Romantic Escapes

‘That is so cute,’ she said to Hekla, pointing upwards. All the books had been arranged by the colour of their spines to create an eclectic rainbow with shades of red, running into oranges, yellows, greens, blues and purples.

‘We Icelanders love our books,’ said a voice from behind them. When Lucy turned a dark-haired, stocky woman uncurled herself from a button-backed armchair, a book in her hand.

‘Hey Brynja,’ said Hekla with warmth. ‘This is Lucy, the new manager. Brynja is one of our receptionists. It’s her day off today.’

‘Hey,’ said Brynja.

‘I love that you have a proper library,’ said Lucy, taking another look at the brimming bookshelves. ‘And so many books.’

‘Ah, it is a big tradition for us. You have heard of the jólabókaflód.’

Lucy shook her head.

‘You would translate it as the Christmas Book Flood, jólabókaflód’ explained Hekla as Brynja nodded.

Lucy grinned. ‘A book flood? Now that sounds awesome.’

‘Everyone gives books for Christmas,’ explained Brynja, her sharp dark eyes flashing with enthusiasm. ‘Lovely to meet you Lucy. If I can help in anyway, let me know.’

‘Thank you. It’s going to take me a little while to find my feet.’

As soon as she said it, both Brynja and Hekla in complete sync looked down at her shoes.

Lucy laughed, realising that despite Hekla’s amazing command of English there were still language and culture differences between them. ‘It’s a figure of speech.’

Brynja nodded, her sharp eyes thoughtful as if she were carefully cataloguing the idiom and adding it to her own personal lexicon.

‘So you weren’t bothered by the huldufólk?’ asked Lucy, thoughtfully realising that Brynja, despite her day off, had not been planning to leave.

Hekla looked awkward again as Brynja gave her an older sister sort of look.

‘No,’ said Brynja with alacrity. ‘I might not believe but then,’ she lifted her shoulders, ‘things happen and then you think that perhaps they do exist and it would be bad to ignore them in case they do.’

‘So,’ Lucy was struggling to get her head around this. ‘What you’re saying is that people don’t necessarily believe in huldufólk but they don’t count out the possibility that they might exist.’

‘Yes,’ said Brynja. ‘That is exactly right.’

Exhausted by handover and introductions overload, along with Hekla’s boundless enthusiasm, Lucy snagged a quick sandwich from Erik, the hotel’s chef. With his huge broad shoulders and brawny frame, he looked an unlikely figure in his whites as he grinned at her from behind a huge bushy beard. When her eyes widened at the size of the half loaf of rye bread stuffed with thinly sliced lamb that he handed her, he let out a belly laugh and a stream of Icelandic, which she guessed translated as she needed feeding up. He wasn’t wrong there. Food had been low on her agenda for months.

Deciding she needed a break and some fresh air, she wrapped herself up in her newly purchased down coat, which Daisy had insisted she buy, and took the still warm sandwich wrapped in foil down to the shingle beach in front of the hotel. She ought to give her best friend a call.

Huddled into her coat, Lucy perched on one of the rocks. The bracing air around her seemed to sharpen her appetite and the delicious smoked lamb sandwich disappeared without touching the sides. It was probably the biggest meal she’d eaten in a long time, although she’d burned so much energy just thinking this morning.

‘Hey Daisy.’ Thankfully she could still tap into the hotel’s WiFi and make a WhatsApp call.

‘Lucy, how is it?’

‘Stunning, interesting … there’s a lot of work to do, but I can do it.’

‘Atta girl, that’s the Lucy I remember. What’s it like then? What are the people like?’

‘So far, so good,’ Lucy said, neutrally. ‘I’ve got an assistant manager, Hekla. She’s … very enthusiastic with a real can-do attitude, which is…’ Lucy refrained from her natural inclination to say irritating, Daisy wouldn’t approve, ‘kind of refreshing.’

‘Ha!’ Daisy laughed. ‘I know you, Miss Organised and Practical. She’s irritating the hell out of you.’

‘Actually … she isn’t. She’s so friendly, she’s made me feel incredibly welcome already.’

‘She sounds adorable.’

‘Mm, not sure I’d go that far but bless her, she works really hard and I don’t think there’s been much in the way of direction over the last year.’

‘Well, if anyone can offer that, it will be you.’ Daisy’s voice held laughter and sunshine but the words made Lucy pause. The quick observation wasn’t a criticism, but it scratched at her. Predictable, organised, Lucy Smart, which could also be read as routinised, unimaginative, dull.

‘I’ll do my best.’ She softened the clipped delivery with a sigh, looking back up at the striking architecture, the combination of modern and traditional blending into the rugged landscape. ‘The hotel is … well gorgeous. It’s got so much potential but it needs a lot of TLC.’ She paused. ‘You should see the guest rooms. You’d love them. So cosy. Honey-coloured wood and then every room has a proper stone fireplace or a wood burner. Loads of sheepskin rugs everywhere and these really pretty wall woven wall hangings with those Scandinavian love heart patterns picked out in white. I’ve even got a wood burner in my room’

‘Hygge!’ squealed Daisy. ‘Oh I want to come. It sounds gorgeous.’

‘And another reason for my call. Tell me more about the hygge thing.’

‘Ha! I knew you’d come around one day!’

‘Don’t get too excited,’ Lucy’s voice was dry with sarcasm, ‘it’s a décor theme I’m thinking of.’

‘Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. It’s a not a décor thing, it’s a mindset,’ she chided and proceeded to give Lucy a good ten-minute lecture all about contentment, well-being and cosiness, which Lucy sucked up without interruption because she thought it would go down well with guests and Hekla. It still sounded a load of old nonsense to her.

‘I’ll let you know how I get on,’ said Lucy, after Daisy insisted on her sending pictures.

‘Cool,’ Daisy laughed, ‘or hot if you’ve got a fireplace. Any nice men you could cosy up with on a sheepskin rug in front of the fire? Mmm. I might have to come over.’

Lucy groaned. ‘Trust you. I’m steering clear of men for a while, you know that.’

‘Lucy, Chris was a dick. Don’t let him turn you into a dried-up old stick.’

‘I’m not. But I’ve got too much work to do.’ She thought of the mental list she was already compiling. Paintwork needed touching up, taking the staff in hand and the cleaning in many places was not up to Lucy’s standards.

‘Apparently there has been a succession of managers. I’m the eleventh in the last year. None of them stayed put for very long.’

‘Until you arrived,’ said Daisy staunchly.

‘Yup, I think I can make a difference here.’

‘Sounds like you might have landed on your feet.’

‘Hmm, I’m not quite sure of that,’ replied Lucy, thinking of her brief introduction to Eyrun, the housekeeper, a slightly scary but diminutive lady of indeterminate age, who’d chased them away when Hekla and she visited the laundry. Eyrun had met them with a stream of angry Icelandic that even Hekla was reluctant to translate. It seemed she ruled her hot, steamy kingdom like an angry troll managing the washing of all the sheets and towels and rarely venturing out of her lair, which wasn’t terribly helpful for someone who was supposed to be responsible for the upkeep of the rooms.

‘It is a bit chaotic. I can’t figure out how the staff rotas have been done, so I’m going to have to sort that out.’ It appeared no one person was responsible for the daily rotas and matching staffing levels with guests checking in or out. Hekla had revealed that often rooms weren’t ready for new arrivals and that she and Brynja had to double up as chambermaids and waiting staff.

‘And if anyone can do the job, it’s you Lucy,’ said Daisy, encouraging as ever.