Karl followed her inside, not saying a word. Ninni nodded towards the kitchen table. ‘Sit down.’

‘Thank you,’ he said.

Ninni put on a pot of soup from the fridge. All the hurt and the anger welled up inside her.

‘I can’t believe you have the nerve to come here after what you did. You know what I’ve been wondering about? How many other women you’ve used for bed and board? You’re such a bastard,’ she said.

She grabbed a bread knife from the drawer and had the satisfaction of seeing him shudder. The bread was fresh, and she cut a few slices.

‘I know I’ve behaved like a shit,’ Karl said. He took a piece of bread and shredded it between his fingers. ‘And I’m more sorry than I could ever express.’

Ninni barely listened to him. She found a bowl in the cupboard and put it on the table. ‘I’m going upstairs. You can sleep on the sofa.’

‘But don’t you want to talk? I’ve come all this way. I’m begging you.’ He was serious.

Ninni looked at him properly. He looked sad and pathetic, and he still believed he could fool her.

She realised she wasn’t angry with him any more. She was tired of his games and had wasted enough time and energy on him. ‘You used me for two years while your wife and kids lived in Oslo. You’re a sad little shit and I don’t want to see or hear from you again in my life. My guess is that you’re here now because your wife threw you out and you think I’ll be stupid enough to take you back.’

The surprised and annoyed expression on his face told her she was right.

Ninni pointed at him. ‘If you are still here when I wake up I’ll have the police wait for you on the harbour in Haugesund. The first ferry leaves at six. Turn off the lights when you go to sleep.’

She whistled and Frikk came to her side at once. Without looking at Karl again, she went upstairs. He didn’t come after her.

Ninni closed the bedroom door and sat down on the bed. Now what? she thought. The idea that she was having a baby with that idiot downstairs made her clench her teeth to avoid screaming.

She curled up on the bedsheet and closed her eyes. Frikk jumped up behind her. What was she going to do? What would she say to Jack? She had to make him see that whatever it was they had between them was over. Whatever it took, he needed to believe this was the end.

***

Jack walked up the path, exhausted from the trip. He had spent most of the night at the airport in Oslo because of a cancelled flight to Haugesund. Then, when he arrived in Haugesund, it was too early for the ferry. Someone with a boat took pity on him.

He was close to Ninni’s house when he saw a man leaving. He closed the door behind him and started walking along the road. At some point he spotted Jack and nodded at him.