Chapter 31
The next morning, Leif woke up next to Ella, facing her bare back.
With his finger, he traced the word beauty in the space between her shoulder blades.
She stirred in her sleep and he nuzzled her neck, her grapefruit scent hitting him like a high.
If only he could bottle that fragrance and uncork it when she was gone.
The thought of her leaving turned his mood gray.
He was enchanted by her full personality and her grand ideas.
She loved his work as an artist and even wanted to combine his designs with hers; he couldn’t begin to explain how happy this made him.
And he liked having her over; she made his house feel like a home.
But he remembered her vermilion throw pillows, and that she’d probably want to change his curtains and plant hot peppers in the window boxes so she could make spicy food—without fish.
She wanted goats, and canaries like Ragnar . . . or was it chickens?
He remembered something Erik always said: “Give a woman your hand and they’ll take your whole arm.”
He snuck out of the room and went for his morning ice bath off his dock. Afterward he put together a breakfast tray for the two of them: buttered rolls, homemade blueberry jam, and two mugs of coffee.
Tray in hand, he walked back to his bedroom and halted at the sight of Ella.
She stood near his wardrobe, wearing another pair of his boxers and a lacy bra.
Her aquamarine necklace was nestled near her breasts, and its long strand of beads traced a line to her belly button.
With a mischievous glint in her eye and a sexy grin, she sat on the mattress and crooked her finger at him.
Damn, he wanted her so badly he ached. Quickly relieving himself of the breakfast tray, he kissed her and lifted her onto his lap.
She wrapped her arms around him and pinned him to the mattress.
In that instant, he felt freer than ever.
· · ·
He grabbed his boat keys from the dresser while Ella laced her boots.
A couple of hours should be plenty of time to help her clean the fish mess from her cottage.
He’d head to work afterward and stay late to make up for the time off.
As he shut the front door behind them, a piece of torn cardboard fluttered on twine attached to the door knocker. The note was from Inger.
Why won’t you install a phone? Grrr!!! Come to my house immediately. Have you found Erik? We need to talk. It can’t wait.
Inger
He folded up the cardboard. What now? he wondered.
“Everything all right?” Ella asked.
“It’s from Inger; she wants to chat straightaway.”
“You’re absolutely sure she didn’t trash my place?” Ella asked skeptically, twisting her silver thumb ring.
Leif honestly didn’t know, but Inger welcomed drama, and he sensed Ella wouldn’t put up with any more of it. He had no desire to be caught anywhere in the middle of a fight.
As if reading his mind, Ella said, “I’m going with you.” She shot him a stubborn look that made it clear she’d take no argument from him.
“OK, if you say so. It’s about a ten-minute walk.” Leif led Ella around the corner of his house and across the backyard to the concrete path leading to Inger’s place.
Ella remarked, “I’m glad I had a chance to calm down before seeing her. If I’d seen her yesterday, I probably would’ve accused her and said a bunch of stuff without thinking.”
“I’m good at reading Inger. I’ll know if she’s lying.
” Leif kicked at a pebble, sending it skittering to the side of the path and into someone’s rose garden.
If she’d vandalized Ella’s property, he didn’t know if he could ever forgive her.
His patience with Inger had run thin. “There’s an adage: To make a friend, a person needs to shut one eye.
To keep that friend, a person must shut both eyes.
But if she’s guilty, I don’t think I can do that. ”
They walked farther yet, beyond more white clapboard homes with glazed tile roofs, roses and hydrangeas blooming against picket fences. Spotting a chocolate lab puppy chewing a squeaky toy on a stone terrace, Ella grinned.
“Do you want a dog?”
“Pets?” Leif shook his head no. “They’re so much work. And they need all your time.”
She clasped her hands to her chest. “But they make the best companions! I just love them.”
“I do too. But with my work schedule, I can’t give them the attention they need or deserve.”
They passed salt-gnarled pines and boathouses decorated with colorful ceramic shells. The path took them by the Lyng?r post office, located in a small nautical cottage with a stone chimney and wildflower garden. Beyond all of this was the deep blue sea.
“Every day I’m amazed at the beauty here,” Ella said. “It lights me up.”
“That’s Inger’s place straight ahead.” Leif gestured at the yellow cottage sitting on a flat stretch of heather-carpeted rock.
They made their way to Inger’s porch and Leif rapped on the door. A minute later Inger called out “Be right there!”
Ella was still wearing Leif’s flannel shirt, and she fidgeted with the rope belt coiled around her waist. She suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable and wished she’d worn her own clothes.
The door opened and Inger announced, “You’re too late. I left that note last night.” Her gaze shifted to Ella and her frown lines deepened before she focused on Leif again. “I’m on my way out. I’m meeting Axel at the Propeller now. Three o’clock wine club—you forgot, didn’t you?”
She closed the door behind her but continued talking. “Have you seen Erik? I don’t know what he and Ragnar talked about, but it couldn’t be good. Axel said Erik looked wrecked.”
“Wrecked? Axel said that?” Leif rubbed the tension knot at the back of his neck.
“Yes, he said that. Did something happen when you visited Ragnar? Mia filled me in some but wouldn’t say much, and I want details.” Inger’s wolfy eyes glittered as they bored into his. It was her way of saying that she wouldn’t let this go.
