her fingers.
Ruh, ruh. Ruh, ruh .
He slapped the palm of his gloved hand against the wheel, then tried one last time. Ruh, ruh, rrrruh . . .”
Eden dared exhale when the engine finally caught, then settled into a comforting chug.
“ Yes . . .” Jasper grinned over his shoulder, turned on the heater, then directed all vents in her direction. “You’re amazing.” He blew her a kiss. “I never would have thought to check the carb, but sure enough, whether it was caused by the blowing snow or the impact when I hit the rocks, there was a ring of ice. Once I got it cleared—voila.”
“Glad I could finally help.” She was beginning to feel her assigned tasks were busy work. After climbing over the gear, she handed him his reward. “Drink up. You’re probably freezing.”
He drank, then closed his eyes and groaned. “You’re an angel. Thanks.” He took a few more sips. “How are we on food?”
“I didn’t do the actual math, but there’s plenty. If our gas holds out, more than enough to get us to McMurdo. But then you probably already knew that.”
“Maybe.” He winked. “I had to do something to get your mind off of the very real possibility of freezing to death.”
The heater had kicked into high gear. She could have purred in relief.
“Let’s get the stove and any loose supplies secured, then head out.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” She gave him a saucy salute.
Before coaxing the massive machine down from its awkward angle, he grinned and shook his head. “I always loved that about you.”
“What?”
“How you make bad situations good. Remember that time we spent an hour shopping for our Cinco de Mayo feast, only to get to the checkout to discover—”
“Neither of us had our wallets.” She’d finished his sentence. Of course she remembered. Every moment they’d ever shared. Good or bad, she cherished all of their time together.
“After getting back to your place, didn’t we order Chinese?”
“Yeah, and you dropped sweet and sour sauce all over the carpet. There’s still a stain.”
“Sorry.” With the cat on flat ground and chugging toward safety, he leaned close enough to kiss her cheek. “Once we get out of this mess, I’ll replace it.”
“Thanks, but not necessary.” She cast him a sad, slow-fading smile.
“Why’d you do it, babe?”
She hung her head.
“Don’t play dumb. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Sure, I had my own issues and shouldn’t have taken things much further, but I was working through them. Given time, they might have been resolved. But when you cut me off cold . . .” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “That hurt. Why’d you break up with me? Did I do something to offend you? Were you that pissed about the carpet?”
“No. Please just know it wouldn’t have worked between us. You would have only ended up getting hurt, so I had to let you go.”
“That’s such BS.” He glanced in her direction. “We’ve got hours to hash this out, so let’s get on with it. Why, when we were beyond perfect together, did you suddenly dump me?”
6
“BECAUSE I’M SICK, okay?”
“What do you mean? Like bad sick?” Jasper’s stomach tightened—not the way it did when dodging bullets, but on a deeper, more profound level. Like the kind he’d experienced after what happened to Kyle’s wife. He’d expected Eden to say he was too messy or worked too much or cussed too much or did any of the annoying things he no doubt did on a daily basis. He’d even steeled himself for the possibility that she’d found another man. Never had he seen anything like this coming.
The cab had grown warm enough for Eden to remove her gloves.
Jasper watched while she primly set them on her lap, then covered her face with her hands.
“Answer me.” Too hot, he unzipped his coat, and shrugged free of it before pitching it over the bench seat. “I have a right to know.”
“Okay . . .” Silvery tears trailed down her cheeks, glinting in