Page 48 of Adrift in Iceland
‘It is,’ he conceded. ‘It’s a great place to watch storms from. With the fire blazing and a hot drink in your hand while the waves crash on the rocks and the lightning lights up the fjord.’
‘I can imagine you doing that. You looked so content watching the sea when I saw you on the rocks.’
‘I still can’t believe you thought you were going to see a whale.’
‘Hey!’ She laughed, shocked but thrilled that he felt he could tease her and she’d take it in good spirit. It felt like amilestone. ‘At least I wasn’t the maniac waving to a stranger.’
‘That’s fair.’ He threw his head back and laughed, and Astrid felt warm inside that she was the one who had done this to him. At least partly. She had to giveBrimfaxisome of the credit.
There was a set of metal steps that bridged the huge rocks stacked as sea defences that stretched along the coast and led down to a small sandy beach about halfway along.
‘Shall we walk along the sand?’
He nodded. ‘Sure.’ Almost as soon as they set foot on the sand, he picked up a piece of seaweed. A huge bunch of kelp on a thick stem, like a cat-o'-nine-tails. ‘Look at this.’ A glint appeared in his eye and Astrid knew exactly what he was going to do. She yelped and started running away from him, a quick turn of her head confirming her suspicion that he was chasing her with the seaweed.
She felt like she’d outrun him and turned around. ‘If that touches me, you’re dead, Leifur Magnússon!’ She could barely shout her threat properly for laughing.
‘That would be a shame. Just when we’ve got to the fun part.’ He threw the seaweed into the sea, where it floated on the surface, making its way back to the beach with every wave. She watched him walk towards her with a smile on her face, knowing that he would take her in his arms when he reached her. He did, and then he pretended he was going to throw her into the sea.
‘No!’ she screeched, clinging to him with every ounce of strength she could muster, even though she knew he would never actually do it.
‘One, two, three…’ He lifted her and let her fall quickly, never letting her go, but making her feel like she was falling for a split second.
‘Leifur!’
Then he pulled her to him, holding her closer than she’dever been held before. She nuzzled into his neck, breathing him in and letting his beard scuff her cheek. It felt so good. The warmth of him, the solidness and the safety of feeling his arms around her was intoxicating. Why had she suggested a walk when they could have taken some time off by staying in the cabin?
As he put her down on the sand and they resumed their walk along the beach, she spotted something on the high tide line and pulled Leifur’s hand until they reached it. There was something among the small rocks and pieces of seaweed.
‘You look as if you’re expecting to find something,’ he said.
‘Seaglass.’ Astrid couldn’t drag her eyes from the sand. ‘Look!’ Holding the emerald green nugget up to the sky, the sun glinted through it. ‘I think green and clear are the most common ones.’
‘Let’s see if we can find something special then,’ Leifur said.
It was addictive looking for the small pieces of broken glass that the sea had tumbled into jewels just waiting to be discovered. Astrid smiled at him as he bent down to pick up a piece of clear glass, thinking how nice it was to share things like this with someone else. One of her favourite things in the world was to hunt for seaglass at every beach she went to, and of all of them, this was always where she’d found the best of it in abundance.
‘I’ve never done this before,’ said Leifur.
‘Perhaps it’s more of a girl thing.’
‘Perhaps. But it’s very absorbing. I can understand the appeal. What do you do with the glass?’
‘I have a glass jar. I put it in there and keep it on a windowsill. I love seeing it in the sunlight, and it’s nice to have a jar of souvenirs from all the places I’ve been.’
‘I’ve collected pieces of driftwood over the years. It washes up on the shore by my house.’
‘What do you do with those?’
‘All sorts of things. I collected a lot of small pieces and strung them together to make a decoration for my mother. I have a larger piece across my mantelpiece. It must have been out at sea for a long time because it’s so smooth and bleached by the sun.’
Astrid loved these small glimpses into Leifur’s life. They were like little gifts he gave her every so often.
‘I’ll come round to yours on Sunday night.’ They’d agreed to have Monday as their day off.
‘That gives me no time to prepare,’ Leifur said, bending to pick up another piece of glass and putting it in his pocket.
Astrid loved that he was enjoying collecting the glass too. ‘What do you need to prepare? It can’t be untidy. Aren’t fishermen renowned for being very organised and precise and tidy?’
