“It’s probably too late, I think they have already hired all their seasonal workers, but I can ask Sara. But I agree, I don’t really feel like staying at the hotel either, it feels very uncomfortable knowing that something like this can happen. Not that I’m surprised, I guess it happens everywhere nowadays”, she said.
“But why don’t we just go to the Christmas house? Didn’t you inherit a bit of money as well, from that grandma of yours? Is it enough to get us through the summer? I have some savings too, it would be so nice to get away from this dump” Linn said.
Emelie hesitated, could they take off? Just like that?”
The thought of it was appealing, but the Christmas things; not so much. And just imagine all the cleaning that they would have to do before it would even be possible to live in the house.
“You know what? I sat down in one of the beds in the house, and it was just like sitting on a wooden bench. And there was so much dust everywhere. Just imagine, all those things just standing there for years. It’s an enormous job. I just don’t think it is possible”, she said.
“But you have to do something with it, right? And the west coast in the summer, it could be kind of amazing,” Linn said.
She twisted a lock of her hair around her finger until she got stuck and had to use the other hand to get free. She had done exactly the same thing when she was a little girl, but back then Emelie always had to come and help her. Back then she didn’t like her curls, but today she carried her Gambian roots with pride.
“Of course, it could be nice over there. But what am I supposed to say at work? They will lose it if I just take off in the middle of summer”, Emelie said hesitantly.
“You could just tell them that your daughter was sexually harassed,” Linn said, smiling.
Maybe itwaspossible. Just for the summer. It was a nauseating thought. The most exotic thing she had ever done up until this day was to travel to Gambia twenty years ago, bringing Ousman back to chilly Sweden with her. Soon after that, she had become pregnant and later two more girls came along. Then Ousman left them to go back to Gambia and here she was. Was anything really keeping her here? She sat up straight in the sofa and turned off the movie. Liv and Linnea started protesting loudly and Linn stared at her in surprise. She turned towards them and smiled.
“Let’s do it. We will try one summer in the Christmas house, and then we will see”, she said, anxiously awaiting their reaction.
“Yeeeeees!”, Linn cheered, “away from bloody Växjö!”
The two younger kids also started jumping and cheering. Emelie didn’t know if they really understood what she had said, but they were happy because their mum and older sister were. They jumped into a big pile on the sofa, hugging and laughing. Emelie grabbed Linn’s hand and pulled her with her towards the kitchen.
“You girls just keep watching the movie, we just need to arrange some things for the move” she yelled to the two kids that were left on the sofa.
She turned to Linn.
“Now the two of us have some things we need to deal with. We will have to rent out the terrace house, pack the most important things, buy new beds so we don’t have to sleep on the wooden benches. And I need to send an e-mail to my supervisor”, she said, freezing.
Her boss, what was she going to tell the boss? But Emelie really wanted to do this. She looked at Linn again.
“If she doesn’t give me the time off, I’ll quit, I’m sure I will be able to find something new somehow. If not, I guess I’ll have to sell some of the Christmas stuff”, she said, sounding more convinced than she felt.
Linn nodded eagerly, found pen and paper and started to work on a to do-list.
A couple of days later everything had been arranged, and it had been much easier than Emelie had anticipated. At her workplace they had been understanding to the fact that Emelie wanted some time off after what had happened to her daughter, they had approved and were very concerned about Linn not making a scene. Something that Linn definitely could have done, if it hadn’t suited her not to. The guest had been kicked out headfirst and wasn’t welcome back, and Linn was content. They had picked out new beds online and Emelie spoke to Andreas and asked if he could throw the old ones out and help take care of the new ones when they arrived.
“He asked if he could keep the beds. Isn’t that odd?”
Emelie looked at Sara that sat across from her by the kitchen table and who was also initiated in their moving plans.
“Maybe he is thinking about refurbishing the guest house?”
They both laughed and Emelie concluded that the old beds probably served best as firewood. Sara had helped them find a family that was interested in renting the house. They were from the Netherlands and would stay in their house while the mother was working for Sara’s corporation. It was a large company renting the house and they paid well. Emelie chuckled when she saw the sum on the rental contract.
“Blimey, I should have done this ages ago! I could have been rich by now”, she said, smiling.
“But back then you didn’t have a Christmas house to live in. Oh, I'm really going to miss you all,” Sara said.
Emelie’s telephone beeped.
“Ah, the beds! That was quick! The shipping was expensive, but that’s the way it is. I’m going to text Andreas and tell him that the beds will be there Friday,” she said and started texting while she was still talking.
When she was done, she turned to Sara.
“Come and visit us. There’s plenty of space and you are always welcome. And by the way, it’s just over the summer. Before you know it, it’ll be September and we’ll be back again, sitting here drinking wine, the Christmas house sold and everything back to normal,” she said, grabbing Sara's hand.
