As they disembarked from the bus in front of their hotel, Frankie was aware of a buzzing from deep in her bag, so she rooted around inside until she located her mobile.
She had five missed calls from her father and three from Jen. They’d both left vague voicemails asking her to call home as soon as possible.
Her heart dropped like a stone. Something had to be wrong back in London. She couldn’t risk leaving it, so she held up her mobile.
‘I’ve got some missed calls from home so I’d better find out what’s wrong.’
‘Is it your grandmother again?’ Freya asked, her face etched with concern.
‘I don’t know. They’re from Dad’s number and my friend Jen’s.’
‘I suppose you’d better call them,’ Freya said. ‘But don’t let them upset you.’
Frankie nodded but she couldn’t make that promise.
‘I’ll go to my room and ring them.’
‘Let us know, won’t you?’ Freya asked.
‘I will.’
She hooked her bag back over her shoulder then went inside, feeling the dark clouds of disappointment and anxiety gathering. Today had been wonderful and she’d felt free, that she had left all of her worries behind her and was building something new here in Norway. But, of course, she couldn’t run away from reality and that life she’d lived for twenty-nine years in England. It just wasn’t possible. Freya had run away but with good reason, believing that she had no choice, but Frankie had ties there. Ties that she couldn’t just sever, because too many people would be hurt, and for all that her father might have flaws, she loved him dearly. She loved her grandmother too, in spite of all she’d done. She just hoped she’d be able to forgive her.
Jonas watched Frankie hurry into the hotel then he turned to Freya.
‘You want to go straight to your room or grab a drink?’
‘A drink sounds good.’
They went through to the hotel bar and Jonas ordered two glasses of red wine, then they found a table away from everyone else.
‘Quite a day, huh?’
Jonas could tell that Freya had something on her mind and it was no wonder after the day they’d just had. A day that had followed an eventful night.
Freya took a sip of her wine then licked her lips.
‘I’m scared, Jonas.’
‘What of?’
‘That I could lose her again.’
‘That’s understandable.’
‘What if… this all comes to nothing? What if I’m a disappointment?’ She held up her hands and her bangles jangled.
‘You could never be a disappointment, Freya. You’re an amazing and inspirational woman.’
‘But I don’t know what Frankie wants from me. I wasn’t there to wipe her nose, to put antiseptic cream on her knees when she grazed them. I wasn’t the one who wiped away her tears when she cried over friends and boyfriends and I wasn’t there to hold her when she needed me.’
‘But you are here for her now.’
‘What if it’s too late?’
Jonas ran his finger around the base of his wine glass and pondered her words.
‘It’s not.’
‘How do you know?’
‘You both want this. You need Frankie and she needs you.’
Freya nodded.
‘So go with it. Be her mum now. You can’t change the past and Frankie knows why you left. She understands.’
‘I hope so, although sometimes when I look back I can barely understand myself. I hate that I left her.’
‘I know that but you can’t spend your life regretting the past. It would be such a waste. What you need to do now is to grab today and look forward to tomorrow.’
‘You’re very wise, Jonas.’
He shrugged then smiled. ‘I try.’
‘I’m also afraid that Helen will get her claws back into Frankie and persuade her to return to London and cut me out of her life.’
‘I don’t think that’s going to happen.’
‘You don’t know Helen Ashford.’
‘No, but I’m starting to know Frankie and she has your spark. She won’t be pushed around, I’m sure of it.’
‘I wish my spark had flared twenty-nine years ago.’
‘No regrets, remember?’
She grimaced. ‘Sorry, I’ll try harder.’
‘Glad to hear it.’
‘And what about you and Frankie?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Well, I’ve seen the way you look at each other.’
Jonas took a drink of his wine to give himself time to think. He couldn’t deny that Frankie was a beautiful young woman, that he liked what he’d seen of her so far, but she was from a very different world and their lives were poles apart. She was also Freya’s daughter, another reason why he couldn’t view her as anything other than a friend. And she would return to England. There were many reasons why nothing would ever happen between them, even if the thought of kissing her pretty mouth had passed through his head more than once since they’d met.
‘I… uh… I don’t really know how to answer that, Freya.’
‘It’s OK. You don’t need to. I love you both, you know?’
He raised his glass. ‘Skol! To new beginnings.’
‘Skol, Jonas!’
Frankie dropped her rucksack onto the bed then perched on the end. She held her mobile tight, trying to summon the courage to return her father’s call. Or her grandmother’s call, of course, if Helen was using her son’s mobile again.
