Bettina grabbed the chance while she had it. “But in that case, I have an idea. I can make breakfast, and you can make dinner. What do you say?”
Mathilde smiled sweetly. “We have a deal.”
They chatted for a few hours. Bettina couldn’t get herself to ask about Lauritz and her plans for the will. They were having a fine time, and she learned about her aunt’s life with Uncle Herman. She understood that Mathilde had never been easy to deal with. She could appear as both snappy and unfriendly, and not very forthcoming. You never knew how she would react. In the middle of a friendly chat, she might say something unfortunate that would shock. But Bettina was willing to do her best to ensure a pleasant atmosphere at the guesthouse. And Mathilde was in a superb mood now, compared to the last few weeks she’d spent in bed when the grief over her late husband got out of hand. Bettina knew better than anyone how hard it must have been for Mathilde to lose her husband. She had lost Karsten. It was many years ago, but she would never forget that difficult time when life seemed so meaningless. To lose the one you loved left an empty place in your heart – a place that was reserved for that person only. That’s why she felt for her. It could only go in one direction now, forward.
***
Lauritz came home right before his sister was about to leave for the Café Solside. He had been sitting at the Italian restaurant, chatting with the owner for hours. Ricco was a refreshing person, worldly as he was. He had refilled his glass several times, so he felt tipsy. His journey home was getting closer, and he was more excited than he had been in a long time.
“I’m heading to the knitting café.” Bettina put on her coat. “Aunt is in her apartment, resting, and Anneli is with her friend, eating pizza.”
“No worries, I’ll hold the fort.” He grinned. That meant he was free to snoop around for his aunt’s will, to see if it had been updated. This was nearly too easy. He poured whiskey into a glass and wondered how much he would get for his inheritance. Or, rather, Mathilde’s inheritance. She was still alive, barely. He couldn’t celebrate his victory in advance. That would be silly. But naturally, he would sell his part of the guesthouse. A dull, small town without bars or clubs was no place to live. How people could endure it here was beyond his comprehension.
Fall was here, cold and nasty. He couldn’t wait to get back home to a milder climate and sit with a drink under the palm trees, people-watching. He would admire alluring Spanish women wriggling their bottoms on tall stilettos. His plane was leaving the next morning. As a matter of fact, maybe there was one last thing he should take care of…
***
Bettina sat beside Sara, who was knitting a light-blue baby jacket. “Are you expecting a little prince?” She looked curiously at the complicated pattern. How was it possible to knit something so advanced? The instructions in front of her looked like Chinese characters.
“Even better, a prince and a princess!” Sara beamed, and Bettina started laughing.
“Twins, how exciting. Congrats.”
“My mother-in-law is thrilled,” she said and helped herself to the apple pie that was being passed around. “She claims she is getting a two-for-one deal.”
“I’m jealous you get to have two children in one go,” Emmelin said. She was sitting next to them with a tummy the size of Sara’s, even though she only had a few months left of her pregnancy.
“But it’ll be busy with two babies,” Bettina said. She was realistic and knew it would be fun, and at the same time exhausting.
Sara laughed out loud. “I know. My mother-in-law will be engrossed in them. I’m counting on her help. And my parents will visit us often, now they’ll be grandparents.”
“And Philip has to step up,” Emmelin said.
“Oh yeah, he’s already preparing. But how’s it going at the guesthouse?”
She told them about the breakup, and about her brother, who was leaving tomorrow.
“There certainly is a lot going on at your place.” Sara took a bite of the cake. “And it’s only been one morning since I last talked with you. But I’m sorry to learn it’s over between you. I liked the idea of a spring wedding.”
Bettina smiled. Last time she had bought bread, Lillian had been behind the counter. “Not all relationships are meant to last. And I’m fine.”
She jumped when her cell phone started ringing from the pocket of her jacket. She looked at her watch, almost eight thirty. Anneli was at Jane’s, or on her way home. The number was unknown, so she didn’t know who it could be.
“Bettina?” She heard Lauritz’s usually confident voice yell her name. He sounded nervous, and it was so unfamiliar that she got worried.
“Is something wrong?”
He was breathing heavily. “You have to come home; Aunt has fallen down the stairs. What am I supposed to do?”
She grabbed her bag from the floor with the other hand while her heart started racing. “How did it happen? Did she hurt herself?”
“I don’t know, just come.”
“I’ll be there in a minute. Talk to her in the meantime.” She swiftly packed her knitting stuff and told the others she had to go. Then she ran over to her house and found Lauritz next to Mathilde at the bottom of the stairs. She gasped involuntarily, and carefully took her hand. Her pulse was weak. Frantically, she pulled her cell from the pocket and called the doctor.
“Erik, it’s Bettina. Aunt fell down the stairs –” She didn’t get any further before he cut her off.
“I’m calling the ambulance and will be there in a few minutes. Don’t move her.” He hung up before she could thank him.
“What happened?” She looked at Lauritz, who was white as a sheet, standing with an empty whiskey glass in his unsteady hand.
