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Amid the general laughter of the others, I kissed Madeleine on the forehead and rushed off. I quickly informed Adriel and the hotel.

Now that I knew Shane was okay, my nerves were on edge. As if possessed, I rushed to the warehouse and gathered all the ingredients I needed for a five-course meal.

In the staff kitchen, I chopped, sizzled, flambéed, cooked, and baked like a person possessed. I couldn’t bear the wait any longer. Every few minutes, I glanced at the clock.

Time still passed far too slowly. Again and again, someone would come into the common room and quickly take off when they saw me.

But as I shoved the homemade ice cream back into the freezer, the door behind me opened again and a cold breeze came into the kitchen. I turned around abruptly.

Shane came through the door with red cheeks, small eyes, and hair sticking to his head. When our eyes met, I rushed toward him and he held me tightly in his arms.

He buried his nose in my neck.

“God, that’s good.”

Startled, I tried to pull away from him. “Heaven, I haven’t showered yet today. I’m sure I smell like a skunk.”

“No,” Shane lamented. “You smell the best. Of all things and people in the whole world.”

I let myself sink back into his embrace and laughed. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head after all?”

“Hmm . . . ” Shane kissed my neck, which was covered in sweat and remnants of cooking.

I pulled him closer to me. “I was so terribly worried!”

“I’m sorry,” Shane murmured without lifting his head. “We had no cell service. And we were stuck on that road for hours. If I had known we were going to end up there, I would’ve let you know beforehand, but it came as a complete surprise. Otherwise, the road would have been closed too.” He sighed. “A complete mess.” Shane shuddered slightly and finally glanced at me. “It was horrific on that road. We kept checking the slope ahead of us, hoping that nothing else would come down where we were.”

I frantically reached out to him and kissed him on the lips. “What a nightmare,” I mumbled in response.

Shane ran his fingers through my unwashed hair and I grimaced. But he smiled.

“It’s good to see you.” He scanned the kitchen. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

Caught out, my gaze fell on the remains of my actions. “Um. I might have gone a bit overboard.”

Shane took my hand and urged me to the table. “Meaning?”

I shook my head. “You might have to eat a five-star meal now.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. The granola bars the rescue workers handed out were okay, but not a culinary highlight.”

I pushed him into a chair and started serving the food.

“I’ll help you.” Shane stood and put a hand on the back of my neck.

I paused and enjoyed the touch. Shane’s fingers pressed into my tense muscles and I sighed.

“Not knowing what was going on was driving me nuts,” I murmured.

“I’m sorry.” Shane kissed the back of my head.

“No!” I turned around. “I don’t blame you. My relief is almost unreal. I was shocked at how fragile everything is. One moment you’re here. The next, no one knows if you’re buried under rocks. Because the snow was too wet and heavy, and you’re driving right down that road.” I shook my head. “Come on. Eat.”

We quickly put everything on the table and Shane popped a piece of potato into his mouth with his fingers. “The worst part was putting up with Dave’s babbling.”

A stifled chuckle escaped me. “Oh yeah?”

Shane stretched out his arm and put his hand on mine. “He told me how you two know each other, and I felt horrified that we couldn’t talk about it. The idea of what you thought when you saw us driving away has been on my mind a lot the last few days.”