you are a stranger. I don’t know how you make coffee. It could be complete doo-doo.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Doo-doo?”
“Garbage.”
“Ah, well, I suppose so. Are you ready to go?”
Betty finished her coffee and set the mug in the sink. “Yes, let’s get this over with.”
“I hope you have your better boots today. It’s quite icy being this close to the...to the water.” There was an edge to his voice as he mentioned the water, as if he hated it. Betty shook that thought off; perhaps he just didn’t like ice, and she couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t a huge fan of it herself.
“Yes. I have better boots.” She picked them up off the floor. “See?”
Axel nodded in approval. “Well, let’s go and I’ll drive you to the nearest store and make sure you get enough food to survive. I don’t want my father saying I let you starve.”
“I can find my way around.”
“Oh?” he asked as she locked her front door. “What street do you live on?”
“I live on Vatn...”
“I thought as much. You live on Vatnsstigur. That’s the correct pronunciation.”
“Thanks,” she said dryly.
They walked down to his SUV and he held open the door for her. She shouldn’t be going with him to get groceries, but she did need food and she was tired and didn’t know her way around Reykjavik. She would take his help for this and that was it.
No more.
She was here to make it on her own and not rely on someone else.
The drive to the grocery store was silent, but she really didn’t know what to say to him. Everything she said seemed to annoy him and vice versa. Thankfully it wasn’t a long ride and soon they were pulling up in front of a grocery store that advertised being open twenty-four hours a day.
“We’re here.”
“Good,” Betty said, stifling another yawn. “I’m going to need more coffee.”
“Well, after we get your groceries home I will take you for a proper coffee near your place. That will wake you up.”
“If the cold air doesn’t wake me up I doubt any coffee will,” she muttered.
“You haven’t had this coffee yet.” He got out of the car and Betty followed him. He walked well ahead of her in big, commanding steps making it hard to keep up with him.
“Hey!” she called out. “Wait up.”
Axel paused and turned around. “What? Did you fall?”
“No, I didn’t fall. Why are you always assuming I’m falling or tripping?”
“Because you keep doing it,” he stated in a matter-of-fact tone. And he had a point. She had been.
“I’m not falling this time. You’re just walking too fast. You’re a giant and I can’t keep up, not in these boots.”
There was a twinkle in his blue eyes. “Sorry.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll get a cart.” He grabbed a cart from the carrel. “You ready?”
“I didn’t make a list.”
“We’ll get you what you need.”
“Okay.” Betty followed him in a daze. He took her through the produce section and she picked out some apples and oranges. Then they moved over to the deli and bakery. Axel dutifully pushed the cart in silence but after a few aisles he made a “hmm” sound.
“What?” she asked as she held a box of pasta.
Axel reached into her cart and pulled out a can. “This is an interesting choice.”
“Isn’t it tuna?”
“No, it’s lutefisk. You know what that is?”
“Not tuna?”
“No, it’s an aged stock fish and lye. It’s sort of like gelatin.”
Betty made a face. “Oh.”
Axel chuckled. “You want me to put it back?”
“No, I’m going to try it.”
Now it was his turn to make a face. “You’re brave. I don’t like it much.”
Betty took the can and placed it back in the cart. “I’m going to try it. I’ll be brave. I like fish.”
Axel looked amused but didn’t say anything more. Satisfied that she had enough to last her for her first few days, she paid for her purchases and he helped her load them into the car. Returning to her rental, Axel helped her take the groceries inside and put them away. She was hoping he would leave when they were done, but he lingered.
“What?” she asked.
“Coffee, remember?”
“Oh, I thought you were just being polite.”
“No, I mean it. I’ll get you some good coffee. It’s not a far walk from here.”
“Okay. Isn’t it a little cold to be walking though?”
“You wanted to walk to the hospital on your first day and that’s farther than the coffee house.”
“You have a point,” she said. “Okay, let’s go, but then I have to get back and prepare for tomorrow.”
“Deal.”
Axel was right, it wasn’t far from her rental, but when they got to the coffee house it was packed and there was nowhere to sit, let alone move.
“Sorry about that,” Axel said as they left.
“It’s okay.”
“I promised you coffee for dragging you out.”
Betty looked around and down on the pier near the beach was a little coffee hut. “What about there? That looks like a coffee place!”
Axel looked to where she was pointing and his expression hardened. “Uh.”
“We can have coffee and go walk on the beach.”
“No,” Axel snapped. “No, that’s not a good place.”
“But it’s not crowded at all.”
“I said no!” Axel’s
