Chapter 28
In some ways, Erik felt like he’d gone back in time, being cared for by his mom again, but his shoulder felt a little better every day and it wasn’t long before he ditched the sling.
He’d told his mother all about Ida and how much fun it had been hanging out with her.
‘Honey, however you feel about this girl, two weeks is not enough time to get to know a person.’
‘I know, that’s what I thought,’ he said patiently. ‘But she’s not like other girls, Mom. She’s beautiful and really scrappy. She called me out a couple of times, and that might be when I fell the hardest.’
‘Well, I guess that’s a good sign. I never could understand why you dated those fangirls.’
He wasn’t going to enlighten his mother as to why.
‘Aside from Ida, I love Norway. Maybe it’s because of our family connection, but I felt like I belonged there. I worked on rebuilding a wooden cabin with Mats, who owns the island, and it felt like that’s where I’m meant to be.’
‘With or without Ida?’
‘Yes. Honestly, I think it’s where I need to be.’
‘It means the world to me that you’ve found that again.
But you have to do this for the right reasons.
For yourself first, Erik. It can’t be because of Ida.
Watching you come back from that accident is the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I am beyond relieved to see that you’re happy again.
Kind of,’ she added, laughing. ‘But if you go to Norway because of her and it doesn’t work out, I worry that it’ll be even worse next time you have to find a whole new life for yourself. ’
Her eyes filled with tears, and she reached for his hands, clasping them in hers.
‘I know, Mom.’ He wasn’t worried for himself, but he was worried for her. ‘I promise, whatever happens, I won’t go all in with Ida until I get my life on track. She needs that too.’
She hugged him. ‘Okay. That’s all I ask.’
‘Can you talk to Dad for me? Ida’s not like the other girls I’ve dated. She’s the one for me.’
His mom rolled her eyes. ‘Your dad wants you to be happy, the same way I do.’
‘He wants me to be like him. To stay here, settle down and be a joiner. It’s what he’s always wanted.’
There wasn’t anything she could say. They both knew it was the truth.
And so he came to a decision over those few days. An all-or-nothing decision that could backfire spectacularly, and if that happened, he might come out of it worse off than he was now, but at least he’d have tried.
That afternoon, he had a call from Mats.
‘Hey, Erik. It’s Mats Larsen.’
‘Mats, it’s good to hear from you.’
‘Look, I know you said you don’t want anything from this old agreement about the timber forest, but it doesn’t sit well with me to leave it like this.
I’ve spoken to a lawyer, and you’re right, this letter stands up.
It’s binding because the land has remained in my family since it was made.
I want to talk to you about making an arrangement between our families that will be true to the spirit of the agreement our ancestors made. ’
Erik was intrigued. He listened to Mats’ idea of profit-sharing on any timber felled and milled from the forest, an agreement that would give the Larsen family the right to choose which timber was felled in return for a more generous share of the profit for the Olsen family.
The Olsen family could take timber for their own purposes in the same way that Mats had for using on the farmhouse, but they wouldn’t have any right to choose where in the forest that came from.
Erik could see that it protected Lysg?rden while at the same time being fair to his family.
But now he had a plan of his own that didn’t involve sitting in Canada taking his share of the money from the odd tree that was felled in Norway.
‘That’s a fair deal, and I’m sure we’d be happy to give you control over which trees are felled. But I also have another proposal to add into the mix.’
Erik explained his idea to Mats.
‘I’m very happy to agree to that, Erik. Do you need to speak to Ida before you make the final decision?’
‘I think it’s important that I decide this without Ida. I’ve finally realised what I want to do for the rest of my life, and I love your sister, but she can’t be the reason I do it or not.’
‘I totally understand.’ Erik could hear the smile in Mats’ voice. ‘Want me to let her know you’re coming back?’
‘No. Let me surprise her.’
‘It’ll be good to see you. Let me know if there’s anything I can do.’
‘Can you book room 308 for me?’
Erik came off the call. He was fizzing with excitement now that Mats was on board.
It was mixed with some trepidation about what Ida’s reaction would be, but it felt good to be taking a chance on something again.
If the last few days had taught him anything, it was that taking a chance didn’t need to mean putting himself on the line physically.
When he’d been snowboarding, that’s all it had meant.
That’s all he knew. So emotional risks were harder to take, but he hoped, would be more rewarding in the end.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he’d booked a standby ticket on a flight to Oslo for that evening, and luck was on his side.
He got a seat on the first flight out of Toronto with a stopover in Reykjavik and arrived in Oslo the following day.
This time, he took a short internal flight to Bergen and caught the train into the city centre.
It was a short wait for the boat to take him to the island, and even the persistent drizzle couldn’t dampen his spirits.
He felt as if the rest of his life could begin as soon as he’d talked to Ida.
Emilie was at the desk when he checked in. ‘Erik! Welcome back,’ she said. ‘Mats has you booked into room 308, but we have a bigger room free on the second floor if you prefer?’
He shook his head and smiled. ‘I like the small room.’
She grinned, her eyes widening slightly, telling him she thought he was mad for wanting that room when he didn’t have to. But to him, it was the only place he wanted to be. And he hoped with all his heart that he’d be sharing it with Ida again. Soon.
‘Well, I don’t know what is going on, but he told me to keep it quiet that you are the guest he booked it for.’
‘Is Ida in today?’
‘She’s taken the boat over to Loddefjord to collect Emil from school, then she’ll be back. Shall I tell her you’re here?’
‘No. I’ll find her later, but thank you.’
