If I needed a friendly shrink house call right now, would you be up for that?
He couldn’t ask any more directly. He couldn’t express what he was feeling, but he knew better than to try being alone. She’d at least call if she couldn’t come by.
A text came through. Scale of one to ten, how bad is it?
Without hesitation, he replied, 8 right now, not getting better.
Give me twenty. Make yourself a warm drink and sit down.
The relief he felt was instant and wrapped around him like a blanket.
He took in a deep breath and composed a message to Francis. Evy is coming over. Don’t worry about me.
He knew better than to think Francis would be able to concentrate on himself. He’d think about Mark when it wasn’t his fault things had gone wrong.
Mark got up and off the couch and went to make himself a mug of tea. Then he made sure there was enough water in the electric kettle for Evy, and left the green tea bags on the counter.