Page 116 of Breathe Again

“Hang on, Mara,” Bex murmured.

After a minute, the water from the melting ice cubes dripped through their fingers onto the floor, and Mara’s entire body relaxed.

Rhys slowly released her hair, and Mara bent her head to touch foreheads with Bex. She let out a breath and began to breathe deeply and evenly, interspersed with pitiful sobs, her body bucking with each one.

A violent tremor ripped through Zale’s body and startled Willa so much so that she jerked away from him. He couldn’t take his eyes off the sight of Mara in Rhys’ arms. Rhys met his gaze once again, and nodded to him to take Mara, a mix of sorrow and understanding in his eyes. Zale gulped in a breath of air, turned his face away from the sight, stalked into the kitchen and put his fist through the wall.

Ghost in the Wind

Zale

The house phone rang. He answered.

“Hello, Zale? It’s Bea. Is Mara there?”

“No, she is not.” He bit out each word, slowly and succinctly.

“You sound upset. Did Mara tell you we had words? We had a small misunderstanding. You know how emotional she gets, so passionate. Such a big heart. She wanted to drive me, and it triggered her anxiety.”

In the back of his mind, he acknowledged that he did not in fact know what had happened between Mara and hermother, it didn’t matter, she needed space from this woman’s manipulations, and he would ensure she got it.

“Mara’s not here, Bea. Mara’s in the hospital having a nervous breakdown. She will not be calling you back.”

He slammed the house phone down. Lifted the handset up and slammed it down repeatedly until it lay in a useless pile of broken plastic.

There was complete silence for a few moments, broken only by Zale’s heavy breathing.

“Who was that?” Rhys asked casually, drinking his beer at the breakfast bar like he hadn’t just witnessed the annihilation of an innocent telephone.

“My mother-in-law,” Zale muttered drily.

Rhys arrived shortly after Zale returned from the hospital, after his second failed attempt to see Mara. They were having a beer while Olivia was at the shelter with Bex and Willa. They were trying to keep Olivia’s schedule as close to normal as possible, but she needed the distraction from her mother’s sudden absence, which warranted the extra visit to the animal shelter. The animals helped enormously with comfort and distraction.

“Ah, yes… I met her briefly once, which was enough by the way, and I’ve heard about her from Rebecca and Willa. She sounds awful.”

“She is.” He took another pull of his beer.

“How’s Mara?”

“Still on suicide watch. Still won’t see me.” Zale tapped his thumb on the side of his beer bottle in agitation. “I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you want to do?” Rhys asked carefully.

“I love her.”

“What if love isn’t enough?”

“So, what?” Zale’s voice rose and he uncharacteristically voiced his thoughts. “Just fuck her every time she gets wound up? Fuck.” He turned his face away, disgusted with himself for speaking about her that way and revealing too much.

Rhys raised his eyebrows. “Is that a hardship?”

“I don’t like being manipulated.”

“How does she manipulate you?”

“By withdrawing or taking a tantrum if we don’t do it when she wants to.”

“A tantrum,” Rhys repeated, his mouth tightening. “Have you read anything about it yet?”

---