Page 34 of Entwined in Norway

‘It’s okay. I want to have dinner with you.’

That was a surprise. ‘You do?’

She exhaled and looked out over the fjord. ‘This is something I never do. I don’t date and I don’t know how it fits in with… everything. How it fits in with me.’

‘I’m glad you know that I want to date you, Ida. But there aren’t any rules.’

‘There are rules. You’re just being kind. I can’t go out with you in my work clothes. I can’t go out with you without doing my make-up.’

‘You don’t have to change your clothes if you don’t want to, I don’t care what you wear. I think you’re beautiful as you are.’

He stroked her cheek with his thumb and she leaned into his touch. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, blinked away some tears.

‘I didn’t think it would be like this,’ she said softly. She sat down on the bottom step. ‘I didn’t think someone I liked would walk into my hotel. I thought I’d have a hard time finding a person when I was ready. And I’ve been building myself up to that. Now that things are more settled with Mats and the island, I can start my life again. I’ve even suggested selling this place so that I can have a new start somewhere else.’

‘You’re thinking of leaving the hotel?’

She sniffed and shook her head. ‘Not yet. But yes, one day. I didn’t think I could be properly happy here again. And now…’

‘Now?’ He sat on the next step up, and she leaned her head against his chest.

‘Now I don’t think it matters where I am. I’m happy. And that scares me and excites me at the same time.’

‘I’m glad you’re happy.’ He was desperate to know whether it was him or the idea of dating in general that had made her see things differently, but of course he couldn’t ask her that. For him, it was certainly Ida. She was the unexpected highlight of this trip and he couldn’t bring himself to think past the end of the week because that brought too many unknowns into it. There were questions that would come up that he’d have no idea how to answer.

‘Don’t think too hard about any of this stuff,’ he said, stroking her hair. ‘We enjoy each other’s company and that’s okay. It doesn’t have to be anything more.’

She stood up, standing on the step so she was slightly taller than him, leant in and kissed him. All the things he’d been thinking about on the way over shot out of his head to make room for feeling everything in this moment.

‘Thank you,’ she said, pulling away but leaving her hands on the sides of his face.

He covered one hand with his. ‘Don’t thank me, Ida. You don’t know how much you’ve turned this visit around for me either.’

‘Come on,’ she said, taking his hand. ‘Let’s go.’

By the time they got to the top of the steps, his leg ached almost as much as it had that morning.

‘Are you okay?’

‘You don’t need to ask me that every time,’ he snapped. He immediately regretted it when he saw the shock register on Ida’s face, quickly replaced by indignation. ‘I’m sorry. I’m fine.’

‘It’s okay.’

‘No, it’s not. I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I appreciate you looking out for me. You don’t need to.’

Without saying anything else, she let them into the house through the door on the terrace and into the kitchen where a young boy was sitting at the table with a workbook in front of him. A woman, he assumed Mats’ partner, Lotta, was working on her laptop. It was a companionable silence until the boy spotted Ida.

‘Faster Ida!’

‘Hei Emil!’

Ida went around the table and hugged the little boy. ‘You’re doing your homework, that’s great,’ she said in English.

‘Hi, I’m Lotta.’

‘Erik. It’s nice to meet you both.’

‘And this is Emil,’ said Ida.