‘Really?’ I asked. ‘I didn’t know you could do that. How weird that I stumbled across you then.’
‘Our business is mostly word of mouth, so there would be no reason to look for our website unless you’d been told about it. I thought your friend had stayed with us. Emma Stone, wasn’t it?’
‘The actress?’ Mark asked.
‘It was a misunderstanding,’ I said, walking double speed to keep up. ‘Em actually stayed at the Firefly retreat in Sweden.’
‘Em?’ Mark repeated, baffled. ‘Since when do you know Emma Stone?’
I gave him a coy smile, letting the implication that Em and I were besties hang in the air.
‘Synchronicity then,’ Tore said. ‘Something beyond reason and logic brought us all together. I wonder why. Interesting to observe how the world works once you start to notice these things. People come here for all sorts of reasons – a chain reaction if you like. What bringsyouhere?’
Mark looked surprised by the question. ‘Me? Oh, right. Same as everyone else I suppose. A quick break in nature. Relaxation, good food – and I knew if Sara was here, it’d be top class.’
‘Am I your quality assurance officer?’ I said, affronted.
‘Yup. The original hotel inspector.’ He gave me a friendly nudge. ‘She’s got high expectations, this one.’ His tone made it sound like a bad thing. What was wrong with wanting the best for your holidays? I worked hard every other day of the year; I wanted to make sure it was worth it.
‘It is a gift to have a wife who aims for the best in life,’ Tore replied, and I could have kissed him.
Mark looked uncomfortable as he nodded. ‘For sure,’ he said.
Ha!Put that in your pipe and smoke it. Although it felt sad to have a virtual stranger sticking up for me against my own husband – albeit soon-to-be ex. The man who chose me above all others. Before un-choosing me, of course.
‘Here is your cabin,’ Tore said, pointing to my front door.
‘Yes, I heard you’d said it would be OK to stay with me,’ I said, eyes flashing. ‘There isn’t space, Mark. What were you thinking?’
‘I’ll stay on the sofa; I’m only passing through.’
‘You still should have asked,’ I said in a huff. Cheeky bastard.
Tore gave an awkward cough. ‘As it’s still daylight hours, I can give you a tour of the retreat site if you’d like?’ Tore said. ‘Unless you’d prefer to see it with Sara?’
‘No, no – I’d love the personal tour. I’m fascinated by this part of Norway. I’ve got loads of questions about it.’
‘Please,’ Tore said, with open arms. ‘Ask me whatever you like.’
Mark dumped his bags on my sofa and I hovered by the door. ‘Do you want the guest version too?’ I asked.
‘Definitely. Can we do it tomorrow? I don’t want to drag you round the place when you’ve already seen it – I’m sure you’ve got better things to do.’
‘Cool. I’ll see you at dinner.’
I didn’t have anything better to do. Especially now Henrik was annoyed with me. It wasn’t like I could pop back and finish off my wild water swimming. It was weird having Mark suddenly here in the flesh at Firefly Forest and I wanted to interrogate him in private. I needed to understand his motives.
