7
Gunnar walked to the hangar the team used to organize their supplies. Julie had excused herself over an hour ago, stating that she had work to do. He didn’t doubt it. Preparing for an expedition like theirs took paying attention to every little detail. He also didn’t doubt that her escape from the office had just as much to do with him as the work she had.
Maybe more.
He sighed and peeked through the tall, skinny window in the door. He hadn’t missed the way she didn’t look at him once after the initial shock. Her soft, distracted answers had screamed her wheels were turning, probably figuring out a way to get him kicked off the expedition.
She bent over a pallet of dog food, counting the bags, then checking her clipboard. Maybe he should do her a favor and stay behind? Surely there was someone else qualified to go.
He shoved his hands in his pockets as his eyes tracked her to a pile of rope on a table. Her light brown braid fell over her shoulder as she picked up the tangled mess. The look on her face was one he’d seen many times in their relationship. It was the look she’d get when the dogs took off after a rabbit or tangled themselves on the line in their excitement to run. She also had given it when he had distracted her from a job.
In the past, he’d been able to smooth the frustrated expression with a soft touch or a well-placed kiss. That definitely wouldn’t work now. Trying that would probably get him a fist to the face, though knowing Julie, she wouldn’t do that even if he deserved it.
He closed his eyes with a sigh. There was no way he could pull out of the expedition. Mason had brought Gunnar onto the team because of his history as a PJ. No one could look at a situation and find a solution like he could. No one could keep Julie and the rest of them safe like him.
He opened his eyes, his attention instantly on her. Whether she liked it or not, he couldn’t leave their safety to someone else. He’d go crazy with worry if he did.
“Well, here we go.” He yanked the door open and strode through. Nothing like spending time with the love of his life who hated his guts to put some pep in his step. “How can I help?”
Julie flinched, dropping the rope, her hands shaking as she turned to him. Her pale skin and hunched shoulders made him feel like the biggest jerk in Alaska. Heck, the world.
She whipped her head back to the rope. “I’ve got things under control. Thanks, though.”
“I don’t mind. Nothing else to do.” Gunnar surveyed the orderly stacks of supplies and gear.
“Really, I—”
The main door to outside swung open, blasting the hangar with frigid air. It was the perfect distraction from the chilly conversation.
“Phew, it’s cold. You sure you want to trek across the frozen ocean in this? Sane people stay inside where their boogers don’t freeze instantly in their nose.” Saylor Reed, Julie’s cousin, hadn’t changed a bit since he’d last seen her in high school. She stomped the snow off her feet and shook out her coat. “Seriously, it’s like two-second snot freeze right now.”
When she finally lifted her head, she froze, her eyes narrowing to slits. “You.”
“Hey.” Gunnar nodded at her, not knowing what to say.
“What are you doing here?” A brilliant shade of red bloomed up her neck. “Did you follow Julie?”
Gunnar didn’t know what to say to that accusation. The silent pause hung like the fog on the mountains in the morning, cold and slicking the skin.
“Gunnar and his sister Sunny are replacing the Reeves on the expedition,” Julie answered for him, her voice thick with resignation.
“No.” Saylor shook her head. “Sunny is amazing, but this waste of air?” Saylor waved her hand at Gunnar.
“Saylor,” Julie cautioned.
“You can’t count on him.” Saylor threw her arms out wide as the door behind him opened and Sunny’s perfume filtered through the hangar smells to Gunnar.
Julie slammed the tangled rope on the table, making Gunnar and Saylor flinch. “Gunnar, you can help by unknotting this rope. I need to check on something.” Her voice trembled at the end of her sentence, and she rushed to the door leading to the offices. “Come with me,” she whispered to her cousin as she walked past.
Without waiting, Julie pushed past Gunnar and Sunny and disappeared down the hall. Gunnar stared after Julie, ignoring the heat of Saylor’s presence as she stepped into his bubble. She poked him hard in the chest.
“Don’t even think about it. After what you did to her, you don’t even deserve to look at her.” Her cheeks clenched, and tears of anger brightened her eyes. “Supposedly, you’re all about honor and loyalty, more like selfish ambition, if you ask me. When she needed you, really needed you, you couldn’t be bothered.” Her voice cracked, sending a snake slithering down Gunnar’s spine that left him feeling gritty. “You can’t be trusted, not when it really counts, and I will not sit by and let you abandon her again.”
She pushed past Gunnar, her words more than her force making him stumble a step back. Sunny’s mouth flapped, and she reached for Saylor as she stormed by. The snake that had slithered down his spine, coiled in his gut.
His sister turned wide eyes to him. “What was that about?”
Gunnar swallowed the lump in his throat and shook his head.
Two letters stashed in his pack would probably enlighten him. Closing his eyes, he dropped his head as the snake rolled a nauseating flip and tried to slither up his throat. He just wasn’t sure he was brave enough to open them.