‘I remember the view being like the one from the mountain in Oslo,’ she said, smiling at him as they both remembered the night of their first date a couple of weeks ago.
‘It’s similar,’ he said. ‘Shall we find somewhere for coffee and pastries first to warm up?’
Although she was grateful he noticed it was freezing, she was worried that he was far hardier than her and they were heading to the island to stay in a tent because what other option was there when the place was a building site? She knew he was excited and wanted it to be a surprise, so she’d stopped herselffrom asking him what to expect. She had to trust him, and she did, but it was a relief to know he was feeling the cold too.
After a warming breakfast, they headed to the supermarket where Lotta left it to Mats to choose what they needed. He picked exactly the kind of food you’d eat if you were camping. A loaf of bread, sausages, some kind of square flatbreads, and amongst everything else, some pre-sliced Norwegian brown cheese.
‘I love that cheese,’ Lotta said, her mouth already watering at the thought of the sweet, slightly caramel-tasting cheese.
‘Well, you do have Norwegian blood,’ Mats pointed out. ‘Is there anything else you would like?’
‘Will we have a campfire?’
‘Yes. Please don’t worry about being cold.’
‘No, I’m not. I thought we could make smores.’
‘Good idea,’ he said, heading down the next aisle to find marshmallows while Lotta looked for chocolate biscuits. They weren’t exactly McVities, but they were close enough.
They headed back to the harbour with their bags of shopping and climbed down to the boat. Lotta felt like a local now.
‘You’ll have to come shopping like this all the time when you live on the island.’
‘It will take some getting used to. I never do a big shop in Oslo because it’s so easy to pick anything up when I need it.’
‘And you probably get take-aways.’
‘I do,’ he grinned. ‘I will miss that.’
Lotta sat back in her seat at the side of the boat, watching Mats drive and loving how capable he was. She didn’t think she’d ever been out with someone who had such an air of reliability, making her feel safe just by being there.
The journey to the island only took about fifteen minutes. Once Mats had turned off the wide fjord onto a smaller one, it wasn’t long before he turned to her and held out his hand.
‘Come here, you can see the island.’
She stood up and grabbed his hand, not sure yet that she could stay upright when the boat was in motion, although Mats had slowed it down a little now. He slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her next to him, his sure stance holding her steady.
The fjord split into two channels around a point of land that, as it came closer, revealed itself to be a tree-covered island. Lotta looked up at Mats and saw the look of anticipation on his face, and when he looked down at her, she could see in his eyes how much he wanted to share this with her.
He pulled alongside the jetty. Lotta climbed out of the boat and caught the rope that he threw to her. She wound it around the post enough to hold it and then watched as he expertly tied a knot to secure it once he’d killed the engine.
‘So, what do you think?’
She thought that even in the sunshine, it looked fairly desolate. The clear area of land in front of them was churned up and muddy, far from the picturesque place she’d expected or seen in the photographs. The woods that began a little further ahead were dense and uninviting, and Lotta wondered what she’d let herself in for. Was Mats delusional? Perhaps this was why his family had tried to talk him out of it. It was all making sense now.
But one thing she did love was the clear water that lapped against the rocks. The clarity of it was like nothing she’d ever seen before, and it made her stomach turn a little when it changed from crystal clear to deep blue so close to the shore, almost vertically dropping to depths she could hardly imagine.
‘Let me show you around before we unload,’ Mats said, taking her hand.
He led her along a muddy track into the woodland, and it wasn’t long before the source of the mud was revealed. The clearing they stood in was a building site. All the machinery andmaterials that were stacked here had been traipsed across from the jetty. No wonder it was muddy.
‘This is the farmhouse and it’ll be the main hotel building. We’re putting an extension on the back and lifting the roof to make more space.’
Lotta had to admit that the front of the house, which was surrounded by a veranda, was beautiful. Or had the potential to be. ‘It’s an enormous house for a small island.’
‘The farm extends onto the neighbouring land as well. This was the hub, I suppose. My grandparents lived here.’
‘Wow, I bet you loved this when you were kids.’
