After a while.
Once she had calmed down a little, Mara dialed Ethan’s number. He picked up almost immediately, his voice warm and gentle, “Mara, what’s wrong?”
“Ethan, can you come over today?” Mara’s voice trembled with a hint of tears. “That Cassandra is here again. I have no idea what she’s up to. And she even…”
“What did she do to you?” Ethan’s tone sharpened with concern.
“She… she called me a… a bastard,” Mara sobbed softly, her voice filled with misery. “And now she’s staying for lunch.”
Ethan muttered a curse under his breath, then quickly shifted his tone to something comforting. “Babe, I’ve got something on right now, but I’ll get there as soon as I can. Don’t cry, okay?”
After hanging up, Mara stared at her phone, her fingers clenched tightly around it, her e
