“So you still believe in true love?”
“I’m way too much of a hopeless romantic to believe anything else. I refuse to accept that this was my one chance, and now it’s gone. My actual true lovemustbe out there somewhere.”
Bente smiled. Of course that was what he thought. After all, he was Didrik Holgersson, everybody’s darling. At the same time, there was something incredibly charming about that way of thinking.
“And you?”
She waited for a while before answering. The adult relationships that had shaped her life, and that had to a great extent been her role models for adult love, had all been deficient in one way or another. Aunt Lydia’s husband had left her when Uno was little more than a newborn, and Bente’s parents, who’d seemed to have everything—they’dlovedeach other—had also separated from one another in the most brutal fashion. If Bente had learned anything about love, it was that however fantastic and true it might be, it was never enough.
“Maybe I don’t think it’s that simple, that there’s one forever person for every one of us.” Saying she didn’t believe in true love seemed much too dramatic.
Didrik inhaled sharply, adopting a theatrical expression of horror. “Ouch.” He placed one hand on his heart. “You’ve just destroyed everything I’ve ever believed in.”
She laughed. “Sorry. Of course I’m sure thatyourone true love is out there somewhere.” She meant it. Didrik had charm and charisma. It wouldn’t be long before he was in a wonderful, loving relationship again.
“But you don’t think there’s someone special for you?”
“I’ve grown up surrounded by adult relationships that didn’t really work.”
“Your parents?”
“Among others. My mother and father were always very loving, but ... it didn’t end particularly well.” She swallowed hard. She didnotwant her voice to start trembling, and she couldn’t go into the details. One detail always led to another, and telling Didrik her entire story was out of the question. This wasn’t a therapy session.
“But you’re happy living alone?” he asked.
“I don’t feel as if I’m living alone.” She smiled. “At the moment I’m actually living in my sister’s apartment, with her and my mom. A slightly unconventional intergenerational arrangement.”
“Do you enjoy living with them?”
“Would you want to move back in with your mom?”
“Not a chance.”
“Being with them during a fairly tumultuous time has been good, but now I’m looking forward to moving back into my own place. I’ve given my tenant notice, so it won’t be too much longer now.” The payment she’d already received from the production company plus the money she had saved during her time at Rendezvous meant that she had enough to live alone at last. “Do you have brothers or sisters?”
“A brother. Who is about to become a father. I’m going to be an uncle.”
“Fantastic—congratulations!”
He smiled proudly. “It feels huge!”
“Becoming an aunt would be a dream. Unfortunately, my sister has already found the love of her life—her business. It’s hard to imagine that she’d be able to sustain a relationship for any longer than Elnaz’s colleagues can run a production without her.”
“By that you mean she’s never had a relationship that’s lasted past afternoon tea?”
“Kind of.” Hanna had been with one guy for almost a year, but he had ended it because she worked too much. Then she had dated a woman quite seriously for a while, but Hanna had decided she couldn’t cope with having to send messages and keep in touch.
“All the anxiety, all the misunderstandings that have to be sorted out before everything is okay again.” He shook his head slowly. “Is that what I can expect if I start dating again?” He looked at Bente and sighed. “Maybe it’s better to try to stay in the present? Right now I’m sitting in a bar in Paris, talking to an interesting woman.”
Had his knee just brushed against hers? She felt as if an electric shock had surged through her body, her heart was racing. She felt her face burning—from the wine, from the heat in the room, from Didrik’s proximity.
She took a deep breath. “Shall we drink to that?”
He raised his glass, met her gaze. Then smiled. “You’re ... unexpected, somehow.”
“Unexpected?”
“Yes ... I don’t know ... but I’m enjoying talking to you.”
