talking about the family holiday brunch she had organized. She assumed I was still at my base in Virginia and had no idea I was standing inside a hotel room only ten miles away.
“Mom,” I interrupted. “I’m in town. And I just came from Jessi’s house.”
The silence was immediate.
“Ivan…” Her cheerful voice disappeared. “You shouldn’t be bothering that girl. The past is over.”
“I met Leo.”
There was a long pause.
Then Wendy sighed sharply.
“She trapped you, Ivan. I knew once you deployed that she would
