He heard footsteps behind him.
“I’ve looked over the designs, Dad.” Stig walked in with his nose in a file and didn’t look up. “If we make use of the current storage area, we’d have space for another freezer room, which means we can expand our delivery area to include northern Uppland and southern Dalarna. I’ve been in touch with the local consumer associations and ...” Only then did he glance up and notice Nils. “Oh, hi. I didn’t know you were here.” He saw the bread on the desk. “Great—freshly baked bread!”
“Yes—I’ve been trying out a few new recipes.”
As Stig helped himself, Nils suddenly realized what his brother had been talking about.
“Are you planning to launch in Dalarna and northern Uppland?” Nils looked from his father to his brother and back again. He and his father had always planned this kind of thing together—why hadn’t they involved him this time?
“We are. It was Stig’s idea; it doesn’t involve much more travel for our delivery drivers, and there’s room in the trucks. We weren’t sure about freezer space, but as you just heard, Stig has been working on that.”
Nils swallowed hard. So his brother was planning major changes to key parts of the business, while Nils was still slogging away in the bakery. Had he been demoted?
Stig tried the bread. “Wow—this is delicious!”
“Yes.” Nils took a deep breath. “I thought it would freeze well, and we could deliver it as a frozen product. Because the loaves are so thin, they’ll freeze quickly, and thaw in no time. If we freeze them immediately after baking, the quality will be comparable with fresh bread.”
Father tasted. “Mmm... Not bad. Not bad at all. I like your thinking.”
“The only thing I’m not sure about is how we solve the issue of transportation from the bakery to the deep freeze room, if it has to be as fresh as possible,” Stig said.
Nils suppressed a sigh. “It only takes a minute in the van to go from the bakery to the freezer, so it can be frozen while it’s still steaming from the oven.” It bothered him that Stig had opinions—was he going to have to run everything past his brother now? “I’ve got a good name for this bread too,” he continued. “I thought we could call it Tuula’s Tasty Bread.”
Father coughed, almost choked. “You want me to name our bread after a fucking Finn?”
Nils was shocked. He had never heard his father talk about anyone that way. It seemed to be quite an overreaction. Maybe it was because of the whole Birgit Berglund business. His father hadn’t mentioned her name again, but he’d made it clear that Nils was letting him down by refusing to court her.
Father put down the bread. “You know people have seen you two together in the village?”
Nils didn’t respond.
Stig discreetly backed out of the room.
“The war is over now, and it’s time for us to get moving on things,” his father said. “Rationing will come to an end, and we want to be ready.” He got to his feet. “Do you understand, Nils? We can take this company far beyond Bergslagen. We can sell our bread and cakes across the country. We’ve got the operations, we’ve got the plans, all we need is permission from the local council. Which means I need Berglund.”He walked over to the window, gazed out at the street and the river. Nils looked out too. Storm clouds had gathered. The air in the room was oppressive, suffocating. The rushing waters of the river were dark. His father turned to him. “And what is Berglund going to say when he discovers that you’re gallivanting around town with a Finnish widow? Dining at the Stadshotell? Strolling through the streets and sitting in the café?”
Nils took a deep breath, summoning his courage. “To be honest, I don’t understand why that’s any of Berglund’s business.”
His father gave a start. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that what I choose to do is up to me. How I spend my evenings and weekends, and with whom.”
Father took three rapid steps toward Nils. “I’ve worked tirelessly for years to grow this company. For your sake. For Stig’s sake. I do it for this family. I thought we were in agreement that we would do whatever it took to make it a success. And that doesn’t mean running around after other women. What’s wrong with you? Birgit is a much better bet than that Finn with two kids!” Father slammed his fist down on the desk.
Nils gazed at him steadily. “I have no intention of marrying Birgit.”
“But you’d be happy to marry a Finn? Are you going to raise her Finnish brats?” Father snorted, shook his head. “I hoped you’d come to your senses so that I wouldn’t have to argue about it.” His expression was almost pleading. “We can’t afford to lose any more time. The application is all ready to go; all we need is the council’s formal approval.”
“I don’t understand. You and Folke Berglund were celebrating, the council was on board with our plans—what does any of this have to do with me and Birgit?”
Father sighed wearily. “She likes you, and Folke wants to give his little girl whatever she wants. He assumed you would start courting her, but nothing has happened. The council approved our application to carry out alterations, but this is about the change of use so that we can start the deep-freezing side of the operation.” He shook his head again. “If we don’t get permission, it will be your fault.”
“My fault?”
“Yes, because you’re refusing to do what you can to help. Instead you’re planning to marryher.”
“I have no idea if I’m going to marry Tuula, I have no idea who I’m going to marry, but what I do know is that the choice will be mine. And Tuula’s children are wonderful—I would have no problem with raising them.” Nils walked out of his father’s office and slammed the door behind him.
When the other bakers were leaving for the day, Tuula lingered. Nils saw her through the window, sweeping up flour and glancing toward his office. He’d hidden in there all day, buried himself in work.
