Page 44 of Adrift in Iceland
‘Mamma, here are the keys to my truck. I will only be a minute behind you.’
Peta took the keys. ‘It’s been a pleasure to meet you, Astrid. I hope we cross paths again soon.’
‘Me too.’
Leifur waited until Peta was out of earshot. ‘So we can’t talk endlessly about how amazing we are tonight. Can we tomorrow?’
Astrid nodded. All she wanted to do was stay here, with Leifur. Today had changed things between them. She knew she wanted to be with him, and it was going to be difficult to wait until tomorrow to see him again, when maybe the high from today had worn off.
‘Meet here? At eleven?’
‘Perfect,’ she said.
Dinner with her parents was great, and she wouldn’t have missed it for the world, it happened so rarely these days. But Leifur was at the forefront of her mind the whole evening. His expression when they’d been seeing everyone off the boat, hearing what everyone thought about the tour, it melted her heart. She wanted that for him every day of the week. She was realising that she wanted him every day of the week too. And now that the first tour was out of the way, the pressure was off and the time they spent together could be about something other than setting the boat up.
‘Hey, As. What are you daydreaming about?’ Gudrun was sitting next to her and shoved her arm gently as if she were twelve years old again.
‘Nothing. Just thinking about today.’
‘Astrid, can we come to see your new flat tomorrow?’ their mother asked. ‘Gudrun said it’s beautiful.’
‘I have to work in the morning.’ Meeting Leifur was work related, but if she said that’s what she was doing, everyone would read too much into it. ‘Why don’t you come for dinner?’
‘We’d love to.’
‘So would we,’ said Gudrun.
‘I don’t think we’ll all fit around my tiny table. You two can come another day.’
‘Fair enough,’ said Gudrun. ‘Did you invite Leifur tonight?’
‘Yes. He had to take his mother home.’ Thank goodness,because who knows what kind of inquisition he’d be facing now? Astrid hadn’t realised quite how forthright her sister was. Perhaps she’d not noticed before, when she wasn’t the object of her interest.
‘Is there more to things with Leifur than being work colleagues?’ Ah, perhaps Gudrun got it from their mother.
‘Maybe,’ Astrid said honestly. ‘I like him.’
Gudrun scoffed. ‘I saw you both mooning at each other when we got off the boat. It’s more than that, and he feels the same way.’
‘We were on a high from how well things had gone, that’s all. Nothing’s happened between us at all.’ She almost said “yet” at the end of that sentence. Because she was certain that something would. These past two weeks, they’d both been too focused on the job in hand to let anything derail them from getting the tours up and running. Then today, when the tour was over, Astrid had an overwhelming urge to throw herself into Leifur’s arms, and she probably would have done if his mother hadn’t been there. It was as if they both knew that today marked the end of one thing and the beginning of something else. Gudrun was right about one thing, because Astrid had seen Leifur’s face and thought the same. Yes, they were both elated because the day had been a success, but that had just set a fire under what was already beginning to smoulder between them. Hopefully, in the morning she’d find that Leifur was feeling exactly the same.
19
LEIFUR CALLED INTO Bakarameistarinn on his way into Reykjavik to meet Astrid. They were a small chain of bakeries that had only recently opened in Hafnarfjörður, and he was glad of the excuse to buy some of their sugar buns. With the pastries secure on the front seat of his truck, he headed to the Old Harbour to meet Astrid.
On the way to his mother’s house yesterday, he’d got the impression that she was gently persuading him to pursue Astrid. Peta had mentioned more than once how incredible her commentary had been, and did he know whether she was planning on staying in Reykjavik for good? He didn’t know, and he told Peta that, pointing out that they were work colleagues and not in the habit of having heart-to-hearts about what direction their lives might go in next. What he didn’t share with his mother was that he very much wanted to know all of those things about Astrid. Now that yesterday had gone well, it was as if everything had become clear over the course of the day, and he could finally see what was what. Not that he hadn’t noticed Astrid before. Of course, he had. The trip back from Andriðsey Island had stayed with him. The way she’d felt, her back gently pressed against his chest. Now, in the post-tour glow, having forgotten how stressedout he’d been for weeks, he wondered why he hadn’t taken one hand off the wheel and looped it around her waist to pull her closer to him. He could have nuzzled into her neck and properly breathed in the scent that had been teasing his senses for that entire journey.
He parked the truck, interrupting his thoughts. He smiled to himself because that was probably a good thing. They were work colleagues first. He had to remember that. Picking the bag of pastries up, he set off towardsBrimfaxi, looking forward to seeing her as much as he was Astrid. The bright sunshine glinted off the water, making it look inviting. If it weren’t for the fact that there was still snow to be seen on the mountains, and it was cold enough to need a coat or at least a thick sweater, it could be a summer’s day.
Astrid was already on the boat, on deck. She stood up when she saw him and waved. Her hair was down, making her look more relaxed and off-duty than he’d seen her before.
‘I bought buns,’ he said, holding up the bag.
‘It really is a celebration,’ she said. She was smiling at him, but he could see there was something else she wanted to say.
‘Astrid…’ He reached out a hand and took her fingers in his, hoping that the gesture could help her understand what he wanted to say but couldn’t find the words to. He’d never been any good at talking about his feelings. Especially not to women.
She took a step closer, lifting their hands so that they were resting on his chest, between them. He could hardly catch his breath. Her eyes were searching his, and he knew in that instant exactly what she was trying to say because it was the same as him.
