“He… stayed.” Fresh tears slipped down her cheeks. “He juststayed. He didn’t argue. Didn’t try to fix it. He held my hair while I puked in a parking lot.”
Mark was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice had dropped into a softness she only heard once or twice a year.
“Heth… listen to me. You were drowning. And sometimes drowning people hit the only hand reaching for them. It doesn’t make you cruel.”
A small pause.
“It makes you human.”
Heather blinked hard, her breath shaking.
Mark exhaled softly, then—because he knew her—lightened the moment by a single shade, just enough to keep her from collapsing. “Plus, let’s be honest… You pushing a man away just makes him more obsessed with you. You’re powerful like that.”
A weak laugh sputtered out. “Shut up.”
“Absolutely not.” A beat. “But seriously, has he called? Checked in?”
Heather wiped her eyes on the sleeve of the sweatshirt she’d been wearing for three days. “He left space. But he’s been texting. Bringing groceries to the door. Starting the fire downstairs so the house wouldn’t be cold if I came out. Little things.”
Mark’s voice warmed. “Sounds like someone who loves you.”
Heather froze.
Her heart jumped so hard she felt it in her teeth.
“…He told me that,” she whispered.
“Told you what?”
“Flynn,” she breathed. “He told me he loves me.”
Silence.
Then—
A scream so loud she had to pull the phone away from her ear.
“HEATHER MACKENZIE CAMPBELL—YOU MINX! I KNEW IT! I KNEW THE CONTRACTOR WASN’T JUST FIXING YOUR ROOF, HE WAS FIXING YOUR FREAKING HEART!”
Heather buried her face in her hands, laughing through her tears. “MARK.”
“NO. LET ME HAVE THIS. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS LIKE IT’S THE NEXT OUTLANDER SEASON.”
Heather groaned. “Please stop.”
“Never! I need details. Did he say it with his whole chest? Was his shirt off? Did his accent get thicker? I bet it got thicker.”
She laughed helplessly. “You’re something else.”
“And yet? You love me.”
“Unfortunately.”
Mark sucked in a breath. Then, gently—quietly—
“Do you love him?”
Heather stared at the ceiling, tears slipping sideways into her hair.
