Sweet Hearts (The Lindstroms Book 3)

by Katy Paige

  Erik decided not to worry Kat’s mother further, though, and kept all the information to himself, leaning down to accept her kiss on his cheek.

  Kristian put his arm around his mother’s shoulders and Jenny stepped up quickly to examine Erik’s face, grimacing at the developing bruises. “If anything had happened to you…”

  “Nothing did, Jen. I’m fine. But Kat…”

  “She’ll be fine, Erik. She’s just a little banged up.”

  “A lot banged up,” he amended, wincing as he pictured her bloody lip and bruised face.

  Nils and Lars clapped him on the back, and he accepted his brothers’ support before turning to his father. Erik looked at him through new eyes. His weathered face, his once-blond, now-white hair, his eyes that had been forbidden to watch his wife die. He had always seemed larger than life to young Erik, but Erik could see that his father was aging, and he didn’t want to waste another moment feeling angry with him.

  “Pappa.”

  “Erik. You okay, son?”

  “I am.”

  “How’s your girl?”

  “She’s…she’s…” He thought about his father slipping into his mother’s bedroom to hold her as she was dying. He’d never let anyone hurt Katrin again. Not as long as he lived. He’d keep her safe. She’d know that she was loved. “I think she’ll be okay. She’ll probably be shaken up for a while. Possible broken arm. I was so scared I would lose her—I didn’t get there in time, I was so scared—”

  “Takes a brave man to love a woman that much, son.”

  Erik looked up and his eyes seized his father’s, so similar to his own. “You would know, Pappa.”

  His father’s light blue eyes looked squarely into Erik’s as he nodded. “I guess I would, at that, Minste.”

  Erik impulsively clasped his arms around his father for the first time since his mother’s death. His father’s burly arms encircled him, hesitantly at first, and then with a firm and forgiving strength.

  Erik opened his eyes to see Jenny over his father’s shoulder. She wiped a tear away and gave Erik a small smile, nodding at him with love and understanding.

  A massive weight on Erik’s heart lifted, and he heard his mother’s voice in his head. The same hopeful question she would ask Erik’s father after their dreaded excursions; “And my Minste?”

  He felt the answer in his heart before he heard it in his head. He’s going to be fine now, Mamma. We’re all going to be just fine.

  ***

  As Katrin lay in the hospital bed, increasingly dreamy and drowsy from the painkillers, the events of the morning lost their sharp edges, but she couldn’t help but imagine what could have happened if Erik hadn’t come to save her. She shuddered lightly, fending off the increasing need for sleep.

  Erik. Erik. Thank God for Erik.

  She wanted Erik. She needed to see him, thank him, touch his face and tell him how much she loved him. Now. Before she fell asleep.

  The nurse asked her if she needed anything. “All set now, honey?”

  “How long do I need to stay?”

  “Well, you got lucky with your arm. It’s just badly bruised, not broken, but you took a couple of bad blows to the head. I think they want to rule out a concussion. My guess is that you’ll go home tomorrow morning.”

  “Can you, um…ask my boyfriend to come in?”

  “Why don’t you just rest now?”

  “I want to see him. His name is Erik. Erik Lindstrom. He’s tall and blond and he’s probably very worried.”

  “Doctor told the family you’re going to be just fine. I’m sure they’ll let him know.”

  Katrin thought of Erik’s bleak eyes in the ambulance. She reached out and took the nurse’s wrist with her uninjured hand. “I’m a nurse too. I used to work here in this hospital. Maternity. I know you’re not supposed to let anyone back yet. I’m asking you to make an exception.”

  “I could get in trouble.”

  “No one will know except me. Please.”

  The young nurse took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ll get him. Five minutes, okay? Don’t get me in trouble.”

  Katrin tried to smile back but grimaced from her efforts. Better not to move those facial muscles until the painkillers had kicked in all the way.

  A moment later the nurse peeked her head back into Katrin’s room. “Your description wasn’t very helpful. About five men out there are tall and blond. Hope I got the right one.”

