Page 65 of Entwined in Norway

‘He’s probably really competitive. I googled him this afternoon. I had no idea he was famous.’

‘In the snowboarding world, maybe. And someone stopped him yesterday because they knew who he was. It’s so funny.’

‘It’d be interesting to know what his family research is about. We might end up being related.’

‘I don’t think there are any Olsens in our family tree.’

‘Isn’t his name Anderson?’

‘Yes. No Andersons either.’ Ida didn’t think she had time before Erik got out of the shower to get into the detail about the torn letter she had and how Erik had mentioned a letter last night. Thea deserved to know, and it would have been good to get a second opinion on the chances of Erik’s letter being the other half of her letter, or whether it was an enormous leap to assume that.

‘Well, that must be a relief for you,’ Thea said, grinning and raising an eyebrow.

‘He’s leaving in a few days so that will be the end of it anyway,’ Ida said.

‘Really? You’re not going to try it long distance and see what happens?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘It’s probably for the best. Love hurts. Better not to prolong the agony.’

‘I’m not in love with him, Thea.’

Her sister gave her a look of disbelief. ‘Tell me that in a couple of weeks when he’s left and you’re heartbroken. It’s okay to be in love. It’s the best thing in the world when you are. When they are.’

‘I’m so sorry about you and Henrik.’ Ida suddenly felt bad that they hadn’t got into how Thea was feeling about her own heartbreak.

‘I’m okay. Through the worst.’

‘How could you not tell us?’

‘I’m sorry. It’s hard when we don’t see each other. I forget how easy it is to talk to you. It’s been great having you here these past couple of days. When it’s been a while, I get into my own world. I’m used to dealing with things by myself.’

‘You don’t have to. Even if you don’t want to come back to the house, at least get a place in Bergen. You can’t live in the cabin forever. It doesn’t look like anyone lives here. The only sign was that the bed was made.’

‘I know. I always worried that Fredrik would decide to bring Emil when I was here. I didn’t want to make a big thing of it.’

‘Where’s all your stuff?’

‘It’s boxed up at Henrik’s. He wants it out, but he’s too ashamed to make a stand over it, which has worked out for me.’

‘At least get that sent to Loddefjord. It draws a line under it for you.’

‘Okay, I will. Thanks Ida. I wish I’d told you before.’ Thea gave her sister a hug.

‘Let’s make sure we stay in touch more often.’

‘That smells so good,’ Erik said, coming out from the bedroom with his hair sticking up every which way after being rubbed dry.

‘I’ll take a shower and pack,’ Ida said.

Erik’s bag was packed and leaning up against the wall next to the door in the bedroom. He’d left the top of his pack open, and she used a finger to lift the flap aside. She had a feeling he might have brought that document wallet with him. It would be so easy to look, then she’d know what to expect when she finally confronted him about it.

A clatter followed by a laugh came from the kitchen and reminded Ida that everything would be so much worse if Erik caught her snooping in his bag. She could wait.

Before she showered, she pulled some clean clothes out of her own bag, stripped off the clothes she’d been wearing, then shoved them in with the few other things like her phone charger and toothbrush. She showered quickly, then joined the other two in the kitchen where Thea was dishing up.

They ate their meal while Erik asked Thea about her job and what it was like living in Trømso. She asked him about his snowboarding, something that Ida had avoided in case it was difficult for him to talk about, but he didn’t seem to mind, and it was interesting learning more about what his life had been like before his accident.