‘When I come here, it makes me think that anything is possible,’ he whispered against her hair. ‘That my dreams are mine, that no one can tell me what my life will become. That’s why I wanted to bring you here with me.’
She tilted her head back, staring up at his face. Being here made her believe that anything was possible, too. That she and Oskar could have a life together, that they weren’t destined to break each other’s hearts at the end of summer when their time together was over.
But instead of saying anything back to him, Amalie lay contentedly in his arms, breathing in the pure, fresh air and basking in the feeling of his warm body pressed into hers. Ifsomeone had asked her even a week ago whether she would let a man place his hands on her or trail kisses along her skin, she’d have laughed and told them not to be ridiculous, yet here she was with Oskar, feeling as if she’d known him forever, yearning for the touch of his skin against hers.
‘Sometimes when I’m here, lost in my own thoughts, I think I could run away and leave it all behind,’ he said. ‘I think I could even give up being a chef if it meant I could just live my life away from my family, to create a life for myself rather than the one they want to give me.’
‘You don’t mean that, Oskar,’ she said. ‘Your family is your family, it’s the one thing in life we can’t do anything to change. Whatever happens, they’ll still love you.’
‘I don’t know if it’s love, but my mother…’
Amalie waited for him to speak again, sensing that what he was about to tell her was going to break her heart. ‘Your mother what?’
‘My mother would rather me be dead than a failure,’ he said. ‘She has an image to protect, it’s all she’s ever cared about, and she wants her two sons to follow the path she’s so clearly laid out for us. I don’t think all families are as kind and caring as yours.’
Tears filled Amalie’s eyes. ‘Don’t say that! No mother would ever wish her son dead.’ Oskar didn’t talk about his family again, strumming his fingers across her arm instead and pressing his lips into her hair as she nestled into him. It made her wonder how such a horrible, cold-sounding woman could have created such a kind, warm-hearted son.
‘Tell me what your family would do, if you shared your dreams with them?’ he asked, taking her by surprise.
‘My family?’ Amalie laughed. ‘Well, my father would tell me not to be a fool, that it does no good to dream things that will never come true. He believes in being happy with who you are, and wanting things that aren’t out of reach. My mother wouldtell me to put my time into finding a nice husband, and letting his dreams become my own. I don’t think she believes that a woman should have independent thoughts or dreams, because she’s likely never had any of her own. But it’s not because they’re cruel. They just don’t want me to be disappointed, I suppose.’
Amalie’s cheeks heated and she knew she was blushing, because he’d taken her hand in his when she’d mentionedhusband. She didn’t dare let herself dream that someone like Oskar could ever be the man she’d spend the rest of her life with.
‘I’d like to meet your family,’ he said. ‘I think they sound much nicer than mine.’
Amalie didn’t tell him that she’d like that, too, because she couldn’t imagine Oskar ever coming to her family’s modest home, or sitting with her father at the dinner table as they ate a simple bowl of her mother’s fish and potatoes. Not that he’d likely complain; she could already tell his manners were impeccable and he seemed so at ease with anyone, regardless of who they were. She’d seen that first hand at the party the very first time they’d met. But she still doubted it would ever happen.
‘We’re from different worlds,’ she whispered. ‘You must see that?’
‘And yet here we are, together,’ he whispered back, as the boat rocked gently from side to side, a cooler breeze blowing across the water. ‘Just you and me on the fjord.’
Amalie pushed all thoughts of how different they were from her, deciding instead to enjoy every second of being with Oskar. Even if it wasn’t to be, even if she did end up with a broken heart, she hoped it would be worth it. Because she couldn’t have turned away from him if she’d tried.
After an hour or so on the water, Oskar gently helped Amalie to her seat, picked up the oars again and began to row, takingthem back to where they’d started. They never spoke, but it was a comfortable silence, as if they’d known each other forever and were happy to just be by each other’s side.
When they finally slid back to shore, Oskar jumped out and pulled the boat in, his trousers rolled up at the ankles, reaching for her hand once he’d secured the boat. He lifted her and she laughed, her head against his chest as he swung her around and threatened to drop her into the water.
‘No!’ she cried. ‘Oskar, put me down!’
He laughed and carefully set her on her feet, taking her hand and leading her across the grass. Everything suddenly appeared to be cast in a reddish-yellow light, and she’d just thought it when Oskar spoke.
‘The midnight sun,’ he said, still holding her hands as he spun her around in a circle. ‘Isn’t it spectacular?’
She tilted her head back, face raised to the sky. The Sognefjord was the most beautiful place on earth, of that she was certain—where else in the world would the light be so magical, as if everything had been brushed with a burnt orange hue, the moon never taking over from the sun during the peak of summer? When they finally stopped spinning and she stood tall, still holding on to Oskar for balance, he drew her in close, his mouth hovering over hers as if to make certain she wanted him to kiss her. She closed the distance between them, her lips parting as she breathed him in, their hands still linked as their mouths brushed back and forth against the other.
Oskar was the one to break their kiss, his fingers stroking her hair back from her face, his eyes alight with mischief.
‘I think we should go for a swim,’ he said.
Amalie laughed as she shook her head. ‘It’s far too cold for me, and I don’t have anything to swim in.’ She was no prude, but she certainly wasn’t going naked. Perhaps if she’d been withher sister and there had been little chance of anyone at all seeing them she might have, but not here and not in front of Oskar.
‘We can strip down to our undergarments,’ he said, as a grin took over his face. ‘What do you say?’
‘I say…’ Amalie’s voice died in her throat as Oskar quickly began to strip down. Within seconds his shirt and shoes were off, and then his trousers, and she was left blushing furiously as he ran down to the water’s edge in his underpants.
‘Come on! What are you waiting for?’ he called back. ‘I won’t even look, I’ll turn my back, just come into the water. Please!’
Amalie looked after him, watching as he splashed into the water, making it look far more inviting than she imagined it actually was, before hurriedly taking her own clothes off, her arms folded over her brassiere as she ran. She may as well have been completely naked, she felt so bare, and when he turned around she squealed.
