by Julie Caplin
The satisfying crunch of carrot filled the air as the man and Hekla exchanged rapid conversation.
‘Hello,’ said Lucy, rubbing the velvety nose of the pure grey horse nearest her, breathing in the familiar sweet scent of horse. ‘Aren’t you gorgeous?’ She stroked the thick shaggy coat.
‘That’s Ilsa,’ said Hekla. ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’
‘She is,’ said Lucy, letting the horse nuzzle her empty hand. ‘Got any more of those carrots?’
With a quick delighted grin, Hekla handed over a handful.
‘You’re used to horses? We must go riding together. In the Spring there is a good trail to Seljalandsfoss.’
As a child she’d ridden for years in the nearby New Forest. ‘It’s been a while, but yes.’ Excitement spiked, making her blood fizz. ‘Alex and I are going horse riding?’
‘Ja.’ Hekla grinned. ‘And here is Alex.’
Without any subtlety she handed him a key and murmured something to him.
Ilsa nudged at her looking for more carrots and Lucy laughed patting her nose. ‘No more I’m afraid.’ She turned to Hekla. ‘They’re so friendly.’
Hekla patted the little horse on the nose. ‘Icelandic horses are very friendly. They have been pure bred for a thousand years and are known for their easy-going temperament. Perfect for beginners.’ She winked at Alex.
Alex wrinkled his nose. ‘So you promised. And if Lucy can ride, she can look after me.’
‘You don’t need looking after, these horses are bomb proof,’ said Hekla proudly. ‘Small, strong and very hard workers. They are the best horses in the world, aren’t they Anders?’
He responded in gruff Icelandic before handing over the helmets.
‘Are you going to tell me where we’re going?’ asked Lucy as they set off, slowly across the snow, side by side on horseback.
‘Up there,’ he pointed to a distant light shining from the hillside about a mile away.
The wide broad saddle, set further back than she was used to, felt unfamiliar at first but she quickly settled into Ilsa’s rolling gait, sitting loose and letting her hips rock forward with the motion. Gradually she relaxed, leaving the little horse on a loose rein. Despite his comments, Alex had clearly ridden a time or two before and when she asked him, he admitted his uncle had had a farm where he’d learned to ride with his cousins.
The night air was silent and still apart from the steady crunch, crunch of the horses’ hooves on the virgin snow. They could have been the only people in the world as they crossed the wide, white covered expanse, the moonlight dancing on the surface turning ice crystals into glistening diamonds. Lucy threw back her head and exhaled heavily watching the plume of steam rise up into the star filled night sky.
‘I’ve never seen so many stars,’ she sighed. Without the light pollution she was so used, the brilliance and sheer number of the thousand up on thousands of stars was spectacular. The dark sky looked as if it had been draped with a distant tracery of lace.
Alex pointed. ‘You can see the Milky Way.’
‘It makes everything seem so small and insignificant.’
They both lapsed into thoughtful silence as the horses plodded carefully across the snow-covered meadow.
‘Want to pick it up a bit?’ asked Alex after a few minutes. The cold was starting to seep through her layers.
‘Yes.’
With very little urging, they pushed their mounts on to a canter, hooves churning up the snow as the game little horses charged up the hill, their manes rippling in the wind. The cold air whistled in her face and she tipped her face up, her skin tingling. Alex looked back over his shoulder at her, a broad grin on his face. Exhilaration fired through her, pure joy fizzing in her veins. She couldn’t remember the last time, she’d felt so unequivocally happy and worry-free. For the rest of her life she would remember this moment in time. The scene would be imprinted on her brain, Alex’s face silhouetted against the snow, the horses flying manes, the star filled universe and the wonderful sense of being close to nature.
‘Look,’ called Lucy when they reigned in a little while later on the crest of the hill. The horses’ breaths puffed out in clouds of steamy white air, while the metal of their bridles jingled as they shifted on the spot. Across the sky delicate fingers of green crept above the horizon, fine threads of colour, undulating in serene, soundless waves.
‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing it,’ she said, gazing up at the night sky. ‘The northern lights. They are truly amazing.’
Alex leaned over and took her hand. ‘They certainly are.’
As they neared the wooden cabin perched on top of the hill, Lucy could smell the smoke streaming out of the tall metal chimney and see the steam rising from a hot tub perched right on the edge of the cabin’s deck.
There was a small shelter for the horses, complete with waiting haynets.
With barely disguised impatience, Alex dragged her from the stable up the stone stairs to the door, pulling out the key that Hekla had given him.
They pushed open the door and Lucy’s mouth dropped open in an o of pleasure. She glanced at Alex.
‘Wow, look at this, I think the huldufólk are back in business.’
‘Pesky huldufólk eh?’ he grinned at her.
‘Who knew they were such a dab hand with a box of matches and a ton of candles.’ She paused and looked around at the cabin which smelled of woodsmoke and … chocolate. ‘This is very…’
‘Huggulegt?’
‘Yes,’ she said simply gazing around at the fairyland of tiny tealights in various coloured glass votives flickering on every surface. Hurricane lanterns with large church candles flanked the open fireplace where a roaring fire dominated. In front of it were large floor cushions and on the hearth a flask and two of her favourite earthenware mugs, along with a bowl of marshmallows and a jar of metal skewers.
‘It’s magical,’ she said, crossing to the big picture window. ‘Oh,’ she said when she saw the steaming hot tub below the window, strategically placed on the edge of the hill to take in the magnificent view out across the valley down to the sea.
Alex came to stand beside her. ‘This is amazing. Thank you.’
‘I had a bit of help. Hekla, Elin and Brynja were desperate to get involved when I said I wanted to do something … nice for you.’
‘Nice,’ she teased.
‘OK, romantic.’ He lifted a finger to her cheek and stroked her face.
They unwrapped their layers, nestling into the cushions on the floor in front of the fire. Lucy pulled her knees up to her chin as Alex busied himself toasting a marshmallow and handing it to her.
She smiled, her eyes serious.
‘You OK?’
She nodded. ‘The ride up here … it puts everything into perspective. Makes you brave.’
‘You don’t need to be brave, just be yourself.’
She gazed into the fire, the shadows flickering over her face as she twisted on her cushion as if literally screwing up the courage to bring up the words.
‘This is … fast. We sort of tumbled over a ledge. It’s all … new to me. I don’t know the rules. Before the video,’ she rubbed at the back of her neck. ‘Maybe I should divide my life into BV and AV. Before the video, I had everything under control. I knew what was what. I went out with Chris for months before we…’ she lifted her shoulders, her face turning up to his, full of questions. ‘Do you think that maybe we didn’t sleep together for ages because … we didn’t feel enough for each other? But you and me … the feelings, it was as if I’d burst if I didn’t have you. But is it … what is it? I don’t know where I am? I only ever slept with him. This has happened so quickly. Like I said, I don’t know the rules.’
He laughed softly and brushed her mouth with his, laying a soft kiss on her lips. ‘Lucy,’ he made the solemn declaration, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her cheek wanting to maintain the contact. ‘This is all new to me to. I don’t know
about rules but I know this is more than I’ve felt with anyone else.’
‘Really?’ She looked so disbelieving that it tugged at his heart. ‘I was such a mess when I arrived.’ She touched her hair self-consciously. ‘What on earth must you have thought, me clambering out the hot tub sopping wet?’
‘You weren’t a mess. Just a bit translucent.’ He pulled her to him and put his arm around her as they snuggled back against the cushions.
‘What like a ghost?’
‘Yes,’ he stroked her jawline. ‘Exactly that. Like you were there but you weren’t really. I didn’t quite realise it at the time. But you were so sad and defeated. I wanted to put a smile back on your face. Except…’ Shit, he needed to tell her who he really was and why he was here. It had been playing on his mind. ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’
‘Alex, I know.’ She put a hand over his.
