Page 103 of All I Want for Christmas

‘Oh.’

‘Little Sally came back when it ended and stayed at Solvtraeer for the rest of his life. Never married. They were loyal sorts and excellent at what they did. The garden came to be regarded as a sort of attraction in the area. So many people would come by and stand at the gates to look in, that eventually Sofie Madsen – Frederik’s wife – decided to charge a fee for them to enter the grounds for an hour each morning, from May through to July.’

Darcy arched an eyebrow. ‘The rich lady charged a fee for people to look at her flowers?’

He smiled. ‘The money went to charity.’

Darcy looked just as sceptical. ‘The Madsen Foundation charity?’

Viggo laughed and she grinned, feeling her mood improve again as she flicked through the next images. There were many of the garden – blowsy flower beds, wheelbarrows filled with heaps of earth, baskets of cut flowers. Darcy wondered who was taking all these slightly chaotic snapshots that stood in such contrast to the stylized, formal images she had seen taken of the family in Copenhagen.

She found her answer in one image. It looked to be almost a misfire, showing just thick, lush grass, but the hint of a barefoot – pretty toes, shell-like nails – in the lower edge, strongly suggested it was Lilja who was trigger happy.

Darcy thought again of the fragile-looking young woman staring out to sea, her hair roped behind her, toes burrowing in the sand. She had been trying to find happiness in nature.

Beauty outdoors.

Joy in the small things.

Darcy still hadn’t seen her face clearly, but she could feel Lilja’s spirit beginning to creep up on her, making herself known at last.

Chapter Twenty-Two

‘Well, it wasn’t pretty – but I’m in,’ Darcy said, throwing her arms out haplessly. Getting the wetsuit on in the tiny cafe toilet had been like trying to wrestle an octopus, but against the odds, she had prevailed. ‘I have to say, it’s not my most festive look.’

Aksel looked back, grinning at the sight of her standing there with her hands planted on her hips. ‘Well, we can do something about that. Here, put this on.’ He was holding out a lifejacket for her to slip her arms into. Darcy stood like an obedient child before him as he zipped her up. ‘Safety first.’

‘Now I feel like a Michelin man in a corset,’ she murmured.

He laughed. ‘You don’t look like one! Wait till I add my finishing touches.’

She watched as he pulled a string of red tinsel from his backpack and criss-crossed it around her torso. He reached into his backpack again and she saw the wink of a gold bottle cap inside. ‘And for the win...’ He set a pair of reindeer antlers on her head and then another pair on his own. ‘See? They flash,’ he said, switching them on.

‘Oh my God,’ she groaned, grinning. ‘I’m glad no one I know can see me right now.’

‘Iknow you.’

‘No, you don’t. And if you think you saw me here, no you didn’t.’

He reached over and kissed her, just a peck on the lips, but there was a growing familiarity in the gesture now. He didn’t need to ask with his eyes first. He was beginning to claim her as his and there was an unspoken expectation now that tonight would be ‘third time lucky’. Their impromptu date on Sunday had been delivered a second and fatal death blow when Freja had come home mere minutes after Max’s departure – by sheer dint of luck, Darcy had immediately put the replacement dress on Freja’s wardrobe door straight after Max had left; she had needed a few moments to herself to process what had just happened. But Freja’s disconsolate expression as she had come into the apartment had sent Aksel making his excuses almost immediately – Tristan hadn’t proposed in Amsterdam after all. Freja hadn’t known just how much she had wanted him to ask, until he hadn’t.

Darcy looked around. There were hundreds of people milling about, mostly trying to find a spot to stand on the banks, their fellow kayakers walking through with backpacks and oars. ‘So, what’s the plan?’ she asked nervously, rubbing her hands together.

‘We get on the water, paddle round to Nyhavn, sing some carols; paddle on to Christianshavn, do the same. Repeat through Blox and Højbro before ending up back here again.’ He shrugged. ‘It takes about an hour and a half and there’s mulled wine andaebleskiverat the carol stops to help keep us warm. Then they serve bouillabaisse and bread rolls back here for dinner.’

‘Okay. Sounds fun.’

‘It is. It really kicks off the Christmas spirit.’

‘Well, I could definitely do with some of that. We haven’teven got our Christmas tree up yet,’ she said, shivering and jumping up and down on the spot a few times.

‘Cold?’

‘What gave it away?’

‘Here, have a glug, it’ll warm you from the inside,’ he said, pulling a hip flask from his backpack.

‘What is it?’

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