Elsa slipped an arm through his. ‘I think that if they survived the explosion they would have taken this picture with them.’
He carefully placed it on the shelf. ‘I think they lived. Why would they need to take a photograph when they have what really matters — each other?’
She briefly leaned her head on his shoulder. It felt sturdy and solid, just what she needed.
‘That’s what I like about you. You always say the right thing to make me feel better.’
‘Good, because I want you to feel better.’
She looked up and their eyes met. His steady gaze held her captive and she instantly forgot about the family who had lived there. Something was changing between them. She could feel it in every part of her body. If she had any doubts, he swept them away with his next words.
‘Iwantto be the man who makes you feel better, Elsa.’ The implication of his husky words hung in the air between them. For a moment she forgot how to breathe.
Klara accidentally dropped something. The sudden explosion of fragments made them both jump apart. They looked at Klara, her cheeks flushed with guilt, standing in a shadow made up of broken china pieces around her feet. Sam came towards her and gently nudged the larger fragments to the sides of the room.
‘Don’t worry, Klara,’ Elsa reassured her. ‘It was an accident.’ She concentrated her attention on the photograph, turning it needlessly on the shelf and smoothing the frame with her fingers to fill the silence as Klara continued her exploration. Aware that Sam was watching her, she finally abandoned it and dared to look at him again.
‘I want to feel better, for myself and for you.’
‘Which is why—’ he returned to the bathtub and nudged it with his foot — ‘this is such a good find. We can all have a bath and feel better about ourselves.’ He jerked his head to Klara. ‘Including you.’
‘Sam says we could have a bath,’ Elsa translated for Klara.
‘I know there is no electricity,’ he went on, ‘but that looks like a wood-burning stove so we could heat a few saucepans of water on it. A lukewarm bath is better than none at all.’
The idea was enticing.
‘It will be like bathing in a river on a summer’s day,’ he added hopefully. He nudged the small bathtub with his foot.
‘More like a puddle,’ teased Elsa.
‘Don’t you like the idea?’
She smiled. ‘I like it very much.’
His broad smile returned. ‘Klara could go first and then we can have ours.’
She lifted an eyebrow and folded her arms.
‘Errr . . . separately, of course,’ he added endearingly.
‘Of course.’
‘I won’t look.’
‘I should hope not.’
‘Unless you want me to. I think secretly you would like me to have a peek.’
He was teasing her, yet she felt there was more truth in his words than he would dare to admit to. ‘You are incorrigible.’
He was impressed. ‘Your English is quite exceptional. Have you ever thought of becoming a teacher?’
She rolled her eyes at him and went in search of some towels. ‘You know I’m a teacher!’ As she climbed the stairs, her last glimpse of him was his back and shaking shoulders as he quietly laughed.
‘I mean it when I said I was impressed. Incorrigible. That’s not an easy word.’ His voice drifted up to her as she located some neatly folded towels and a variety of clothing that had been left behind in the hurried departure. She descended with her trophies and found Sam already setting a saucepan of water on the stove.
‘Where did you learn that word?’ he asked as he filled the stove with wood and set it alight.
