Twenty-Seven
Thursday 8th October
‘In short, itislegally binding, and there’s nothing they can do about it,’ Oliver said, delighted with the outcome. ‘Any decisions to do with Firefly Forest have to be jointly agreed between Tore and the Bakkens. Fifty percent to each half, not fifty-fifty between Bjorn and Nina.’
‘Yesss!’ Henrik punched the air, then high-fived me.
Jonas was stood with his arms around Greta and squeezed her tight. Once we’d found the covenant, he’d updated her on the situation.
Tore let out a huge sigh of relief. ‘Thank God.Thank God.And thank you, of course, Oliver. And Sara for bringing you to us.’
‘It was nothing,’ I said, beaming. My record was still unbeaten.
‘And very much my pleasure,’ Oliver added. ‘Firefly Forest is a special, protected place, and it didn’t take long to formalise an objection, once we had proof of covenant. Certified copies have been sent to Mr Pearson and Mr Bakken, along with a cease-and-desist order. I’ve also made it clear that should they decide to reopen negotiations, Mr Nilsen, senior – Tore – you would need to be part of those conversations.’
‘How can we ever repay you?’ Tore said, his voice cracking. ‘I thought we’d lost it all. I haven’t slept for days with all the worry.’
‘No payment necessary. Sara is a friend and I’ve been happy to help. Perhaps I’ll come and visit sometime and experience the magic for myself?’
‘Please! You must! Consider it an open invitation for anytime you’d like to come. Bring your family and friends. Anyone you like! Just let us know.’
‘Greta and I would also like to invite you to our wedding,’ Jonas added. ‘As our honoured guest.’
‘Oh no, no. That’s too much…’
‘We insist!’ Greta said. ‘You don’t need to decide right now – we’ll send you an invite. We want to thank you properly. In person.’
‘OK, well that’s very kind of you both. I’ll leave you to celebrate the good news. Sara – call me when you’re back in London. I’m thinking of opening a satellite office there and would love to pick your brains.’
I laughed. ‘Will do! Thanks, Oliver.’
Tore hung up and we all jumped around screaming. That winning feeling of pure elation – there was nothing like it. But it felt different this time. I wasn’t getting a master criminal off on a technicality. We’d done a good thing for good people and stopped the baddies for once. There was no big fat bonus waiting for me post-win, just a warm glow inside.
‘Time to celebrate,’ Tore shouted. ‘On the boat!’
‘Yesss! To the boat!’ Greta said, grabbing some champagne flutes and following Tore and Jonas through the patio doors. I prayed he wouldn’t fill them up with sparkling apple, like he did at dinner.
‘Will we all fit on the dinghy?’ I whispered to Henrik.
‘Not the dinghy,’ he chuckled. ‘Pappa’sboat.’
‘You’ve got two boats?’
‘Pappabought it when we were small,’ Henrik whispered. ‘He’s been doing it up for years. We had a party for ourNorwegian national day in May, and he finally let us see it, but he’s yet to officially take it out.’
‘Somewhere to hide from the guests,’ I said with a smile.
‘Or to take them,’ he quipped, putting his arm around me. I could just about make out his smile in the dark and it made my insides melt. I was so relieved to be back in his good books.
‘It’s a shame I’ve only got two days left,’ I said, lacing my fingers through his.
‘We’ll make it count,’ he said, kissing me on the head as we walked down to the water.
Tore and Jonas were already popping corks when we got there, next to a beautiful speedboat shored up on their private jetty. Greta had disappeared downstairs and I hopped onboard behind Henrik. The stars were out in force and the air felt clear and calm. It was still freezing cold, but I was dressed for the weather in my Firefly jacket, all bundled up and cosy.
Greta had switched on the lamps and was lighting candles to hygge up the lounge, while the champagne glasses waited to be filled. I felt like an A-lister arriving at a private party as I sat on the cream leather sofa, surrounded by stripy, knitted cushions.
‘Your handiwork I presume?’
