‘I will call today before I forget how I felt.’
Iris wasn’t sure that the memories of that night would fade so quickly, but she was glad for his own peace of mind that he wanted to see if there was a way to have a relationship of some kind with his daughter.
‘I may as well check out of the hotel. I can write my report here before we go back to England.’
‘You don’t need to go to the IMO?’
‘Bjarkey said not to. She thinks I need a break between finishing in the UK and starting here.’
’Bjarkey talks sense. I’ll do some reading while you are out.’
Iris kissed him, reluctantly peeled herself off the sofa, and handed him his book. By the time she’d got dressed, he’d fallen asleep with the book splayed open on his chest. She crept out ofthe house and headed for the hotel to pack up her room. It was a beautiful day. The snow glinted in the sunlight and she could swear there was some warmth in the sun when it hit her face.
‘Good morning, Iris,’ Embla said, greeting her with what looked like a genuine smile. ‘We haven’t seen you for a couple of days.’
‘I’m staying with a friend for a few days until I go back to the UK. Can I check out, please?’
‘You’re staying with Siggi.’ It wasn’t a question.
Iris nodded. Embla didn’t look like she wanted to kill her, but the change in her was unnerving.
‘I am happy for you both,’ she said, sounding like she meant it. ‘He is happy, and he never looked like that when he was with me.’
‘Thank you.’
Iris went up to her room, marvelling that Embla had a heart after all. And a big one at that, if she was ready to admit that Siggi wasn’t the man for her. But it was like living in a tiny village where everyone knew everything about everyone. That was going to take some getting used to.
She packed up her things. It seemed like she’d been here forever. So much had happened in just a couple of weeks. Her bag of goodies from Snug didn’t quite fit into her case, but she didn’t need to take everything back to England with her now. She could leave some of her things at Siggi’s until she found her own place. The first thing she was going to do when she found somewhere was make it into a cosy home like Anna and Ned’s. Hopefully, with the help of Snug and Gudrun’s staff discount.
When she got back to the house, Siggi was awake and reading again. His face lit up when he saw her, and he started to get up.
‘No! Stay where you are. I can manage,’ she said, not sure that she could. The suitcase wheels jammed as she hauled it over the doorstep while the enormous holdall on her shoulderstuck in the doorway and the bottom of the paper bag from Snug disintegrated where it had grazed the snow on her way up the path.
Siggi started laughing and holding his ribs, which made Iris laugh, making her go all weak. She shoved the bag off her shoulder, leaving it on the veranda while she brought the suitcase inside, then rescued the shopping out of the paper bag. She laid her purchases on the floor near the door.
‘You’ve been shopping? How long was I asleep?’
‘It was the other day.’ She headed back outside to fetch the empty paper bag and the holdall, then closed the door. ‘It’s not all for me, some of it is presents.’
‘For your family? Can I pretend I bought them?’
‘If you like,’ she said with a grin. ‘If you think the only in is to buy their affection.’
‘Could be a useful back up.’
Iris made them both a drink, then climbed up the ladder to the mezzanine, where there was a huge double bed that looked just as inviting as the one downstairs, and a desk that looked down over the lounge. Helpfully, it had a monitor that would plug into Iris’s laptop.
‘You don’t think they’d mind if I worked up here?’
‘Of course not. I would sleep up there if I could get up the ladder,’ Siggi said. ‘It is much nicer than that tiny room.’
‘The tiny room is cosy,’ Iris said, climbing back down.
‘And I don’t mind where I sleep as long as it is with you,’ Siggi said, catching her hand as she went past.
‘I have work to do,’ she said, pretending to be serious but sitting down next to him and leaning in for a kiss.
‘This is more important.’ He put his arm around her back, encouraging her to lie next to him again.
