5

SIGGI WASN'T MOVING from the passenger seat. There was obviously some particular reason he was reluctant to help her out with the translating. She knew he was chatty and personable, so she was at a loss to understand why he suddenly looked like a rabbit in the headlights.

‘You don't know the Icelandic words for the volcanology terms? Is that it? We could do google translate, if that helps?'

His face brightened. ‘ You could use google translate.'

‘I could, but the point is that I would be a random English person knocking on their door. Whereas you, at least until a minute ago, are a friendly-faced native-speaker who they're more likely to trust.'

He sighed. ‘I might know someone who lives in that house.'

‘Ah.' Now it was starting to make sense. ‘Is it a woman? Someone like Embla?'

His head spun, a look of surprise on his face. ‘What did Embla say?'

‘Look. I'm sorry if I've stumbled across the one house in Hraunvik that is a no-go area for you, but it is quite important.'

With a dramatic sigh, Siggi undid his seatbelt and climbed out of the jeep. ‘Okay. Come on then,' he said, zipping his coat and pulling his hat so far down his forehead that his eyes were barely visible.

‘I have a scarf in my bag if you want to disguise yourself a bit more?' Iris said, earning a side-eye from a sulky-looking Siggi.

She pulled her equipment case from the back seat and headed up the steps to the front door of the house, and knocked. Siggi trailed up the steps behind her and stood with his head down. After a few more seconds, Iris knocked again, but after a minute, had to accept that there was no one home.

‘Oh, that's annoying.'

Siggi grinned, a look of relief sweeping across his face as he headed down the steps.

‘We'll try next door,' Iris said. ‘Any issues waiting behind this door?'

Shooting her another side-eye, Siggi nevertheless followed her up the steps as she knocked on the door. This time, the door was opened by a man in his forties, Iris would guess.

‘Hello. My name is Iris and I work for British Geology Labs. I was wondering whether you would be willing to let me set some equipment up in your garden?'

She turned to Siggi and raised her eyebrows, encouraging him to jump in. Thankfully he did, and there was some back-and-forth conversation between them. Siggi gestured towards Iris and her case a couple of times.

‘He's asking whether it's to do with the earthquakes they've been having.'

‘Yes, it is. Kind of.'

In the end the man shrugged and said, ‘Where do you want to put it?' in English, making Iris wonder whether Siggi was right after all, and that she could have managed perfectly well on her own.

‘Over there, if that's okay.' She pointed to the corner of the front garden closest to the neighbours, where she really would have liked to set up. ‘Do you know whether your neighbours would mind if I set up in their garden?'

‘They would mind,' Siggi interjected. ‘He has already told me that.'

The man guffawed.

Iris couldn't be bothered to get into whatever subtext was going on. ‘Thank you. I'll get started.'

‘I will wait inside,' said Siggi, and to Iris's surprise, turned and went inside the house.

By the time she had set up her modified seismometer, it was almost dark. Satisfied that it was working and the data was being collected, she closed her laptop and climbed the steps, knocking on the door again. Concentrating on the job in hand had taken her mind off how cold it was, but now she realised she'd started shivering.

‘Hey,' said Siggi, opening the door and closing it behind him. ‘Are you ready to leave?'

‘Yes,' said Iris. ‘Are you?'

‘It seemed crazy to wait in the car.'

‘Do you know him?'

‘Um, yes, sort of.'

Clearly this was related to the issue Siggi had with the house next door.

‘Let's go.'

Irritated, but not really sure why, Iris climbed into the jeep.

‘You want to take your coat off?' Siggi asked.

‘No, thanks.' She shivered again.

‘Here.' Siggi turned and grabbed his rucksack from the back seat, pulling out a flask and handing it to her.

‘Thank you. What is it?'

‘Tea. I know it is what English people drink. Three of my friends have English partners and they drink it all the time.'

Iris laughed, her annoyance dissipating. ‘That's really thoughtful, thank you. I haven't had a good cup of tea for ages.'

‘This is probably also not a good cup of tea.'

But it was the best cup of tea Iris had had in a long time, and it warmed her from the inside out.

