He nodded and then Hildur leaned into him, putting her arms around him in the kind of warm embrace they didn’t share very often.
‘Gunnar Eriksson, it is time for you to live for you,’ Hildur told him. ‘The saving of the island and everyone else in it can be the responsibility of others for a while.’
‘It cannot be your responsibility, Hildur, I know that much. I do not watch you for a short time and you are kidnapping people.’
‘These are false accusations,’ Hildur insisted. ‘Bernard said he came willingly, the police have agreed it was so. Now, stop hugging me, we have a dinner menu to think about.’
‘Oh no,’ Gunnar said, making sure Hildur sat back down before he stepped away. ‘You are not cooking anything. You are resting. Besides, I am still uncertain of how Magnús will feel to have Chloe here for dinner.’
‘Magnús will be happy for you,’ Hildur reassured him. ‘He tells me sometimes that he wishes you were not so sad.’
‘I do not want him to worry about me,’ Gunnar stated. ‘That is the last thing I want him to be doing.’
‘Ah, Gunnar, whether you want him to worry or not, that is what comes when you are part of a family, no?’ Hildur reminded him.
As always, she made an excellent point.
‘However,’ Hildur said. ‘I am sure if you cook his favourite caramelised potatoes then he will be happy about anything. Food and ice hockey are what that boy lives for after all.’
‘You are right,’ Gunnar agreed. ‘So, when do you think I should invite Chloe?’
‘You are asking the wrong person,’ Hildur replied, picking up her knitting needles again. ‘I think that question should be asked of Chloe. Because do you still not know for how long she is staying in Iceland?’
Gunnar’s heart contracted then. He still didn’t know the answer. And as that realisation hit, he knew that whenever that time came it would be far too soon.
57
REYKJAVIK RÖST, REYKJAVIK
Chloe looked out over the sea from her seat outside this coffee shop with extraordinary views. Boats close in the marina and then the open water, its motion strong and sturdy today, dappled by the tiniest amount of winter sunlight seeping through the clouds. It was a bit like how she was feeling. Grounded but not motionless, steadfastly determined in her trajectory… Did she know exactly how the future would pan out? Absolutely not. But who did? Really? However, right now, it was enough to know that she felt ready to engage with life fully again, not bury everything else but her career aspirations.
There had been an email from Michelle waiting for her when she woke up but, for the first time ever, Chloe hadn’t read it. Instead she had scheduled in a Zoom call with her boss and for once she was going to take the lead.
She saw the notification that Michelle had joined the meeting; it was time.
‘Good morning,’ Chloe greeted brightly as Michelle’s face appeared on screen.
‘Hello, Chloe, shall we skip the pleasantries and just cut to the chase here?’ Michelle snapped. ‘I have a mani pedi in thirty minutes. I don’t actually know why we are having this meeting because I put everything I needed to say to you in the email I sent you.’
‘Oh,’ Chloe said. ‘Well, I haven’t had a chance to read that yet.’ She took a sip of her coffee and willed its caffeine to keep giving her strength.
‘You haven’t read it?’
‘No,’ Chloe said. ‘Because I spent this morning finalising the pitch for the Sinclairz Chairs anniversary event.’
‘Oh, finalising the pitch for the Sinclairz Chairs anniversary event!’ Michelle parroted. ‘You mean the event you blabbed about in front of the chamber of commerce! Or, rather, not actually you blabbing, but some kind of weird alien voice that Lars said, and I quote, “sounded like Google Translate”.’
Chloe cupped her coffee cup in both hands and let Michelle carry on.
‘So, not only did you commit one of the ultimate business sins, talking about an event we have not even secured yet, letting other business people know there is such an event so they can tell any number of people about it and we can get more competition for the job, you got an app, or whatever, to speak Icelandic! Which says to me that you don’t speak Icelandic and therefore you’ve never been able to speak Icelandic and you’ve been lying to me since the day your CV claiming to speak Icelandic arrived in my emails!’
Yes, that was pretty much what had happened. Chloe thought it was a fair summary of events and nothing that she hadn’t been prepared for.
‘I don’t know, Chloe,’ Michelle said, looking increasingly uncomfortable. ‘I was beginning to think that I could really trust you.’
What? Chloe put down the coffee cup fast, almost sloshing some over the table.
‘You were beginning to think you could trust me?’ Chloe said, hurt flavouring the words.
