Chapter 28
The past few days had seen the hotel project go from the reality escape Mats loved, ticking along in the background while he pottered around on the island, to something entirely different.
Now, it was a fast-paced, high-intensity building site where everything required a decision from him and worse, he had run out of money.
Knut was an absolute godsend. He knew the project as well as Mats did and was fielding as much of this stuff as he could, but there were still things he deferred to Mats on if a change was needed or a choice had to be made.
And there was a lot of that. They were dealing with an old building, and it had held a few surprises that had, of course, cost more money.
Mats hadn’t been staying overnight on the island, mainly because at the end of every day he was exhausted, needed to get away from the place to truly relax, and direly needed a hot shower.
Also, Emil had been staying with Ida while Fredrik was in Oslo and Mats knew that although his sister loved her nephew, it was exhausting taking care of a six-year-old when you weren’t used to it, so he made sure he got back to the house for dinner every evening to help.
On Friday, he was down on the jetty about to head back to Loddefjord when his phone rang.
He pulled it out of his pocket, holding the line he’d just untied in his other hand.
It was Knut. He answered the call, then tucked the phone between his ear and his shoulder while he tied the line back to the jetty, knowing he was being summoned back to site for something.
In a split second, someone called his name, and when he looked round, his phone dropped. He reached out to catch it but missed, and it plopped into the fjord. It was gone.
He ran his hands through his hair, reliving the last minute, rewinding it in his mind to try and get a different outcome. After taking a deep breath, he headed back to the farmhouse, past the contractors who had called out to him and now looked sheepish, although it wasn’t their fault.
‘I’ve dropped my phone in the fjord,’ he said to Knut.
Knut looked like he might laugh but turned it into a thin-lipped grimace instead. ‘Shit, Mats.’
‘What did you want?’
‘You forgot your coat.’
Mats tried to stay calm. He’d lost his phone over a coat he could have picked up next time he was here. But it wasn’t Knut’s fault. ‘Have a good weekend.’
‘You too.’
He drove the boat back to Loddefjord, the image of his phone plopping into the water playing on repeat in his head.
It didn’t really matter about the phone; he could get everything back.
It was just an inconvenience he didn’t need.
It was too late now to go to the store in Bergen to buy a new one, so he’d have to sort it out in the morning.
At least Knut knew what had happened, so would know he’d be incommunicado at least until tomorrow morning.
Ida had dinner on when he got back and Emil was playing a game on the TV.
‘Can I play?’
‘You can’t be the turtle, Uncle Mats.’
Mats chuckled. He knew the turtle was Emil’s favourite character, so he teased him by always pretending he wanted to be the turtle. ‘Spoilsport. I’ll be the banana.’
‘The banana is the worst one,’ Emil said, laughing as if he’d got one over on his uncle.
Mats settled back to play the car racing game, all thoughts of his phone forgotten as he relaxed, laughing with Emil and enjoying not having to think about the island. They ate dinner with Ida and he put Emil to bed and read him a story while his sister relaxed on the terrace with a glass of wine.
Before the end of the story, Fredrik crept into the bedroom.
‘Papa!’ A sleepy Emil looped his small arms around his father’s neck and Mats left them to it.
He went downstairs, poured himself a glass of wine and went out to sit with Ida.
‘I dropped my phone in the fjord,’ he said.
Ida laughed, with no pretence of feeling sorry about it at all. ‘Oh, Mats. You idiot.’
He let himself smile about it, enjoying seeing his sister laugh, even if it was at his expense. ‘At least it’s the weekend. No one will need me tonight.’
Fredrik joined them outside, deciding to stay the night too, and the three of them sat on the terrace sipping wine and talking until late.
The midnight sun didn’t quite extend to Bergen, and in July the nights were lengthening, but it was a beautiful evening, warm and clear with the moonlight shimmering off the glassy surface of the fjord, interrupted only by the wake patterns of occasional boats.
‘It’s coming together then,’ Fredrik said after Mats told him the latest developments on the island.
‘Yes, they’re starting on the electrical wiring and plumbing next week. That will take a couple of weeks, and then the kitchen will be installed after that.’
‘And Becca can start decorating,’ said Ida.
‘I’ve run out of money.’ He had to tell them. It felt awful, admitting that they’d been right to think he’d sink everything into this project and maybe lose it all, but that was the reality he was facing now.
