Ellen nodded, then grabbed a couple of tissues and blew her nose. “He took off rather than face the reality of Keith finding out about Luka and Lissa. I’m sure he’s with his friend now. There are going to be words and consequences for sure.”

They sat at the kitchen table. Unity squeezed her hand, then poured them each a glass of wine. “All right. Start at the beginning. You were sitting on the bus, thinking Keith looked really hot and then what?”

Despite everything, Ellen managed a shaky smile. “It wasn’t exactly like that. And you know most of it. But I’ll start at the beginning.”

Over the next half hour and a bottle of wine, Ellen explained about how things had gotten started with Keith and about Coop wanting to spend a couple of weeks with his dad and how she’d stumbled upon Lissa in bed with Luka.

“It all got really messed up then,” she said with a sigh. “I couldn’t tell him what had been happening.”

Unity rolled her eyes. “Of course not. You were on a bus. You had to think about the other kids. Keith would have killed Luka.”

“Or worse. I know I couldn’t say anything, but now he’s furious and I don’t like how that feels.”

“Because you care about him.”

“Yes. He’s my friend.”

Unity raised her eyebrows.

Ellen shook her head. “It’s not more than that, I swear. It can’t be. We’re friends.”

“You said that already.”

“Good friends.”

“Who have a lot of sex.”

“That part’s really nice. He’s so sweet to me. We’ve tried all kinds of things that I never thought of doing. When he touches me...” She reached for her glass of wine. “But what if he stays mad at me forever?”

“When has Keith ever done that?”

“He’s never been mad before, so I don’t know.”

“He hasn’t been mad at you before, but you’ve seen him mad at other people. He blows up and then he gets over it.”

That was true, Ellen told herself. Keith didn’t hold a grudge. She could only hope he didn’t start holding one now.

“So that’s my sad story,” she said with a sigh. “Tell me what’s been going on with you? And don’t take that to mean I want a description about the latest remodel you’re working on. Tell me about Thaddeus.”

Unity surprised her by placing her arms on the table and resting her head on them. “I’m a mess.”

“Possibly.”

Her friend glared at her. “Hey, be supportive.”

“I can’t until I know what’s going on. The last I heard you were pretending you weren’t dating and he’d kissed you. That’s kind of a lot. What’s happened since?”

Unity straightened and finished her wine in a single gulp. “I spent the night with him.”

Ellen felt the world shift as the space-time continuum tore, threatening all life as she knew it.