Chapter 29
Her head was lying in the crook of his shoulder, her cheek against his chest, and one leg across his hips.
‘You know you should have told me about the timber forest legacy when we were in bed like this. I probably would have felt differently about it,’ she said, tracing a finger across his other shoulder and down his arm, marvelling at the various shades of bruising there.
‘Really? Because I think you probably would have kicked me out onto the landing in my birthday suit.’
‘Your birthday suit?’
‘Naked.’
She laughed. ‘Maybe I would have. But being in a tiny bed with you really takes the edge off my rage.’
‘I love this tiny bed. I’m going to get one just like it for my cabin.’
‘Do you want me to live with you?’ She hadn’t been sure if he’d asked her that.
‘If you want to.’
‘I think I do want that one day. Except I have my own place now.’
‘You got the yellow house?’
‘Yes. I found out a couple of days ago. It was a close thing. I had to bid right up to my limit to get it, but now I have it, I can’t wait to move in.
’ The enormous amount of work ahead of her to sort out the house in Loddefjord before that could be sold was a problem she was happy to worry about another day.
‘Congratulations.’ He grinned at her and kissed her temple.
‘It needs some work. I was going to ask Mats, but maybe we could do it together before you start building your place.’ She didn’t think Mats would mind. He had enough going on with his own house-buying plans and the cabins he was working on for the family.
‘Sure.’
‘Thank you. I’d love that.’
‘Me too. I’m so happy for you, Ida. I know how much this means to you, to be starting on your own path to mending after losing your parents.’ He didn’t add and yourself, but she could hear the unspoken words.
‘I’m not sure I would have come this far without you.
I definitely wouldn’t have bought a house,’ she laughed.
‘When I started working for Mats, even before the hotel opened, I felt part of something again. At the time, I thought it was because I was doing things for the family, but I’d always been doing things for the family.
This job gave me something else. Something for me again. A purpose, I suppose.’
‘You do so much for your family, Ida. Maybe that’s why it took hanging out with me to see you could still do that as well as doing your own thing.’
‘Maybe. It’s made me realise I want to be here with them, but not living with any of them anymore. And I don’t think we should live together right away.’ She felt bold saying it.
‘That’s okay, Ida. I want to date you, the old-fashioned way. The two weeks we spent together were amazing, but we both went into that having decided it was a one-time thing. And now it’s not. We need to do things properly.’
‘I can’t think of anything I’d love more. Where are you going to live?’
‘I’m hoping my new girlfriend might negotiate me a long-term rate for room 308.’
She laughed. ‘You’re not going to survive in this room for months on end. And we have a list of people waiting for this room.’
‘Sure you do.’
‘You’re not the only one who has a soft spot for it. I was living here until some guy booked it a few weeks ago and I got kicked out.’
‘Ida! You never said.’
‘You and me are the only people who have ever stayed in this room.’
‘Wow. That’s pretty special.’
‘It is,’ she agreed. ‘It’s yours if you want it. But you’re going to want to stay over at mine sometimes. It has a beautiful view of the water. Oh, but the bathroom is in the eaves, like it is here.’
‘I think we can probably do something about that. I’m going to need a shower I can stand in.’
‘And when it comes to it, I’m only staying over at your place if you buy a proper big bed.’
‘You don’t want to sleep this way forever?’
‘No.’
He laughed, and the vibrations of it ran through her. ‘Okay, we’ll pick out an enormous bed.’
They showered and dressed, then went in search of Mats and Emil.
‘They’ve taken some food to the top of the island,’ Emilie said. ‘They’re making a campfire. Mats said to tell you there’s enough for everyone.’
Hand in hand, Ida and Erik wandered through the woods towards the top of the island. The grey clouds from earlier in the day had cleared, and the sun was high in the sky.
‘I can’t believe I get to live here now,’ Erik said, grinning at her.
‘You thought it was boring,’ Ida teased.
Mats and Emil already had a fire started. Emil ran over to Erik when he spotted them.
‘Erik!’
