‘Oskar, you’re right,’ he said. ‘Amalie, I owe you an apology. A friend of Oskar’s is a friend of ours. Let me order you both a drink and then we can look over the menu.’
His mother was still silent, but something inside Amalie softened. It wasn’t acceptance, but it was something, and if she could win over his father then she might just have a chance.
‘Sir, I’d like to commend you on your hotel,’ she said. ‘It’s the most beautiful I’ve ever seen, and the guests here are always commenting on what a wonderful stay they’ve had.’
His smile seemed genuine, but all he gave her was a nod, before going back to studying the menu.
‘Oskar has gathered quite the name for himself in the kitchen,’ she continued, undeterred. ‘His desserts really are something.’
‘I’m pleased he’s enjoying this last summer here,’ his father said. ‘Next summer he’ll be interning at my office, so he’ll have to find a wife to cook for him. There’ll be no time for being in a kitchen once he’s a businessman.’
Amalie held her tongue and looked down at her plate, feeling the anger radiating from Oskar beside her. Her heart broke for him.
‘I’ve already told the kitchen staff that I’ll be back next summer. Father, this is my?—’
‘Passion?’ His father laughed. ‘Son, this is ahobby. Men like us don’t spend our lives toiling away in a kitchen.’
‘I told you we shouldn’t have indulged him like this.’ His mother finally spoke, finishing her drink and staring at Amalie. ‘He should have worked for you all summer instead of?—’
‘Enough,’ Oskar said, quietly but with enough force to stop them both. Everyone at the table had turned to face him. ‘We can discuss all this later. I suggest that I order for us all, and that we change the subject to something less heated for the sake of not causing a scene.’
His father nodded, but the look his mother gave Amalie told her that nothing would ever change the woman’s opinion of her. When she glanced over at Oskar, she could sense that he was still hopeful, and his hand on her knee beneath the table reminded her that he cared enough for her to bring her to dinner, to at least try when it came to his family.
Even if she did think that there was nothing his mother wouldn’t do to keep them apart.
Their entrées arrived soon enough, but Amalie found that her stomach clenched the moment she smelt thestektfish in front of her.It’s only nerves, you’ll be fine, she told herself. But the moment she had a small mouthful she knew it wasn’t sitting right with her.
‘Please excuse me,’ she said, placing her napkin on the table and forcing herself to walk as sedately as possible.
She could usually eat anything, and fish had always been one of her favourites, but his family had clearly done more than twist her stomach into knots, and when she reached the restroom she only just made it to the stall before being violently unwell.
Amalie had kept her distance from Oskar since dinner, and thankfully the hotel had been so busy she’d been fully occupied with work, but once his family left, they finally had time to be together without being under his mother’s watchful eye. Oskar stopped rowing the boat, his oars gliding through the crisp blue water one final time before he set them down, and Amalie wriggled backwards and let her head fall to his chest. She listened to the steady beat of his heart, sighing when his arms came around her. She’d waited all day for this.
Amalie was at her happiest when it was just the two of them, surrounded by the beauty of the fjord, wrapped safely in Oskar’s embrace. Usually she loved the silence; but today, the secret she’d been keeping pressed on her chest, an invisible weight that she couldn’t keep hidden any longer. All day she’d wrestled with whether to tell him or not, but now they were together again, she knew there was no keeping it from him. It was his news as much as hers.I don’t want to have secrets between us. I need him to know.
‘You’re very quiet today,’ Oskar said.
She tucked herself even closer to him, tears stinging her eyes when his lips pressed against her head. Oskar ran his fingers gently through her long hair as she fought for the right words, as her secret tightened inside of her.
‘Amalie? What’s wrong? Is it my family, because I’ve made it abundantly clear that?—’
Amalie took a deep breath, before her words came out in a sudden gasp. ‘Oskar, I’m pregnant.’
The words clung to the silence around them, echoing in Amalie’s mind as she wished she could take them back, that she’d kept the secret to herself a little longer. But Oskar only held her tighter as she began to cry, tears slipping one after the other down her cheeks until she was powerless to stop them.
‘Don’t cry. Please don’t cry,’ he said, turning her so that she faced him, his eyes meeting hers as he gently smoothed his thumb across her cheek, wiping away her tears. ‘Everything will be all right, I promise.’
‘But how can it be?’ she whispered, searching his face. ‘Your parents will never accept me, they’ve made that clear, and mine?—’
‘I love you, Amalie, and that’s all that matters,’ he whispered back, his lips meeting hers in a kiss so soft, so impossibly gentle, that it took her breath away.
When she finally pulled back, Oskar touched his forehead to hers.
‘I promise I’ll take care of you. We’ll marry quickly, in autumn, before anyone can find out. There’s nothing to be afraid of.’
Tears filled her eyes again, because as much as she believed his earnestly spoken words, as much as she knew that he’d do anything to protect her, she was no fool. No matter how much they wanted to be together, no matter the dreams they’d shared,their future wasn’t theirs alone. Not to mention they’d had a plan: they were supposed to wait until next summer, until he’d finished university, and he was free to choose his own path.
‘Oskar, your parents will never let us marry. We’re from different worlds, it could never?—’
