‘I know that finding out tonight that Chloe has had to work closely with someone through the whole of her pregnancy, seeing all those changes, wishing she could feel them for herself one day, must have been one of the hardest things for her.’
‘Harder still that everyone expects you to be so happy about other people’s joy all of the time,’ Hildur remarked. ‘We are always taught to be so polite, so loving and giving and caring and unselfish but sometimes, just sometimes, we need to also understand that one person’s happiness can definitely invoke another person’s sadness. Whether it is intentional or not.’
‘She has kept her sadness inside for a long time,’ Gunnar stated.
‘Well, she does not need to be sad any more,’ Hildur said with a nod.
‘I think, when you get news like that, you are always going to feel sad about it in some way. Perhaps forever.’
‘Forever is a long time,’ Hildur said, passing him back the dry platter. ‘But what does it really mean? Does it mean for the time we are alive or longer than that?’
‘Ah, Hildur, another lesson about the spirits of Iceland?’
‘Do you think Chloe coming here was a coincidence?’ Hildur asked him like it was the craziest suggestion.
‘No, I think that she had a job to do and that job took her to Iceland.’
‘And the reason it was now? The reason that you met? The fact that you told me she had nowhere to stay and you could help? How did you actually meet? Did she just get on your coach or was there something else? Something a little more like… fate?’
Gunnar swallowed. They had literally fallen into each other, landed on top of one another when so easily they could have simply been allowed to walk on by.
‘You know I do not believe in those kinds of things.’
‘I know,’ Hildur replied softly. ‘But I do not think that matters. What will be will be and what is meant for us, well, no one can stop it from happening.’
With that said, Magnús came barrelling into the kitchen, puffin costume flapping out behind him. ‘Gunnar, we need to get another ticket for my Christmas show. I asked Chloe and she said she will come.’
‘OK, OK, calm down. I am sure we will be able to get another ticket,’ Gunnar stated.
‘If that’s OK,’ Chloe said.
She was stood behind Magnús now, looking a little hesitant. He didn’t want her to feel that way, ever.
‘It is more than OK,’ Gunnar told her. ‘I just… did not know how long you are staying here in Iceland.’
Chloe nodded. ‘I know. I guess I don’t even know that yet but, the Christmas show sounds like something I can’t possibly miss and now Magnús has perfected his dance I need to see it with everyone in costume and find out more about these Yule Lads.’
She was staying for a few more days at least. Whatever was meant for him and the reasons behind it, Gunnar was grateful for whatever time they had before her leaving was inevitable.
62
GUNNAR’S COACH
‘Hello, Chloe.’
‘Hello, Michelle. How are you?’
As Chloe looked at her boss on the Zoom call she thought she had never seen her look so unput-together. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing. She knew that despite Michelle’s confident projection, her boss was riddled with insecurities and sometimes it was those that made her act a certain way. But, it wasn’t an excuse for her lack of appreciation and consideration. As the coach bumped up and down on their journey, thankfully with free and reasonably fast Wi-Fi, Chloe steadied the screen.
‘You don’t need to ask me that,’ Michelle said. ‘You shouldn’t ask me that actually.’
‘Is everything OK with the baby?’ Chloe continued regardless.
Michelle nodded. ‘Everything is fine. Perfect, they said at the last check-up. The head is fully engaged now. Apparently, that was supposed to make me feel joyful, but all I could think about was that one sex education class at school where they had a plastic pelvis and a Baby Annabell.’
‘It won’t be like that,’ Chloe reassured. ‘And you have the best doctors looking after you.’
There was silence on the call and Chloe wondered if their connection had been severed until:
