Page 26 of Ashes of Us

Danica woke up late on Tuesday, not hauling herself out of bed until well after eleven.

The first thing she did was reach out to Doctor Cuthbert and ask if what Emilia had suggested regarding having Jasper's sperm harvested was possible.

There was a long moment of silence, and then the doctor cleared her throat.

“Actually, I think that would be the best possible thing we can do for everyone involved.” She was quiet for a minute, and Danica could hear her typing.

“I’ll write a letter for your lawyer to present to the judge and his parents' lawyer with a breakdown of everything, costs of collecting versus the cost of keeping him alive for three weeks.

The judge will probably ask that a neutral third party do the extraction and store it in their facilities, so I'll also send some suggestions to your lawyer to present as well.”

Danica thanked her profusely and then called David, who was also pleased with the idea, and said he would get on it right away and let her know what he found out. He also let her know he had filed with the court, notifying them that she had changed lawyers.

After a quick shower and pulling on a pair of old sweatpants that she had made into shorts the previous summer and a t-shirt, Danica filled her travel mug with coffee and made her way out to the garage, determined to reclaim the space.

Rebuilding cars had always been a way for her to destress; she liked the methodical nature of taking things apart, figuring out what was wrong, and rebuilding.

When she met Jasper, it became a way for them to spend time together and connect, a pattern that continued throughout their relationship.

Hours spend in the garage, discussing life and their plans over an engine or transmission or Jasper attempting to teach her how to weld, something she really sucked at, while teasing her about her shaky hands.

While everyone was telling their favourite Jasper stories around the fire the night before, Danica had come to the conclusion that if they hadn't avoided the garage after their fight, their marriage wouldn't have been on such shaky grounds.

Standing shoulder to shoulder while they worked on something had always been when they had their deepest, most meaningful conversations.

It was during one of those moments that Jasper first told her he loved her and saw her as his future.

During another, they decided they wanted to start trying for a family, and there were many conversations about starting their car restoration garage.

Danica reached the door and unlocked it before taking a deep breath to steady her shaking hands and pushing it open.

As her eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness, the sunlight barely breaking through the layer of greasy dust on the windows, she let out a gasp; the travel mug of coffee slipped from her hands and landed with a thud on the concrete floor.

The Charger they had been working on when they had the argument was covered with a tarp, something they did to keep the vehicles they worked on clean after they were done the rebuild while they found a buyer for it.

She automatically reached out and flicked on the lights, her heart in her throat as she stepped over the travel mug and reached out, tugging the tarp off.

“Jasper.” She whispered his name like a prayer and felt her eyes tear up as she looked over the finished car.

He had fixed it up following her notes to a tee, with light blue poly paint on the exterior, dove white mouldings, and a buckskin tan interior.

Moving to the bench, she found the keys on the hook and unlocked the door, popping the hood eagerly.

Sure enough, the rebuilt 440 Magnum V8 had been finished and was so shiny it looked brand new.

After a quick look at everything, she climbed in and put the key in the ignition.

The engine caught immediately, roaring to life, then settling into a smooth purr.

Jasper must have been working on the car whenever she was out of town; she knew for a fact he didn't set foot in the garage when she was home.

She ran her hands over the leather-wrapped steering wheel and became aware that tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Shutting off the engine so she didn't fill the closed garage with carbon monoxide, she sat for a long moment, wondering how he had pulled off building the car in six weeks.

His distance while she was gone with Alex to do the audits was suddenly explained.

He had been wholly focused on rebuilding the car.

Getting out, she walked over to his tool chest and began opening drawers, looking for his notebook.

She found it in the bottom drawer and flipped to the last page, where she found his final notes for the car, including the cost of the rebuild, along with a breakdown of each part.

Danica wondered where he'd gotten the money for the more expensive parts and realized she was going to have to start dealing with his accounts, estate, car insurance from the accident and burial planning.

She sat on the driver's seat sideways, her legs hanging out through the open door as she flipped through the notebook.

Jasper wasn't someone who journaled or a letter writer, so she wasn't sure what she expected to find, but she didn't stop until she had gone through the whole thing.

Frowning, Danica looked around the garage, then stood up, walking over to his tool chest and starting to go through each drawer systematically.

Not finding anything there, she moved on to his half of the garage, going through his storage bins, shelves and his work bench with the same carefulness that she had gone through his tool chest with, once again not sure what she was looking for, just hoping to find something that gave her insight into his thought process.

Almost three hours later, she was sitting at the small table they'd sat at when she told him about the money, sipping her coffee from her travel mug, disappointed that she hadn't found anything because there hadn't been anything inside the house either.

Logically, Danica knew that Jasper hadn't known he was going to get in the accident, hadn't considered he was going to leave her in a state where she didn't have closure, and didn't know his parents were going to turn out to be complete and utter assholes in their grief, but that didn't stop the anger from flaring up and making her seriously consider taking the sledge hammer to the car in front of her.

She actually got to her feet, walked over, picked it up, and approached the car determinedly, but then, as quickly as the anger had come, it was gone, and she just felt sad again.

Sighing, she put the hammer back and put the tarp back over the car.

She had come to realize the stages of grief weren't linear; they were all over the place, and sometimes she went through all five in a few hours.

Collecting her things, she left the garage, locking it up tightly behind her.

She was almost at the house when her phone rang. Pulling it out of her pocket, she saw it was Maverick and answered it quickly, glad for the distraction. “Hey Mave, what's up?”

“Hey, can you come down to the Tow Lot on Frontage?” He asked, sounding annoyed. ”I found your husband's car, but they won't let me near it without you.”

“Yeah, sure.” Danica immediately switched direction, heading to the El Camino. “Do I need to bring anything?”

“ID and your marriage certificate.” Danica changed direction again and headed into the house.

“I'll be there in twenty minutes.” She quickly found the marriage certificate and tucked it into her purse, along with a copy of her and Jasper's insurance policy, just in case.

On her way to the Tow Lot, she called their insurance and explained everything to the adjuster.

After giving her his condolences, he went over what he needed from her to start processing the insurance claim and said he would email her some paperwork so they could get the ball rolling.

Pulling into the Department of Transportation parking lot, she saw Maverick standing beside his car with a police officer.

She parked nearby and approached slowly, not wanting to interrupt them, but Maverick looked up and gestured for her to join them.

“Excellent, Danica, this is Sergeant Drew Galvan, he's in charge of your husband's accident investigation.”

Danica held out her hand, trying to smile. “Sergeant Galvan, sorry I haven't been in touch, as you can imagine it's been a... trying week.”

“I understand.” He shook her hand firmly. “Mave was just bringing me up to speed on everything. I'm sorry for your loss and for what's going on with your husband's family.”

“Thank you,” Danica murmured, wondering why Maverick was telling him about everything, but then realized Galvan and Maverick were clearly well acquainted with one another and Galvan probably knew that Maverick was a PI.

The sergeant asked to see her ID and marriage certificate, which Danica presented, along with the insurance information, showing her and Jasper shared a policy.

“I have everything you need to get started on your insurance claim.” The stocky sergeant smiled sympathetically at her as he turned to his car and opened the door, pulling out a thick folder. “This is my report, and I included pictures of the car with it.”