‘She’s bossy. You’ll get used to it.’
Being the first time they’d met each other’s families, there was plenty of talking, a little eating and drinking, and a lot of laughter. The only people missing were Thea who was working and couldn’t make it, Freya’s partner Ben who had tickets to a football match he didn’t want to miss, and Lotta’s parents who had been invited but felt it was too last-minute to accept. Lotta didn’t mind. There would be plenty of time for Mats to meet her parents, and they wouldn’t have wanted to help out on the island tomorrow anyway.
‘I found Mats’ profile online before Lotta had his number,’ Freya said to Ingrid.
‘I was trying to find Lotta online, but Mats was absolutely useless. They had spent all that time at the airport, and he basically knew nothing. We met for dinner and he was mooning around, wishing he had got her number.’ Ingrid rolled her eyes, and they both laughed at the ineptitude of their siblings.
Gudrun introduced Lotta to her partner, Olafur, and they had a brief chat about what his company wanted.
‘We’d like to come up when people start researching a holiday in Iceland. We get most of our business once they have arrived because we have brochures everywhere, but Gudrun thinks we need to be more modern,’ he said.
‘And Jonas agrees with me,’ Gudrun said, raising her eyebrows.
‘Jonas is the boss,’ Olafur said. ‘And yes, he does agree, although I am sure he is only agreeing so you will stop telling him what he ought to do.’
Gudrun grinned and Lotta laughed.
‘I’m sure I can come up with a simple social media strategy for you. You must have some images I could use if you have a brochure?’
‘They have some amazing images. Last year they started running whale-watching tours and there are some incredible photos that haven’t been used yet,’ said Gudrun.
‘That sounds ideal. Can you send me some and I’ll send back some mock-ups and a proposal?’
‘Thank you. Now the work is out of the way,’ said Olafur. ‘I’m looking forward to seeing the island tomorrow.’
‘You really don’t have to help out,’ said Lotta.
‘He can’t sit still even on holiday,’ said Gudrun. ‘We’d both love to help.’
The following morning, Mats headed over to the island with Lotta, Freya, Jo, Rob, Fredrik, and the two boys. Emil and Freddie were over-excited and there was no way they were waiting for Knut to arrive and take the rest of the group.
Becca had sent a list to Knut the night before of things she had already bought that were stored at the warehouse, and he’d agreed to collect it all on his way. As exciting as it was to think about hanging the chandelier, it wasn’t going to happen thisweekend. Today was about slapping some paint on and tidying up the grounds.
Instead of stopping the boat at the near side of the island, Mats carried on along the left-hand side so that Lotta’s family could see the end of the fjord where the mountains soared.
‘It’s beautiful,’ said Jo. ‘And there is still snow on the top of the mountains.’
‘As soon as it melts, which won’t be long now, it is covered again a few weeks later,’ said Fredrik.
‘Can you swim here?’ Freya asked.
‘It’s too cold to do anything apart from dip in on a hot day,’ said Mats. ‘The water is so deep here that it doesn’t really warm up. There are some places around Bergen that have beaches where the water is shallow and warm enough to swim in the summer.’
Mats looped around the top of the island, heading back to the jetty where they all disembarked and headed to the farmhouse.
‘This is some place,’ Rob said, impressed. ‘How much work have you had to do?’
Mats explained what it had been like before and what changes had been made. The new veranda was finished so they could all safely go inside the house. The front, where the reception rooms were, hadn’t changed much at all, and Lotta felt confident they’d easily get a fresh coat of paint on the walls today. There was more to do in the hallway, which had been altered to accommodate the new rooms over the kitchen extension. There was a lot of bare wood to prime and then paint, which would take longer.
Knut and the others arrived carrying tins of paint, rolls of plastic film so that they could cover the floors, and all kinds of brushes and rollers. Becca took charge, explaining what they would need to do and in what order. She’d chosen a shade of paint that looked white but actually had a hint of dusky pink toit. It was the colour in her final design for the lounge, so at least it would only need touching up in the end. The dining room was going to be a darker colour, but as it was white at the moment, Becca decided painting it the same colour as the lounge would be more straightforward for a quick result.
Lotta, Gudrun, Jo, Becca, and Ida declared themselves the decorating team, while the rest of the party went outside to help with the grounds. Knut had asked Lars’ team to move anything they weren’t using anymore around to the back of the house to clear as much as possible out of the way. Now, all that remained was a pile of offcuts of wood and some machinery covered over with a tarpaulin. But the biggest problem was that even though the mud had dried up, the clearing was completely devoid of grass and looked nothing like the entrance to a high-end hotel that it needed to be.
‘Help me with this,’ Knut said to Mats. He held one corner of the tarpaulin and Mats took another, and they pulled it off. ‘I hired a wood chipper. I thought we could feed in all these offcuts and the fallen branches from around here to make chippings for the path.’
‘That’s an inspired idea,’ said Mats, grinning at his friend.
‘Hey, Emil, Freddie!’ Fredrik called to the boys who were chasing each other around the trees at the edge of the clearing. ‘Start collecting bits of tree from the ground!’
