She frowned. She’d heard of that. ‘Even if you own a private island?’
‘Yes. Nothing is going to happen. We’ll just say hello. It’s good to know who’s here.’ He got out of bed and pulled his clothes on. The man shouted again, and Mats laughed. ‘It’s my brother, Fredrik!’
It was a relief to know the man wasn’t a total stranger, but why was he here? And if she’d known there was any chance of random people “roaming” around, she’d have been more wary, and definitely made Mats stand outside the door of the toilet cabin while she was in there.
She followed Mats out of the cabin.
‘How do you lose your kid on such a tiny island?’ He shouted in Norwegian but Lotta could understand.
Fredrik waved and walked towards them grinning. The brothers embraced, clapping each other on the back, then Fredrik said, ‘I’m sorry I scared you,’ in Norwegian.
‘You didn’t scare me,’ Lotta lied, in English.
‘You were running for fun?’
‘Fred,’ said Mats with a hint of warning in his voice.
‘It’s nice to meet you, Lotta. I’ve heard a lot about you from my sisters.’ He held out his hand and Lotta shook it, seeing a more playful version of Mats in his eyes. He had darker hair but the same bright blue eyes.
‘Good to meet you, too.’
‘So where is Emil?’ Mats asked, glancing around.
Fredrik shrugged. ‘I don’t know. He’ll be okay.’
‘How old is he?’ Lotta asked.
‘Six. Best if he runs around here and gets rid of some energy.’
Lotta wondered whether it was safe for a six-year-old to be running loose on an island with deep fjords surrounding it, but both men seemed unconcerned.
‘We may as well light the fire from last night,’ Mats said. ‘We won’t all fit in the cabin.’
‘Got any spare breakfast?’ Fredrik asked.
‘You got in the boat with Emil before you’d eaten?’ Mats asked.
‘No, of course not, but we’ve been up for hours. It’s alright for you lovebirds without a six-year-old here to be your alarm clock.’
Mats and Fredrik carried some logs through the woods to the grassy area where they’d had their dinner the night before, while Lotta followed behind with some blankets slung over her arm and their remaining food supplies.
It didn’t take long for the fire to get going with both of them tending it, and almost as soon as it was alight, a small blonde boy emerged from the trees at a hundred miles an hour.
‘Hey, Emil! Do you want some toast?’ Fredrik called to him.
‘Ja!’ he called and then disappeared again.
‘He’ll be back,’ said Fredrik. ‘So how was last night in your little cabin?’
‘Cosy,’ said Lotta, trying not to feel invaded.
‘Quiet,’ Mats said. ‘Until you two turned up. Why didn’t you call?’
‘I let Emil decide, and I didn’t know you were going to be here.’
‘You probably shouldn’t bring him here while we’re doing the building work,’ said Mats, finally being the voice of reason now he’d woken up properly. ‘In fact, let’s get him back here. There’s a lot of equipment over by the house.’
‘He won’t touch anything,’ Fredrik said, poking the fire with the stick they’d used for the marshmallows the night before.
