The baby suddenly kicked and the surprise made her laugh. She put her hand on her stomach again, and another little kick hit her. It was such a strange sensation.

‘What’s wrong?’ Petter appeared in front of her with a fluffy yellow duck in his hand, for some reason.

‘Nothing. Active baby, that’s all.’

He beamed at her. ‘That’s what we want. She’s getting a lot more active now.’

Ninni nodded. ‘Two more months until she’s here.’

‘And that’s why we are here, in this store. Here, take this.’ He handed her the duck. ‘What else do we need?’

‘A crib,’ Ninni said. ‘And please, let’s not get one that’s too complicated to put together. You know how you get.’

He pretended to look insulted. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘I’ve seen you with bookshelves,’ Ninni said.

At the sales desk the woman smiled at Petter, then let her eyes move over Ninni with a tiny glint of judgement, obviously making a creepy assumption.

Ninni smiled sweetly. ‘My father is helping me shop for baby equipment,’ she said. ‘We are looking for a crib that’s not too complicated to put together.’

‘But safe. I don’t want my granddaughter to fall out of it,’ Petter said with a huge smile.

The woman’s face lit up. ‘I can help you with that.’

Ninni let Petter do the talking. He seemed to enjoy it a lot more than she did and, besides, her back ached again.

The couple walked past her again. She was holding the same duck and waved it at Ninni.

Ninni almost burst into tears, then scolded herself for being stupid. Hormones, she thought. It had nothing to do with shopping for baby supplies with her father.

She wondered how Jack was getting on. Was he doing better? It seemed like it; she had seen online that he was back at the restaurant in London.

She put a hand on her stomach again. It was better this way, she thought. They would be fine, the two of them.

***

Paul was telling a long-winded story about a woman who came into the garage. ‘I was impressed, actually. She knew the difference between ABS brakes and handbrakes.’

Holly rolled her eyes and made Jack laugh. He leaned back in his chair. The food went down faster than Frikk’s dinner, and he felt good watching them.

‘You’re quiet,’ Paul said suddenly.

Holly shook her head. ‘He’s pining for his island, Dad. Did you know that he has a bunch of exercise books – log books, he calls them – written by his grandmother? They were in his suitcase.’

‘You never mentioned that,’ Paul said to Jack.

‘I … forgot about them,’ he said.

‘I see. That’s easily done, I guess.’ Paul gave him one of his looks.

Jack smiled. ‘It’s not a big deal, Dad. I was tired from the trip.’

‘Is that why you have barely mentioned why you left the island since you returned?’ Paul put his elbows on the table and looked at him.