Page 61 of Entwined in Norway

‘You look like you did.’

He looked more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. His hair was all over the place, and she loved it.

‘Maybe it’s the mountain air.’

‘Or maybe it’s the bigger bed,’ Ida said, laughing. ‘We’ll be back to the small one tonight.’

‘I don’t mind that,’ he said, squeezing her leg and grinning at her.

Ida didn’t want to ruin the last part of their time in Voss by confronting Erik about something she could perfectly well confront him about in Bergen. Especially when there was sure to be a rational explanation.

‘We have time to do something today before our train goes.’ They’d been so blindsided by Thea that they hadn’t made any plans for today.

‘Shall we hire bikes? There was a place in town I saw yesterday.’

Ida grinned. He was the complete opposite of her in that way. He was basically a sporty, outdoorsy man who’d had that part of him taken away. Maybe coming here had been good. Shown him that there were ways to fulfil that side of him without throwing himself down a mountain.

’I could enjoy a bike ride.’ And she would. Because the longer she had Erik without having to get any deeper into why he was here, the better.

22

Erik had seen enough of the landscape on their hike yesterday to know that it would be pretty easy riding if they hired a couple of bikes. He figured they could follow the river and find a nice place to eat on their way.

‘Do you want to invite Thea?’

‘No. I think she’ll sleep all day. It’s her first day off in a couple of weeks.’

‘What does she do on that boat?’

‘She’s the entertainment manager. They have a lot of tourists on the boat and they do talks and arrange excursions for them.’

‘Sounds like fun.’

‘Yes, and I think she loves it, but it’s a long stretch without a break.’

‘Not that different to your job, then.’

‘I’m on holiday right now!’

‘And I’m taking all the credit for making that happen.’

She grinned at him, which was kind of a relief. He’d been worried that the still unfinished conversation about his family research was becoming an elephant in the room, with both of them knowing it was looming there, needing to be addressed, but neither of them ready to do that yet. He’d half expected Ida to bring it up again this morning but since she hadn’t, he’d stick to his plan and leave it until they got back to Bergen.

This couple of days in Voss had done him good. Since running into the guy who’d recognised him yesterday, he’d thought a lot about what he could do, rather than dwelling on what he couldn’t, and now he was kicking himself for not having seen things that way sooner. He wasn’t ready to be a snowboarding coach, but maybe one day he would be.

They strolled into town and picked up some snacks for the backpack in case they didn’t find somewhere to eat on route, then hired two bikes and helmets, and they were off.

‘Do you know your way around here?’ he asked Ida.

‘Don’t talk to me yet,’ she said, looking a little wobbly on her bike. ‘It’s a while since I was on a bike.’

‘Okay, let’s go up and down this street a few times before we head out on the open road.’

Thankfully, the road they were on was flat and off the main drag, so it was fairly quiet. After a couple of runs up and down, Ida declared herself ready.

‘I don’t know Voss very well at all when it’s not covered in snow.’ She pulled her phone out and opened the maps app.

‘I’d love to cycle near the water.’