‘Morning,’ said Becca, popping her head out of the door. ‘Mind if I join you?’
‘Not at all, but bring a cushion to sit on.’ He pointed to a wooden chest inside the house next to the door. ‘The chairs are damp.’
She sat next to him, her hands wrapped around her mug as she surveyed the view. ‘I love it here.’
‘More than Iceland?’
‘It’s different to Iceland. I love it there too. I’ll always associate this place with falling in love with Anders and your island, all at the same time.’
‘Was it love at first sight?’
‘Not with Anders. Maybe with the island,’ she laughed. ‘I heard from Ida about your friend Lotta.’
‘Of course you did,’ he said with a rueful smile. ‘Ida thinks I have fallen for her already.’
‘And have you?’
‘I don’t think so. She’s captured my imagination, I think that’s the best explanation. And I want to see her. All the time,’ he said, watching for Becca’s reaction. It meant a lot to him what his friends thought.
‘Oh, that’s something, Mats. Probably not love yet, but you’re on the right track.’
‘She lives in London.’
‘So do I. That hasn’t stopped me and Anders.’
‘Becca. When was the last time you were even in London?’
She laughed. ‘Um, Christmas? I’m working in Reykjavik. It’s just a coincidence that’s where Anders is. My work could have taken me anywhere.’
‘Right.’ Mats grinned. ‘I’m glad you’re finding ways to be together.’
‘I wouldn’t be doing what I love if it wasn’t for you being willing to take a chance on me.’
He shook his head and smiled at her. ‘When I saw your face the first time you came to the island, I knew you’d fallen in lovewith it. You didn’t see the repairs that are needed, the roofs and windows that need replacing, the rotten timbers, and the money it’s all going to take. You saw it as it will be. Like the dream is already a real thing.’
‘I do see it like that. Right down to the chandelier in the hallway.’
He laughed. ‘Ida has been on my back about that this week. It is funny that’s the only thing we’ve bought so far.’
‘It’s the starting place for the vision. And it’s not any ordinary chandelier, I did tell Ida.’
‘As soon as she knew it was you that had ordered it, she backed off.’
‘You know where you are with Ida, I love that about her.’ She stood up and stretched. ‘Right. I’ll take a coffee up for Anders and we can get going.’
Less than an hour later, the three of them set off down the winding garden path that led to the water’s edge and the boathouse, and Mats piloted the small motorboat across the fjord towards Radfjorden and the island. The drizzle had set in now, and the mist had hidden the tops of the mountains that rose from the edges of the fjord. It was a pretty miserable day, but a miserable day doing this was way better to Mats than spending a day in a comfortable office in Oslo.
He took a left turn out of the bigger fjord and into a smaller one. A few minutes later, the tip of the island emerged from the mist as they got closer. He pulled the boat up against the small wooden jetty and Anders jumped out and tied it to the mooring post. Mats killed the engine and he and Becca followed Anders. He took a deep breath, finally feeling relaxed in the way that only seemed to happen here.
‘I can hear Knut’s boat,’ he said.
Minutes later another boat appeared from the mist, slightly larger than Mats’, and pulled up on the other side of the jetty. Mats caught the rope that Knut threw for him and tied it off.
‘God Morgen,’ he said, shaking hands with Knut and the man who was with him, before switching to English again. ‘This is Anders Egilsson, he has a hotel in Iceland and is an old family friend, and this is Becca Samuels, my designer.’
Knut introduced Lars Nilsen, the local building contractor who had tendered for the work. ‘Great to meet you all,’ he said. ‘This is an exciting project.’
Mats smiled and led the way through the trees to the old farmhouse, which would be the first stage of the project and the main building of the hotel. Hopefully, Lars would see the place the same way he and Becca did. He needed to get a good feeling about him to know whether the relationship was going to work. Knut was different. They’d known each other at school, and since then Knut had worked all over Norway, project managing all sorts of things. He seemed to be able to turn his skills to anything, having worked for oil production companies, manufacturing companies, and even Norway’s biggest salmon farmer, and Mats felt lucky to have him on board. Knut was on a similar path to Mats; having made his money, he wanted to stop travelling for work so he could settle in Bergen and have a chance at family life.