  She moved to the side, and Erik stepped through the doorway. Impossibly big. Heartbreakingly beautiful. Her Viking King. Tears slid out of her eyes, and she reached her unbandaged hand out to him.

  He sat down in the chair beside her, pulling her hand to his lips, resting it there. A tear made its way down his face, but he ignored it. He kept his head bent over her hand.

  “Erik?” she whispered.

  He looked up and she saw the agony in his eyes as he searched her face. “What did he do to you? Oh, Kat. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I left you alone. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there in time. You were all alone with him, Kat. I’m so sorry…” His voice trailed off as he released her hand, clasping his own together helplessly.

  “Erik. Look at me.” She put her fingers under his chin until he raised his head and looked at her with watery eyes. “You saved my life.”

  He shook his head, trying to look down, but she lifted his chin again, seizing his eyes with hers. “Erik, you saved my life. Stop shaking your head at me. You did. You saved me.”

  “I was so scared, Kat. Kristian called me, and I knew you were in danger, and I had to get to you, I had to—when I saw him with that knife over your head, I don’t even know what happened. I snapped. I started choking him. I wanted to kill him.”

  She moved her fingers to his cheek, cupping it with her palm. “I’m glad you didn’t. I’m glad you don’t have that burden on your heart.”

  He reached up and covered her hand with his, inspecting her face. She hadn’t asked for a mirror yet, but aside from the way she felt, she could tell from the way Erik looked at her that she probably looked pretty bad.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “My arm hurts.”

  “It’s not broken.”

  “I know. My face hurts.”

  “Nothing’s broken there either.”

  “I know. My heart—”

  “Hurts? Aw, Kat, I can’t tell you how sorry—”

  “—is yours. Erik the Blond, my Viking King. Min Älskling. Min Kärlek. I was sure he was going to kill me. So I closed my eyes. And all I could see was you. Your face, your voice, your words. You loving me. All I wanted was you. And then…there you were.”

  “I’ll never forgive myself for not getting there in time. Do you know I’d do anything for you? Do you know that? Anything. Anything to keep you safe. Anything to make you happy. I’m not safe unless you’re safe. I’m not happy unless you’re happy. My life doesn’t belong to me anymore. It’s yours, because without you, it’s nothing.”

  She closed her eyes against more tears springing from the sweetness of his words, feeling overwhelmed by the extent of his feelings and the strength and depth of her own. The threat of Wade was gone, and Katrin belonged to Erik as irrevocably as Erik belonged to her. He leaned over to touch her lips with his, then sat back down, laying his head gently on the bed beside her, and with the peace that comes from knowing you are loved with the same measure and force that you love, she gently stroked his hair until her hand stilled and she was asleep.

  Chapter 18

  Katrin pushed back and forth on the swing with the tip of her sneaker, enjoying one of the last warm days of summer. Warm being a relative term. Lately the winds coming down from the north were cooler and most nights didn’t get much above fifty degrees. She pulled her cardigan more tightly around her, checking her watch: 5:30 p.m. Erik would be home soon.

  Home was another relative word lately. Erik claimed that home was wherever Katrin was, and true to his word, he hadn’t spent more
than a night or two away from her since they returned from Midsommardagen two months ago. For a week they had shared her ridiculously small twin bed like sardines. The following weekend, he’d brought the mattress and box spring from his full-sized bed down from Kalispell. Little by little, all of Erik’s things had ended up at her little apartment in Skidoo Bay, although they agreed that it was just about time to find a more suitable home for co-habitation.

  Erik had to wake up very early every morning to get to work on time, but he didn’t seem to mind, and Katrin loved waking up beside him every day. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d ever been happier.

  Speaking of happiness, the same weekend that Katrin and Erik had made their relationship official over Midsommardagen, José and Gabrielle had rekindled theirs. Although Katrin feared she would never find out the whole story of what happened between them in Germany, she sensed the shift between them as soon as she returned from Choteau that Tuesday. Gabrielle started spending her nights in José’s rented apartment down the street, affording each of the young couples a little more privacy.

