18
WHEN THEY’D BEEN out at sea for over an hour and seen countless whales, Astrid announced to the guests that they were heading back to Reykjavik and it was the last chance to look at the whales.
She was exhilarated but exhausted. It had taken a lot of energy this morning to help ease Leifur’s anxieties while feeling just as anxious herself.
But knowing that there was more at stake for him helped her to push her own feelings aside, and concentrating on keeping him calm had taken her mind off her own worries.
Being responsible for the commentary had felt daunting, but she’d loved it.
As soon as she spotted the first blow, she felt right at home.
She could just as easily have been on a research vessel, and the details she knew about the whales came flowing out naturally.
A couple of guests came over to her and asked questions, which she took as a good sign that she was keeping them interested in the search.
‘Great job, Astrid,’ said Jonas, coming over as she took her headset off. ‘You and Leifur have an excellent system set up here. Letting him know where to head and telling us where to look, it’s very clever.’
‘Thanks.’ They hadn’t planned that at all, but she had noticed Leifur steering in the direction she was spotting whale activity, and he got as close as he safely could to give everyone some magnificent views. ‘I think it was a pretty good first attempt.’
‘I think so too. I think you need another pair of hands, though. If there’s an emergency while you’re at sea, pulling you away from the other guests, it’s not ideal.
I’ll find someone who can man the galley while you’re at sea and help with the kitting out so you and Leifur can concentrate on the safety side of things and the whales,’ said Jonas.
‘That’d be great, thank you.’ Astrid wondered what Leifur would think about that idea given that he was less than enthusiastic about her being on board to begin with.
But it made sense. With Leifur in the wheelhouse while she was looking for whales, they could do with another person to monitor things.
‘Astrid, that was wonderful,’ said her mother, giving her a hug.
‘Incredible,’ said her father, who was a man of few words perhaps because he struggled to get a word in when Gudrun was around, but he was beaming with pride at her and it felt amazing to share what she loved with her family.
Once the guests had taken their weatherproof suits off, they were almost back in the harbour.
Astrid got ready to throw the ropes around the mooring posts.
It was the most nerve-wracking part of the entire tour because the guests were all on deck ready to disembark.
She’d practised over and over for the past few days, throwing the loops of rope over the mooring posts at the bow and stern until Leifur stopped the engines and could help secure the lines himself.
Now, as she waited for him to pull alongside the dock, she was sure she was going to miss.
Of course it had happened plenty of times, and Leifur had assured her it didn’t matter too much.
There was time for a couple more attempts before Brimfaxi would drift past the point of no return, and he would have to switch the engines to reverse to compensate.
She would die if that happened today. In the event, she looped the stern rope over the mooring post on the first attempt, and everyone on deck cheered, which may have been why she needed two attempts for the bow rope.
Leifur jumped from the boat onto the dock and tied off the rest of the lines, then he joined Astrid to say goodbye to their guests as they disembarked.
‘That was wonderful, thank you,’ Astrid’s mother said to Leifur. Her eyes were sparkling, and she gave her daughter a knowing look as she turned to her. ‘We’ll see you back at Gudrun’s.’
‘Very impressive,’ her father said, shaking Leifur’s hand before he briefly hugged Astrid. ‘Very proud,’ he whispered in her ear.
It brought a tear to her eye. She’d never done anything before that had made her parents say they were proud of her.
Of course, she’d known it when they were at various key moments, like when she got her degree, but this felt different.
Maybe it meant more to them because they’d been part of today.
They’d been able to see her in action in a way they never had before.
‘Awesome, As,’ said Gudrun, hugging her.
‘You’ll be giving the rest of the team a run for their money,’ said Olafur, grinning at Leifur. ‘Great job.’
The other guests left, saying how much they’d enjoyed it. Astrid and Leifur were grinning at each other from either side of the gangway, neither one of them able to believe that it had gone so well.
‘Have you ever had a day that has turned around quite so dramatically?’ Astrid said to him.
She enjoyed seeing him happy. The anxiety had lifted off him, and he looked like a different man.
She was sorry now that she had to leave to have dinner with her family because all she wanted to do was dissect the day with him and revel in the success they’d made of it.
‘I can’t believe it went as well as it did,’ he said. ‘Your directions were spot on. I knew exactly where to head.’
‘I knew you realised you could do that! I can’t believe we never thought of that before.’
‘And the other tour companies shared the locations of where they had sightings over the radio.’
‘Did they? Did you share ours?’
‘Yes, once I realised what was going on. Jonas said it’s common practice with the northern lights excursions.’
‘Amazing!’
‘I wish we could go and celebrate,’ he said softly. ‘I couldn’t have got to where we are now without you.’
‘We did it together.’ She wished more than anything that it was just the two of them on the boat, but she saw Leifur’s mother waiting on the bench around the edge of the deck. ‘What do we need to do before we leave?’
