Page 74 of Entwined in Norway

‘I can’t say it’s not satisfying on some level to see you like this over a woman after seeing you not care less about any of the women you dated here.’

‘Brutal but true. I’m sorry, Jess. You deserved better than me.’

‘Yes, I did. And I have that now.’

He smiled at her, happy that she was happy. ‘I’m glad.’

‘You think she’d want you literally beating yourself up? How bad can it be?’

‘It’s pretty bad.’

She looped a sling around his neck.

‘Is this necessary?’

‘Yes. For a few days, at least. Stay here while I put the order in for the X-ray. And Erik? It won’t be as bad as you think it is.’

Back at his apartment, he peeled off his shorts and t-shirt, binned both of them and dressed in a fresh t-shirt and some jogging bottoms, all while trying not to move his shoulder too much. He made himself some tea, swallowed some painkillers, and sat on the sofa. Only now did he fully realise what a lucky escape he’d had. Not only could he have gone over the edge of the path and down the mountainside, he could have injured his leg again. Another injury to that leg would be hard to come back from. He might not feel like it had fully recovered to what it had been like before, but he had to admit, unless he wanted to hike the side of a mountain, it didn’t hold him back much these days. What an idiot.

He pulled his phone out of his backpack and saw a couple of missed calls from his mom. He sighed. It was all very well coming to Banff to avoid his parents, but now they had sussed he wasn’t in Norway anymore, there was no way he could keep this a secret.

‘Hey, Mom.’

‘You’re back from Norway?’

Every time this happened, he wished he’d remembered to turn the location function off on his phone. His mom had insisted he have it when he first started going out alone after his accident in case anything happened.

‘Yes, I got back a couple of days ago.’ Why was he telling her this when clearly she already knew?

‘We thought you’d come back here, honey. What are you doing in Banff?’

‘I needed some time to reset after…’ He couldn’t tell her about Ida. Not yet. ‘The trip was amazing, Mom. The timber forest is there.’

‘Erik! That’s incredible! It’s really there? After all this time?’

‘Yep. I got to know the family who owns it, it’s still the Larsen family.’

‘Wow, well, isn’t that incredible. After all this time.’

He could hear the emotion in his mom’s voice. This whole thing meant something to all of them for different reasons, and he knew for her, it was the thing she’d been able to use to see him through the dark times. She probably thought this would be some kind of full-circle moment for him, and it was, but for different reasons than she thought.

‘When are you coming home? We can’t wait to hear all about it. And your dad’s desperate to hear about the timber. Do you think we can ship some over here?’

Suddenly, he was exhausted. The events of the day having caught up with him, as well as a little jet lag. He wanted to be at home with his mom. She loved him whatever he’d done, and maybe if he explained about Ida, she’d help him figure out what to do next.

‘I’m going to catch the next flight. Can you pick me up if I text you the details?’

‘Sure, honey. We can’t wait to see you.’

‘Me too, Mom. Love you.’

Erik’s father was waiting at the arrivals area in Toronto when he landed later that evening.

‘Your mother’s not going to be happy about that,’ he said, raising an eyebrow when he saw Erik’s sling. ‘Here, give that to me.’

Erik handed his backpack gratefully to his dad and felt overwhelmed to be back home where he didn’t have to navigate anything more difficult than lying on the sofa watching TV for a few days.

‘I’m guessing there’s more to the legacy hunt than you told your mother,’ his father said once they were on the road.