‘You do.’
‘Yes. You should never play poker. I could tell from your face. You thought I was completely rubbish and useless at my job.’
‘Well … I didn’t‒’
‘Yes, you did,’ she poked him in the thigh with her finger.
‘OK, I wasn’t…’
‘And you were right. It took me ages to get my act together. No wonder you thought I was rubbish. Not that you’d have said anything. You’re far too nice.’
Alex scowled. Nice. And nice guys finished last. He didn’t want to be nice.
‘And kind,’ she said with a trace of belligerence as if she dared anyone to challenge her on that one. ‘You are one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.’
‘I’m not honestly.’ What would she say when he finally confessed that he wasn’t a barman at all? And that he was due back in Paris at some point, although that still hadn’t been determined.
‘Yes, you are. You helped me all the time and never once said what you thought, even though it was obvious on your face, most of the time. Seriously you would lose a fortune at cards. That first morning with the huldufólk business, I knew you thought I should tell them to put a sock in it and get back to work. And yet when I came up with the crazy unicorn solution, you backed me up.’
‘It was such crazy idea, how could I not?’
‘I could tell you thought I was taking too long to get my act together, but all the stuffing had been knocked out of me. I was so scared of making the wrong decision, it was easier in those first few days to hide in the office and not make any decisions at all.’
‘Knowing what you’ve been through, I completely understand.’ He didn’t add the now, it would underscore the fact that he had taken a dim view of her abilities at first. He wished he’d known back then, before he’d spoken to Quentin the first time.
‘Admit it, you thought you could do a lot better. You should be running a place like this. You’re so … you’d make a brilliant manager. If I stay, depending on what happens with the new owners, perhaps you could…’
He tensed. Shit. She was worrying that he might be insulted at the idea he should aim higher than being a waiter.
‘I’ve never asked what your long-term plans are,’ said Lucy worrying at her lip with her teeth. ‘I assumed you’d stay but … I guess you like to travel and move on.’
Alex frowned. Paris to Iceland, it was a three- and half-hour flight. With jobs like theirs, a long-distance relationship was often inevitable. His assistant manager in Paris had been successfully travelling back and forth to Austria to see her boyfriend for the last year. It was doable.
‘Leave your lip alone,’ he growled, ‘It’s healed and you won’t be able to kiss me properly if you make it sore again.’
‘Does that mean you want to keep on kissing me?’
‘Fishing for compliments?’
Her smile turned shy.
‘On the kissing front, you really don’t need to worry.’ Heat curled low in his belly. ‘You’re pretty good at kissing.’ Damn he still needed to tell her. ‘But‒’
‘I definitely can’t put that on my CV. Not after what’s happened.’
‘Lucy there’s‒’
‘Do you know I’ve been thinking about it … I’m wondering if I should have fought back a bit.’ He recognised the pugnacious tilt to her chin as she sat up spearing a marshmallow and poking it towards the fire.
‘Lucy I need to‒’
‘I told you that the video wasn’t as bad as I remember. And I’ve been thinking. My boss did nothing to stop it spreading across the company’s intranet. He was a board director. He knew about it straight away because the day after Chris posted it, he made a comment. In front of a regional manager and my immediate boss, both men. He said, “Maybe we should get you to provide room service. We could include the video as part of our next marketing campaign.”’
‘He said what?’ Everything else went out of his head blasted away by the white heat of anger at her words. Alex couldn’t comprehend anyone being that crass. He’d have sacked the bastard immediately. ‘What did you do?’
‘I left the room and went to the ladies and burst into tears. In hindsight I should have gone straight to personnel and made a complaint but I was in such a state about the whole thing I wasn’t thinking straight.’
