‘Awesome, As,’ said Gudrun, hugging her.
‘You’ll be giving the rest of the team a run for their money,’ said Olafur, grinning at Leifur. ‘Great job.’
The other guests left, saying how much they’d enjoyed it. Astrid and Leifur were grinning at each other from either side of the gangway, neither one of them able to believe that it had gone so well.
‘Have you ever had a day that has turned around quite so dramatically?’ Astrid said to him. She enjoyed seeing him happy. The anxiety had lifted off him, and he looked like a different man. She was sorry now that she had to leave to have dinner with her family because all she wanted to do wasdissect the day with him and revel in the success they’d made of it.
‘I can’t believe it went as well as it did,’ he said. ‘Your directions were spot on. I knew exactly where to head.’
‘I knew you realised you could do that! I can’t believe we never thought of that before.’
‘And the other tour companies shared the locations of where they had sightings over the radio.’
‘Did they? Did you share ours?’
‘Yes, once I realised what was going on. Jonas said it’s common practice with the northern lights excursions.’
‘Amazing!’
‘I wish we could go and celebrate,’ he said softly. ‘I couldn’t have got to where we are now without you.’
‘We did it together.’ She wished more than anything that it was just the two of them on the boat, but she saw Leifur’s mother waiting on the bench around the edge of the deck. ‘What do we need to do before we leave?’
‘You don’t need to stay. Go for dinner with your family. It won’t take me long to tidy up.’
‘No, your mother’s waiting. We’ll do it together.’
‘I’ll be ten minutes, Mamma,’ he called.
She raised a hand, waving him away with a smile. ‘I can wait,’ she called back.
All they needed to do was tidy the suits, empty the bins and clean the galley. Astrid headed up to the deck with a bag of rubbish while Leifur checked everything was off. His mother got up and headed over to Astrid.
‘I haven’t seen Leifur happy like this for a long time,’ she said. ‘You two have done something wonderful with this old boat. Given her a new lease of life.’
‘I’m just along for the ride. Leifur’s done all the hard work to get her ready.’
‘The hardest part for him was deciding not to be afisherman anymore. Thinking he was letting his father down. I wasn’t sure he’d find his way.’
Peta was sharing more with her than Leifur had, and that made Astrid feel uncomfortable, but she liked Peta and didn’t want her to think she’d said anything wrong.
‘It was a big decision to change the boat, but I think he’s pleased with how she turned out.’
‘She’s certainly very smart,’ said Peta, scanning the deck appreciatively. ‘And I think the two of you will have a great success on your hands.’
‘I’m only here for the summer,’ said Astrid.
‘You might love it and decide to stay,’ Peta said, laughing.
‘I loved today,’ Astrid admitted. ‘It didn’t feel like work at all.’
‘That is the best kind of work. And my boy needs more of that in his life. He’s had more than his fair share of tough days.’
‘Mamma, are you telling Astrid all of my secrets?’ Leifur was trying to frown at his mother, but since he was still smiling, he was doing a poor job of pretending to be cross with her.
‘Of course not. I was saying how happy you look, and how wonderful today has been. I can hardly believe it was your first run. It was incredible. You’re very knowledgeable, Astrid.’
‘Thank you.’
