‘I’m so happy for you,’ Freya said, hugging Mats.
‘Your sister is amazing,’ Mats said to her.
‘We think so,’ she said, grinning. ‘Our sister Jo is going to be gutted she missed this.’
‘Could you all come over next weekend?’ Ida asked. ‘We can have a party to celebrate. Anders and Becca will be here already with their friends, and we could see if Ingrid and Thea can make it.’
‘We’ll see what we can do,’ Freya said, grinning at Lotta.
Mats made more coffee, and they all took it outside.
‘We need to come up with a name for the hotel,’ he said.
‘I thought we were going to wait until next week when Anders and Becca are here?’ Ida said.
‘No. Someone’s jumped the gun and we need to put it right,’ he said while Lotta showed the Instagram page to Ida.
‘Roøya?Who came up with that?’
‘I know,’ Freya said, rolling her eyes.
‘Tell us some Norwegian words that evoke the feelings you want to create with the hotel,’ said Lotta, opening the notes app on her phone.
‘I mean, that is how they came up withRoøya,’Ida said. ‘It means the peaceful island.’
‘It’s the right vibe, but it doesn’t sound right,’ Lotta said.
‘How aboutstil? Stiløya?’said Ida.
‘I don’t hate that,’ said Lotta.
Mats looked unconvinced. ‘What was the name on that old map?’
‘Strandgården.The Shore Farm,’ said Ida.
‘Mmm, no,’ he said.
‘I quite like that,’ said Freya. ‘If you’re not Norwegian it sounds like a garden rather than a farm.’
‘That’s true,’ said Lotta. ‘Perhaps something else along those lines?’
‘I’m terrible at things like this,’ said Ida, defeated. ‘Would you like to come into Bergen with me?’ she asked Freya. ‘Leave these two to sort this out?’
‘I’d love to,’ Freya said, already out of her seat.
‘How aboutLys? Lysøya?’Mats said once they’d said goodbye.
‘Does that mean light?’
‘Yes, Light Island.’
‘It works in both languages. And light has a double-meaning of a person feeling lighter, which you’d hope is how they’ll feel when they visit. What aboutLysgården? Light garden, light farm?’
Mats sat for a moment, then a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. ‘I think that’s it.Lysgården.’
‘Yes?’ Lotta was delighted. It worked on every level. She could sell that name; it evoked what they were trying to create, and it was easy to say and remember.
‘Yes.’
