by Karen Swan
But life had taken a bite out of him and as his gaze roamed over her face, she saw the sadness in his eyes, the hollow curve of his cheeks. They were both older than that last day in his aunt and uncle’s house before they had all scattered like seeds to their new lives – but where she had grown up, he had aged. Having Sofie for a wife had been disheartening, draining and ultimately futile. She was a storm he had weathered and by the time she had left, he was just happy to have survived. Personally, Signy thought city life would suit her very well.
‘It was good of you to come,’ he said finally, hoisting up the little girl as she pulled on his trouser leg.
‘I am pleased to.’ She reached out a finger to the child, who grabbed it eagerly in her hand. She looked exactly as she had imagined she might – plump-cheeked and curious, with her mother’s sparkling blue eyes and father’s white-shock hair. She would one day be a fine beauty. ‘Hello, Eva. I’m Signy.’
She smiled as the little girl reached her arms out, wanting to be held, and Signy pulled her in close, her eyes automatically closing as she smelled the clover on her hair. Overhead, a bird screeched and they all looked up. ‘See that?’ Signy pointed, her eyes beginning to shine. ‘It’s a gyrfalcon.’
‘Grrfacon,’ Eva repeated. She would be three next spring.
Nils raked a hand through his hair, watching her. ‘. . . I just didn’t know who else to ask, you see.’
‘Margit gave me your letter. I came as soon as I could.’
He looked down, suddenly catching sight of himself and reaching back quickly for his shirt. He shrugged it on. ‘I’m sorry, I would have prepared things for you, only I wasn’t expecting you so soon.’
Soon? Three years had passed since the chaos of that summer, since all their lives had been shattered by the events of one night. Things would never be exactly as they had been before, but his letter had been a cue that the world was resettling into position again, moving back to what always should have been, bringing them here. She shrugged. ‘Why wait?’
He stared at her, before realizing he was staring at her. ‘. . . Come,’ he said, collecting himself, picking up her bag as she carried his little girl. ‘Let me show you your cabin. It’s just across the path from ours, so you can still have your space in the evenings but it is also close enough to share meals together – if you would like.’
They walked over the grass together, butterflies flitting at their knees, and she smiled as she looked across at him and felt the sun shine upon her once more. ‘I think I would like that very much.’
Acknowledgements
If you’ve read Christmas in the Snow, based in Zermatt in the Swiss Alps, and Christmas Under the Stars, based in the Canadian Rockies, you’ll know there’s nothing I love more than a mountain and a rickety old hut, so here I am again, finding adventures in the hills. Only this time, I was greedy: I wanted to write about the humble beauty of the old shelf farms and the remote wildernesses of the seters. The only problem is the latter are, by definition, used in the summer months and this was for my Christmas book.
However, I already knew about nearby Mount Åkernes being the most monitored mountain in the world and I sensed that twinning the risk from the mountain now with the mountains then was a way to get the best of both these worlds. The mountains have indeed fallen in the past: Tafjord on 7 April 1934, and Lodal on 15 January 1905 and 13 September 1936, and whilst I have fictionalized elements within those scenes for the purposes of the plot, the bare facts remain true: innocent lives were lost, communities decimated. Mother Nature won then and she will win again. The risks and threats described in these pages are all too real.
When it comes to writing my books, I’m big on research and visiting the places I write about. However, I felt I had bitten off rather more than I could chew when I visited Norway in the depths of winter and was unable to get on the water because the ferries don’t run off-season and an access road was closed due to snow. It’s difficult creating something from nothing at the best of times, but being stuck on the wrong side of a mountain in bad weather certainly doesn’t help. Luckily, I had my husband with me to feed me cake and take me skiing; he bravely drives on the wrong side of the road for me, clocks where we can get good coffee and remembers to order foreign currency. He even let me buy the world’s most expensive coffee-table book, despite being written entirely in Norwegian, because I said the photographs within were vital for research. They actually were – but he’s more vital to me than anything.
Ollie, Will and Plum – just breathe and smile and this world is perfect.
Mum and Dad, you make being the best parents look so easy. I’m still trying to copy you, every day.
Vic and Lynne, thank you for being such amazing grandparents and stepping into the breach whilst we skipped off on our fjord adventure.
My agent, Amanda Preston, you always keep a steady hand on the tiller, helping me plough a straight path from original inspiration to final manuscript. Thank you so much, your advice and opinion is always crucial.
As for my Pan gang, we’ve been going a long time now. This is our fifteenth book together and it still feels as fresh and exciting as the first. Caroline Hogg, I know you’re currently reading this from afar but you read this book when it was delivered in a jelly-like first draft and, as ever, knew how to chip and whittle it into shape. Come back soon! You are missed. The rest of the team – Jez Trevathan, Wayne Brookes, Anna Bond, Katie James, Jonathan Atkins, Stuart Dwyer, Charlotte Williams, Jade Tolley, Jayne Osborne, Natalie Young, Nicole Foster and Camilla Rockwood – you make hard work such fun; I always enjoy our meetings and the sight of chilled champagne on a conference table!
What larks! Thanks all.
The
CHRISTMAS
LIGHTS
Karen Swan is a Sunday Times Top Five bestselling writer. She is the author of twelve other novels, although she’s been a writer all her life. She previously worked as an editor in the fashion industry but soon realized she was better suited as a novelist with a serious shopping habit. She is married with three children and lives in East Sussex.
Come to find her at www.karenswan.com, or
Instagram @swannywrites, Twitter @KarenSwan1
and Facebook @KarenSwanAuthor.
Also by Karen Swan
Players
Prima Donna
Christmas at Tiffany’s
The Perfect Present
Christmas at Claridge’s
The Summer Without You
Christmas in the Snow
Summer at Tiffany’s
Christmas on Primrose Hill
The Paris Secret
Christmas Under the Stars
The Rome Affair
The Christmas Secret
The Greek Escape
First published 2018 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2018 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-5098-3809-7
Copyright © Karen Swan 2018
Images: Tree: borchee/Getty Images
Northern Lights: Sjo/Getty Images
Figure: Chris Park/EyeEm/Getty Images
All other images: Shutterstock
The right of Karen Swan to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
‘Does the sun promise’ from Love Her Wild by Atticus. Copyright © 2017 Atticus Publishing, LLC.
First published in 2017 by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Reproduced by permission of Headline Publishing Group.
‘Does the sun promise’ from Love Her Wild by Atticus. Copyright © 2017 by Atticus Publishing, LLC.
Reprinted with the permission of Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.
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