“Don’t know. We were talking in the living room for about half an hour. Then she left. You know, she likes to go to bed early.”
She nodded. “She goes to bed around eight. Then she embroiders for some time before falling asleep.”
“Yes, she’s not a night owl. Well, anyway. Where was I? She hadn’t been up in her apartment for long when I heard a hullabaloo on the staircase. I was in the living room, about to refill my glass.” He looked at the empty glass to confirm his statement. “And there she was.”
Bettina didn’t understand this. Had she been unwell? Had she felt sick and been on her way downstairs to tell Lauritz? Something was off. Why hadn’t she used the ship’s bell if something was wrong? She surely had enough practice using it to get attention.
Lauritz poured himself another drink, but he could have done without it. How much had he been drinking? It wasn’t easy to tell. He was used to considerable amounts of alcohol and could hold his liquor.
Again, she took Mathilde’s hand and checked her pulse. She had always been good in emergency situations, but could feel her heart beating way too fast. She was afraid that Mathilde had broken several bones. The fact that she was unconscious was the worst. She couldn’t tell where it hurt. What if her heart was failing again? And what if she had hit her head in the fall? It was likely.
She heard the door open up and saw Erik. “Thanks for coming.”
“Of course I came. The ambulance is on its way, but we’re a long way from the hospital.” He hurried over to the staircase and started examining her. She stayed in the background while repeating Lauritz’s version of the accident. He had disappeared into the living room.
“The only good thing about her being unconscious is that she can’t refuse to go to the hospital,” Erik said in an earnest voice. “It could be her heart.”
“But she’s alive?”
“Her pulse is weak.”
She went to get a couple of kitchen chairs for them.
“She seems stable, but we can’t move her in case she’s broken something.”
“Would you like a drink while we wait?”
“I wouldn’t say no to an espresso. And your cookies.” He winked.
She got a bowl from the kitchen and put his three favorite cookies
in it. It was time to make more; her brother had eaten all of them. She made two espressos and carried everything into the hall.
“Where is everyone?”
She told him about the last few days and her broken engagement.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said but didn’t look particularly sorry. She didn’t know how to interpret it but had other things to worry about now. Mathilde was still lying on the floor. She felt her throat constrict. What if she didn’t make it? Now they were getting to know each other better, she could see herself working with her. Complementing each other would be nice. Mathilde would be responsible for dinner and the garden, while she was going to make breakfast, do the shopping, and clean the house.
“It’s a pity we’re so far from the hospital,” he said.
At that moment, Anneli entered. “What’s going on?” Scared, she looked from one to the other. Bettina put her arms around her and told her what had happened. “I need to go to the hospital with her, but Lauritz is in the living room. You have to go to bed soon.”
“Mom, I won’t be able to sleep if Mathilde is injured.”
“You must try because you have to get up early tomorrow. She has to be examined, so it may take hours at the hospital. Or would you rather spend the night at Jane’s?” She didn’t know what was best. But a hospital was not the place for her daughter to spend the night.
“No, I’ll stay here. I hope she’ll be all right.”
Shortly after, the ambulance arrived. While they carried Mathilde out into the car, she talked with her brother. Under no circumstances did he want to come to the hospital. She hadn’t thought he would, and didn’t care.
“You can ride with me,” Erik said and waved his car keys. “I’ll come with you.”
“You’re so kind, but I can go in the ambulance.” She didn’t want to at all and was glad when he insisted.
“Jump in, Bettina.”
Gratefully, she sat next to him and pulled the door shut. “How serious is it, Erik?”
His face was solemn. “It’s serious. I don’t know if she’ll make it. I suspect it’s her heart again. But now she’ll finally get a proper examination.”
“I need to call my parents. They have to know,” she said and dialed.
It was her father on the other end of the line, and she explained the situation.
“We’ll come at once,” Flemming said.
That was what she had feared. “It’s a four-hour drive. Isn’t it better if you wait, and I’ll call you from the hospital when I know more?”
“No, we’re coming.”
22
Mathilde’s examinations lasted forever. At least, that was how it felt. She must have been in there for an hour. Erik had fetched some awful hospital coffee, and they were sitting next to each other in silence.
The door opened, and the doctor came toward them. She could tell that something was wrong. Erik placed his arm around her shoulder, and they walked over to the doctor, and into the room where her aunt was lying.
“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to save her life. She had a strong heart attack. Either right before she fell down the stairs, or while she was falling.”
Bettina felt herself collapsing into Erik’s arms. She didn’t remember much for the next thirty minutes. Mathilde lay lifeless but peaceful in the bed. Tears welled up. She tried to blink them away, but it didn’t help. In the end, she gave up, and let them flow.
Erik stroked her hair and offered a handkerchief. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I wish there was something I could’ve done.”
She smiled through her tears. “If it hadn’t been for you, she would have been dead long ago. Now we at least had some time to get to know each other. We chatted for a long time last night and made plans for the guesthouse. All for nothing.” She shook her curls.
“It’s good you had time together.”
She sighed when they left the hospital and headed for the car. She called her parents, who were on their way. Instead of going to the hospital, they would drive directly to Solvik.
