His eyes were wide and serious, and she bravely reached out her hand and placed it to his chest, feeling the way his heart was racing, sensing that he was burning with a determination and passion that was like a fire inside of him.
‘Tell me your dreams,’ she said, bravely. ‘Perhaps they will be contagious and help me find mine again.’
Oskar’s smile lit his face, and she immediately relaxed when he began to speak, far more comfortable listening to him than being the centre of attention and having to talk about herself.She was also grateful for the chance to help herself to some of the food he’d brought, realising just how hungry she was from working all day without more than a ten-minute break.
‘I want to be a chef,’ he said. ‘I want to work side by side with the best chefs in Norway. I want to spend my days perfecting the most beautiful dishes, instead of studying at university.’
She nodded, swallowing her mouthful of salmon. ‘What are you studying?’
‘Finance and business,’ he said. ‘My father wants me to take over his business one day. He wants me to start working for him the day after I graduate.’
Amalie didn’t pretend not to know who his family were. They owned the sprawling hotel behind her and others that were renowned for being the most exclusive in the country—Oskar was heir to a substantial fortune. She’d heard some of the other staff talking about how wealthy he was.
‘They know you want to be a chef?’ she asked.
Oskar grimaced. ‘Oh, they know. Their compromise was letting me work here in the kitchen over the summer, as if I’d quickly tire of it if I spent long enough doing it.’ He sighed and stretched out on the blanket, propped up on one elbow. ‘They like the idea of me learning from the ground up, working in the hotels and understanding the business from all sides, until I graduate. Then they want me in an office for the rest of my life, to take over the company one day, to follow whattheirdreams are for me.’
‘And if you defied them? When you left university?’ she asked. ‘If you made the decision for yourself and told them that you have a different life planned to the one they imagine?’
Oskar’s face crumpled. ‘I would be ostracised from the family, and they would make sure that I wasn’t employed at any hotel or kitchen in the country. I know because we’ve already argued about it.’
Amalie swallowed, feeling as if the salmon was suddenly stuck in her throat. The way he’d said those words, the pain held in them, told her that what he was saying was no exaggeration. ‘Your family truly holds that much power?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘They do.’
‘And you believe they would exile you from the family like that? You don’t think it’s a threat and nothing more?’
Oskar’s laugh was shallow. ‘No, Amalie, it’s no threat. Once you meet my parents, you will understand.’
Amalie didn’t tell him that she didn’t ever want to meet his parents, that she disliked them already just from hearing how they held such power over their beautiful son and his destiny, but it did make her realise why he was interested in her dreams. Because it sounded as if his dreams might be as far-fetched as hers, after all.
She lay down beside him, the plate of food the only thing separating them, and reached for his hand, threading her fingers through his.
‘Tell me why you want to be a chef,’ she murmured. ‘Tell me all your dreams, Oskar. They’re safe with me, I won’t tell a soul. I promise.’
Oskar’s smile was sweet, his eyes softening as he blinked back at her, and when he pushed up slightly and leaned forward, bridging the gap between them, she let him kiss her.
And the way he gently whispered a kiss to her lips was even sweeter than his smile.
10
No one had ever bought Amalie flowers before, and they had certainly never taken her by the hand and led her down to a waiting boat on the clear blue water of the fjord. The boys she’d met at home were as romantic as a lump of wood, and they certainly wouldn’t have been so thoughtful. So, when Oskar met her after work the next week, presenting her with a pretty bouquet of flowers that she quickly took back to her quarters, and then helped her into a little wooden rowing boat that he had waiting by the edge of the water, she wondered what she could have possibly done to deserve such a fuss. If he’d wanted to make her feel special, then he’d succeeded.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked, holding on to the sides of the boat to steady it as Oskar hopped in, hoping it wouldn’t rock from side to side or even worse, sink.
‘We’re going to row for as long as my arms will take us, then enjoy the scenery in the middle of nowhere.’
It sounded like heaven to Amalie, and as he pulled the oars back and forth through the water, she told him everything that had happened that day; the rooms she’d had to clean and the gossip from the other maids, as he rowed and listened. It wasn’t until she paused for breath that he set the oars down.
‘Listen,’ he said.
And she did, but there was nothing. ‘I can’t hear anything.’
‘Exactly,’ he replied. ‘The silence is so loud it’s almost ringing in our ears, don’t you think? It’s as if you can actually hear the sound of nothingness.’
Amalie moved carefully across to Oskar, settling her body against his so that her back was to his front, realising that she was happiest when she was in his arms. Her head fell back against his chest as she stared at their surroundings. It was as if they were the only two people in the world.
The fjord was nothing short of breathtaking. The water around them was the most vivid of deep blues, the sky above was clear, and it was as if they were surrounded by sleeping giants covered in green. She’d never seen a landscape like it, or perhaps she simply hadn’t been looking before. It was almost as if the scenery around them had been created by an artist’s brush; a romantic background that made Norway one of the most beautiful countries in the world. She knew that’s why so many people came to the hotel—it was renowned for its position and magnificent scenery—but she’d always been too busy working to really see it with her own eyes. Until now.
