She wanted it to last forever. Jack smiled. ‘Do you have any coffee left?’

Ninni sat down again and pulled her feet up on the seat. ‘I have tea if you want it,’ she said.

‘Tea is good, but not first thing in the morning. I need something to wake me up.’

He filled a cup and sat down beside her on the bench. ‘Good coffee.’

Ninni looked at him. ‘Are we crazy?’

Jack frowned. ‘You mean to go to bed together? Why do you think that? We’re both free and can do whatever we want, right?’

‘Yes, of course. No, it has happened so quickly. I will return to Bergen in the fall, and you’re going home to London at any moment, aren’t you?’

‘Sooner or later, yes.’ Jack became serious. ‘I hope you don’t regret it.’

Ninni shook her head. ‘To say that would be silly. It was rather … enjoyable, wasn’t it?’

Jack smiled slowly and Ninni felt dizzy again, but this time in a wonderful way. ‘It certainly was,’ he said.

‘Then let’s keep it like that. A summer fling, if you like. Just for fun.’ Ninni watched him while she spoke.

He thought about it. ‘Okay. I can definitely do that. Summer has barely started, so that should give us plenty of time to fling.’

Ninni laughed. ‘That’s a verb? To fling?’

‘English is a rich language.’ Jack rubbed her feet. ‘If our fling is going to be half as energetic as last night, I’m going to need sustenance. What do you normally eat for breakfast?’

Ninni shrugged her shoulders. ‘Sandwiches, mostly, but I’m not hungry yet.’

‘I’m starving. Do we have any of those shrimps left?’

‘There’s loads of pålegg in the fridge.’

‘What’s pålegg?’ he asked.

‘It’s a word for everything you can put on a sandwich. There’s all sorts of stuff in the fridge. Pappa is always worried I’ll starve when I’m here alone. Help yourself. I’m just going to sit here and watch you.’

And he was a delight to watch.

He opened the fridge and started pulling out things, holding them up for her to see. ‘What is this?’

He held up a flat yellow can with a picture of a fish on the front.

‘It’s mackerel in tomato sauce. You would put it on a piece of bread. Please don’t open it now; I’m not in the mood for boiled fish,’ Ninni said.

‘Me neither. And this?’ He showed her a red square.

‘It’s called Brown Cheese. It’s a sweet cheese made with some goats’ milk. It’s a staple food for Norwegians.’ Ninni hid a smile behind her cup when he opened the package and sniffed suspiciously.

‘There’s a cheese slicer in the drawer if you want to taste it,’ she said.

Jack found the slicer and inspected it carefully before cutting a thin slice. ‘To sum up, you have Old Cheese and Brown Cheese and Jarlsberg.’

‘Yes, but Jarlsberg is actually a white cheese. White cheese is also called yellow cheese and, of course, there’s Christmas Cheese. That’s an Edam with red wax wrapping, in case you’re wondering.’ Ninni laughed at his expression.