She knew Mark was ill.
And she’d helped arrange the ceremony.
I had interpreted every clue incorrectly.
I cried until my chest hurt.
Because my husband was sick.
Because he’d kept it secret.
Because he loved me enough to plan a second wedding while he still remembered the first.
And because suddenly, the future we’d always imagined together felt painfully uncertain.
But the worst moment was still ahead.
The Phone Call
About an hour later, my phone rang.
Mark.
He almost never called from a construction site.
The machinery was usually too loud.
I answered immediately.
“Mark?”
Silence.
Then I heard traffic.
Wind.
The rumble of a passing truck.
“Mark? Honey?”
Finally, his voice came through.
Small.
Confused.
“Lee?”
“Yes, sweetheart.
I’m here.”
“Lee… is that you?”
My heart began pounding.
“It’s me. What’s wrong?”
He took an uneven breath.
“I don’t know where I am.”
The coffee cup slipped from my hand.
Coffee spilled across the kitchen table.
I barely noticed.
“What do you mean?”
“I was driving to the Henderson job.”
His voice cracked.
“I kept driving, and then suddenly I didn’t recognize the road.”
I gripped my phone.
“I pulled into a gas station. I think I’ve been sitting here a long time.”
He sounded terrified.
I forced myself to remain calm.
“That’s okay, honey. You’re safe right now. Can you tell me the name of the gas station?”
He looked around.
“Kwik Fill.”
“Good. Anything nearby?”
“A Dairy Queen across the street.”
“Can you see a road sign?”
There was a pause.
Then he whispered,
“Route 9 North.”
I went cold.
Route 9 was the road toward
Loon Lake.
The Henderson construction site was only ten minutes from our house.
In the opposite direction.
“Mark, what time does your truck say?”
“Eight-fifty.”
He’d left home at six-forty.
He’d been driving north for more than two hours.
Toward the lake.
Toward the place where he’d proposed.
Toward the place he was planning to marry me again.
“Mark, listen carefully. Don’t drive anywhere else. Stay parked. Lock the doors. I’m coming to get you.”
He began crying.
“Lee, I’m scared.”
My heart broke.
“I know, sweetheart. I know. But I’m coming.”
He took a shaky breath.
“Please don’t hang up.”
“I won’t. Just stay on the phone with me.”
I grabbed my keys and purse.
