“A bit of both. Of course, I’m a bit sad that Linn can’t have a party at her own house, but it wouldn’t have been much of a party. You, me, Liv, Linnea and their maternal grandparents…That’s what happens when half your family lives in Gambia and the other half is rather small to begin with.”
Sara looked over the fence where the neighbour was hunched over his new robot lawnmower. He was holding the manual in one hand while scratching his balding, grey head with the other. She shook her head.
“Little boys, little toys, big boys, big toys. But speaking of a small family, was it boring being an only child?”
“Are you kidding? That’s the reason why I wanted lots of kids with Ousman, I didn’t want them growing up like me. Always playing alone, no little sister or brother to fight with. I was always so jealous of you and your brother.”
Sara scoffed.
“Ha, Per was such a pain! I promise you were better off without him,” she laughed.
“But Ousman also wanted a lot of kids, that’s the way you do it in Gambia. Just having three was almost a bit too few to him. But then I guess he took off anyways…”
She finished her wine, took both glasses and went inside to fill them up from the box of wine in the refrigerator. The post was on the kitchen table. She hadn’t gone through it yet, just piled it up. She didn’t have the energy for any more bills. She worked as a housekeeping manager at the City Hotel, and it wasn’t exactly well-paid. She always managed to make ends meet, but it was boring never being able to do anything fun with the girls. Like going to Italy. Actually, it didn’t have to be that extravagant at all, taking a trip to Kolmården Zoo or to Liseberg - Gothenburg’s famous amusement park - would have been enough, but if she were to bring them all it would still be expensive. Now that Linn had graduated and was about to become an adult, their circumstances would change, but so far she lived at home and loved being around the house. Most evenings after the two younger sisters had gone to bed, the two of them would just sit on the sofa watching TV series or chatting about Linn’s crushes. Linn tried to convince her mum to get on Tinder and try her wings, but so far, Emelie had refused. She just didn’t want to be fooled again. And she was way too busy. She had enough stress in her life. The envelope on top of the pile had a stamp from The National Lottery, and she had no plans to join that, so she pushed it to the side with her wineglass. Then her eyes fell on a white envelope without an address window. She read the cursive writing on the back of the letter:
“Bertelson & Bart, partners in law”
She put the glasses down and opened the envelope. She closed her eyes and silently prayed that it wouldn’t have anything to do with Ousman. It was rather unlikely, because they had never been married and the house belonged to her, but it was always hard to know for sure when it came to him. She unfolded the thick paper and again saw the logo with the name of the law firm. When she had finished reading the letter she sighed with relief; it wasn’t about Ousman after all. She took the letter, the two wine glasses and went back outside to Sara again.
“Don’t you fancy meeting someone new? I mean, if you don’t think Ousman is coming back?”
Emelie handed her the wineglass and sat down next to her.
“I definitely don’t want him back, how could I ever trust him again? And no, I don’t feel like dating yet. I don’t really dare, what if he would leave too? I just couldn’t bear it.
Sara shrugged her shoulders.
“I think you could, but I understand if you are a bit careful and restrictive.”
Emelie showed her the envelope with the logo.
“Check this out, it looks like I inherited something…”
Sara took a sip of the wine and looked excited.
“What? Do you have some old relative that has died and that you knew nothing about? But that’s a dream come true! Inheriting a lot of money from someone you never knew and that you don’t have to grieve. It’s perfect. Stefan and I have fantasised about that a million times. Who is it?”
Emelie shook her head.
“I don’t know. I don’t have any relatives that I don’t know about, at least I don’t think so, but it says that someone named Astrid Svensson is dead and that she has left me an inheritance.”
“And who is she?”
“I have no clue! But it has to be on my father’s side, since her last name is Svensson. I have a vague memory of some old aunt…”
“Does it say what you have inherited?”
Sara leaned over her chair, snatched the letter from her and started reading it out loud.
“We are honoured to invite you to the law firm Bertelson & Bart, Monday June 7th at 11:00 p.m. – but that’s on Monday! Jesus Christ, it’s exciting! Do you want company? Oh bloody hell, I can’t, we have a board meeting then. But you have to call me the moment you are done.”
Sara was almost shouting with excitement and Emelie laughed and raised her glass.
“Yep, who knows? I might be a millionaire. Cheers to that!”
She reached over to Sara who smiled at clinked her glass.
“Or maybe you have inherited her old dog and some sugar tongs. Cheers!”
