They took the two chairs from inside out onto the deck and sat looking at their new view for the first time. There was a glimpse of the fjord through the trees, and the mountains across the water towered over the tops.
Mats gazed out at the view, and Lotta got the feeling that he was building up to say something.
‘You’re sure this is what you want?’
She turned her chair to face him. ‘I love it here, Mats. I love being with you here. I love you.’
‘It’s only just sunk in that this is happening.’ He had tears in his eyes. ‘Just when I met someone I thought I could love, someone I do love, I thought the decision I’d made to take this place on would ruin it for me. Then when I ran out of money, I thought I was going to lose you too, Lotta.’
‘This place was never going to be the reason it wouldn’t work between us. I love this about you just as much as everything else. I love that you’re drawn to this place, because of its legacy, because it means something to you. That you’ve bet everything you have on something you believe in.’
He laughed, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. ‘I think that might make me a fool.’
‘It makes you someone who believes with everything he’s got. That’s how I know that you believe in me more than I believe in myself sometimes.’
‘I do believe in you, Lotta. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. You make me feel like everything’s worth it.’
‘I love you, Mats, and I’ll be with you every step of the way with this island,Lysgården.Even if we get stuck here one day in a storm with no food, at least we’re together. That’s all that matters.’
‘We’ll be there for each other. Good and bad.’
‘Good and bad,’ she repeated, tears falling down her cheeks as well now.
‘Enough of this. We’re supposed to be celebrating.’ He took a swig of his beer, then set the bottle down on the veranda. ‘Coming?’ He stood up and held out his hand.
Lotta smiled and took his hand, wondering how she got so lucky. To have this man who waited for her while she took the time to realise she already had everything she could ever have dreamed of.
EPILOGUE
One Week Later
On Friday evening, when everyone had arrived at the Larsen house in Loddefjord, Mats and Lotta told their friends and family about their plan to run foodie nights on the island over the autumn.
‘We need to do some landscaping to tidy up the path from the jetty to the farmhouse, and we need to decorate the two big downstairs rooms and the hallway,’ said Mats.
‘We can hang the chandelier!’ Becca said. ‘That will make the hallway by itself.’
‘I can’t wait to see what is so special about this chandelier,’ Ida whispered to Lotta.
‘I know it’s a lot to ask when you are all here for a holiday weekend,’ said Mats, ‘but if we can spend tomorrow on the island, there are enough of us that we can achieve a lot. Of course, if anyone would rather not…’
Everyone drowned him out saying that, of course, they wanted to help.
‘We were hoping to see the island anyway,’ said Jo. ‘We’ve brought all the right clothes for an outdoorsy day.’
‘Freddie and Emil seem to have hit it off,’ Fredrik said to Jo’s husband Rob, nodding at where the two boys were playingthe car racing game in the lounge while the adults were in the kitchen and spilling out onto the terrace.
‘I don’t know how much help Freddie will be,’ said Rob. ‘But he’ll love having the run of the island.’
‘If we have to keep them entertained by doing some fishing, that’s what we’ll do,’ Fredrik said.
‘That is typical of you, avoiding the work before we’ve even started,’ Ida said to her brother as she offered them both a sandwich from an overflowing plate.
‘Ida,’ Fredrik said, feigning hurt. ‘You know I would never.’
Ida harrumphed and then grinned at Rob. ‘I have my eye on you too,’ she said before she moved on.
‘Your sister’s scary,’ Rob said.