She had two options: have a shower and delay but worry about it, or get it over with then have a cry in the shower if Grandma was being overbearing again.
‘Get it over with, Frankie.’ She pressed redial.
Fifteen minutes later, she found herself staring into space. It hadn’t been a good phone call. But it had been her father. She had to get out of the room or she’d break down completely and that wouldn’t achieve anything.
In the hotel lobby, she looked around. She could go out for a walk, but in her current frame of mind and in the thick Norwegian dark, she might get lost, so perhaps she’d go and sit in the bar. At least then she’d be around people and she felt the need for some human company.
The bar was quiet, with just a few couples and one group of women in there, so she went to get a drink, thinking she’d sit quietly in the corner as she digested the news from home.
‘Frankie?’
‘Oh, hi, Jonas.’
‘How did it go?’
‘What?’
‘The phone call.’
‘Not well.’
‘Let me get you a drink and you can tell me about it if you like.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Of course I am. Your mother is over there.’ He pointed at the far side of the bar where Freya was sitting at a table by the window. Outside, the streetlight glowed and flakes of snow swirled, sparkling as they caught the light then disappearing into the impenetrable darkness.
‘Right.’
‘Red wine?’
‘Please.’
She waited for him to order the drinks then took her glass and they went over to Freya.
When they were sitting down, Freya asked, ‘How did it go?’
Frankie took a sip of wine and tried to focus on the rich berry flavour and the floral bouquet. Anything to stop the tears from falling.
‘It was Dad and he had some news. I’m… I have to go home.’
‘Oh no! I knew this would happen. What has Helen done now?’
‘She collapsed.’
‘She what?’ Freya’s eyebrows rose.
‘Dad said it’s not my fault and I mustn’t worry or feel guilty but in light of what I’ve done recently, it’s hard to believe I’m blameless.’
‘I’m pretty sure it’s not your fault.’ Freya pressed her lips together.
‘Dad said that Grandma is eighty-one and she still smokes and drinks and the doctor said he’s surprised she hasn’t collapsed before, the way she abuses her body, and because of how she still rushes about. But it’s likely this was brought on by stress.’
‘She never was very good at relaxing or letting things go.’
‘I’ll need to try to get a flight from Oslo tomorrow.’
‘So soon?’ Jonas asked.
‘I have to go and see her. If I didn’t and she… she died, I’d feel awful. For all her faults’ – she reached out and took Freya’s hands – ‘and they are many, I need to see her even if it’s to say goodbye. I know that she did love me in her own way. What she did to you, and to us, is unforgivable but—’
‘I already told you, Frankie, that you have to let that go or it will eat you up. Anger is so destructive. You’re young and free and you have a life ahead of you to enjoy.’
‘I never thought about it like that before.’ Her stomach churned as she mulled over the words. She was free now, really free. She wasn’t Rolo’s fiancée or in Grandma’s debt and she could do anything she wanted to do.
‘Of course you are. It’s your life, my angel.’
‘Will you come with me?’
Freya dropped her gaze and toyed with her bangles, pushing them up her arm then letting them fall back to her wrist.
‘Oh, Frankie, I don’t know if I could.’
‘I know it won’t be easy but I’d really like it if you did. We’ve only just found each other and I don’t want to leave you. Come with me and spend some time in London.’
‘There’s the gallery though…’
‘We can sort that out, Freya,’ Jonas said.
Freya looked at Jonas. ‘Would you be all right there for a few days or longer?’
He shook his head. ‘I’m coming with you.’
‘What?’ Frankie and Freya blurted the question together.
‘Well… I’m concerned about you… both. So I’ll come too.’
Frankie looked from Jonas to her mother and back again. ‘You both want to come to London?’
‘I’ve never been there and have always wanted to see it.’ Jonas nodded. ‘Now’s as good a time as any. Besides, after everything, I think Freya could do with the moral support. And don’t worry about the gallery, Freya, I’ll sort something out.’
‘Jonas, you really are an angel.’ Freya smiled.
‘That’s settled then. Shall we see if we can book some flights?’
Frankie pulled out her mobile and scrolled down to the search engine. As she flicked through the flight times leaving Oslo the next day, she couldn’t help feeling a sense of hope. Grandma was ill and that was devastating, but she’d also been saddened at the idea of having to leave her mother behind. That idea hurt and if Grandma’s health declined, it would be some time before Frankie would be able to return to Norway. But, thankfully, Freya wanted to come with her, so they could continue getting to know each other.
And the bonus was that Jonas was coming too. For some reason, that warmed her through, and she realized that she hadn’t wanted to leave him behind either.