Page 35 of Entwined in Norway

‘It looks like you’re good at math?’ Erik said.

Emil looked at him and nodded shyly.

‘It’s his favourite,’ said Ida.

‘What are you guys up to?’ Lotta asked.

‘We’re heading out for dinner,’ said Erik.

‘Can I come?’ Emil said.

‘I thought we were going to play your new game?’ Lotta said. ‘And we’re making pizza for dinner.’

Emil sighed. ‘Okay.’

‘Could we join you for pizza?’ Erik said, his eyebrows raised in question to Ida and Lotta. Was that too much? To force himself into a family dinner as if there were something far more between him and Ida than one evening out together under their belts.

‘Do you mind making extra pizza, Emil?’ Ida asked.

Erik took that as a win. He didn’t know Ida very well yet but if she thought he’d overstepped he had a feeling they’d be on their way back out of the house by now.

‘We don’t mind,’ he said, looking at Lotta who nodded and smiled at him.

‘I’m going to get changed.’ Ida left the kitchen and Erik sat down at the table with Lotta and Emil.

Emil went back to his homework.

‘A second date?’ Lotta murmured.

‘Just dinner. I’m not sure we’re dating.’ He loved that this woman he’d never met was straight in with the questions.

‘How long are you here for?’

‘Another week, maybe longer. I’m on the hunt for some good Nordic spruce. Mats was good enough to show me the timber he’s had milled. I think I’m on the right track but the few days I’d planned to stay isn’t going to be long enough.’

Lotta gave him a knowing smile. ‘It’s a good idea to stay longer then. Explore things a bit more.’

‘Right.’ He grinned.

‘But Ida’s been through a lot. Be careful.’

He knew exactly what Lotta meant, and his first thought was how lucky Ida was to have people looking out for her. ‘You got it,’ he said quietly.

‘Finished,’ Emil said, closing his workbook with a flourish and slamming his pencil on top of it. ‘Can we play the game now?’

‘Yes. Well done for finishing your maths. Come on.’

The two of them went into the lounge at the same time Ida came back into the kitchen. She was wearing a t-shirt that was short enough to skim the waistband of her jeans. Her hair was loose; the first time he’d seen it like that, and it fell in chestnut waves over her shoulders. She looked relaxed and so beautiful.

‘Since we’re having dinner cooked for us, shall we take a glass of wine out onto the terrace?’

‘That sounds great.’

Ida poured them a small glass of wine each from a bottle in the fridge and he held the terrace door open for her. Emil shrieked with laughter and Ida’s face lit up.

‘He loves that game, especially when he’s beating one of us.’ She put the glasses down on the table and pushed the parasol up, standing on tiptoe to click it into place.

‘Let me.’