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‘When might I have said it? You told me you never wanted to speak to me again.’
The logic had seemed perfect to him, but it only seemed to make her more angry. ‘You could have slipped a note under my front door. It’s not so far for either of us to walk.’
‘I trusted you to come to me.’
She stared at him. ‘I really wish you hadn’t said that.’
Because it was the one thing he could have said to stop her from walking away from him? A sharp barb of hope bit into his heart.
‘Sit down. Please.’
Flora pressed her lips together, hesitating for agonising moments. Then she marched over to the stone slab that he was sitting on, plumping herself down on the far end so that their shoulders didn’t touch.
She was angry still, but at least she was sitting down. Aksel wasn’t sure where to start, but before he could organise his thoughts, Flora did it for him.
‘Where have you been, Aksel? You haven’t been at the cottage and Mette told me that you weren’t coming in to see her today.’
‘You went to see Mette?’ Of course she had. Flora wouldn’t let a little thing like a broken heart get in the way of making sure that a child wasn’t hurt by her absence. And from the way that she seemed to hate him so much, Aksel was in no doubt that her heart was just as wounded as his.
‘Yes. I made sure that you weren’t there already.’
Good. Hate was a lot more akin to love than indifference was. ‘I was in Oslo.’
‘Oslo? For two days?’
‘Just a day. I went to see Mette yesterday afternoon and left straight from there. I got back a couple of hours ago. The flight only takes an hour from Glasgow.’
She turned the edges of her mouth down. ‘And it was such a long way when I was thinking of making the trip.’
He deserved that. ‘I meant it when I said that I wouldn’t be able to let you go, and that this is your home. I went to Oslo to talk with Olaf and Agnetha. About making this my home and Mette’s.’
‘You need their permission?’ He could hear the fight beginning to go out of Flora’s tone. She was starting to crumble, and if she wasn’t in his arms yet, then maybe she would be if he gave it time.
‘No, I don’t. I’m Mette’s father, and I make decisions about what’s best for her, you taught me that. I wanted their blessing, and to reassure them that moving here didn’t mean that they wouldn’t get to see her.’
; Flora stared at him. ‘And...?’
‘They told me that they expected me to get a house with a nice guest room, because they’ll be visiting.’
A tear ran down her cheek. ‘Aksel, please. What exactly are you saying?’
Now was the time. He had to be bold, because Flora couldn’t be. He had to trust her, and show her that she could trust him. Aksel hung onto her hand for dear life.
‘There’s so much I want to say to you. But it all boils down to one thing.’
* * *
Flora had stumbled up a hill in the pitch darkness, and probably skinned her knees. If, in the process, she’d come to realise that nothing could keep her away from Aksel, she wanted to hear what he had to say for himself first.
The flickering flames bathed his face in warmth, throwing the lines of worry across his forehead into sharp relief. The taut lines of his body showed that he was just as agitated as she was.
‘What’s the one thing?’
‘I love you.’
That was good. It was very good because, despite herself, she loved him.
