“I’ve been thinking about it since my diagnosis—who can be there for Cassie afterward? You’d already crossed my mind. I knew where you worked.”
I frown. “Is that why you’re here?”
“No. When I asked for a second opinion, my doctor referred me. Coming across you today was the icing on the cake.”
Now I’m really confused. “What do you mean?”
“It saved me time hunting you down.” He studies me closely, his dark gaze seeing right through me. “You and Cassie were always meant to be together—I’m sure of that. But maybe the time wasn’t right, or things just didn’t work out.”
I close my eyes. “Mark, I’m not sure where you’re going with this.”
“I’ve loved that woman the past eight years, and I know she loves me. But there’s a big part of her still tied up in you,and once you work that out, maybe you can move forward together.”
I’m still puzzled by what he’s asking, but I’m not about to pass up the chance to find out what happened all those years ago.
And today has just taught me that I never got over Cassie.
The moment I saw her, my heart kicked into overdrive. She’s as beautiful as she ever was, and it broke me to see her so down.
I have so many questions about the past, and this is my chance to get answers.
22
CASSIE
After our trip to Auckland, Mark’s health starts to obviously decline.
He stops working altogether—and I’m thankful again that I don’t have rent or a mortgage to pay thanks to Gran.
He’s tired.
It’s so hard to see a man who was so full of energy when we met struggle to get through the day when he’s not been doing much.
He still helps around the house—mows the lawn and takes out the rubbish—but the essence that made him Mark is rapidly disappearing and it hurts.
To make matters worse, Ian is on the scene.
They tend to drift apart and come back together—it’s like a long running train wreck. Ian’s toxic, and Mark keeps him at arm’s length most of the time.
But as the fight goes out of him, he seems to want the people closest to him nearby, and I don’t like it.
I’ve made that clear, but Mark’s so focused on just getting through the day. So I do my best to stay out of the way.
When there’s a knock on the door one Friday afternoon, I roll my eyes, take a deep breath, and open it.
It’s not Ian.
I swallow hard.
Patrick’s blue-eyed gaze drinks me in. Sophie inherited that intensity—the kind that makes you want to spill all your secrets.
“Patrick? What are you doing here?”
He shoots a glance over my shoulder at Mark, and my heart sinks.
“Mark invited me for the weekend. I’ve changed my schedule so I can spend time with him.”
I raise my eyebrows and shift my gaze to Mark. “Mark?”
