‘Oskar! No looking!’ she cried. ‘You promised!’
But he ignored her completely, splashing her as she squealed even more at the cold water against her warm skin, then grabbing her hands and tugging her into the deeper water with him, his eyes never leaving hers. She was terrified of what might be lurking beneath and she wasn’t a strong swimmer, but Oskar seemed to sense her fear and kept her close, immediately less playful and more protective.
‘Don’t let me go,’ she said, clutching his arm. ‘I’m not used to deep water.’
‘Trust me, Amalie. You’re safe out here with me—I’ve been swimming my whole life.’
Oskar lifted her then, his hand beneath her as he pushed her up, floated her across the surface of the water, her hair fanning out around her as she slowly relaxed and began to trust him. Her body and the back of her head were completely submerged asshe spread her legs and arms wide, realising that she was getting the hang of it.
‘Close your eyes and relax, just breathe and push your chest to the surface, try to balance your body,’ he said. ‘I’ve got you.’
But Amalie couldn’t close her eyes, she didn’t want to. She wanted to stare at the sky and admire the midnight sun, to see everything, to remember everything. When she went to sleep at night, she wanted to close her eyes and see this—this was what she wanted to remember every night for the rest of her life when she lay in bed. This was the memory she wanted to return to when she needed something to lift her spirits.
‘I think I’ve fallen in love with you.’
Oskar’s whispered words wrapped around her, and even though she knew they were too young to fall in love so fast, that adults would tell them they didn’t yet know what love was, she knew in her heart that she felt the same.
Amalie’s words stuck in her throat then as he carefully let go of her and floated beside her, hand in hand as they drifted together on the water, as if they had the entire fjord to themselves. Oskar was like no one she’d ever met in her life before, and she doubted she’d ever, for as long as she lived, meet another man who came even close to him.
11
Later that night, sitting on the bank and wrapped in the blanket Oskar had brought, still shivering just a little from their long swim in the fjord, Amalie stretched out like a cat in a puddle of sunshine.
‘I couldn’t have planned a more magical night if I’d tried,’ Oskar said. ‘I only wish I’d thought to bring food with us this time.’
She brushed her fingertips over his leg, which was still bare, and she felt goose pimples ripple across his skin.
‘What do you think of me cooking for you tomorrow night?’ he asked. ‘I’ll make us dinner and we can eat in the restaurant after everyone else goes.’
She laughed. ‘But the staff aren’t allowed to dine there. What if someone sees me?’
‘Hmm,’ he murmured. ‘No, you’re right, I couldn’t be seen with a maid there, imagine what the paying patrons might say.’
She swatted at him, but he deftly caught her hand. ‘You know what I mean. I don’t want to get either of us in trouble.’
‘Meet me in the kitchen tomorrow night, after closing,’ he said. ‘I’ll have it all planned, but please, just let me cook for you.I want you to try something I’ve been working on lately, hoping to perfect. No one will reprimand you, not if you’re with me.’
‘You can cook for me whenever you want, Oskar,’ she said, truthfully. ‘I’ll sneak out to see you every night for the rest of summer if I have to.’
‘Tomorrow night, then. And every night after that.’
She closed her eyes for a moment, knowing that when she opened them, he’d still be staring down at her.
‘Whatever happens, I’ll never forget you, Oskar,’ she whispered as she gazed up at him, her head on his lap as he stroked her hair. ‘These have been the best days of my life.’
He bent and kissed her, his lips warm and hungry against hers. ‘I love you, Amalie.’
Tears filled her eyes. It was almost the middle of summer—their time together had flown past, and now she couldn’t imagine not seeing him every day, not being with him at the end of each shift; not feeling his arms around her or his fingertips brushing against her skin.
I love you, too, Oskar. So much that sometimes I can barely breathe at the thought of losing you.
‘Stay here the night with me?’ he asked.
The way his fingers tugged so gently through her hair, his lips finding hers again before she could even answer, made her melt into him. Right now, she would have said yes to anything.
I need to go back to my room. I can’t stay out all night. What will the other girls say?
‘It will just be us, the fjord and the midnight sun,’ he whispered against her lips. ‘We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. I just want to lie here with you in my arms and never let go.’