‘Thank you for bringing me here today, Siggi,' she said once she'd warmed up and could sit back and enjoy the drive through the dark wilderness back to Reykjavik, cocooned in the jeep's warmth, with Siggi capably in the driving seat.

‘No problem,' he said softly.

It occurred to Iris to ask about Siggi's links to Hraunvik, to find out why he'd been so reluctant to knock on the door of the house in the first place, but she didn't. She never enjoyed having to answer personal questions, and she knew that if Siggi had a reason he wanted to share with her, that would have happened before they were standing on the doorstep. She respected the fact that although she felt as if she'd known him a while, they were still practically strangers.

‘Where's your next trip?' Iris asked once she'd finished her tea and was feeling human again.

‘I am not sure. I have been thinking about Indonesia but I will wait until the autumn.'

‘Will you work for Jonas all summer?'

Siggi nodded. ‘It is a busy time and the excursions are more exciting this time of the year. In the winter, we mostly do Northern Lights trips and Golden Circle tours, you know, to see the geyser and where the tectonic plates meet. In the summer we can do diving, kayaking, climbing, hiking, all sorts of things.'

‘I'd love to see the tectonic plates. Iceland is the only place on earth where they're visible on the surface.'

Siggi laughed. ‘I should be telling you that.'

‘Sorry.' She felt ridiculous. Of course he would know that. Not only did he live here, but he showed people around his country for a living. ‘I'm sure you know all sorts of fascinating information about the geology here.'

‘I expect you know more than me. I have to admit, I am a person who will always do the bare minimum to get by.'

‘You could say that's an efficient approach to life,' said Iris, trying to sound understanding, although she was the complete opposite; wanting to know everything there was to know about anything that interested her.

Siggi gave her a self-deprecating smile and raked his fingers through his hair to push it back from his face. ‘That is one way to look at it. People don't usually get behind the idea.'

‘I must admit, I'm not really like that.'

‘I already know that.' Siggi was smiling while he kept his eyes on the road. It did something strange to Iris to see him smile like that. Was it thinking about her that made that smile happen?

Iris drew her eyes away from him. If he looked at her now, she didn't know what she'd do. She must be tired. That was the only explanation.

As the lights of Reykjavik appeared in the distance, Iris asked Siggi whether he could recommend a taxi company. ‘I need to go to the IMO tomorrow.'

‘I could take you,' he said.

‘I can't ask you to do that. It's just a ride. No need to wait or anything like today.'

‘The offer is there. And if you need to go back to Hraunvik, I will take you. You know more than I do about what is happening there, but if something does happen, I know how to get you home safely.'

Iris looked at Siggi, marvelling at this protective side to him that seemed at odds with the impression she had of him bending the rules of the world to suit him. What made a person who worked to live, travelling the world alone, as far as she knew at least, care about a stranger he'd just met? It made no sense. But she wanted Siggi to look after her. To take her to Hraunvik and know how to get out again if things went south.

‘Thank you. I really appreciate that. I hope I won't be there if that happens, and hopefully no one else will be either if we can get some useful data.'

‘So, tell me Iris. What is the difference you will make by being here?' His tone was interested rather than challenging her. Maybe he genuinely wanted to know.

‘I hope it's the difference between people having time to move out of the way of whatever happens and not being hurried from their homes. Time to prepare when something devastating is on the horizon can make all the difference.'

‘Devastating,' he said quietly

‘We don't know yet. I'm talking hypothetically.'

‘But you wouldn't be here if nothing was happening.' It wasn't a question.

‘There's time. You know people in Hraunvik?'

He nodded. ‘Some distant family.' Now, as he stared through the windscreen, he looked serious and thoughtful. ‘Iceland is a small country. We are all family somehow.'

‘I understand. You know the IMO is incredible. They are already across it. I'm hardly adding to what they already know.'

‘We understand what it is to live in Iceland. The land of ice and fire. It is in our bones.'

‘But it's different when it threatens you so directly.'

Siggi turned to look at Iris and gave her a small nod.

‘I've been to Hawaii once before. In 2018. Two thousand people lost their homes. I know how hard it was for those people to leave, even though they knew they lived next to one of the world's most active volcanoes.'

