‘Siggi.’ Iris twisted so that she was perched on the edge of the sofa, looking at him. ‘You can’t keep beating yourself up about a decision from so long ago. My new colleague, Bjarkey, gave me some great advice when I was deciding whether to take the job. She said that you have to know what you want before you can factor anyone else into a decision.’
He smiled and raised his eyebrows. ‘Who were you thinking of factoring in?’
‘Don’t change the subject.’
He sighed. ‘I am not used to talking about things like this.’
‘It’s important. You have to deal with this. You’ve been carrying around this regret for years. Last night you could have died because you thought you needed to save her from the eruption. If you want a relationship with her, talk to her mother. If you explain how you feel, she might understand. It was a long time ago.’
He nodded. ‘You are right. Arna does not know I am her father. I would like her to know, even if she does not want anything to do with me.’
Iris could understand how after last night, that would be important to him.
‘Maybe yesterday is a sign that things can be different.’
‘Can things be different with us?’ he asked, looking tortured as he waited for her answer.
‘I love you, Siggi. That’s why it hurt so much when you said if I stayed, it wouldn’t matter. I’d fallen in love with you and whether I decided to stay or leave, I was going to end up with a broken heart.’
‘I love you, Iris. I want you to stay. You deserve the job of your dreams and I am so glad that you didn’t let me stop you from taking it,’ he said, taking her hands in his and pulling her towards him. ‘Mind my ribs on this side.’
She hugged him gently, trying not to touch him anywhere apart from around his shoulders. ‘Is that okay?’
‘It is.’
She pulled back and put her palms on his cheeks, then kissed him. He was more stubbly than usual, and it made Iris’s lips tingle.
‘This is the worst time to be out of action,’ he groaned.
‘Have we agreed there is going to be any action yet?’
‘Haven’t we?’
There was a knock at the door. Iris jumped up. ‘Fish and chips!’
‘Hæ Siggi, hvernig hefurðu það?’The delivery guy said to Siggi.
‘Good, thanks,’ Siggi said, waving from the sofa. ‘Thank you for the delivery. I owe you a favour,’ he said in English.
‘Enjoy,’ the guy said, grinning and waving goodbye as he ventured back into the snow.
‘Brrr,’ said Iris, shivering at the icy blast that had come into the house. ‘I’ll plate it up.’
They ate together on the sofa. Iris made mugs of tea for them after finding a carton of long-life milk in the cupboard.
‘What do you think, then?’ Siggi asked, when they snuggled on the sofa together afterwards.
‘About?’
‘Us.’
‘I’d like to pick up just after the camping trip. Imagine we’ve had that amazing weekend, and delete the bit in between then and now.’
‘You’re happy to forget?’
‘We both know what we want and I think that’s each other.’
‘I cannot believe that I can go from despair to being so lucky in one day.’
