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sun talking and reading, me on my iPad, Julie in her
books for school. Then Julie suggested we try to walk around the island with
our feet in the water. Afterwards, we played soccer on the big lawn until the
ball landed in the water and I had to go out and get it in the mushy water.
    Now I was looking inside the refrigerator to
find the dinner that Peter had told me Mrs. Holm had prepared for us to heat
up. I found a roast and potatoes and a brown sauce in a container. I arranged
it all on three plates, then put it in the microwave.
    Peter came down just in time for dinner with
paint on his cheek and fingers.
    "Did you have a great time?" I asked
curiously and handed him his plate.
    He smiled widely. "The best. There is
nothing like it. I tell you this is what I want to do with the rest of my
life." I guess you can say I have discovered my inner artist. Who would
have thought that I had one, huh?"
    "I know," I said and served Julie her
plate. She dug in immediately and very greedily. Fresh air and playing sure
made us both hungry.
    I poured some wine for me and Peter and sat
down. "I guess we all had a great day, huh?" I said.
    Julie nodded with her mouth full. "Mom and
I had a lot of fun," she said.
    "I'm glad to hear that," Peter said.
"I'm so glad to have you both here. I have really missed this. I've missed
us."
    He looked at me while he spoke. Somehow it made
me feel guilty. I was so happy that he was doing better and that we were able
to be a family again. It was all I wanted, but at that second, I couldn't help
thinking about Sune. I don't know what it was, but somehow I was just reminded
of how much I had hurt him. And here I was all happy and with my family again,
while he was sitting back there at his apartment in Karrebaeksminde all alone.
And it wasn't just guilt, it was something else too. It was a longing. A desire
to see him again.
    I realized I missed him.
    "So, what's up for tomorrow?" Peter
asked cheerfully. "Anyone want to go into town?"
    "I'd love to," Julie shrieked.
"Can we get ice cream at that place again, Dad? Can we? Please?"
    Peter laughed. "Of course. That's
tradition."
    "Just you wait, Mom till you taste this ice
cream. It’s soooo good. You won't believe it."
    "I guess I'll have to then," I said
smiling. "You don't have to force me to eat ice cream."
    "We have to buy some food too and toilet
paper and such," Peter said.
    "I thought the good Mrs. Holm took care of
all those kinds of things?" I asked sipping my wine. It was a very expensive
bottle that Peter had found in the wine cellar below the house. Every sip was
like an explosion in my mouth.
    "Well she takes care of the more basic
stuff. But for the most part, I'm the only one here, so that's easy, but now
that there's three of us, I believe it's a little too much to demand of the
good old Mrs. Holm."
    "Sounds fair. I'd love to see the
town," I said and ate a piece of the roast. The good old Mrs. Holm turned
out to be quite the cook.
    "It's really nice down there, Mommy,"
Julie said.
    Peter chuckled. "It's not much of a town,
really. But it has what we need. I need gas for the boat as well."
    "There's a hotel down there as well isn't
there?" I asked.
    "Yes. Hotel Kragen, why?" Peter asked.
    "Well there was a story this morning about
a guy …" I paused and looked at Julie, not sure that I wanted her to hear
what had happened. "Well something bad happened to him and he was on TV
talking about it. I thought about checking the place out."
    Peter tilted his head. "And maybe write
about it to your newspaper, is that it?" He put his glass down hard on the
table. "Christ, Rebekka. Can't you just be on vacation for once?"
    "I just wanted to check it out, Peter.
That's all."
    "Don't you think I know you? It doesn't
matter where we go, you’re always working."
    "Well I'm sorry if I love my job. At least
I'm playing with my daughter when we're on vacation and not hiding in some
attic all day."
    "Please stop fighting?" Julie said and
held both hands to