‘No problem. Your secret is safe.’ She pulled a finger across her lips.
Erik went up to his room. It really did feel like his room, and he wasn’t sure how many other people had stayed in it other than him and Ida.
He lay on the bed, letting his body relax for the first time in a day or so after all that travelling.
Although his body still ached, his heart was feeling better now, and that feeling of optimism made everything else fade into insignificance.
Feeling contented to be back where he belonged, he closed his eyes for a few moments.
The shriek of a small boy woke him. The jet lag had him beat, and it took him a minute or two to remember where he was.
He sat up and looked out of the window to see Emil running across the grass at the front of the hotel towards the cabin that Mats was working on in the woods.
Ida was following behind. Her hair was in a ponytail with wispy bits falling around her face.
She looked more beautiful than he’d remembered, as if the time that had passed since he’d last seen her had begun to erase her from his memory.
He pulled his boots on and went downstairs. When he went outside, there was no sign of Ida, but that was okay. He hoped Mats would take care of Emil so that he could talk to her. He’d already picked out the spot.
The drizzle had stopped, but the smell of fresh rain lingered in the woods as Erik walked towards Fredrik and Emil’s cabin.
He stopped when he got close, needing to gather himself properly.
He’d rehearsed what he was going to say over and over again on the flight, but who knew if it would come out like that once he was standing in front of Ida.
Ida had her back to him when he approached the cabin. Mats was showing Emil how to sand a piece of wood. The small boy was running his hand over the wood while Mats explained how the grain worked.
Erik stepped on a twig and it cracked. Emil looked up and grinned when he spotted him.
‘Hey, it’s Erik!’
Ida whipped around, and Erik waited to see what expression would be on her face. Would she be pleased to see him or not?
Before Emil could run over to say hello, Mats picked him up by the waist and threw him over his shoulder, then walked off in the opposite direction while Emil squealed with laughter.
Ida watched them walk away before she turned to Erik. Her face was softer than the last time he’d seen her. She looked guarded, but she was still standing here. Maybe ready to hear what he had to say. He hoped so.
‘Hey.’ He had to stop himself from reaching for her.
‘Hey. You came back.’
Did he detect the hint of a smile?
‘I missed this place. I missed you.’ It felt good to say it out loud. He was done with keeping his feelings inside. It hurt too much.
‘Did Mats know you were coming?’
He nodded, hoping Mats wouldn’t get it in the neck from his sister for keeping secrets. ‘We had a talk about the timber forest. He made me an offer.’
‘He told me.’
‘I rejected it.’
She looked surprised. ‘Why? It was a fair offer.’
‘More than fair. But it wasn’t what I wanted.’
‘What do you want?’
‘I want the couple of weeks I spent here to be more than that. I want to live here, work here, and belong here. For good. Come with me.’ He held out his hand, and his heart leapt when she took it. The familiar tingling feeling was right there, just as it had been before.
‘Where are we going?’
‘Not far.’ He led them through the forest towards the fjord until they were opposite the spot where he’d hiked up the mountain a couple of days after he’d arrived the first time. He stopped and took Ida’s hands in his.
‘I’ve asked Mats if I can build a cabin right over there on the opposite bank and in return I’m going to help him restore the cabins on the island and actively manage the forest so that it will continue to be a legacy for future generations of both of our families.’
‘You’re not doing this for me?’ The frown lines on her forehead warned him he’d better not be.
‘No. I love you, Ida, but I’m doing this for me. Since I couldn’t board anymore, I haven’t felt like I belonged anywhere. Until I came here. It was the best two weeks of my life and I never thought I’d be able to say that about anything again.’
‘Why did you leave then?’
‘Because all of this stuff about the forest was why I came here, but then it became about everything except that. I fell in love with you knowing that our families were entwined together by this old agreement, and I knew that once you found out about that, you would think I had an ulterior motive.’
‘I… I did think that.’ She looked devastated.
‘No, it’s okay. I know you,’ he smiled and reached to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
‘You are fierce when it comes to your family, and I love that. But I had to leave because I hurt you and I didn’t know what to do about that.
I couldn’t see how to make it right. So I went home, fell off a bike and hurt myself some more, but that made me realise that the worst hurt I had was in here. ’ He tapped his chest.
‘You fell off a bike?’
‘Yes. And it hurt like hell, still does actually,’ he said with a half-smile.
‘But nothing worse than this.’ He tapped his chest again, and Ida put her hand over his.
‘I thought I’d been recovering from a broken leg for eight months when actually it was my heart that was broken.
Being here helped mend it. You helped mend it.
Then, when I left, it broke again because I turned my back on everything that had made me whole again. ’
‘I couldn’t ask you to stay.’
‘I know. And that was the right call. It’s too soon for either of us to change anything in our lives for each other.
Going back to Canada, I realised that what I need is somewhere to belong, doing something that heals my soul in a way that nothing else does.
Building stuff with the wood that our ancestors left for us means something to me.
’ He paused because standing there with Ida’s hand on his felt like some kind of agreement.
But he had to know for sure. ‘This is okay with your brother. Is it okay with you?’
‘It’s okay with me. You did say you’re in love with me?’ She was smiling now.
‘Uh huh.’ He took her in his arms.
‘And you’re staying here? But not because of me.’
‘Nope. Because this is what I want. What I need. With or without you.’
‘I’m leaning towards with.’
He threw back his head and laughed. ‘That’s great!’
With a smiling Ida in his arms, and a plan for the future, he could finally start living again.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘I have something else to show you.’