Page 48 of Entwined in Norway

‘Thank you, Heidi.’

He went back out into the hall.

‘What was that about?’ Ida asked.

‘She had a suggestion about dinner tonight.’

‘We’ll have to eat here anyway because there’s no boat service.’

‘Uh huh.’ He was going to keep the secret beach to himself until they got there. ‘I’m going up to the room. Be back in a few.’

He packed two clean towels in his backpack and pulled on a sweater, putting another cleaner hoodie in the bag for Ida in case it got chilly later on.

By the time he got back downstairs, Emilie had arrived, and she and Ida were doing a handover, so he went into the lounge to wait.

‘Hey, Erik. Thanks for today.’ Mats came in and sat on the chair opposite.

‘No problem. It was good to get that joist sized up.’

‘Ida says you two are heading to Voss tomorrow?’

‘Is that okay?’

‘Of course it is. We haven’t used the cabin in a while. In fact, my brother was the last one there, so it might not be pretty.’

Erik laughed. ‘Ida seemed pretty excited.’

‘I don’t think she’s had more than a day off here and there since we opened. It’ll be good for her to have a proper break.’

‘She’s asking Emilie to cover for a couple of days, but is there any chance we could make it three? Then we can have one whole day there with no travelling.’

‘That’s fine by me,’ said Mats. ‘I’ve tried to say to her before that she should have a holiday, but she’s always said no.’

Erik thought Ida probably struggled with the idea of having too much time on her hands. It was certainly the case for him. He’d have checked out of this place after two days if he hadn’t started working with Mats. If he hadn’t met Ida.

‘Erik!’ Heidi appeared from the door that led from the end of the lounge into the kitchen.

‘Excuse me,’ he said to Mats. ‘I have a food parcel to collect. I’m taking Ida on a picnic.’

‘That’s very inventive,’ Mats said, grinning.

‘It was Heidi’s idea.’

‘We certainly go the extra mile to make our guests happy.’

Heidi handed him a large bag. ‘Make a fire. Put the foil parcels in the edges of the fire for twenty minutes. That’s all.’

‘How am I going to light the fire?’

She rolled her eyes at him as if he were a fool for wondering. ‘I’ve put a lighter in the bag.’

‘Great, thank you.’ He assumed everything else he’d need for making a fire would be on hand, because it seemed like Heidi was on it.

As soon as Ida was ready, he led the way to the jetty where the kayak was still hidden behind the bush.

‘I thought we were staying here?’

‘Nope.’ He lifted the kayak into the water and held it for Ida to get on before handing her the bag. ‘No peeking.’