‘It is true,' he said ruefully. ‘Every day we take people to see these places where the planet is showing us what is beneath the surface, and I guess we forget what that could do.'

It had begun to rain. Iris could imagine how cold that would be, hitting her face, assisted by a keen wind.

As if he was reading her mind, Siggi said, ‘I will take you to the hotel.'

‘Oh, there's no need. It's not far from the office.' Her default English setting of not wanting to put anyone out had kicked in, almost against her will. She hoped Siggi would protest because now she had warmed up, all she wanted to do was dive straight from the jeep into the cosiest bed in the world that was waiting in her hotel room.

‘You would like to walk in this?' The rain had morphed into sleet.

‘I would have walked in the rain, but now it's turned into a snowstorm I'd be very grateful for a lift to the hotel.'

‘This is not a snowstorm by Icelandic standards, but I can understand that for an English person it looks extreme,' he teased.

‘In the UK, this kind of weather would have people panicking about whether they'd make it home from work. I'm not joking,' she added when Siggi laughed.

‘There is not much weather that would make us think that,' he said.

‘What's the worst snowstorm you've ever seen?'

‘Aside from this one,' he said, rubbing his stubbly chin. ‘I would have to say seven years ago. It was the most snow ever recorded in Reykjavik. It was half a metre deep everywhere, and deeper where the snow had drifted. We had to cancel all our tours for a week because no one could leave their houses. Luckily, February is not a busy month for us. I had just come back from spending Christmas in Australia. Bad timing for me.'

‘You wouldn't have wanted to miss that, surely? I bet it was amazing.'

‘I think the magic of weather like that is only seen by people who do not have it as often as we do.'

‘Be careful what you wish for.'

‘Exactly.'

Siggi pulled up outside Iris's hotel.

‘Thanks so much for today.'

‘The offer is still there for tomorrow.'

‘You're not working?'

He shook his head, picked up his phone and handed it to Iris. ‘Put your number in here and I will message you when I get home. Call me tomorrow if you would like me to take you.'

‘Thank you,' she said again, passing the phone back. ‘Bye.'

It crossed her mind to give him a peck on the cheek. It also crossed her mind that she'd like to put a hand behind his head and pull him in for a full-on kiss, so she settled for quickly patting his hand where it rested on the gearstick, then she opened the door and climbed out before grabbing her stuff. She didn't look back, but she didn't hear him pull away until she was inside.

When she got into her room, she stood with her back to the door and exhaled. Siggi. It was a feeling she was unfamiliar with. She wasn't in the habit of falling for anyone. It made life complicated, and she thought that over time, she'd become immune to the charms of men. The thing was, Siggi wasn't trying to be charming. He was down-to-earth, looked like he'd just stepped off that beach in Hawaii and coasted through life on his own terms. But that, combined with the protective streak he'd shown today, was hitting Iris right in the heart.

It had taken her a long time to get over what she thought of as her one true love. It had seemed impossible that she would ever feel ready to face the thought of being hurt again, and even dating had seemed too risky. So she'd concentrated on work, which had enough challenges of its own to keep her busy, and she hadn't felt like she was missing out. Until now.

Siggi was the first man for as long as she could remember who made her feel . She had to acknowledge that she was attracted to him, foolish as that was, because it wasn't as if it could go anywhere. They were from different places, had very different outlooks on life and lifestyles that meant, even if something developed, it would be rare for them both to be in the same place at the same time.

But there was a connection that Iris couldn't ignore. She'd enjoyed being with him today, even for the frustrating few minutes when he'd been so reluctant to knock on that door.

Perhaps she'd reached a point where enough time had lapsed that she was ready to look for love again? But she didn't think that was it. Whatever this was, it was specific to Siggi. A man who clearly had a rocky past with women, a man who, given his age, seemed incapable of settling down, and was probably a commitment-phobe as well. But these things paled into insignificance when Iris thought about how caring and thoughtful he was. There was something loveable about him, so if he was alone, it suggested that was because he wanted to be. And in that sense, they couldn't be more alike.