“You know exactly how I feel about gossip. This is between Ragnar and Erik, so you need to ask them.” Leif had been the subject of gossip ever since his father’s accident, and he didn’t like participating in it when it came to others either.
Besides, he’d promised Ella that they’d give up chasing the past.
With a set to her jaw Inger said, “Fine, don’t tell me. But tonight I’m calling Ragnar. You know how he gets at night, after he’s knocked back the booze. He’ll have plenty to say then.” She pursed her strawberry mouth.
Ella intervened. “Someone dumped fish inside my cottage.”
“Yeah? Sounds like someone pulled a prank,” Inger said with an offhand shrug.
Angered by this, Ella said evenly, “I won’t be bullied by you or anyone else.”
“Don’t bring me into this! I didn’t do it. Why would I?” Inger was clearly outraged by the unspoken accusation.
“Why would you? Well, for starters, you sabotaged my dinghy! I could’ve died on that island! You’re right—dead fish in my house is a prank compared to that!”
Inger’s neck turned red. For a second she scratched at the blotches on her chin, her cigarillo burning down between her fingers.
“Well?” Ella asked with impatience.
Inger tapped ashes on the ground. “I didn’t trash your house—despite the long list of reasons why you annoy me. For starters, you drank my—”
Leif interrupted. “Enough! You owe Ella an apology for messing with her boat.”
Inger glowered at him, and it was clear she had more to say, but he gave her a steely Drop-it stare, and she stopped herself.
There was a first time for everything. He held Ella’s hand and continued sternly, “People are going to blame you for trashing Ringpynten. Whoever did this will use you as their scapegoat. Do you want that?”
“I couldn’t care less about what people think, and you know it!
” Inger said with a sneer. But as she turned to Ella, her brow smoothed and she seemed to soften a bit.
“Loosening your dinghy line was only a joke. I didn’t mean for you to get stranded.
” She stamped out her cigarillo, effectively ending the apology. “That’s why I’m going to help.”
“Help with what?” Ella asked. She squinted her eyes skeptically.
“Help find out who trashed your cottage,” Inger said.
“You’re going to help me?” Ella let out a disbelieving laugh and shook her head. “No way.”
“Let her do it,” Leif said. “People know you and I are friends, so they won’t open up to me. But they’ll confide in her.”
Inger tossed her key chain in the air and caught it confidently. “I’ll ask around. Meet me at the Propeller in two hours. We’ll find your culprit.”
· · ·
As they headed back to Leif’s house, Ella threaded her fingers through his. He brought her hand to his mouth, kissed her knuckles, and asked, “Are you OK?”
“I don’t know. It seems crazy to think Inger is trying to do me a favor right now, but there’s no turning back.”
“I’m not going to work,” Leif said. “I’m staying with you today.”
“I’m not sure I can face Ringpynten right now, in the state it’s in.
Do you think we can safely put it off a little longer?
I’d really like to go to the Propeller first .
. .” Ella picked several daisies growing by the side of the path and tore off a couple of petals, then observed carefully, “So, it looks like Inger is innocent, huh? But are you sure Charlotte is? She’s not happy you’re spending time with me. She made that clear at the bonfire.”
“It wasn’t Charlotte. I understand why you might suspect her, but Charlotte has a kind heart. I think this motive, whatever it may be, is more sinister.”
“Sinister . . . yeah, it feels that way. Like someone would really have to hate me to do this.” Ella ripped the rest of the petals from the flowers and rolled them anxiously between her fingers.
“I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out.” Leif folded his hand over Ella’s to calm her nervous movements.
“Your support means everything to me. Most things I can handle on my own, but in Lyng?r . . . well, it’s very different. I’m an outsider here.”
“Sunna, I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere.” He stopped, slid his arms around her, and then found her lips.
Back at Leif’s house, the time that Inger had requested until their meeting stretched before them, but Leif knew just how to fill it.
Ella lit the candles on the kitchen mantel.
Van Morrison’s “Daring Night 1” played on the stereo.
She scooted her chair closer to Leif’s, their knees touching as he handed her a whittling knife and a postcard-size pine block.
“Trust yourself,” he said, and she loved him for saying that.
“OK.” She smiled at him, then kissed his mouth and settled into her seat.
She began shaving thin strips of oak. She scraped the knife against the block, again and again, and slowly but surely she got the hang of it.
Whittling was harder than she’d imagined.
An image of Mia’s Norwegian Forest cat, Bactus, came to mind.
She could paint stripes on its tail and whiskers on its cheeks.
She was glad Leif had taken the day off.
Being with him and carving together took her mind off the horrors of the cottage.
As she worked, Leif whittled his own block of wood into a wolf’s snout and two perfect front paws.
He told her about Fenrir, a monstrous wolf in Norse mythology.
According to legend, Fenrir had swallowed the sun.
When he fought against the chief Norse god, Odin, Fenrir swallowed him too.
Inger, with her sharp, assessing eyes, reminded Ella of a wolf.
Ella prayed that she wouldn’t get swallowed like the sun by the time this was all over.
The hours flew by, and she was almost disappointed when Leif announced it was time to meet Inger at the Propeller.