouting to project over the din of the music and the other people yelling at each other.

She spotted Maddie right away, there in the center of the room, laughing in the middle of a group of older women.

“You’ve got a real keeper there,” the man said, lifting his chin in Maddie’s direction.

“What do you mean?”

“She’s a real peach. Probably one of the nicest people I’ve ever known.”

She opened her mouth to explain their connection, but Maddie, spotting them, waved her over.

“Thanks for the escort,” she said.

He tipped an invisible hat. “Any time.”

She maneuvered her way across the room, dodging around the various people moving from station to station, as well as boxes of materials and letters stacked all over the room. Maddie indicated a spot on her left that was open.

“Have a seat,” Maddie said.

It was hard to climb into the picnic-style seat gracefully. She had to basically step into it, and the fit was a little tight, her legs and elbows once again flush with Maddie’s.

“I have a few letters left,” Maddie said, pointing at a small pile, “and then we can leave. Do you want to do one?”