The other two burst out laughing.
“No, we were thinking about Andreas. He is young, handsome, seems smart and is a creative. Do you think he would be willing to donate? Or can you even allow yourself to ask…?” Sussi said, looking at Stina who shrugged her shoulders.
Emelie’s head was spinning. She didn’t know if it was from the wine or the question about Andreas’ sperm, but just sitting up straight made her feel dizzy. She swallowed hard and reached for her water glass.
“I don’t know. We have been living here for like, two months, I haven’t really had the time to discuss his sperm with him” she said and couldn’t help laughing even though she instinctively felt that she didn’t want Andreas to give his sperm to Sussi and Stina.
“No, you’re right,” said the others, laughing.
They didn’t discuss the subject any further and Stina started asking Emelie about her love life instead. Each question made her realise how non-existant it really was.
“It’s ages since I dated anyone, and there aren’t exactly any singles my age on the island, so I guess I’ll have to postpone those plans a bit,” she said, sighing.
The girls looked at each other and Sussi raised her wine glass, proposing a toast.
“Well, there’s always Andreas. He might be the solution to all of our problems?”
They cheered and then burst out laughing. One poor guy on the island and he got to be both potential father and boyfriend.
“It would be incredibly practical,” Stina laughed and filled up their glasses.
Emelie laughed and cheered with the others. And she didn’t say anything about her suspicion that Andreas only had eyes for Linn.
Chapter 14
Whoever spoke about mindfulness should just try putting their hands into hot, soapy water while slowly taking care of yesterday’s dishes. There was something extremely calming about the repetitive process; washing the dishes, rinsing them and putting them into the stand to dry. Especially when you were slightly hungover after many glasses of wine, like Emelie. She looked through the window, remembering when her and Ousman had planned the interior for their house in Växjö. It would have been absolutely unthinkable back then, not to have a dishwasher in the kitchen, but out here she didn’t even miss one. Especially since she could stand there, hands in the water and look out over her garden and the lawn that was trying to fight the mountain, but had to surrender to the quite impressive hill. She was wondering about the exact size of her land. And whether the mountain was hers as well? Emelie’s mountain. She laughed to herself and reached for the dishtowel since the dish drainer was full. When she had dried and emptied the drainer she took care of the rest of the dirty plates, and by then Yoga-Jenny had taken her usual spot on the hill. Emelie stopped for a moment, curiously watching the woman who was putting her arms up in the air. She had been friends with Astrid, and must be a bit over 70, but she was veiny and muscular, and most of the movements she managed were things that Emelie could only dream of. Emelie drained the sink and, the next time she looked up, there was no sign of Jenny. It was odd, because she usually kept exercising for a while, Emelie thought to herself.
She dried off her wet hands and had just stretched towards the coffee machine when she heard commotion from the garden and looked out of the window. By the foot of the hill, she saw Sussi and Stina, supporting Jenny, who was hanging between them. The old lady seemed to be alive, but one of her feet was sticking out in a weird angle. Emelie rushed outside, leading them into the kitchen. “We were out walking when suddenly we saw Jenny slip and fall in the middle of ‘the dancer’, and now she can’t support her weight on her left foot” Sussi said, quite out of breath.
“The dancer?” Emelie asked.
“Yes, it’s a yoga position, I can show you, just not at this very moment,” Jenny said in a faint voice. “But don’t you worry, I just need to rest for a bit and then I’ll be back on my feet, don’t go to any trouble for my sake.”
Emelie found a farm chair and positioned another chair across from it. She picked up an embroidered pillow with a large green and red poinsettia design and placed it on the chair.
“Here, sit down on this chair and place your foot on this lovely Christmas pillow that has somehow managed to survive our clean-outs”, Emelie said in a cheerful voice.
Jenny thanked her, assuring her that there really wasn’t any need to make a fuss for her sake, but her left foot was already swelling up and turning a shade of blue.
“It’s probably sprained. I’ll see if I can find a bag of ice. SoS, can’t you put on some coffee? If there’s anything we can offer in this house, it’s coffee and cake”, she said.
Sussi laughed.
“Has Linn baked even more?”
“That’s all she does! At the moment, she is making absurd amounts of Lucia buns. They have to be absolutely perfect for the Christmas market, and so far, she isn’t happy with any of them” Emelie said with a sigh.
She found a bag of ice in the freezer and placed it on the swollen ankle. The old lady’s face had turned a shade paler and Emelie stroked her lightly on the leg.
“Jenny, are you all right? You’re not going to faint on us, are you?”
Jenny jumped.
“Oh, not at all, I was just sitting here in Astrid’s old house, remembering the good old days. You don’t happen to have a bit of her wonderful cordial left, do you?”
“Of course!”
Emelie found the cordial and they set the table to enjoy some coffee and cake. Sussi and Stina had a quick cup and then had to go back home since they both had deadlines coming up. ‘At the speed of light’, as Stina put it. When they had left, Emelie helped Jenny over to the sofa, making sure she was sitting comfortably and with her foot high up.