  Over crepes one Sunday afternoon, about two weeks after Midsummer, Katrin had pumped Gabrielle for information.

  “What happened between you two?”

  “What should have happen years ago, dumplin’. We just a little late getting it along.”

  “Well, I knew something was there. Between you two. History.”

  Gabrielle had smiled, winking at Katrin. “And di agony, dumplin’? I see it all over your naughty face.”

  Katrin had raised her eyebrows, trying not to smile. “Agony, all right.”

  “I guess we both in agony now!” And then she had laughed out loud, holding Katrin’s good hand across the table.

  Katrin couldn’t help herself and giggled right along with Gabrielle, like a couple of silly high school girls swapping stories of their first dates.

  She glanced at her watch again then looked at her injured arm, which appeared as good as new. No more swelling, no more discoloration. There were still moments when it hurt her, and she had to be careful, but she was almost completely back to normal.

  She’d gone down once for Wade’s arraignment, and she was grateful to have Erik and Kristian with her as she entered the courthouse. But, her fears had been for nothing.

  Wade, who’d already spent some time in prison without bail, was a small, broken man with a terrible road ahead. He was being charged with aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal harassment, trespassing, and public intoxication. He had a long sentence ahead in prison or a psychiatric institution, but he would not be back to bother Katrin anytime soon.

  He had given her one sober, sad smile, and even nodded once at Erik. She wanted Wade to serve his full sentence, but she hoped he could rebuild his life—far, far away from her—someday.

  Speaking of rebuilding, José was ready to turn the clinic over to the town of Skidoo Bay and move forward with plans to start a new clinic in El Paso. José and Gabrielle were leaving for Texas from his apartment early tomorrow morning. A new doctor had been hired full-time for the Skidoo Clinic and would be moving into the upstairs quarters in two weeks, which left Katrin and Erik two weeks to find new digs.

  Much to Erik’s relief, José’s replacement was an older, gray-haired woman doctor. Katrin liked her at first sight and had cheerfully agreed to stay on as the clinic nurse of Skidoo Bay. She felt content with her position and her new boss, but she simultaneously grieved how much she would miss her friends, especially since José and Erik had managed to put their differences behind them and become friends.

  As if on cue, Katrin looked up to see José coming out of the clinic. He took a seat beside her on the swing.

  “Erik coming home soon?”

  “Mm-hm. He’ll be here in a little bit.”

  “What are you two up to this fine afternoon?”

  “We’re going to check out two apartments he found.”

  “Moving in together for real, huh?”

  She smiled, nodding. “You two also, huh?”

  “Uh-huh. Sure wish you could join us for the start-up in El Paso, dumplin’. We were a good team.”

  “We were.” She nudged him in the side with her elbow. “I’ll let you bag me.”

  José chuckled, remembering. “Boy that got ‘ole Erik’s back up, no?”

  “It sure did.” She shook her head. “You knew what you were doing to him, didn’t you?”

  “Aw, I don’t know, dumplin’. Maybe just having a little fun.”

  “I’m glad you two will part friends.”

  “Well, he did save your life…”

  Gabrielle came out of the clinic and looked over at them on the swing. “Look at this. Two peas in di pod.” She took out her keys. “You goin’ back in, dumplin’? I can lock up for now.”

  “Nah, leave it, Paca. Erik will be home soon.”

  José hopped up, offering his hand to Gabrielle and she took it, then he looked back at Katrin. “Well, I guess this is goodbye…”

  Katrin stood up, looking at her friends. “I’ll miss you two.”

  She opened her arms and embraced them as a couple. “Text me when you get there, okay?”

  Gabrielle took Katrin’s face in her hands and shook her head. “Be happy, dumplin’, my sister, my friend.”

  Katrin resumed her seat on the swing, waving to them as they walked down the street together, back to José’s apartment where they probably had some packing left to do before they started for Texas in the morning. As she watched them go, Erik’s car turned onto the street, pulling into the driveway.

  Kat leapt up to greet him and he caught her around the waist, kissing her hello.

  “Hello, girlfriend.”

  “Hello, Minste. Good day?”

