“No, Linn is quite aware, but so far we haven’t been able to find the baking book, and she is trying to figure out how to make them moister and tastier,” Emelie explained
Birgitta nodded and asked how Stig was doing. He was just fine; he had offered to be the Santa at this year’s market as well. Birgitta chuckled and clasped her hands together.
“The kids are going to love that. Do you think he might need an assistant?”
Her eyes were sparkling when she talked about Stig and Emelie nodded.
“Of course, you should be Santa’s wife, if you would like to,” she said.
“I’d love to help,” Birgitta said, staring down at the ground.
Was she mistaken, or did Birgitta blush a little?
“I wanted to ask you about the woman on the mountain. Do you know who it is?”
Birgitta looked up towards the spot on the rock where the woman exercised in the evening.
“That’s Yoga-Jenny, she lives on the other side of the hill, and she practices yoga here every night,” she said.
“In the winter as well?”
“Well, most of the times, but if it’s too slippery and snowy, she stays inside,” Birgitta said. She took a checkered cookie and had barely taken one bite before she exclaimed:
“Ooh, this one is lovely”
She showed the cookie to Emelie.
“Yes, it was everyone’s favourite at the cookie tasting. But who is this Jenny?”, Emelie asked. Birgitta swallowed the cookie with a sip of her coffee.
“She was a good friend of Astrid’s. Jenny used to be here quite a bit and sometimes, when they quarreled, you could hear it all the way out to the road,” she said, squinting.
“What were they quarrelling about?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think anyone does. Once, I happened to step in in the middle of an argument, you know, I don’t tend to ring the doorbell, and they immediately got quiet and Jenny left without a word and Astrid said nothing, even though I asked her what was going on. It was very odd,” she said, puzzled.
As if on cue, Birgitta’s pager started beeping and she sighed and left. Emelie gathered her notes and papers and went back inside. On the way back, she looked up towards the mountain. Yoga-Jenny was one of the few neighbours that hadn’t been to the house once since they had moved in. She wondered if Astrid and Jenny had been fighting when Astrid died? And in that case, what had they been arguing about?
Chapter 12
Her laptop was open on the round kitchen table, and the pile of network cables were laying on a chair next to her, the cord zig-zagging its way over the kitchen floor until it reached a white extension cord which kept zig-zagging over the floor and towards the hallway. Emelie shook her head, there certainly wasn’t enough outlets in this old house, and she figured she must have bought up the whole stock of extension cords over at the shop, so that they would be able to charge their telephones, computers and iPads. Astrid hadn’t had that problem, she thought to herself and took a sip of her coffee. In front of her on the screen was an excel sheet named “Budget”. She had carefully gone over the utility costs for the house, and now she was sitting here, thinking about which other expenses they could have, should they choose to stay at Sardinön. Obvious posts such as food and hygiene were at the top, they would both cost a bit more here than in town. The shop keeper on the island couldn’t quite compete with Willy’s in Växjö. Clothes for her and the girls and then phones and internet. She sent a grateful thought to Andreas for convincing Astrid to install broadband in the house. Extra costs, whatever that might be, 1000 SEK. On the income side: 5000 SEK per month extra when the utility costs for the house back in Växjö were covered. Linn had a job and had to contribute a little, and she also counted the child support money she got for the girls. Bloody hell, the car! That old piece of junk cost quite a bit. She had completely forgotten about it since she hadn’t driven it since they came here. If they were to stay, she could sell it and maybe buy a moped with a utility platform? Or two? She chewed on her pencil, looking out into the garden and her eyes landed on Andreas’ roses that were blossoming in red and pink. He really was quite good at his job. She forced her thoughts away from Andreas and his flowers and focused on the budget instead. She had made up her mind and didn’t include any costs for the car. She let the program calculate all the income and expenses and realised, that with the inheritance she had gotten from Astrid, they would be able to live here for two years – with a margin. Also, Linn had managed to find a job on the island, so why wouldn’t Emelie? She leaned back, stretching her back. Was it actually decided now, would they stay? She wasn’t completely convinced and, also, she needed to discuss it with the girls. Even if Linnea wanted to start school here, she was a bit more uncertain when it came to Liv. She hadn’t quite adapted to the life on the island and didn’t have a best friend as Linnea did in Tore. They would need to have a family meeting over dinner. A tiny smile still spread across her face. It would be a lovely change of scenery and an adventure for them all to stay here. At least for a year, they didn’t have to commit to more than that now.
She looked at the time when she put the salmon with feta cheese in the oven, a quarter to six. She texted Liv and Linnea, saying that dinner would be served at six, it was better to exaggerate a little since they were usually late. Linn would be working until six o’clock and would be home soon after that. Emelie set the little table and came to think about Andreas’ offer regarding the bigger kitchen table. If they decided to stay, she would let him build it for her. And perhaps take down the wall. She inspected one of Astrid’s old, green farm chairs. They were in great condition and if she painted them in different pastel colours, they would look great with the oak table. She could probably find some more chairs too, which would give them some more seats around the table. The sudden sound of a moped out on the driveway made her jump, maybe it was Andreas? She pulled herself together, it wasn’t very fitting to try and compete with your own daughter and behave like an infatuated teenager. But the moped didn’t drive towards the guest house, instead it stopped outside her house, and she heard voices. Curious, she peeked out through the porch window. It was Oskar who had given Linn a ride home from work, along with a giant bag of flour. The timer went off and she went back into the kitchen to take out the salmon. Moments later, Liv and Linnea came home with Linn, who was pulling the heavy flour bag into the hallway.
“Where should I put the flour?”
Emelie peeked out her head, holding the platter with salmon in her hands.
“Just leave it there, at least while we are eating,” Emelie said, putting the hot platter on the table.
Soon they were all seated around the table, eagerly sharing what they had experienced during the day.
“Mum, this is the best salmon I’ve ever had,” Liv said.
“Yes, you’ve never made tastier salmon,” Linnea said, putting another forkful of salmon, feta cheese and new potatoes in her mouth.
“Oh my, the two of you are just like Chip and Dale!”, Linn laughed
She took one last bite and some water before getting up from the table.
