AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Guess it’s oatmeal with maple syrup for breakfast, huh?” Perry said. “Everyone loves comfort food when the weather turns to shit.”
Nate placed his arm over Hanna’s shoulder. “Anyone up for hot chocolate?”
“Can we have marshmallows?” Hanna said, smiling up at him.
Nate pulled his cell phone from his back pocket. “Let me go scare up a bag in the warehouse. You get the pot boiling.”
Gunn gave Maddie a wink. “I’ll head out there with you, Nate, just in case a polar bear figures he wants some marshmallows, too.”
Maddie turned back to the door, but not before giving one more glance before she headed inside.
The look on her face left him feeling warm inside. Yes, they had rules about not wandering around by themselves, but she liked that he was looking out for her team, too.
CHAPTER8
A couple of days later,Gunn sat at the kitchen table near Em and Perry as they reviewed footage their camera had captured from underneath the ice floe. They fast-forwarded, stopping when their sharp eyes caught objects moving, then kept a tally on a piece of paper of the creatures they observed.
There was a variety of fish, but they didn’t get excited until they spotted larger creatures like a small group of ringed seals, a bowhead whale, and even a pair of narwhal whales. Then they’d freeze the screen and turn it his way to share their excitement. Gunn had to admit they had the coolest jobs of anyone on the site, and he told them so.
“Hear that?” Perry said when Nate wandered in to pour a coffee. “Gunn thinks we have the coolest job.”
Nate’s smile stretched wide. “I can’t believe he doesn’t think plankton are cool.”
“You know, as miserable as the weather is, I hate that this will be my last winter on the ice,” Perry said.
Nate blew out a deep breath. “Yeah, it sucks.” His glance went to Gunn. “It’s not often a scientist gets a chance to do pure research. And this kind of gig?” He shook his head. “Gives you some serious street cred, man.”
“What will you all do when this is over,” Gunn asked, “this being the last year this site operates out here?”
“Teach,” Perry said, wrinkling his nose. “It’s what I do when I’m not out here. I’d love to see someone outfit a boat so we can do this job when the ice is gone.”
Em nodded. “The Russians will have one soon. It’ll be able to break the ice to get them where they need it to be. They can stay in place when the ice freezes around them, and then all they have to do is drop equipment over the side. No having to move buildings if they need to set up someplace else the next winter. But I’ll be back in the classroom in late spring, too.”
Nate shrugged. “I’m applying for a position with the EPA to study climate change. I’m hoping I can do fieldwork, maybe in northern Canada. We’ll see. Kind of depends.”
“On Hanna?” Perry asked, waggling his eyebrows.
Nate’s smile was small, but he shrugged again.
Gunn laughed and pushed up from the table. “I’m going to wander around.”
Nate chucked his chin upward. “Getting cabin fever already?”
“Yeah, something like that.” He left the kitchen and went in search of Maddie, who was busy typing away on her computer.
Not for the first time, he admired her profile. Her nose was a little on the long side but perfectly straight. Her chin was rounded and had a stubborn tilt. Today, her hair was loose around her shoulders, and the overhead light, though harsh fluorescent, caught hints of blue and red in her dark, glossy strands. He wondered how it would feel to comb his fingers through them.
She looked up at him as he approached. “We’ve got a break in the weather. It should last a couple of hours anyway before it hits hard again. Want to make a trip out to Mateo’s site?”
He nodded. “Meet you outside.” The only person he hadn’t seen this morning so far was Hanna. He headed down the hallway toward their rooms and knocked on her door.
“Coming,” came her call.
She opened the door a crack, and her eyes widened. “Thought you were Nate,” she said. “Can I help you?”
“Just hadn’t seen you today. Wanted to make sure all was well.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Just working on some reports,” she said, opening her door wider to reveal her laptop lying closed on her bed.
