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“Yep.” Gunnar took a bite of his chowder, his eyes widening.
“Told you,” Sunny taunted.
Icy chunks of emotion clogged Julie’s throat. She’d missed these two so much over the years. Missed the way she’d always felt being around them. Though years separated her and Gunnar from Sunny, they’d always gotten along so well. Julie opened her thermos and took a long drink of the lukewarm water. It didn’t wash the loneliness lodged in her throat away, but at least she could talk.
“It would’ve been nice to start earlier, but our pace once we left was decent.” She pulled her pack into her lap. “Once we hit pressure ridges, we’ll probably be measuring our gains in feet rather than miles.”
The jumbles of ice and snow pushed up by the constant movement of water worried her the most about the expedition. The daunting and constantly shifting barriers would be treacherous to climb over, especially with the dogs and sleds. Of course, the leads of open water that could appear out of nowhere wouldn’t be a walk in the park, either.
Julie took a deep breath to slow her ramping heartbeat and opened her pack. She knew what she had been getting into when she agreed to be a part of the team. Letting the fears of what was to come run rampant through her mind would only make her miserable. She reached her hand into her pack and pulled out the bag full of frozen homemade donuts she’d brought.
“You didn’t.” Gunnar’s low rumble startled a smile from her.
He’d always loved her grandma’s donuts. Bringing a dozen every trip they had taken in high school had been one of her favorite ways to show Gunnar she’d loved him. Freezing them and warming them over the fire had been a trick her father used when racing. Said it was the best treat after a long day in the cold. Dad had been right, but she never would have admitted the real treat was Gunnar’s reaction when she pulled them out.
“I did.” She handed him two, their fingers brushing as he took them.
“I dreamed about these donuts while deployed, about biting into their warm sweetness.” He twisted them in his hands, studying them like they were some sort of treasure instead of a pastry. “Especially when we were trapped somewhere without supplies.”
Julie cleared her throat, amazed how thoughts of something they’d once shared had been a memory he hadn’t forgotten. “In that case, I’m glad I made a ton and have Saylor bringing more at each checkpoint.”
He smiled up at her, a smile unfettered with the restraint he’d had up to then. Maybe having this adventure with him wouldn’t be as awkward as she thought. Her gaze slipped to his lips before she yanked it down to the bag of donuts. Then again, if she kept ogling him and imagining kissing him senseless, the next few weeks would be the longest of her life.
