“Of course I was listening. I always listen. When do you want to leave?”
“A week ago. Now. I can be ready in ten minutes.”
She sprang up. Though Jacob winced when his city collapsed, he rose with her. “What about the snow?”
“It hasn’t snowed for three days. Besides, we have four-wheel drive. If we can get to Route 5, we’re home free.”
The thought of getting out nearly made him forget his priorities. “And if Cal comes back?”
She was all but dancing with impatience. “They’re not due back for a couple of weeks. Anyway, they live here.” Carelessly she stepped on his demolished city. “J.T., think carefully. Do you really want to see a grown woman turn into a raving lunatic?”
“Maybe.” Taking her by the hips, he pulled her intimately close. “I like it when you rave.”
“Then prepare to enjoy yourself.”
“I am.” He dragged her to the floor.
She argued—briefly. “I’m going,” she said, undoing the buttons of her flannel shirt.
“Okay.”
“I mean it.”
“Right.” He tugged the plain white undershirt over her head.
She struggled but couldn’t prevent her lips from curving. Giving up, she helped him off with his sweater. “And so are you.”
“As soon as you’re finished raving,” he promised, then closed his mouth over hers.
***
Sunny threw a small bag into the back of the Land Rover. She’d taken time to grab a toothbrush, a hairbrush, her favorite camisole and a lipstick. “In case we have to stop on the way,” she explained.
“Why would we?”
“I don’t know how long it’s going to take us to get out of the mountains.” She settled in the driver’s seat. “It’s about five hours after that.”
Five hours.It took them five hours to get from one part of a single state to another. For the past few days he’d nearly forgotten how different things were.
She shot him a look, eyes bright, lips curved. “Ready?”
“Sure.”
It was difficult not to stare as she turned a small key and sent the combustion engine roaring. He could feel the vibration through the floorboards. A few small adjustments, he mused, and even an archaic vehicle could be made to run smoothly and quietly.
Jacob was on the brink of pointing this out to her when she shoved the Land Rover in gear and sent snow spitting out from under the tires.
“All right!”
“Is it?”
“This baby rides like a tank,” she said happily as they lumbered away from the cabin.
“Apparently.” He braced himself, finding it incongruous that he should worry about life and limb here, when he had taken countless trips at warp speed. “I suppose you know what you’re doing.”
“Of course I know what I’m doing. I learned how to drive in a Jeep.” They labored up an incline where snow had melted and refrozen into a slick surface. Jacob judged the height and breadth of the trees. He could only trust that she knew how to avoid them.
“You look a little green.” She had to chuckle as they plowed, then fishtailed, then plowed again, making erratic but definite progress. “Haven’t you ever ridden in one of these?”