“If only he hadn’t blunted his fingers sewing last-minute fucking capes,” Sebastian had added, with a shake of his head. “I’ll be staying here to keep this end moving. Make sure the venue is ready for the dinner tomorrow night and that the cave is dressed for the ceremony.”
“Okay,” Marnie had nodded. “You’re going alone, Ari?”
“Yes, it’ll be fine,” Ari replied. “I’ve been here before.”
I met Tom here, she’d suddenly thought.Keflavík Airport was where we first met. The first place we kissed. Where we first fell in love.
She took a deep breath. “I’ll be fine.”
From the back of Marnie’s room, she saw Corentin push forward. “I’m coming with you,” he’d said.
“No, that won’t be necessary,” Ari argued.
“Ari’s right. You need your rest for the ceremony tomorrow,” Sebastian had added. “And you should enjoy your last night of freedom. From marriage.” He paused. “And Stella.”
Corentin was already pulling on his coat though. “I’m coming. Ari shouldn’t go alone.”
Ari nodded, suddenly exhausted, and in no mood for an argument. “Okay,” she’d agreed. “Let’s go.”
The sky was already aflame with the aurora when Ari and Corentin piled into her rental car. For a moment Ari paused, looking up in wonder.
“Ever seen the Northern Lights before?” Corentin asked her, and she shook her head.
“No. I came here once before to see them... but it didn’t work out.” Reminding herself of the task at hand, she took off her coat and started the engine. Next to her, Corentin nodded.
“I came once before too. Not to see the lights though. To find Tom.”
Ari made no reply, choosing instead to concentrate on navigating the unfamiliar vehicle away from the hotel and onto the main road.
“He’d already been and gone by the time I made it here,” Corentin continued. “Mom was frantic about him. Iceland was the first confirmed sighting we’d had of him in about a year. And with our dad as sick as he was... Anyway. I was too late. He’d headed off into mainland Europe by that point.”
“With me,” Ari filled in the blanks. “He was with me.”
“With you.” Corentin nodded. “I’m glad he was with you. You made him really happy.”
Ari squeezed the steering wheel beneath her hands. “I hope so.”
“You know, I didn’t catch Tom in time because of a volcano,” Corentin reminisced. “I would’ve been here to find him earlier, but my flight was delayed into Reykjavík because of an eruption.”
Ari nodded. “That’s why I didn’t see the lights when I was here, because of that volcano. The sky was thick with ash and dust. The volcano also grounded all the flights out of Iceland. I was stuck in the airport for two days.”
“Is that how you met Tom?” Corentin asked curiously.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “at the airport.”
They fell into silence for a few moments.
“Talk about the universe sending out a sign. If I’d managed to fly in, and you managed to fly out, well, both of our lives would be very different.” Corentin sounded thoughtful. “If that volcano hadn’t erupted when it did, you wouldn’t have met Tom, and then I would never have met Stella, and we wouldn’t be back here, where it all began, to get married.”
“You’d have still met Stella,” Ari replied. “Tom would still have been with Sasha.”
At that, Corentin snorted. “Sasha? No, that’s not true. He would never have gone back to Sasha if he hadn’t been so broken-hearted over you. I know Tom, and that’s the truth.”
Ari made no reply, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.
She heard Corentin sigh. “You know, I’m glad Stella and I decided to get married here. Mom wanted us to get married in the woods at home.”
“She wanted Tom and Sasha to get married there too.” Ari’s words came out sharper than she intended.
