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Svanhild leaned forward and hugged Holly. “Thank you. If my mother was alive, she would have told me what to say to bullies. My father just scowls at me. How am I supposed to know all this?”

Holly pressed the girl to her and kissed the crown of her head. She wished her mom would have had a similar pep talk with her instead of constantly looking for what Holly had done wrong.

“He just doesn’t know how to talk to you, hon. He loves you very much, even if he doesn’t know how to show it.”

Svanhild bent down again and continued to gather the herbs. “Maybe. But I know the gods gave me you. You are my new mother, and you will teach me everything I have missed.”

Holly forced out a smile, but inside, the pain of guilt stabbed at her. Because if even Einar didn’t care if she left or stayed, she knew it wasn’t only her heart that would break when she left.

Chapter Fourteen

June 1

It was a quiet evening. The sun hung like a red dragon’s eye between pink-and-orange clouds. The sea was almost still, and Einar inhaled fresh air. Next to him sat his wife, her skin golden in the sunset, her eyes luminous. He had seen her descending the small hill to the cliff and followed to make sure she was safe. She had sat down without a word and stared at the sunset, and he had sat down by her side. Far below, the sea caressed the white sand, and he longed to touch her as gently.

“Thank you, Holly,” Einar said. “What you did for Svanhild… I should have protected her. I should have been there.”

“She’s a good girl.” Holly smiled. “Those jerks needed to be taught a lesson. You’ve done much better than me.”

“And yet, you protected my child. You are a strong woman. A she-wolf.”

Holly studied him and giggled. “A she-wolf? Me? My mother would have found at least twenty things wrong in that statement. And this time, I’d agree with her.”

“And I would make sure your mother never got a say in anything concerning you again. She does not sound like she has a truthful opinion of you.”

“She’s my harshest critic.” Holly sighed. “I wonder how my biological mother was. I guess that is why I came to Scotland and started all that research. Because I never felt that I was okay. Deep down, I feel like there’s some sort of flaw that’s impossible to get rid of, and that’s why I don’t have my biological parents. Like, they had to get rid of me.” She pressed her lips together and looked down. “And other things.”

“If you think so, you must be insane. Everything you have touched since your arrival has made life here better. Made my life better.”

Holly glanced at him, surprised. Then an expression of loss crossed her face. He wanted to brush a fingertip across her forehead and wipe those creases away. Make her smile again.

“I’m just repaying my debt, Einar. I can’t just sit on my ass and get served dinner. But if you want my professional opinion, your personnel could work much more efficiently.”

Einar raised his eyebrows and chuckled. “What?”

“Your servants could work and accomplish more in less time.”

“How so?”

“Well, you have several people working the kitchens, and right now, everyone is doing everything. But if you made a sort of conveyor, it would go faster. Like, one person is only on peeling duty, the next one on chopping, the third one on meat cutting. And you could use the same principle for everything else. Planting. Harvesting. Weaving.”

At first, Einar thought that it was the strangest thing he’d ever heard, but when he imagined it, he realized how much faster things would go.

“To all gods, you are right,” he said. “Is that one of your futuristic ideas?”

“Yes.” Holly smiled, clearly pleased with his compliment. “Also, you could build a chimney.”

“A chimney?”

“Yes. Right now, your firepits just smoke up the whole hall. The tiny hole in the roof only lets a little smoke out. A chimney is a high sort of tower above the firepit. It funnels the smoke directly from the firepit out through the roof. It’s safe, and there would be much less smoke in the room.”

Einar gazed at her with wonder. “You must teach my men how to do that before you leave.”

A fleeting expression of sadness crossed her face when he said the last word. “Sure, Einar.”

He did not want to think of the moment she’d leave him. “What else can you recommend?”

“Well, you have a problem with few trees here, but you still need fire. I’ve heard Ireland is rich with turf or peat. Do you know what that is?”