Page 45 of Entwined in Norway

‘I’ll come find you if we’re done here.’

‘Okay.’

They sank into each other for a last kiss, and Ida headed back to the hotel.

She went into the kitchen to pour herself a coffee.

‘What are you smiling about?’ Heidi asked. She was sitting at the counter with a pen and a notebook.

‘Nothing,’ said Ida. It was an automatic response, and maybe Heidi knew that because she waited for her to say something else. ‘You know that guy, Erik?’

‘Erik, who you went on a date with? Erik who went to your house for dinner? Yes, I know Erik.’

‘Does everyone know?’

‘Of course,’ Heidi said, going back to her menu planning. ‘Nothing is a secret in a place like this. And just because I’m in the kitchen all the time, it doesn’t mean I don’t see what’s going on.’ She tapped her nose with her pen. ‘You like him?’

‘Yes,’ she sighed.

Heidi put her pen down. ‘I haven’t known you for long, Ida, but I have never seen you look this happy. Is it because of him?’

‘Yes.’ Ida pulled up a stool and sat along the counter from Heidi. ‘But a person shouldn’t let their happiness be dictated by someone else.’

‘I know what you’re saying. You should be the master of your own destiny, make your own happiness. Whatever. But that’s only part of it. You need that, but also, if someone else makes you feel like that, isn’t that what falling in love is? Meeting a person who makes you happier than you even knew you could be?’

‘I have very limited experience in this area,’ Ida said, smiling. ‘And I don’t think I’m in love with him. I think I love being with him. Even not being with him, but knowing he’s there. All of it makes me happy.’

‘There is nothing wrong with that. Don’t second-guess yourself.’

‘You don’t think it’ll be heartbreaking when he leaves?’

‘Yes. But isn’t this worth taking that chance?’

Ida mulled over Heidi’s words for the rest of the day. She didn’t see Erik until he came back to the hotel later in the afternoon when Mats was leaving again to collect some guests from Bergen. He strolled over to the reception desk and pulled his hat off, sending a cloud of sawdust swirling.

‘Hey, this is a luxury hotel.’

‘Do you have a tradesman’s entrance?’

‘You’re the first guest who’s ever made a mess like this. Go and have a shower before I have to start sweeping after you.’

‘I was thinking of taking a swim first. Want to join me?’

Emilie was coming over from Bergen with Mats, but the hotel was quiet and would be until they got here.

‘I have half an hour, that’s all.’ She popped her head around the kitchen door to tell Heidi, then remembered she had nothing to wear. ‘But I don’t have a swimsuit.’

‘You don’t need a swimsuit.’

She pursed her lips and smiled. ‘Really?’

‘I’m going in naked.’

‘What if a guest sees?’

‘What guest?’ He laughed and held his hands out. ‘Come on. Who’s coming over to the other end of the island in the next half hour?’

‘Okay.’ She ran up the stairs to the first-floor linen cupboard and grabbed two towels. Then, back downstairs, she grabbed his hand and pulled him outside before anyone saw and before she could think better of it.