Emilie smiled at her daughter and stretched for the coffee pot.
“I finally see the point in having a freshly-baked baker in the house. So, I can expect fresh bread every morning from now on?”
“Maybe not every day, but sometimes, sure. Make a full pot, I promised Andreas that he could come over and taste the buns, I’ll run over and tell him that they are ready in fifteen.”
Before Emilie had had a chance to protest, Linn ran out to the porch, jumped into Astrid’s old clogs and ran down the stairs. Emelie sighed. Was he going to start having breakfast at their house now too? But then again, maybe she should be thankful that he had slept in his own bed and didn’t come tumbling down the stairs with that messy fringe of his. She felt a sting in her chest, thinking about it, and it was more than just her motherly concern. She experienced a well-known, tingling sensation. It was like what she had felt, when she saw Ousman for the first time on a Gambian beach. She shook the image but still looked herself quickly in the mirror and pulled a hairbrush through her hair. She leaned in closer and concluded that she didn’t have to apply any mascara since she had dyed her lashes and brows.
Twenty minutes later, they were all brushing shoulders at the round table in the kitchen, Andreas, Emelie and the girls, while they were enjoying Linn’s freshly baked buns with butter and cheese.
“These are delicious, Linn, but I can’t eat another bite,” Andreas sighed and rubbed his flat belly.
Linn smiled at him, and he added:
“When this house was Astrid’s, this table was just enough, but you are going to need a bigger one” he said, studying the underpart of the table.
“But I can hardly fit a bigger one,” Emilie said. “If we don’t remove the wall between the kitchen and the living room, that is…”
Andreas and Emilie looked at each other and smiled. He was right, and she started to imagine a bigger room with an open design and an old-fashioned farm table where the whole family could gather.
“I have some great oak planks over at my house, I left them outside for a couple of winters to give them some nice patina. They would make a great table”, Andreas said.
She was close to accepting his offer when she realised what she was doing. How far into her family was she going to let him? Was he going to build her furniture now? And furniture big enough to make him spend even more time with them?”
“It’s really nice of you to offer, but we are leaving in August, so it’s probably no point”, she said shortly. She quickly got to her feet, told the others that she needed to get dressed and went back to her room. Behind her, she could hear the friendly breakfast chatter continue and she already regretted her snide remark. Were they actually going to leave this house behind in August? She put on a pair of jeans and a shirt and went back to the kitchen. The others were still there, so she refilled her coffee cup and sat down again. The girls were eagerly grilling Andreas about all the details of the Midsummer celebration. Linn got a text message, shot up from her seat and on her way up to the tower room she yelled that she had something she needed to tend to. Liv and Linnea were also finished with their breakfast and raced each other to their rooms. Andreas turned to Emily, smiling:
“Alone at last” he said longingly, and she jumped, feeling that tingling sensation again.
He continued:
“Oh, I’m just having a laugh, but my sister and her husband are in charge of the herring lunch today, and they asked if I wanted to invite my new, intriguing neighbours. They live on the eastern side of the Island. They are really nice and their son, Tore, is the same age as Linnea. He is also starting primary school this autumn.”
Andreas looked so sweet and full of anticipation, that she couldn’t help but return his smile and accept his invitation – also, it was fun getting to know some new people on the island. They decided to meet outside the house at a quarter to one and walk over to his sister’s together.
Malin and Jesper lived in a newly built house down by the beach and, just as SMHI had promised, a light summer rain fell over them as they were eating. It didn’t really matter, as they were sitting on the couple’s glassed-in porch, enjoying the food and each other’s company. Linnea and Tore immediately became best friends and Liv and Linn joined them at the table and seemed to enjoy spending time with the grown-ups. When they had finished the herring, the new potatoes and the schnaps, Malin got up and took care of the pile of plates that Andreas and Linn had collected.
“What do you say, is it time for strawberries?”
“I’ll help you with the dishes,” Emelie said, grabbing the pot of left-over new potatoes and the gravy boat of sour cream.
When they came into the kitchen, Malin turned towards Emilie.
“I’m so thrilled that you inherited Astrid’s house. You can’t believe how worried we got, when we heard that some town person was taking over. But Andreas really likes you, and the girls, of course.”
Emilie was rather taken by surprise, and didn’t quite know how to interpret the compliment, but still figured that this was a great opportunity to get to know more about Andreas.
“We like him too, and he has been very helpful. But how come he is living in Astrid’s guest house?”
Malin rinsed the dishes and put them into the washing machine.
“Hasn’t he told you? Astrid has been like an extra grandmother to us, more so to Andreas than me. She was a good friend of our grandfather and he often brought us over there when we were little. She let us eat as many of her amazing cookies as we wanted, I have never tasted anything quite like it, and she let us play with all her Christmas things. Then Andreas moved to the mainland to study gardening, that’s where he met Lovisa. When they had finished their studies they moved back to the island and started the nursery, but she never quite settled in on the island.”
“So, what happened to them?”
“They broke up and when she moved back to town, he couldn’t afford keeping both the nursery and their house, that’s when Astrid offered him to move into the guest house.”
“And he owns a nursery?”
“Oh yes, it’s not far from here. But it’s rather small. I know that he would love to build another greenhouse, but he just doesn’t have the space. Will you grab the strawberries and the ice-cream, then I’ll take the plates and the whipped cream?”