‘You have to let us help,’ said Ida. ‘Take our share of the inheritance, Mats.’
He shook his head. ‘I won’t do that. It’s bad enough that I’ve lost my own share.’
‘What’s the alternative?’ said Fredrik.
‘I will have to put the work on hold until my apartment sells.’
‘What’s the difference between waiting for that to happen and taking our money and paying us back when you sell?’ Ida was exasperated, and although Mats didn’t want his siblings to step in and save the day, he was touched that they hadn’t said I told you so.
‘She’s right,’ said Fredrik. ‘You’ve come this far. How much will it take to see it finished?’
‘More than the inheritance money.’
Mats didn’t miss the look of shock that passed between his brother and sister. ‘Selling the apartment is the only way to get it finished.’
They were all quiet, taking in the enormity of the situation.
‘The kitchen is paid for so that will be installed without any more cost. Then Lars and his team will work until the end of the month. Hopefully we can leave it in a good state to survive the winter and get started again in the spring.’
‘The real estate market is always strong in January,’ said Fredrik.
‘I might look into taking on some consulting work,’ Mats said, his heart sinking at the thought. It felt like a step backwards. Like he’d failed, but he had no other option.
‘Have you seen much of Lotta lately?’ Fredrik asked.
‘I went to London last weekend,’ Mats said, feeling as though it must have been more than a week ago. It certainly felt like it. ‘She’s busy with some new clients, which is great.’
‘She’s coming next weekend when Anders and Becca are here. And we’ve invited Gudrun, a friend of Anders’ who’s working in Oslo at the moment, and I think her partner is coming from Iceland for the weekend too,’ said Ida.
Mats almost caveated Ida’s statement by saying that Lotta might be too busy to come. It was a possibility after last weekend. They hadn’t talked much since, which he knew was because she was busy with work. He understood, but it was hard to live without even hearing her voice for days at a time.
And that was why he’d followed through on his decision not to ask her to help with the marketing.
It needed to start now, as she’d said herself, so Mats sent a brief to a marketing agency that Ingrid had recommended, asking them to come up with some possible names for the hotel.
He’d also given them Becca’s sketches and asked them to suggest ideas for a preview campaign based around those in the absence of any actual photos from the site.
At the moment there was nothing pretty to be seen.
But after today, he was going to stand them down.
There was no point in starting anything like this now.
‘Can we come and hang out?’ Fredrik asked. ‘I’m working from home next week and will be craving adult company by Friday.’
‘You can’t stay, there won’t be room,’ Ida said. ‘But you can come for dinner.’
‘Thanks,’ Fredrik said, looking at Mats and doing a small eye roll.
‘I saw that. You’re uninvited,’ said Ida.
Fredrik leant over and ruffled Ida’s hair.
‘Fredrik! How old are you?’
The following morning, Mats was at Eplehuset, the electronics store in Bergen, at opening time.
Last night had helped, talking everything through with Fredrik and Ida.
Admitting to them that it wasn’t going well and having their acceptance and support.
He was unaccustomed to feeling out of control and having no backup plan.
When he’d worked at the bank, it had been rare for things not to go the way he planned — that was literally his job, so it was hard to take the fact that he’d been unable to keep his own project on track.
It took over an hour for him to buy a new phone and for the technician to help him get into his account and transfer everything over to his new phone. ‘It happens all the time,’ the guy said. ‘So many phones in the fjords, it’s crazy.’
‘Hey, I’m heading over to the island,’ he said as he walked into the kitchen back at Ida’s.
‘Lotta! What are you doing here?’
Lotta and another woman were sitting at the kitchen table with Ida.
‘Hi, I’m Lotta’s sister, Freya.’ The other woman stood up and hugged him. ‘It’s great to finally meet you.’
He was so confused. What were they doing here? ‘You too,’ he said, looking at Lotta over her sister’s shoulder but getting nothing from her. There was something wrong.
‘You two, outside,’ Ida said, pointing at him and Lotta. ‘I’ll bring you both a coffee.’
Mats led the way out onto the terrace. He grabbed a couple of blankets from the wooden chest next to the door because it was too early to be warm enough to sit out.
‘I needed to talk to you and I couldn’t get through, so I came instead.’
‘I dropped my phone in the fjord.’
‘Ida said.’