Page 67 of Snug in Iceland

“Jonas…” She didn’t want to break the spell but… “Really,” she said gently, “what are you doing here?”

“I made a mistake, Rachel. It was a mistake to say goodbye to you, to let you go. I don’t know what I was thinking but I was hurting and I was afraid of how I felt about you. I wanted to try to stop myself from falling for you when you were going to leave. But it was too late and I hadn’t realised that I had completely fallen in love with you until I had said goodbye. I’m so sorry. I said it so that neither of us would get hurt but look what happened. But I have had a couple of days to think, I have had nothing else to do.” He gestured to his shoulder which was in a very wet sling but visible enough for Rachel to see that it was black and blue. “I can come to London -”

“No, you couldn’t Jonas. It’s part of you and I can’t imagine you being anywhere else. You wouldn’t be happy and your business is here. But I could leave England.”

As she said it aloud, she realised she wasn’t just saying it because Jonas had offered the same, she had already made up her mind. After all, what was she going back to? Not Adam anymore and maybe not Snug, at least not as she knew it. “I could stay here.” Her eyes widened as she could suddenly see that there could be a future or them. “I have an idea for a business. I might need your help to start it off but I want to stay and I think I’ve found a way to make it happen.”

Strangely, it had crossed her mind before that she could stay but she’d struggled with the idea of leaving her job almost to the point where she had not considered it possible. She loved her job, it was a big part of her life, had been almost her whole life when she’d been in London. But that wasn’t what mattered anymore. Maybe it was the uncertainty of what might happen to Snug now that had jolted her out of thinking that she couldn’t leave it behind but there were other things now that were more important. What mattered was Jonas, life, love, the people she loved and she felt a huge sense of euphoria at being able to grab hold of that now with no regrets and all the excitement of embarking on a new adventure that just a few weeks ago she would never have thought possible.

“Rachel, are you sure? I am happy to come to London with you. I can’t ask you to leave everything and come here.”

“You didn’t ask me, Jonas, I decided and nothing will change my mind. When I thought you didn’t want us to be together, when we said goodbye, I couldn’t imagine what I was going to do but now I know. And you want that too…” She looked at his troubled expression and was crestfallen. “Oh, that’s not what you meant.”

“I just want you to be happy, Rachel. It’s a huge decision… you must think about it for a few days. Go home and see how you feel then.”

“I am going home but just to tidy up all the loose ends so that I can come back and be with you. I don’t need any time to think things over. I’ve spent the past two weeks knowing that all I want to do is be with you and since I saw you at Gudrun’s house, well it really made me think about what I want and what the most important things in my life are. And basically, they’re all you. I’m staying.”

She jumped upright out of the water and landed with a huge splash on her back. “I’m moving to Iceland!” she shrieked before disappearing under the water.

Jonas laughed at her from the side of the pool.

Gudrun and Olafur appeared in their swimming things clutching beers for all of them. They ran along the edge of the pool, put the beers down next to Jonas and then leapt in.

“She’s staying!” announced Jonas, still laughing at Rachel who had emerged and was now hugging Gudrun.

“Thank goodness for that,” said Olafur. “We couldn’t stand another minute of looking at your sad little face,” he said, tickling Jonas under the chin.

“Get off,halfviti!” said Jonas, pushing Olafur away good-naturedly. Rachel and Gudrun swam back to the side of the pool and they all grabbed a beer.

“Skál!” They clinked their bottles with each other and settled in a row leaning against the rocky edge of the pool, looking up at the clear, starry night. The extraordinary darkness meant that there were so many more stars than Rachel had ever seen before.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else tonight. It’s magical here.”

Then as she kept looking, she could see waves of green in the sky. Or was it her imagination? She’d waited so long to see the aurora borealis that she thought her mind might have been playing tricks - wanting to make the night as perfect as possible. But as she kept her eyes skywards, the glimpses of the waves turned from a hint of colour into a huge ribbon of green and purple shimmering across the sky right in front of her.

“Look! It’s happening! I never thought I’d see them, it’s beautiful,” she said, with tears in her eyes.

Looking at Jonas and seeing that he was having the same reaction as her, was the most perfect and amazing moment. She pressed herself against him and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tight as they watched the spectacle.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “Rachel, if you are going to stay I need to make a promise to you. I promise to love you and look after you every day.”

Nothing else he could have said at that moment would have been more perfect.

“I promise that to you too,” she said solemnly. She put her arm around his neck and pulled him to her; her turn to kiss him. “I couldn’t love you more than I do at this minute.”

“Drink your beer,” he said with a grin. Rachel looked down at her bottle and could see something sparkling in the candlelight. There was a ring tied on a piece of ribbon which had been slipped over the neck of the bottle. Rachel looked at Jonas in disbelief as he took the ring and placed it on her finger, ribbon and all.

“You don’t have to propose to make me want to stay.”

“It’s maybe not a proposal, a promise of a future together. For now.”

“It’s perfect. I love you, Jonas.”

“I love you too, Rachel. Here’s to us. Skál!”

The End