Chapter Ten
Having waved Valentina off to Inverness the evening before, Ezzie entered her office on Monday morning with the sensation of everything being the same but different. The office was the same … but she was different. Lighter. Happier. Cautiously optimistic. Her heart felt funny and fizzy, as if it knew how close she’d come to losing her life in Rothach Hall. She started her computer and thought about Mats sitting in her chair to switch it off after she’d stormed out on Friday. The email she’d been drafting was waiting in her outbox. Her pen and pad lay neatly on her desk.
Gwen bustled in, unaware of the tumult since they’d last seen each other, her neat bun almost exactly the colour of the grey stripes on her dress. ‘It’s a month to Christmas Day. My great-niece Caitriona says she’s filled in the online application for temp staff, as you asked.’
Ezzie found Caitriona’s application and read it quickly. ‘She sounds great, especially as Peony and Georgia haveasked for three days over Christmas and two over New Year. I’ll email her and say yes please.’
Gwen beamed. ‘It’ll be grand if Caitriona joins me in the kitchen. She’s a bright and willing lass.’
Ezz was about to answer when she caught the sound of the large front door opening and voices on the air.
Gwen whispered, ‘Those bairns surely love their fresh air. They’re out in their boots and coats every day.’
Then ‘those bairns’ – Astrid and Alvin – bounced in through the office door. ‘It snowed,’ Alvin yelled, his cheeks pink and eyes shining. ‘On my yacket.’
‘It’sjacketin English,’ Astrid reminded him witheringly. ‘But it did snow a bit. Tiny flakes blowing around.’ She beamed at Ezz, who beamed right back. They were such beautiful children. In their snowsuits and woolly hats, blond curls peeking out, they looked like models from a magazine.
Grete and Mats crowded in, propelling the children further into the room. Grete looked more relaxed than lately and even wore her usual twinkly smile. ‘Ezzie,’ she began.
‘It’sChristmas!’ Alvin burst in, bouncing on his boots, leaving damp spots on the carpet. He bounded up to Ezz’s desk. ‘Scottish Christmas, and pudding.’
Smiling, Ezz leant over the desk. ‘Gwen and I were just talking about Christmas, and I was wondering what your family would like.’
‘Christmas with presents,’ Astrid said helpfully.
‘Definitely with presents,’ Mats agreed, grinning. ‘But they’re Santa’s department, not Ezzie’s. And when we said we’d need to discuss Christmas with Ezzie, we meant Farmor and me. And not necessarily the instant we reached home.’
‘But it’s only a month to Christmas,’ Astrid pointed out. ‘You said. And that Emil, Filip, Walter, Liam and Ronja are coming in less than three weeks, straight after Lucia Day.’ To Ezzie she added, ‘Lucia Day is when the light comes. We couldn’t be in the procession this year, because we’re here.’
Grete patted Astrid’s head. ‘It’s a Swedish tradition, is it not? The children carry candles and we go to church.’
‘That sounds wonderful.’ Ezzie shifted her gaze to encompass Mats and Grete. ‘Whenever you’d like to—’
‘We havejulbord,’ Alvin interrupted, clambering onto the only empty chair.
‘We’d accomplish more if you children went indoors to Josefin instead of interrupting.’ Grete raised her brows.
Astrid and Alvin immediately quieted. Grete’s words seemed to signal that a meeting had been declared, because she stripped the children of their snowsuits while Mats carried in extra chairs.
‘Would anybody like a drink?’ Gwen offered, taking control of the pod machine. The adults chose coffee and the children hot chocolate, which Gwen topped up with cold water for safety’s sake.
Mats threw his coat over the back of his chair. ‘This is a special Christmas for us in Scotland, so we’d like to choose the best of everything. In Sweden, our main day is Christmas Eve and here it’s Christmas Day – so let’s have both.’
‘We’ve arranged it withJultomten– that’s Santa – to bring half the presents on Christmas Eve and half on Christmas Day,’ Grete added solemnly. ‘On Christmas Eve we’ll prepare ajulbordof herring, meatballs, saffron buns, and all our traditional treats. As I’m Norwegian, we usually have cloudberry cream, too. Do you knowcloudberries? They look like your blackberries but are golden. Apparently, they grow in Scotland too.’ She looked enquiringly from Ezzie to Gwen.
‘We can look into getting some,’ Ezz returned, writing it on her pad, trying not to betray that she’d never heard of cloudberries.
Gwen sounded dubious. ‘Perhaps we’ll get them online, frozen or dried if not fresh.’
Grete looked horrified. ‘Then I will ask my daughter Maja to bring some. On Christmas Day, we will like a traditional Scottish Christmas dinner. Please remind me what it is.’
‘Like anywhere else in the UK, really,’ Gwen began. ‘Turkey, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets—’
Astrid and Alvin burst into giggles. ‘Pigs inblankets?’ Astrid spluttered. ‘I want my pig in a duvet. Or a sleeping bag.’ She almost fell off her chair with laughter.
‘In … a car,’ Alvin suggested, bouncing in his seat.
‘No, the cars are for the ponies.’ Astrid was obviously enjoying the flight of fancy.