  “Not half bad. Did I just miss José and Paca?”

  “You did. But we can stop by their place later so you can say goodbye.”

  “Give me a few minutes to change?”

  “Absolutely. Hey…where are these places we’re looking at? Can I see the listings while you’re changing?”

  “Hmm. Don’t know where I put them. Just have the addresses. Give me five minutes and we’ll go, okay?”

  He kissed her again, then headed inside and she sat back down on the swing to wait for him. She gave herself a good push, tucking her feet beneath her, buttoning her cardigan against the increasing chilliness of the evening.

  Katrin had lived with Wade, of course, but it would be ridiculous to compare Wade to Erik. Katrin had come to realize and cherish the deeply satisfying, emotionally visceral, physically mind-blowing relationship that was possible between two mature adults. Living with Erik wouldn’t be playing at being grown-ups, it would be, simply, grown-ups living together, and—she hoped—another step toward a permanent future together.

  She tried not to put unnecessary pressure on their relationship, but she knew, beyond any shadow of doubt, that she wanted to be with Erik forever. She didn’t need a fancy wedding or expensive reception, but more and more she longed to make their status official. She wanted to be his wife.

  Sometimes she worried that Erik’s original apprehensions might somehow affect what type of commitment he was able to make even now. He had committed to being her boyfriend…but, would there come a time that he could commit to being her fiancé? Her husband? The father of her children?

  She told herself to be patient, and grateful for what she had. He was a tender and exciting lover, her best friend, her favorite playmate, and he loved her with a passion and intensity she had yet to see equaled in the solid relationships that surrounded them. But, deep inside, she was still circumspect, proper Katrin Svenson who wished she had a ring on her finger before sharing a bed or signing a lease.

  She took a deep breath and forced these thoughts from her head. You had a ring once, silly, and look where that got you. Now, she had Erik, which was more important than any ring, and they were going to make a home together.

&n
bsp; Truly—really and truly—her heart was full.

  ***

  “This seems like a long way out of town,” Katrin said, looking out the window as Erik drove north out of Skidoo Bay, past Blue Bay, toward the little town on Sunset Bay. “Trying to find somewhere a little closer to Kalispell?”

  “There wasn’t much in downtown Skidoo, Kat. There was José’s place, but that’s a month-by-month building, and I thought we’d want a year lease, at least.”

  She glanced at him, agreeing. “At least.”

  Just south of Bigfork, he turned off the main highway, and after a short ride, turned again into a private subdivision with a large sign reading “Ridgefield Hills.”

  “Are there apartments back in here?” Katrin admitted she felt a little confused. She assumed he had found one or two apartments in Skidoo, they’d choose one without a lot of fuss, and then go out to dinner. Driving twenty minutes north toward Kalispell to Bigfork wasn’t exactly what Katrin expected.

  “Do you trust me?” asked Erik.

  “You know I do. Just…”

  He turned again then pulled over to the side of the road.

  “Come on.” He opened his car door, and she did the same, meeting him at the front of the car.

  They were on a freshly paved dead end road in the middle of nowhere with four marked lots. Ahead of them, there were two cleared lots, and on either side of them, two wooded lots.

  She turned to Erik. “Are we buying a tent? Living in the woods? Back to nature?”

  He chuckled and took her hand, walking toward the cleared lots up ahead. “This is Ridgefield Hills. It’s a brand-new subdivision.”

  “It’ll probably be nice one day.”

  “It will. It’s thirty-five minutes from Kalispell and twenty-five minutes from Skidoo Bay. It’s already piped underground for plumbing, sewage, and electricity. Just waiting for construction to begin.” He gestured to the two wooded lots they were passing on the right and left. “These lots haven’t been cleared yet. But those two up there have.”

  He pulled her up a slight incline toward the cleared lots. As they got closer, something caught Katrin’s eye. The lot on the left had a white picket fence encircling the property. That’s it. No house. No driveway. Nothing but a neat, perfect white picket fence in a neat, perfect square around the perimeter of the empty lot with an arbor and gate set in the middle.