Page 71 of Adrift in Iceland
‘I don’t mind the weather,’ said Astrid. ‘I go where the work takes me, and since I specialise in North Atlantic mammals, it’s usually cold.’
‘Why are you going to Costa Rica, then?’ Gudrun asked, frowning.
‘I’m joining a study on southern hemisphere humpback whales. They’re migrating to warmer places during the southern hemisphere winter.’
‘You’re going to Costa Rica?’ Rachel said, joining in the conversation. ‘Jonas never told me that. How amazing!’
‘It’ll be interesting having had some close encounters with the northern hemisphere humpbacks over the past couple of weeks,’ said Astrid. ‘And it’s the rainy season in Central America so it’s probably just a warmer version of bad weather.’
‘Did I hear my name?’ Jonas said, appearing next to Rachel and putting his arm round her.
‘You didn’t tell me Astrid’s going to Costa Rica.’
‘Didn’t I?’
Rachel rolled her eyes. ‘It’s typical. I’m sure half the conversations he has with me only happen in his head.’
Jonas laughed. ‘I know I said it in my email, but I’m sorry to see you go,’ he said to Astrid, moving between everyone to give her a hug. ‘You set us off with high standards, and it’ll be tough to fill your shoes.’
‘Will you ask Eva to take over?’
‘I’m going to see if we can find another qualified marine biologist, but Eva has agreed to take over in the short term.’
‘That’s great. And Jonas, thank you for offering me the job. I never imagined I’d love it as much as I do.’ It was still a constant surprise to her that even with twenty-plus tours under her belt now, she never found it boring.
‘I had a visit from your brother today,’ Jonas said, turning to Leifur, who’d been chatting to Olafur.
Astrid felt Leifur stiffen next to her.
‘I’m sorry,’ Leifur said. ‘He asked me to see if there were any jobs going, but I haven’t had a chance to talk to you about it.’
It made Astrid sad that Leifur felt the need to apologise for his brother.
‘No problem at all,’ said Jonas. ‘He’s a nice guy who’s had a run of bad luck, by the sounds of it. Anyway, I said I’d keep him in mind if anything came up.’
‘Thanks. I appreciate it.’
‘I hear you had engine trouble today.’
‘The filters were clogged. All sorted now, but we had to get a tow into the harbour, so there’ll be a bill for that heading our way. And we had to offer the guests a tour tomorrow, which means some guests will need bumping over. I spoke to Siggi, and he was going to sort all of that out this afternoon. I said we’d do an extra sailing on Monday to help out.’
‘I appreciate that, and I’m sure Siggi did too. Makes it a bit easier to sort out.’
Thor climbed onto the stage and stood waiting for the crowd to notice him and quieten down a bit. Astrid and Leifur sat down at their table.
‘They’re about to start,’ said Sol, slipping into the seat next to Leifur. ‘Thor introduces the acts, and he’ll sit with us because the bar won’t be so busy once it starts.’
‘Welcome!’ Thor said, his voice coming through the speakers and causing everyone to cheer. ‘We’re going to start with one of your favourite acts. Let’s hear it for Ned and Brun!’
Ned Nokes and Brun came onto the small stage, both carrying guitars and grinning.
‘Good evening!’ Ned said, and everyone cheered. ‘We’re going to kick off with one of our favourites. This song was born here, and we always think of you guys when we play it.’
Everyone cheered as if they knew what was coming, whereas Astrid and Leifur looked at each other and shook their heads because they had no idea. But when the song started, they recognised it. It was a beautiful love song that had been popular a couple of years ago and had been a sensation amongst Icelandic people because some of the lyrics were in Icelandic.
Astrid felt Leifur’s hand move onto her thigh, under the table. Without hesitation, she took it and gave it a squeeze. She didn’t need him to say anything to know that he felt the same way as she did; sat listening to the first love song they’d heard together, but for the last time.
When everyone clapped and cheered at the end, Astrid leaned into him and said, ‘That’s our song.’
