It was something he never talked about with his sister and he was curious to know what the answer was.
‘No. All the men around here are either happily married or I went to school with them. Maybe when we sell the house and I move somewhere else.’
Selling the house was a difficult topic that the five of them hadn’t sat down to discuss properly since their father died. He suspected the others felt as he did, that it was unfair to ask Ida to leave when she had been the main carer for their parents in their final years.
‘Sometimes the right person turns up when you least expect it,’ Lotta said wistfully.
Ida smiled at Mats, telling him she approved and it meant so much more to him than he’d expected. He felt stupid for thinking it was too soon to introduce her to Lotta. What had he been worried about?
‘So you’re actually going to stay on the island tomorrow night?’ Ida asked.
Mats nodded. ‘I’ve got everything set up.’ He didn’t want to give it away by describing it in too much detail before Lotta saw it. ‘We need to pack some food and water, that’s all.’
‘I love that you were thinking of going tonight. Had you even thought about food?’
‘I’ve thought about everything else,’ he said, defensively, feeling exactly like a teenager again in the face of Ida making fun of him.
‘It’s okay,’ Lotta said, squeezing his hand. ‘Can we pick some supplies up on the way?’
‘We can. We could take the boat into Bergen.’ It would make more of the trip to show her the city so it was a good change to their plan. ‘We could leave early and get coffee and pastries.’
‘That sounds perfect,’ Lotta said.
Later that night, they lay in the dark in Mats’ bedroom. He insisted she take the bed, and he made up a bed on the floor next to her for himself.
‘There’s enough room for both of us,’ she said.
He grinned into the dark because there was barely enough room for him in that bed when he was in it by himself.
‘You can’t survive for one night without me?’
‘I don’t want to. I miss you even though you’re right there.’
‘Scoot over then,’ he said, coming to lie next to her, on his side so that neither of them would fall out.
The noise she made into his chest once they were in each other’s arms was one of deep satisfaction, and he decided he washere for the night. How could he resist that? He could sleep some other time when he couldn’t be in Lotta’s arms.
15
The following morning, Lotta dressed in her thermals with jeans and her warmest sweater, and a puffer coat. She didn’t know if she’d need the coat since it was sunny, but when they stepped out of the house, the wind was colder than she’d expected. She pulled her bobble hat out of her bag.
‘It’s chilly. Have you got enough clothes?’ Mats said. ‘I can bring a couple of extra sweatshirts.’
‘I’m okay. It’s only my ears that are cold.’
The view from the back of the house was stunning. It was perched high on the side of the fjord, and in the sunshine, the water glistened below.
‘It’s so beautiful,’ said Lotta. ‘I can’t believe you grew up here. And that’s why you can drive a boat in the dark.’ She’d been so relieved last night that he’d relented on the plan to set off straight to the island. Spending the evening with Ida had been lovely and gave her a better sense of where Mats came from, which she loved.
‘I’m a little out of practice to be honest, so perhaps it was for the best.’ He laughed at her wide-eyed look of shock. ‘It would have been okay,’ he shrugged, taking her hand and leading her down a winding path to the edge of the water where there was a small wooden boathouse. It was like a different world to Lotta, having grown up in landlocked middle England. Of course when she’d visited Norway before, she’d seen houses like this one dotted along the sides of the fjords, testament to the strongties Norwegians had to the water which had sustained them for generations, but she’d never imagined she’d meet anyone who lived in one of them.
Mats opened the boathouse, and she waited on the small jetty while he reversed the boat out and shut it up again. He dropped their bags into the bottom of the boat and held out his hand for her. She stepped onto the boat, losing her balance slightly to begin with, but Mats’ grasp on her was solid and she soon found her feet.
She sat on one side while Mats took the controls at the front of the boat, and off they went. The small canopy that protected them from the elements kept off the worst of the wind, but it was still cold. Lotta pulled her hood up over her bobble hat and pushed her hands deep into her pockets. With plenty of houses to look at, the journey to Bergen didn’t seem to take that long. Mats pulled the boat up at the side of the harbour and tied off next to a ladder. They stashed their bags in a locker under the seat and climbed up to the quayside.
‘I remember this place from when I came with my parents,’ Lotta said. ‘Is there a railway that goes up the mountain?’
‘Yes, the station is at the top of that road,’ Mats said, pointing to a wide cobbled avenue that led up from the harbour.
