Page 50 of Adrift in Iceland
Astrid sat on the bench seat and opened the box. There were three brown sugar buns nestled inside.
‘Two for me, one for you?’ He put the coffee on the table.
‘One for Eva.’
Ah, Eva. He had nothing against her, but he’d be sad that it wasn’t just him and Astrid anymore.
‘That’s why I thought I’d come early,’ she said. ‘So we could spend some time together.’
‘How did you know I’d be here early?’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Do I seriously need to answer that? How many hours have you been here?’
‘Less than one.’
‘That’s something. I missed you last night.’ She put her hand on top of his.
‘Me too. Maybe you had a premonition I might have been restless. At least one of us slept well.’
‘Tonight you’ll sleep like a log, and you’ll wonder what you were worrying about. What are you worrying about?’
He put his bun down, having not yet taken a bite. ‘Everything. Weather. Whales. Mechanics and everything in between.’
‘Try and remember how great we felt at the end of the trial tour.’ She pulled her phone out of her pocket and showedhim a photo of them on the boat together. They were standing side by side with big grins on their faces, and they were looking at each other. The connection between them was unmistakable. ‘Gudrun took this when she got off the boat that day. Look how happy you are.’
It surprised him to see his expression. No wonder Astrid’s mother and his own had realised there was something between the two of them that day.
‘Can you send me that?’
‘Yes, and you can look at it whenever you feel like things are going to go badly. There’s no reason to expect the worst.’
It was easy to say, but since the night his father died, when he had to put into practice what he and the rest of the crew had been trained to deal with but never thought they would face, he’d always expected the worst. Having Astrid around had eased the feelings of dread somewhat, but it was hard to break the habit of half a lifetime.
‘I’ll look at it all the time,’ he said. ‘You look beautiful.’
Astrid bit her lip and stared at him as if she had never heard anyone say that before. ‘Thank you.’
’Come here,’ he said, taking her in his arms, filling the void that had been there since the walk on the beach the day before. He felt her nuzzle into his neck and his worries melted away, because nothing else mattered.
‘I kind of liked missing you last night,’ she said. ‘I was so looking forward to seeing you this morning.’
He said nothing because he hadn’t felt like that. He’d not allowed himself the luxury of missing her, or looking forward to seeing her because he’d been too busy dwelling on what had been wrong yesterday.
‘It’s okay if you don’t feel the same,’ she said, reading his mind. ‘I know you’ve been too busy preparing for today.’
‘It didn’t stop me from wishing you were in my arms last night. My bed felt empty without you, and you’ve never evenbeen in it.’
They sat for a few minutes kissing and caressing each other’s faces before they heard footsteps on the stairs.
‘Hello?’ It was Eva.
Astrid sprung off Leifur’s lap. ‘Morning! You’re bright and early, Eva.’
‘I was so nervous. I just want to get started.’
‘Take a seat,’ said Leifur. ‘I’ll make more coffee and we can eat our buns before we start.’
When the first guests arrived, they were completely ready for them. Astrid met them on the quayside, checked them off on her list, welcomed them onto the boat and sent them downstairs to see Eva, who would help them get kitted out and make them drinks. They had a full boat of thirty that morning, and once everyone was on board, Astrid notified Leifur, he started the engines, and Eva and Astrid let off the lines. They were off.
