simply a kind stranger she’d met by chance, and he’d offered to keep her company in her travels. She really shouldn’t be throwing herself at him. And wasn’t he still getting over a bad break-up? The last thing he needed was someone mooning about over him. Maybe she should have made a polite excuse and stayed on her own after all. Tomorrow, after the whale-watching trip, she’d feign a headache.
‘Goodnight,’ she said, and headed for her room.
Her window overlooked the sea, so she took some last shots of the sunset and emailed them to Dani, along with an account of her day and the fact she was acting in accordance with their agreement about saying yes to opportunities. She woke in the middle of the night and was surprised to see it was still quite light; back in London at this time it would be dark. She woke again in time for the sunrise and was stunned to see how the sea turned into a shimmering mass of gold and silver.
After breakfast, she walked down to the old harbour to meet Sam for the whale-watching trip. This time, nobody on board needed a doctor’s help. They saw a school of porpoises, and then two minke whales together. When the whales leaped out of the water in a perfect arc and she gasped with pleasure, it felt natural for Sam to slide his arm around her shoulders—and for her to slide her own arm around his waist.
Though at the same time it felt wrong. This was exactly what she would’ve done with Evan. And Sam wasn’t Evan. ‘Sorry,’ she said, sliding her arm away from his waist. ‘I think I got a bit...well, carried away with the emotion of seeing the whales.’
‘Me, too,’ Sam agreed, removing his arm from her shoulders. He looked just as shocked as she felt.
They were careful not to even let their hands touch accidentally until they were back on land. She should make up some excuse, Hayley thought, say she had a headache or something—though it would be a shame to miss out on the trip they’d planned.
Sam looked slightly awkward. ‘Would you still like to come and see the waterfall and the geyser?’
He was clearly offering her a chance to back out, recognising that the moment he’d held her on the ship had been difficult for her. But she could see something in his eyes. Something that struck a chord with her. Loneliness maybe, even if it wasn’t something either of them would admit to. And it would be good to have some company. ‘If you’d still like to go,’ she said carefully. After all, it must’ve been awkward for him, too.
‘Let’s go, then.’ Sam drove her out to see the Gullfoss waterfall.
‘The water looks almost golden,’ she said in amazement when they’d made their way down the path to the double drop.
‘That’s how it gets its name—“gullfoss” means “golden falls”,’ he said. ‘Partly it’s because of the sediment in the water.’
As they drew nearer to the edge, Hayley slipped on a smooth piece of stone and Sam caught her arm, steadying her. His touch felt almost electric. And she could see in his expression that it was the same for him—instant attraction that neither of them had been expecting or looking for, and it seemed that neither of them quite knew what to do with it or how to react.
‘Sorry,’ she said.
‘Uh-huh.’ But he didn’t move his hand away. He just looked at her, as if he was as surprised by the feelings as she was. And then he cleared his throat. ‘They say if you don’t like the weather in Iceland, wait five minutes—and look, the sun’s just come out.’
She looked to where he gestured, and hanging over the waterfalls was a bright rainbow.
It was a natural phenomenon, she knew, caused by the sunlight and the spray from the waterfall. But in a weird kind of way it felt as if it was Evan telling her was it OK, that she was ready to move on and he approved.
She shook herself. ‘Photo opportunity,’ she said brightly, moving away just the tiniest bit so his arm fell naturally away from hers.
And how stupid that she missed it being there.
What was she, a recycled teenager?
She was just going to have to ignore it and be sensible. She smiled, and took a snap of the rainbow on her phone.
When she’d had her fill of the waterfall and the rainbow, Sam drove them out to the Geysìr area. ‘The old Geysìr is the one that all geysers are named after,’ he said. ‘Apparently it used to be even bigger than the one in Yellowstone, but it’s been dormant for years.’
‘So I won’t actually get to see a geyser going up?’ she asked.
‘Oh, you will.’ He smiled. ‘Strokkur erupts pretty much about every ten minutes. And if you have a slow-mo setting on your phone, I’d recommend that because then you’ll really see how it works. The water at the top of the pool is cooler and acts as a kind of lid to the hot water below, so the pressure builds up and then you can see it boil over and the geyser erupts. Then it leaves a sinkhole and the water drains back in, and the cycle starts all over again.’
She could see a circle of people standing round what she assumed was the geyser, and then suddenly a massive plume of water shot into the air. ‘Oh! That’s amazing.’
‘Let’s go and get a better view,’ he said, and walked with her to where everyone was standing.
As he’d suggested, she filmed it on slow-mo. ‘Dani would’ve loved this,’ she said wistfully. So would Evan, though she didn’t say it.
Then, as they moved deeper into the fields, his fingers accidentally brushed against hers. Again, she felt that swoop of butterflies in her stomach; and when she caught his eye, she was pretty sure it was the same for him.
What were they going to do about it? Ignore it? Or see where it led them?
There wasn’t any future in it. Couldn’t be. After the end of this week they’d be in different countries, thousands of miles apart, and he’d said nothing about returning to England.
The sky had turned the deepest summery blue, and the scenery was amazing. There were little puffs of steam rising from underground pools, and a tiny pot that produced a bubbling spout a few centimetres tall. Sam seemed to be careful to keep a little distance between them when he showed her the site of the old Geysìr, now just a pool with the occasional bubble to remind you that the water was extremely hot, and the twin pools of Blesi—one perfectly clear so you could see into the yawning cavern beneath it, and one that was the most amazing milky azure blue.
‘The milky colour’s from silicates in the water,’ he said. ‘That’s the cool one—it’s only about forty degrees Celsius.’
‘Cool?’ she asked.
‘The other one’s hotter,’ he said.
‘The milky blue pool: is that what the Blue Lagoon’s like?’ she asked.
‘Pretty much. We can go there this evening, if you like—that’s provided we can get a ticket, because evenings are pretty popular,’ he added.
‘I’d like that.’ She smiled at him.
‘Give me a second.’ He made a quick phone call, and she noticed that he spoke in fluent Icelandic. ‘OK. We’re in luck—I’ve booked us in.’
‘Thank you.’
They had dinner at a little village outside the city—lamb stew and rye bread, followed by blueberries and thick Icelandic yoghurt—and then stopped off firstly at her hotel so she could pick up her swimming things and then at his seafront apartment so he could pick up his.
‘I can’t remember the last time I felt this relaxed,’ she said as they sat in the warm water of the lagoon, her face covered in a mask of white silica and an ice-cold smoothie in her hand.
‘That’s what this is meant to be about,’ he said with a smile.
‘This must be amazing in the winter—sitting in a hot pool under the stars.’
‘And