“What did you do? How did you not slide backward again, particularly as you were under so much pressure?”

“I joined a group. Not something I ever saw myself doing, to be honest. But they were brilliant. One of them was a photographer. He talked about it with such enthusiasm I joined a class. It was another turning point for me.” And she still remembered that moment. The rush of exhilaration when she’d discovered what she could create through that lens. How she could present the world in small, carefully curated chunks that made people pay attention. “Photography was absorbing. It took concentration. I stopped thinking about myself and wallowing in if onlys and thought about what I was photographing. And I was good at it. I’d never been good at anything before. I worked three jobs to get the money I needed, and that time I managed not to get fired. I bought myself a camera and a backpack, and I started traveling. To begin with it was a way of avoiding the temptation to show up at your door, but then it became a lifestyle. I went everywhere. I worked in bars, waited on tables, made beds in hotels. Anything to keep myself moving. I never stayed in one place for long. I suppose I was trying to put distance between myself and the past. I was trying to prove I didn’t need all that. That I could survive without the drink and the chaos.” She opened a drawer and handed Christy a tissue. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. Perhaps I shouldn’t have told you so much.”

“No.” Christy blew her nose. “I’m glad you did. I want to understand. And your story is...inspiring.”

“Inspiring?”

“Yes. To have pulled yourself out of that dark place while you were swallowed up by guilt and missing your sister—” She sniffed. “That shows determination and strength. And bravery.”

Robyn felt warmth spread through her. “I confess I never saw myself as particularly brave.”

“I think you’re an inspiration,” Christy said. “How did you meet Erik? And how did you end up here?”

“I spent a month in Stockholm. Fell in love with the people. Traveled north and fell in love with the country. I wanted to photograph the aurora, the northern lights. I arrived in Abisko and checked into a hotel. I booked onto a trip to see the aurora. Erik was the guide.”

Christy smiled. “That’s romantic. And you took wonderful photos of the aurora?”

Robyn laughed. “No, they were terrible. Photographing the aurora isn’t anywhere near as easy as you might think. First time out, my camera battery froze. Second time, I almost froze. But it gave me something to aim for. I learned that up here, north of the Arctic Circle, a good photograph starts with what you wear. If you’re cold, you lose heart before you’ve had time to take the shot. And you need patience to get the best shots. Nature often makes you wait, and you don’t want to die of cold while you’re waiting. I studied. I worked. I bought a better camera. I practiced. Tried different things. Turned out people liked my photographs. I started selling them locally. Then a magazine did a feature on me. It grew from there. I fell in love with this place.”