“I’ll do my very best, Christer, and if you would like me to, I can come over here and give you regular updates. And by the way, we’re not going back to the city. We are staying here, at least until next summer.”
Stig grinned and gave her a pat on the back that was so hard that she almost fell into Christer’s bed.
“I must say, that is the best news I’ve heard in a long time! Oh well, I guess we have two project leaders for the Christmas market” he said, as if he had just won the lottery.
When Emelie and Christer had decided what to do next and agreed that she would come back in a couple of days to report to him, she and Stig went downstairs to the others.
“Careful on the stairs,” Christer shouted after them.
In the big hall, Sussi was walking around taking notes on her phone while the others were telling her things that needed to be done. Repair the tables, clean the kitchen, the great hall and the hallway, clear out the great hall, wash windows.
“Well now you can all calm down, let me introduce you to the new project leader for this year’s Christmas market,” Stig declared proudly, pointing at Emelie with both hands.
“At least until Christer is back on his feet” Emelie smiled. “But how far have you gotten?” Sussi went over the list with her and sent her a copy over text message.
“Should we take a peek outside as well?” Emelie said, taking the lead out the front door. Behind the community centre was a large garden with a lawn stretching all the way along one side of the house. Next to the lawn was a gravel court with white stripes that the pensioner’s association used to play petanque on on clear nights. Stig and Birgitta walked around explaining where the different salespeople usually stood, where the great Christmas tree belonged and where Santa usually sat. Sussi stepped a circle around the imaginary tree and declared that they could easily fit double circles around the tree for the dance. And she added that they could do a Christmas line dance in the same spot after the traditional dancing was over. Linn had been standing a bit to the side, writing text messages when Emelie called her and asked if she liked the spot were Astrid used to have her café, just inside the backdoor of the yard.
“It’s going to be great,” Linn answered. “Then you can spot the café from both the outside and the inside and it will be easy for me to refill the coffee and the cookies from the kitchen. By the way, is there a freezer in the kitchen?”
Stig put an arm around her and sticking one of his thumbs inside his braces.
“No, love, but uncle Stig here has a large freezer in his cellar, you can fill that one and it isn’t that long of a walk either. And then I will put together your café just like in the old days, when Astrid was still around.”
“Oh Stig, that’s just marvelous, you really are something,” Birgitta said with sparkling eyes, clasping her hands.
Birgitta’s pocket started beeping at the same time as Oskar came skidding into the yard, making the gravel fly around his wheels. Linn ran over to him.
“What did your dad say?”
Oskar smiled and nodded shyly towards the Christmas committee, then looked at Linn and blushed.
“He said that he would love to support your café with coffee and cordial if he could just have some signs up here and a stand where we could sell some nuts and chocolate.”
Birgitta started jogging towards the road and Stig called out to her.
“ButBiggan, are you leaving already?”
She turned around with tears in her eyes.
“Yes, I have to, and it’s quite the walk back.”
Linn waved for her to come back.
“We’ll drive you, won’t we, Oskar? Come on, let’s hop up on the platform here, you and I”, Linn said. Oskar nodded, put his helmet back on and turned his moped towards the road.
“Drive carefully with your precious cargo,” Stig called out to him and Birgitta turned around, waving happily to him.
Chapter 13
August arrived with warm late summer weather, and the last couple of days before the girls were to start at the Sardine School, the family spent on the beach. Sometimes Andreas would stop by, sometimes it was Birgitta or Stig, but the most fun was when Stina and Sussi came along – like today. Emelie really enjoyed the girls’ company and they had become her best friends on the island. They were laying on beach towels, Emelie’s was white with happy elves dancing around the edge of the towel. Stina had just asked about the girls’ father, and Emelie told her, that he was probably back in Gambia and that he had left them an autumn day almost three years ago.
“But did he just take off?” Sussi asked, squinting towards the sun.
“Mm, he left a letter on the table. That was it,” Emelie said.
Stina turned toward her, pushing her sunglasses down onto her nose.
“A letter? If you leave your wife and three kids behind, you don’t leave a bloody letter! What a cowardly bastard,” she said, laying back down on her towel.