‘You don’t need to stay. Go for dinner with your family. It won’t take me long to tidy up.’
‘No, your mother’s waiting. We’ll do it together.’
‘I’ll be ten minutes, Mamma,’ he called.
She raised a hand, waving him away with a smile. ‘I can wait,’ she called back.
All they needed to do was tidy the suits, empty the bins and clean the galley. Astrid headed up to the deck with a bag of rubbish while Leifur checked everything was off. His mother got up and headed over to Astrid.
‘I haven’t seen Leifur happy like this for a long time,’ she said. ‘You two have done something wonderful with this old boat. Given her a new lease of life.’
‘I’m just along for the ride. Leifur’s done all the hard work to get her ready.’
‘The hardest part for him was deciding not to be a fisherman anymore. Thinking he was letting his father down. I wasn’t sure he’d find his way.’
Peta was sharing more with her than Leifur had, and that made Astrid feel uncomfortable, but she liked Peta and didn’t want her to think she’d said anything wrong.
‘It was a big decision to change the boat, but I think he’s pleased with how she turned out.’
‘She’s certainly very smart,’ said Peta, scanning the deck appreciatively. ‘And I think the two of you will have a great success on your hands.’
‘I’m only here for the summer,’ said Astrid.
‘You might love it and decide to stay,’ Peta said, laughing.
‘I loved today,’ Astrid admitted. ‘It didn’t feel like work at all.’
‘That is the best kind of work. And my boy needs more of that in his life. He’s had more than his fair share of tough days.’
‘Mamma, are you telling Astrid all of my secrets?’ Leifur was trying to frown at his mother, but since he was still smiling, he was doing a poor job of pretending to be cross with her.
‘Of course not. I was saying how happy you look, and how wonderful today has been. I can hardly believe it was your first run. It was incredible. You’re very knowledgeable, Astrid.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Mamma, here are the keys to my truck. I will only be a minute behind you.’
Peta took the keys. ‘It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Astrid. I hope we cross paths again soon.’
‘Me too.’
Leifur waited until Peta was out of earshot. ‘So we can’t talk endlessly about how amazing we are tonight. Can we tomorrow? ’
Astrid nodded. All she wanted to do was stay here, with Leifur. Today had changed things between them. She knew she wanted to be with him, and it was going to be difficult to wait until tomorrow to see him again, when maybe the high from today had worn off.
‘Meet here? At eleven?’
‘Perfect,’ she said.
Dinner with her parents was great, and she wouldn’t have missed it for the world, it happened so rarely these days.
But Leifur was at the forefront of her mind the whole evening.
His expression when they’d been seeing everyone off the boat, hearing what everyone thought about the tour, it melted her heart.
She wanted that for him every day of the week.
She was realising that she wanted him every day of the week too.
And now that the first tour was out of the way, the pressure was off and the time they spent together could be about something other than setting the boat up.
‘Hey, As. What are you daydreaming about?’ Gudrun was sitting next to her and shoved her arm gently as if she were twelve years old again.
‘Nothing. Just thinking about today.’
‘Astrid, can we come to see your new flat tomorrow?’ their mother asked. ‘Gudrun said it’s beautiful.’
‘I have to work in the morning.’ Meeting Leifur was work related, but if she said that’s what she was doing, everyone would read too much into it. ‘Why don’t you come for dinner?’
‘We’d love to.’
‘So would we,’ said Gudrun.
‘I don’t think we’ll all fit around my tiny table. You two can come another day.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Gudrun. ‘Did you invite Leifur tonight?’
‘Yes. He had to take his mother home.’ Thank goodness, because who knows what kind of inquisition he’d be facing now? Astrid hadn’t realised quite how forthright her sister was. Perhaps she’d not noticed before, when she wasn’t the object of her interest.
‘Is there more to things with Leifur than being work colleagues?’ Ah, perhaps Gudrun got it from their mother.
‘Maybe,’ Astrid said honestly. ‘I like him.’
Gudrun scoffed. ‘I saw you both mooning at each other when we got off the boat. It’s more than that, and he feels the same way.’
‘We were on a high from how well things had gone, that’s all.
Nothing’s happened between us at all.’ She almost said “yet” at the end of that sentence.
Because she was certain that something would.
These past two weeks, they’d both been too focused on the job in hand to let anything derail them from getting the tours up and running.
Then today, when the tour was over, Astrid had an overwhelming urge to throw herself into Leifur’s arms, and she probably would have done if his mother hadn’t been there.
It was as if they both knew that today marked the end of one thing and the beginning of something else.
Gudrun was right about one thing, because Astrid had seen Leifur’s face and thought the same.
Yes, they were both elated because the day had been a success, but that had just set a fire under what was already beginning to smoulder between them.
Hopefully, in the morning she’d find that Leifur was feeling exactly the same.