“Ah, Fran.” He whispered my name with satisfaction, like he’d been waiting a long time to use it. “The car spun around twice and I think it scrambled my brains momentarily, like a teacup ride. But now I got to hallucinate you calling me baby before we start talking about the weather and I get closure.” He smiled blearily. “So I think that’s worth it.”
He was making no sense whatsoever. What were the signs of a concussion? I tried to recall every first aid course I’d ever taken.
Meanwhile, Mark had closed his eyes like it was nap time.
“Mark.” I bit off my other glove and slid a palm along his cheek. His eyes fluttered open.
“You,” he said solemnly. “Are my gravity. So, I had to see you, Fran. And Hen told me to be positive, so I had to bring you cupcakes. Just toknow.”
Shit. Still with the cupcakes? This was more serious than I’d thought.
I’d lost a lot over the years through bad luck and bad decisions. My parents. My grandpa. The rest of my family, too. So many people that I sometimes felt cursed.
So many people that it sometimes felt easier to just stay alone than to lose anyone else.
I’d thought I’d lost Mark forever also, until somehow, fuckingsomehow, he’d found his way up my mountain.
I’d be damned if I lost him again.
“Come on, Mark, let’s get you inside the cabin.”
“Shhh. Sleep first,” Mark said severely.
“Nope. No sleep.” I tapped his face. “Come on. We’ve got to get you in the house and warmed up.”
He heaved a sigh like I was wildly annoying. “Fine. I’ll drive.”
“Uh.” I looked back at the car. “That’s not gonna be happening. You crashed your car.”
His eyes popped open and met mine, then looked around the driveway, this time with some awareness. “Well, shit. Rae will have something to say about this. Always giving me crap about my driving.”
Ray? I wondered with no small amount of jealousy who the hell that was. I mean, when I stopped to think about it, it was probablyprobablethat Mark had moved on… right?
I refused to think about that. Mark was on my mountain. He was mine for the moment, and I could bask in his light.
I helped Mark to his feet—no easy task since his sneakers had about as much traction as ice skates—and wrapped his arm over my shoulder so I could support almost all his weight. Then we started up the almost quarter-mile of rutted driveway between us and the cabin.
“Hey,” he squawked. “I can make it myself.”
“Sure. But you don’t have to. Now let’s get you in the house and warmed up. Then I’ll come back and lock up your car and—”
“But the cupcakes! They’ll freeze.”
“Mark, baby, there are no cupcakes.” Fuck. Was he hallucinating? This could not be good.
“The cupcakes are in the car. Or they were. Passenger’s seat. I… I made them for you.”
I stared down at him. Heseemedlucid, and yet…
“You made cupcakes? Forme?”
Mark cleared his throat and trained his gaze over my shoulder. “Blueberry pancake cupcakes,” he whispered. “With maple cream cheese frosting.”
My breath caught.Blueberry pancakecupcakes.
He’d remembered that? The icy coating around my heart cracked just a tiny bit.
I walked him over to the car and propped him against the front quarter panel. I took the keys from the ignition, grabbed his phone from the cupholder and tucked it in my pocket, then rescued a bakery box from the passenger’s seat and locked everything up.
