Page 29

There was a pregnant pause and then Brooke gave Mabel an awkward smile.

Mabel tried to return it but her mouth wouldn’t cooperate.

She felt exposed, vulnerable and more than a little apprehensive about what was to come.

So far, this Christmas was not turning out the way she’d anticipated.

8

Izzy

Are you hurt?” Jason’s voice was a rasp. “Izzy?”

“What? No. I don’t think so.” Was she? She was so jolted and shocked by the impact that she wasn’t sure. Apart from a few bruises where the seat belt had locked and dug into her ribs, she thought she was mostly okay. But when she tried to start the car, nothing happened. Honestly, could life get any worse?

She forced herself to breathe. Don’t be a drama queen, Izzy. Of course it could get worse. They could be dead, for a start.

A car was an object, she reminded herself. It had no emotional value. It could be replaced. At least, that was the theory. In practice, it wasn’t that simple. Particularly when the car in question belonged to someone else.

“I’m very sorry about your car. I’ll pay for any damage.” With what, Izzy? Most months she struggled to pay her rent.

“Forget it. If we live, the insurance company will pay for the damage. That’s the least of our problems.”

He was right, of course.

They were in the middle of nowhere and they needed to find shelter.

“I don’t even know what I crashed into. The wheels spun out and then wham.” She peered through the snow but couldn’t see anything. “Where are we? What did I hit?”

“Maybe it was a giant snowman. You were just saying it’s the perfect weather for it. Maybe someone else agreed with you and built it right there, on the road, so there was no chance you’d miss it.”

“You’re choosing this moment to make a joke?”

“Why not?” He turned to look at her and there was a gleam in his eyes. “If ever a moment needed to be lightened, it’s this one.”

Was there something wrong with her? She was sitting here with aching ribs having narrowly avoided death, and she was thinking how sexy it was that Jason was calm and had retained his sense of humour despite their situation?

Darren had been pathetic in a crisis, which was a shame because with him, most things qualified. Running out of milk. Opening a bill he hadn’t been expecting. Losing a button from his shirt.

She couldn’t imagine him reacting to the current situation with laughter. He’d be ranting and raving and it would have been her job to calm him down.

Jason undid his seat belt and zipped up his coat.

“I’m going to take a look at the front of the car. See if I can figure out what we hit.”

“You mean what I hit.”

“If I’d been in the driver’s seat, I would have been the one who hit it. I’m going to see how much trouble we’re in.” He opened the door and grimaced as it immediately blew back at him. “The wind is horrendous. I’ll be back in a minute. Stay there.”

Where was she going to go?

All around her was swirling white. The snow was unrelenting. She caught a blurry glimpse of Jason’s coat through the falling flakes. He was doing something at the front of the car.

Moments later he was back inside, bringing with him a flurry of snowflakes and bitterly cold air.

Izzy shivered. She was dressed to impress a client and deal with the practicalities of her job, not to trudge through thigh-deep snow. She was going to freeze to death. And to think she’d joked about them getting naked together and sharing bodily warmth. If they did that, all that would happen is that they’d be found dead—naked.

And that would be embarrassing. But also not the worst way to go.