“I doubt that very much.”
She smiled again. “Well, look, don’t worry. Ben won’t drop you as a friend—I’ll see to that, even if he did say he was getting fed up—anyway…London isn’t that far away. I must go now, but I’ll ask Ben to send you an invite to the wedding. Do say you’ll come. Are you staying on Aeroe long?”
“I’m not sure now. I’m uncharacteristically confused.”
“Oh. Well. Nice to meet you at last. Ben has told me so much about you.”
“I wish I could say the same.”
She slid out of her seat and returned to a table in the corner. After a word or two with some women there, she left.
After another few minutes, Ben returned. He sat back in the seat Anna had recently occupied. “Where’s the coffee?”
Nikolas gave him a winning smile. “So, you haven’t told me how you’ve reached such perfection in your Danish. You didn’t learn it all from Ingrid, surely?”
Ben poured them both some wine and seemed surprised when Nikolas drank his straight down and poured another glass.
“Well, I made some friends, and they’ve all helped. We ate at Alan Lund’s restaurant a lot, and he always chatted to me. But no one else particularly, why?”
Nikolas suddenly stood. “We’re going—now.”
He ignored Ben’s despairing glance at the dessert trolley and strode away.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The snow was quite deep now along the sides of the main road. It had been ploughed recently, but a fresh fall had already covered the black. After a few minutes, Nikolas said casually, “Give me your phone. Mine’s dead. I want to text Kate.”
Ben handed it over. Nikolas checked Ben’s outgoing calls, three or four a day to a number on Aeroe. He debated for a moment then rang it, watching Ben. A man answered in Danish, “Hello?” He clicked it off, tapping it against his lips. He sent the number to Kate and told her to identify it for him. Within a few minutes, she texted back saying she was on holiday with her parents for Christmas and would do it when she returned to London. He deleted the message trail.
He tossed the phone onto the dashboard. Ben glanced across again. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Watch the road.”
“Give me your phone.”
“What? No. Why?”
Ben pulled the car over. They were on a stretch of road running along the coast. He held out his hand. “You’ve never let your phone die in the five years I’ve known you. Give it.”
Nikolas climbed out, and the cold hit him, making his breath steam. He walked over the dunes and down to the sand, clear under a bright moon showing through a gap in the cloud. It had stopped snowing, but the wind was making small eddies out of the light covering on the sand.
When Ben got to Nikolas, he was bent over, trying to get a cigarette to light in the wind. Ben plucked it out of his hand, holding it up accusingly. “You promised!”
Nikolas rounded on him. “So did you! Who the fuck is Anna?” He prepared himself to watch Ben lie.
Ben was crushing the cigarette. It was lit, and it burnt his palm. He looked up, clearly annoyed. “Who? I don’t know any Anna.” He gave a rueful shrug. “I don’t know many women, really.”
Nikolas frowned. He studied Ben’s face. “I’ll ask you again, Benjamin. Who’s Anna? And be very careful what you say now, because I’m upset by this.”
Ben finally clued in something important was going on. He ignored his hand and tipped his head to one side. “What’s wrong, Nik? I don’t know anyone called Anna. Who’s she?”
“She’s apparently your pregnant fiancée.”
Ben’s eyes widened. He began to laugh. “Good one…” Then he saw Nikolas’s expression. He took both Nikolas’s arms and held them. He stressed, as slowly and distinctly as he could, “I don’t know anyone called Anna. I don’t sleep with anyone but you, and if I ever marry anyone it would be?And that’s way gayer than I’m ever going to be, so just forget I said that, maybe?”
Nikolas listened to all this with great attention. Finally, he let out a breath of relief. “I think we have a problem then.” He told Ben about the woman who’d come to his table.
The only helpful comment Ben could make was, “They were how big? Wow…” He appeared to read something in Nikolas’s expression so he added weakly, “Anna, huh?”
