Chapter 22

“I’m back,” Paul called out.

Mark heaved a deep sigh of relief, jumping to his feet so quickly he felt his healing wound protest. “I’ll be right down,” he said in return. Going to the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face to finish waking up, took a deep calming breath, and went to join Paul in the kitchen.

Paul was emptying the shopping bags, putting most of the contents into the refrigerator. Mark began to help, chuckling when he found two large containers of mocha ice cream.

“Got a thing for this?” he asked, waving one before putting them both in the freezer.

“Yeah, from my misbegotten youth spent in the local ice cream shop. Oh, I got the newspaper, too.”