Anders darted an incredulous look over his shoulder.
Tatiana leaned closer to Gilla and pitched her voice low. “And handsome too.” She didn’t really care, just now, if he heard her.
Which was good, because his mother’s laugh was full volume, as was her, “Oh,allmy sons are handsome. They take after their father.” A wistful look overtook her face, and she let out a long breath. “I still miss him. Anders made a painting of the two of us, you know—gave it to us for Christmas just a month before my Johann died. We’d been debating where to hang it, but after that... I had Dalmar hang it in my bedroom for me, so it would be the first thing I see every morning when I wake up, and the last thing before I turn out the lights. Hecapturedhim. Us.” Her smile went a bit mischievous as she looked back to Tatiana. “You’ll have to come and visit sometime. I’ll show it to you.”
“I’d love to see it,” she said, trying to decipher why in the world Anders was goggling over his shoulder at themnow, as if in total confusion. Was he perhaps surprised that his mother would issue the invitation on so short an acquaintance? He surely knew it was the factthat they’d been walking arm in arm that had sparked Gilla’s interest in Tatiana. “He has a few of his drawings at the office, and I can never get enough of seeing them.”
“He did some for his brothers too, that same year, and their wives all took the cue from me and hung them up in their bedrooms. I’d hoped he’d make a tradition of giving us artwork each year, but...” She shrugged. “He’s been kept so busy, now that his sagas are being published. His brothers and I visit him a few times a week just to make sure he’s not working too hard to keep himself fed.”
Ada was clearly listening in as well. She sent a smile over her shoulder at them and then bumped her shoulder into Anders’s arm. “Well, I’m going to commission a wedding portrait from him. You’ll paint me and Obi, won’t you, Anders? It can be the first piece of art we have in our new home.”
“I...” He frowned at his sister. “Of course I will. If you want me to.”
She rolled her eyes as only a sister could. “OfcourseI want you to. Mother said I shouldn’t ask, but why not? If a little sister can’t pester her talented big brother, then what’s the point?”
Tatiana laughed. Anders did not. He shook his head slowly, as if trying to make sense of something.
“He gets pestered enough by his brothers. Boys,” Gilla said with a smile and a shake of her own head that didn’t look nearly so confused as her son’s. “His brothers give him such a hard time—of course, they give eachothera hard time too. It’s the way they show their affection, but I’ve never understood it.”
“I only have the one sister,” Tatiana said. “But I have scads of male cousins and have observed this about them. I’ve never understood it either. Why can’t they just say nice things to each other once in a while?”
Gilla laughed. “It’s as if they think the sky will fall.”
The little ones, who had been leading the way, darted around Anders and Ada, Heidi grabbing at her grandmother’s hand. “Ommu, can Elea and her aunt come to your house for Christmas Eve? Can they? Please?”
Now Tatiana’s cheeks warmed again. She had been debating what to do on Christmas Eve—to have a quiet evening with just her and Elea or to go to Valdi and Beta’s, as she’d originally planned. But nowhere in the debate had there been any intention of inviting themselves somewhere else entirely.
Gilla didn’t bat an eye, just grinned at hergranddaughter. “Of course they’re welcome, if they could squeeze us in around the other plans they probably already have.”
Heidi didn’t seem to hear the part about other plans. She just clapped and darted forward again, calling out, “You can come!”
Tatiana let out a breath of laughter.
Gilla sent her a wink. “No obligation, of course. But you truly are welcome. Heidi is always complaining about the lack of girl cousins near her age for her to play with. Which neighborhood is your niece from? Perhaps we can get them together more often.”
“Oh, she’s only visiting Reykjavik,” Tatiana said. “My family lives in Hellnar, about three hours away.”
Gilla’s eyes lit. “A fishing village!”
“Once the biggest,” she agreed with a nod. “Elea’s father is a fisherman, though he and my sister are also running my family farm. My parents have retired to a little cottage in the village proper where they can help care for my grandmothers more easily.” She knew very well that it was only because Mother and Pabbi had their hands full with their two mothers, neither of whom was in good health, that Ari had asked Tatiana tohelp with Elea instead of their parents. Gunnar’s parents both worked punishing hours at the fishery.
Gilla gave her a big smile and looped their arms together. “I assumed you were from the city, one of the academic types Anders runs with.”
Her own smile felt a bit self-deprecating on her lips. “I only just moved here five years ago. Though my uncle has called Reykjavik home for about twenty-five years now. Since my father was more interested in keeping the farm than he was, Valdi went to university and then stayed here afterward. It worked out well for everyone.”
“A girl who understands all the publishing things but has roots in Hellnar.” Gilla patted her arm. “Anders, I like this one. Don’t let her get away.”
The expanse of skin above his scarf turned red again. He craned around, looking absolutely mortified. “Mother...”
Tatiana couldn’t help the chuckle that filled her throat. “Don’t worry, Gilla. I’m not going anywhere.”
Her gaze caught his, tangled there. It was more forward than she’d ever been, more pointed. More vulnerable. But when the corner of his lip tugged up, when his blue eyes went a shade darker with feeling, she couldn’tbring herself to regret it. It was time to take a few risks. Let him see that if he was interested, she was too.
She suspected the look they shared wasn’t lost on his mother, not given the little grin Gilla wore and the way she pulled away a step as Elea and Heidi raced toward Tatiana’s building. “Ada,” the mother called out, “let’s leave them here and go run those errands. And Anders, you needn’t rush Heidi home—her mother’s busy decorating and Ram isn’t home yet, and the boys are all at Dalmar’s.”
A not-so-subtle hint that Anders and Heidi should not only see them to their door but come in and visit for a while. Tatiana couldn’t help but agree. She reached out to clasp Gilla’s hand between hers. “It was so lovely to meet you.”
“You’re an answer to prayer is what you are.” Gilla winked, gave her hand a squeeze, and then turned to give Anders a hug, whispering something in his ear that Tatiana couldn’t hear, but which made his cheeks flush yet again.
