I’ve barely slept since that hurried call.
I close my eyes at the sound of a key in the door, and as the door clicks open and Mark walks in, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Cassie? What are you doing up?”
I hold my palms to face the ceiling. “Oh, I don’t know. I get this random phone call to tell me that you’re coming home early and nothing since. What could possibly be causing me enough worry to stop me sleeping?”
He drops his bag where he’s standing and makes his way to the couch, taking a seat beside me.
“I’m sorry.”
“So, what is it?”
His brows pull together. “Can we just go to bed and talk in the morning? I feel like I’ve been flying forever.”
“Please, Mark. Tell me what’s going on.”
He presses his forehead to mine. “Right now, all I want is a shower and to wrap myself around you. Can you give me that?”
Tears prick my eyes, but he’s here and he’s in one piece that I can see. Just that will help me sleep. “Fine.”
I make my way to the bedroom and lie down in our bed.
After a quick shower, Mark strips and climbs in behind me.
He slips his arm over me and pulls me tight against him.
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Cassie Warren. You and our girl. I’m so glad to be home with you.”
I’m not sure if I should be happy he feels that way orworried that he’s leading to bad news. Either way, he’s clearly not going to open up.
I close my eyes, unsure if tonight will be any different to those while he’s been away, but it doesn’t take long when the warmth and comfort he brings help me sleep.
I’m out like a light.
It’safter breakfast that he opens up.
Sophie’s in her room watching a movie, and he waits until she’s gone for a while before he walks into the kitchen and nuzzles my neck.
“We need to talk,” he says softly.
A pit forms in the base of my stomach, but I nod and follow him into the living room where he pulls me down beside him on the couch.
“What’s going on? You’re really scaring me.”
“I know. And I don’t know how to tell you this.”
I give him a short sharp nod.
“I … well … the past month, I’ve not felt right. So, I saw a doctor.”
Oh God.
“I … I thought it was just the change in climate, but then I realised it’s been going on a while. I just put it down to being tired after a long day and getting older. Didn’t realise I’d lost weight either—you know I don’t keep regular track. But it was down on my last doctor visit.”
My throat tightens. “What is it?”
He pauses. The devastation on his face tells me it’ssomething serious without him uttering a word. “I was diagnosed with melanoma. And it’s metastasised.”
