‘Course I am,’ she says with a laugh. She unfolds the silver blanket Rosa gave her and wraps it around Jasper as she hands him the flask. ‘And a very real me is going to get you out of here. Drink up, get yourself warm.’

He takes a sip of the tea and closes his eyes in bliss. ‘I’ve been dreaming about tea all night. I dreamt about you too.’ He opens his eyes, looking right into hers. ‘When I woke and saw you walking towards the car, I thought I was dreaming so just went back to sleep. Then I saw you again and …’ He pauses. ‘I thought you were Katy. I thought I’d finally given up fighting and she was coming to greet me.’

‘Don’t talk like that.’

‘I’ve thought about dying,’ he says. ‘I’ve thought how it might be bearable if I knew I’d see Katy again.’

Amber looks down, her heart pained. She can’t bear the thought of losing Jasper too. And yet she’s spent the past ten years without him.

‘But when it came to it,’ Jasper continues, ‘when I thought I was dying and Katy was coming for me, I didn’t want to die. Not before I saw you again.’ He reaches up and tucks a lock of her red hair behind Amber’s ear. ‘I’ve never stopped loving you, you know.’

‘You’re delirious.’

He shakes his head. ‘Jesus, Amber! Stop it.’

‘Stop what?’

‘Acting like you’re numb. I know you’re not, I know you must be pretending. And bloody hell, that must be hard. Ten years of pretending like you don’t care.’

She juts her chin out at him. ‘Walking through a bloody blizzard to get to you isn’t caring?’

‘It’s only a bit of snow, for God’s sake,’ he said, mimicking what she said earlier. ‘Don’t make out you’ve just climbed Mount Everest.’

He smiles and Amber can’t help but laugh. ‘Oh Jasper, I’m sorry. I know I’m a fool.’

‘Yeah, you are. But somehow I still love you.’

Amber blinks, not sure what to say. But she knows what to do. She leans over and presses her lips against his. He stills to begin with, like he’s in shock. But then his familiar arms are wrapping around her too and he’s kissing her back, his lips tasting of sweet tea. She imagines how they must look, two people locked together in a blizzard, kissing in a snowy car. She smiles against his lips.

‘What’s so funny?’ he murmurs, looking down at her.

‘I was just thinking how we would look to someone passing by.’ Her eyes fill with tears. ‘I wonder what Katy would think?’