Erik crouched down and high-fived Emil, then almost toppled backwards when he flung himself onto Erik for a hug.
‘You two have talked then?’ Mats said as Emil dragged Erik over to the woods to collect pinecones for the fire. Ida went to sit next to Mats, who was supervising some sausages that were cooking on a makeshift griddle over the fire.
‘Yes. You knew about his plan?’
‘Not until yesterday. And it wasn’t my place to tell you. You look happy. Are things back to where they were?’
Ida sat in the chair next to Mats. ‘Should I be worried that all I want now is to move in with Erik and make babies with him? I thought I wanted to get my life back on track, but now I like the idea of doing it with him.’
‘There’s nothing wrong with that. Does it need to be one thing or the other?’
‘If I’m being sensible about it.’
‘You need someone to have fun with. I know me and Emil are a hard act to beat, but Erik can probably fill the gaps for some stuff.’ He grinned at her and she shoved herself into his arm.
‘I’m used to overthinking things. It’s hard for me to go with the flow.’
‘You’re used to putting all of us first, Ida. Put yourself first, and if Erik is what you want, take him. Follow your heart for a change. You deserve to.’
‘Thank you.’ Ida wrapped her arms around Mats’ arm and snuggled into his shoulder.
‘Hey, careful. We’re going to lose a sausage here.’
‘Erik’s going to build a cabin right across from ours!’ Emil announced when they came back with handfuls of pinecones for the fire.
‘Hopefully Erik’s cabin will be hidden in the woods,’ Ida said, smiling at Erik. ‘You don’t want him to spy on you.’
‘I can spy on you!’
‘I think the sausages are ready,’ said Mats. ‘Emil, hand out the bread.’
Emil handed out slices of brown bread to each of them, then Mats laid a sizzling sausage on each piece of bread, and they took them over to the jetty and ate with their feet dangling over the water.
‘This is as good as it gets,’ Erik whispered to Ida.
‘That’s true. Remember this moment when it’s raining and cold and we don’t see the sun for the rest of the year.’
‘I will and I’ll remember sitting here with you, on the first day of the rest of our lives.’
‘Not that I was listening in, but the winter does have its good points,’ Mats said. ‘We can go skiing at the cabin.’
‘Erik can’t ski anymore,’ Ida said. She wasn’t a huge fan of skiing.
She did it if she had to but it was far more energetic than she liked.
Most of the time she took the trips to the cabin as a chance to relax, do lots of reading, and cook huge meals for the family.
Her trip with Erik had been the exception to that, but a hike and a bike ride were about as energetic as she was willing to be.
‘I might have a go at cross-country,’ Erik said. ‘I did some research after Thea suggested it, and it’s much kinder to your body with less chance of injury than downhill or snowboarding.’
‘Lotta only started last winter so you guys can get some lessons in when we go to Voss,’ said Mats.
‘I can show you how to ski,’ Emil offered.
‘When are we going to Voss?’ Ida said.
‘We always go to Voss after the first snow of the season,’ Mats said, as if it was set in stone every year rather than something that hadn’t happened for at least the past five years.
‘You think after five years we’re all going to drop everything and go to the cabin together like we did when we were kids?’
Mats scoffed. ‘We did it well beyond that. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t love it.’
‘I would love to see that place in the snow,’ said Erik. ‘I want to take up the offer of that ski lesson, Emil.’
Emil looked as pleased as anything. ‘Is Erik in our family now?’ Emil asked no one in particular.
Ida looked at Erik and grinned. ‘Yes. He is.’
‘Will you teach me to snowboard?’
‘We’ll see what your Pappa says,’ Mats said, tactfully.
After they’d eaten, the four of them walked back to the hotel, and Heidi, delighted to see Emil, found some dessert for them.
They sat out on the veranda with ramekins of vanilla cream topped with berries and caramelised nuts.
Emil hadn’t been keen on that, but Heidi offered a bowl of ice cream as an alternative, which he was thrilled with.
