Page 17 of Entwined in Norway

Erik shook his hand, wondering whether he ought to share with Mats the reason he was here. But no, it was too soon to announce himself. There was more to find out before he did that, but knowing he was on the right track left him feeling a little devious now that Mats had been so welcoming.

They walked back to the hotel together, talking about what they might work on after lunch. Erik went back up to his room while Mats headed for the hotel office.

He pulled out the plastic wallet that held the few precious documents he’d brought with him and carefully pulled out the hand-drawn map. It said, “Strandgården” in the centre of the island; the only words on there. The island was clearly drawn in the middle of the flimsy paper, the fjord on either side. The land to the east, an outline much larger than the island — several times larger at least — was marked with a single symbol. A vertical line with two arrows, one underneath the other, pointing up, like a stick picture of a Christmas tree.

This was what he had come for. To find out whether this timber forest, which had been like folklore in his family, existed. And his conversation with Mats seemed to confirm the scant information in this drawing.

He tucked the map back into the wallet and packed it safely in his rucksack. Then he changed into some clothes he could afford to get dirty and headed downstairs for lunch before he started work. It felt so good to have something to do. So good that he actually had a smile on his face.

As he reached the hallway and was about to walk straight across to the dining room, he saw Ida sitting at the reception desk. He swallowed. He needed to apologise, especially now he’d kind of made friends with her brother.

‘Um, hey. I’m sorry about this morning. The water.’ He shoved his hands into his pockets, feeling suddenly awkward.

‘No problem, Mr Anderson.’ The smile on her face was wide, but fake. He didn’t blame her.

‘And thank you for checking out the shower. I appreciate it.’

‘Your comfort is our top priority,’ she said. ‘Enjoy your lunch.’ She stood there, still with the fake smile, clearly dismissing him.

He walked into the dining room feeling pretty stunned that his apology had not been accepted. It didn’t sit well with him at all. What else was he meant to do? Okay, maybe he’d overreacted about the hot water shortage, but wasn’t Ida being like this as much of an overreaction?

Ida. He was thinking about her as if he knew her, when all he knew was that she was beautiful, and wasn’t taking any of his shit. And maybe he kind of liked that. It was a refreshing change from people walking on eggshells around him, even if it was super awkward between them now.

‘I was kind of an asshole to Ida this morning,’ he said to Mats later in the afternoon. He didn’t know where the sudden urge to confess had come from, but Mats was easy to talk to, and it just came out.

‘I heard.’ Mats took the piece of wood Erik had just cut. ‘This needs a little more off,’ he said and handed it back.

‘If you angle it like this and give it a gentle tap… there.’

Mats grinned and shook his head. ‘You’re good at this.’

‘It’s experience, I guess.’ He started cutting the next piece of wood. ‘Ida told you what I said?’

‘Do you know she’s my sister?’

He did not know that. ‘Man…’

Mats gave him a wry smile. ‘It’s tough to come back from being on Ida’s bad side.’

‘I tried to apologise, for what it’s worth. Got any tips?’

‘Persistence. She won’t expect it. People think she’s tough, and she is, but she’s protecting herself by shutting you out.’

‘Like one chance, and that’s it?’

‘Something like that. You don’t seem like an asshole. You carried the flour,’ he chuckled. ‘And you’re helping me out.’

It was hard for Erik to talk about himself, to open up to Mats, even though he’d been given the chance. It was easier to admit he’d been an asshole to Ida than to talk about why that kind of behaviour came too easily to him nowadays. But Mats deserved an explanation, and Erik needed him to know that he hadn’t always been this way.

‘I had a snowboarding accident a few months ago. I used to compete, but that’s off the cards now, and I guess the whole thing has given me a short temper. I shouldn’t have taken it out on your sister, but sometimes it gets the better of me.’

‘So you’re not really a joiner?’

‘My dad is. I learned everything from him while I was growing up, so that’s the only backup plan I have.’

‘I’m sorry. That’s tough.’

‘But not an excuse.’