“Do you think Lauritz had anything to do with her fall?” she asked Erik. “What if he pushed her down the stairs, to get her inheritance right away? I won't put it past him if there’s money involved.” She had been mulling this over while waiting in the hallway of the hospital. Now that Mathilde was no longer with them, she had to hear his opinion. The suspicion wouldn’t leave.
“Impossible to say. It’s hard to prove since they were alone in the house. And if it were the case, he would never admit to it. It would all be speculation,” said Erik.
He was right. At the same time, she felt a gnawing doubt. She knew her brother well and knew that something like this wouldn’t affect his conscience. He was set on getting their aunt’s inheritance. How far was he willing to go? And how long was he planning on waiting for it? That was the question.
“But isn’t it suspicious that this happens the night before he leaves for Spain? Now he can receive his inheritance while he’s here by postponing his departure a few days. I’m probably the one he wants to pressure. He has no interest in living here and run the guesthouse with me. I’ll have to buy him out, but I don’t have the money for it. Money is what he wants.”
“The case sounds peculiar, and it’s quite possible that you’re right. But don’t cross your bridges just yet. No one knows what the will says.”
She smiled tiredly. “That’s true. It’s late, and my imagination is working overtime.”
He parked the car on her property and walked her inside. The house was silent. Both Lauritz and Anneli were sleeping. Her parents would be here soon. There was no point in going to bed. She might as well wait for them.
“I need a glass of wine,” she said, and noticed how exhausted she was. The tense muscles in her shoulders were aching after the challenging night. “Can I offer you anything, or do you have to leave?”
“I need to get up extra early tomorrow morning, so I should go home. But I’d rather stay here with you.” He picked two glasses from the cupboard and poured the wine.
An odd, warm feeling filled her body when she curled up on the sofa. It was a warmth that didn’t have anything to do with the wine. “You’ve been an amazing support tonight. What would I have done without you?”
“Well, she was my patient. But the truth is that I like you way too much.” He seemed to think for a moment before continuing. “Did you know I had a crush on you in high school?”
“What? I was the one who had a crush on you.” It just slipped out of her.
He started laughing. “Why did you never let on?”
“And you?” She laughed. “I guess I wasn’t that bold back then.”
“I’m not sorry about your engagement.”
“No? I thought doctors were supposed to have empathy for those with a broken heart.”
He winked. “I think we both know that Preben is better off with Christel.”
She agreed but was surprised he had been so blunt. When she thought back to their conversations, she realized he had encouraged her to analyze her feelings, to find out what she really wanted. But of course, everything was easier to see in retrospect.
She leaned toward him and kissed his soft lips that were ready for hers. He put his arms around her, and she closed her eyes for a long kiss.
Suddenly they heard noises from the courtyard. Her parents had arrived. Their sweet kiss ended abruptly, and she wished they hadn’t been interrupted.
They got up reluctantly. “It must be a sign for me to leave,” he said and stroked her cheek. “Can I get my car tomorrow?”
“For sure. My father can give you a lift.”
“No need. It’s a ten-minute walk, and I need to clear my head. Right now, it feels overheated.” He winked at her again, and she tried to ignore the heat that went sneaking up her neck. It had been a long time since she was this fired up.
They met her parents on the stairway, and she hugged them dearly. It was so good to see them again. She
was used to working with them at the institute, where she had seen them daily, and she missed having them around.
She introduced them to each other.
“So this is Mathilde’s doctor,” Flemming said and shook Erik’s hand. “I’ve heard about you.”
“My condolences,” said Erik.
“Nice to meet you,” Nita said and hugged him as well.
“Likewise. Regrettably, it was her heart that gave way.”
Flemming nodded slowly. “It’s sad, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We were prepared for this to happen. Admittedly, it was her husband, my brother, that we were closest to. But she was my sister-in-law...”
Bettina’s father was a pragmatic man, and she knew that he would handle the death in a good way. Her mother had Mexican blood and was sentimental. She had tears in her eyes and kept blinking, even if she had only met Mathilde a handful of times.
“Let’s go to bed,” Bettina said and took her mother’s arm. “It’s late, and you’re tired.”
They said goodbye to Erik, and she walked them up to the Windflower room. “We have much to figure out in the morning, but right now I’m ready for bed.”
“It will all be fine.” Her father set his bag on the floor.
“It’s so beautiful here,” Nita said and dried her eyes. “We’ll have a look at the house tomorrow. Remember, we haven’t seen it after it was all completed.”
Bettina smiled and walked toward the door. “I hope you’ll stay a long time.”
Bettina got up at the usual time the next morning, despite how sleepy she was. She ran across the street for a quick dip in the sea. It was mid-October and the leaves on the trees were golden and shining in the morning light.
She showered, dressed, brushed her teeth, and put on some mascara. Anneli was going to school and could make her own breakfast, but she had to tell her about Mathilde.
“How is Aunt doing?” Anneli was already in the kitchen and about to squeeze some juice when Bettina entered.
Time for New Beginnings Page 26