‘I wish we could sleep here,’ he said to Ida.
‘Uncle Mats will take you to our house because it’s school in the morning. Maybe at the weekend you and Pappa could camp over here?’ Ida felt bad for roping Fredrik into a camping trip, but he’d probably enjoy it as much as Emil.
‘Okay, we’ll head off,’ Mats said when they’d all finished. ‘Are you okay to pick up the day shift again tomorrow?’
‘Yes. And I’ll pick you up from school tomorrow,’ said Ida.
‘Will you come too, Erik?’
‘Sure, buddy.’
Ida grinned at him. It was the best feeling in the world that he was happy to be involved with her family as much as she was.
‘Bye!’ Emil said, waving as he and Mats headed through the woods toward the jetty.
‘That kid is great.’
‘I think you’re going to be his favourite uncle.’
‘I hope so. That’s the worst thing about being an only child. I don’t have any of that stuff.’
‘It’s good that you feel like that,’ Ida laughed. ‘Emil’s going to be staying over a lot. And maybe Thea too until she finds somewhere to live.’
‘I am totally up for all of that,’ he said. And Ida knew he meant it.
‘Is it too early to go to bed?’
‘I have something I want to do first,’ Erik said. He stood up and took her hand. ‘Come on.’
He led the way down the path to the jetty. It was dark in the woods, so Ida picked up one of the storm lanterns that lit the path. They used solar-powered ones in the summer, and she wasn’t sure what they’d do in the winter. Probably have some permanent ones wired into the mains.
Erik’s kayak was still stashed behind the bush.
‘Didn’t you return this when you left?’
‘No, I completely forgot about it. And I feel bad that I haven’t filled my two trash buckets yet, but there’s really not that much trash around. I’ll make another donation when I take it back.’
‘Where are we going? It’s starting to get dark.’
‘Not far. Trust me.’
He lowered the kayak into the water and then held it while Ida climbed on, then handed her the storm lantern.
‘You sure you need to take this?’
‘Yes.’ It felt like a safety blanket. It was one thing coming back from Loddefjord in the dark, or even back from Heidi’s beach in deep twilight. Not knowing where they were going was scary. And she trusted Erik, but she still didn’t like the idea of going somewhere strange in the dark.
Erik paddled around the back of the hotel and across to the other side of the fjord. It was only a couple of minutes before he pulled up against the bank and said, ‘You climb out first.’
Ida rested the lantern on a flattish rock, glad that she’d brought it, and climbed out. She was much better at it than when she’d first been kayaking with Erik. She helped to hold the kayak steady while he followed suit, scrambling onto the bank.
He started walking up the hill. It was a pretty steep incline, and it seemed crazy to be taking a hike at this time of night.
After about ten minutes, the trees became less dense, and they came into a clearing.
It wasn’t the top of the hill, but between the trees, it had an impressive view across the fjord of the lights twinkling in Bergen and the surrounding towns.
‘What do you think of this spot for the cabin?’
‘I thought it would be down by the water.’
‘This feels good, doesn’t it? A little further away, a little more secluded?’
It felt like they were a million miles away from the island. Erik sat down and patted the grass next to him, which Ida knew would be damp, but she sat down anyway, putting the lantern behind them so they could see the view without its glare interfering.
‘It’s a great spot. Is this your woodland?’
‘It’s our woodland, mine and your family’s. No need to split anything up. But I think I might take some of these trees down to improve the view. And to build the cabin with.’
‘Is it a good idea to be so far up the hill?’ She didn’t want to pour cold water on his plan, but it was something they ought to consider.
‘I think it’s going to be okay, Ida. I’ve come to realise that my leg isn’t done healing yet, and it’s something I’ll keep working towards.
And it’s weird, but those days we spent in Voss I didn’t even notice it.
The flight home and the flight here were a hundred times better than the first time I came.
Maybe Norway has healed me.’ His teeth were bright when he smiled at her in the darkness, and she smiled back.
‘I think it was probably me.’
‘You could be right about that,’ he laughed.