‘Too bloody right. How dare he? You should still make a complaint. A, he was being totally inappropriate and B, if he was a board director and knew about the video, he had the power to get someone to take it down. He had a duty of care to you as an employee.’ Alex would have fired Chris’s sorry arse straight away and he’d have had stern words with all members of staff about it. ‘I could ask one of my HR pe‒friends. I’ve got a couple of friends in HR who I could ask.’
‘Is there any point?’
‘It might get you a reference, which would be fair.’
‘True. I was hoping for one from here, but I’m not sure how that’s going to work. I’ve still heard nothing from Mr Pedersen. I keep emailing and his PA says she’ll let me know. I don’t even know if the sale of the hotel is going through or whether the new owners might keep me on.’
Alex ignored the temptation to look at his watch, at the date inscribed in the little box on the right.
‘I can’t see why they wouldn’t,’ he said quietly.
‘They might want to put their own people in.’
‘Not when they’ve seen what a great job you’ve been doing,’ said Alex with a smile, relieved that he’d been able to speak to Quentin this afternoon. ‘I bet you anything they keep you on as manager.’
Chapter 27
For the last week, she and Alex had made the most of every spare minute off duty, either holed up in her room or exploring the amazing sights on their days off. Neither of them talking about the imminent deadline of Lucy’s contract drawing closer. There was only a week before it was up and the last email she’d had from Mr Pedersen was that the sale had gone through and the new owner would be in touch about her contract.
‘I think waterfalls are my favourite,’ said Lucy as they drove back from their trip to Seljalandsfoss and the less well known Gljúfrabúi.
‘Do you think we should try and visit them all?’ Alex drove with one hand on the wheel, the other resting lightly on her leg.
Lucy laughed and waved her guide book at him. ‘There are over ten thousand.’
‘Ah, maybe not. I was wondering if you fancied an overnight to visit a couple of places up in the north of Iceland.’
Now that they were almost in mid-December, the sun was even lower and the daylight hours were shortening.
‘Alex … you know I might not be here.’ They’d been skirting around this ever since the night at the cabin.
‘Of course, you will.’ His hands tightened on the steering wheel. ‘After tonight, the new owners would be insane not to take you on. The film crew will capture your fantastic organisational skills, the huge success of the banquet and they’ll be falling over themselves to keep you.’
‘They’re cutting things a bit fine but I don’t mind, you know.’
>
‘What?’ Alex’s head whipped round.
‘If my contract is made permanent, that would be amazing. I love it here. But if it isn’t … there’s nothing I can do about it.’
Alex made a small distressed sound in his throat.
‘But it doesn’t mean I have to leave.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’ve been thinking. I could stay in Iceland. I know I don’t want to go back into a big corporate hotel. I’d be happy in the short term, if you were staying, to work alongside Elin and Hekla.’ After all the years or striving and pushing for promotion, suddenly it didn’t seem quite so important. Admittedly she might find it difficult working for someone who had her job but she wasn’t too proud to wait tables or work as a chambermaid. Jobs she knew the hotel always needed to fill.
‘You would?’ Alex sounded a little worried.
‘Yes. Being a manager isn’t the be all and end all. With live in accommodation, I could stay here … if you wanted me too.’ Her voice trailed off. He didn’t look that keen, in fact he looked a little panicked.
‘You’re not going to have to do that, I can guarantee it,’ he said and when she glanced at his profile, his chin was set and he was gripping the steering wheel with purpose.
She turned and looked out of the window. Things had moved quite fast between them, maybe she was scaring him off with her offer to downgrade and be with him. They’d never really talked about what he wanted in life, he seemed happy with his lot, but then he hadn’t been here that long, perhaps he had plans to move on. Had he thought about including her in those plans? And would she want that sort of nomadic, follow the work sort of lifestyle?
Distant lights followed them up the road as they turned off the main road up the track towards the lodge and Lucy glanced over her shoulder.
‘Taxi. Must be guests arriving,’ she said with a sigh. ‘And back to work. Thanks for this afternoon. It was good to get out and take a break before tonight. It really cleared my head.’