Because of Lauren: A Love Story

by Vivi Underwood

  Jonas nodded.

  “Ah! Do you own the building?”

  “We do.”

  “Was that part of the inheritance?”

  Her curiosity made him smile. “It was, but the company offices were limited to one floor when my grandfather ran it. We have expanded over the years.”

  “You obviously have a talent for business.”

  “My grandfather thought so. He started tutoring me from an early age. When I was in college in America I came home every summer and worked with him to learn the ropes.”

  “And then you spent a year over there working?”

  “Right. We both thought it would be useful for me to gain some experience there as he conducted business in the States, too.”

  “Were you terrified when he died, and you realized everything rested on your shoulders?”

  He shook his head, a slight smile touching his lips. Hard to believe they were sitting here talking calmly about his life when he so rarely talked about it. He should have known he could talk to Lauren about anything. She was not a silly, immature girl, easily impressed, but an intelligent and mature young woman.

  “Not terrified, but very aware of the heavy responsibility I suddenly carried. Fortunately, my grandfather had trusted and experienced managers in place. They were loyal to the company and willing to work with me and guide me when necessary. I was very fortunate in that regard. Most of them are still with me.”

  “That says a lot about you, too, Jonas.”

  “I wish I’d known you then. I could have used someone of my own.”

  “I would have been nineteen, not nearly mature enough or wise enough to have been of much help.”

  “Being there would have been enough.” He captured her face and looked at her for a long time without speaking. All the things he felt for her were laid bare for her to see, and she understood without a word being spoken. He gathered her to him and they shared the most loving kiss a man ever gave a woman.

  “I’m paying for my own shoes.” Lauren made sure Jonas was clear on that before they entered the store. She could imagine him insisting on paying and did not want an argument in front of the salesclerk.

  “I am not allowed to spend money on you?”

  “You may buy me lunch but not clothes and shoes.”

  “Is that so?”

  “I’m old-fashioned that way. Live with it,” she said with a charming smile.

  He brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “I’ll let you get away with it this time. But I don’t like it.”

  She smiled her gratitude. “Think of all the money you’ll save.”

  Jonas laughed and pushed open the shop door.

  It was an elegant little store. The salesclerk, a well-preserved woman in her fifties, became particularly attentive when she correctly pegged Lauren as a serious shopper.

  Jonas took a seat and played the role of observer. Watching Lauren was a fascinating experience, he discovered. Her delightfully expressive face gave away her opinion of a shoe immediately. She didn’t look for, or ask the price. She only considered the beauty of the shoe and how it felt on her foot. She sought his opinion on a few items before making her final selections.

  She settled on three pairs. The salesclerk was beaming, and Lauren looked very pleased with herself. Jonas, on the other hand, caught his breath when he heard the final total. When did ladies’ shoes become that expensive? He prepared to pull out his card. Surely Lauren couldn’t afford that kind of money. Then he caught the expression on her face and changed his mind.

  Once outside she quite naturally slipped her free hand into his. “Thank you. I know that was hard for you, but I really can afford it. And it’s not often I indulge myself to that extent.” She waited a few seconds then asked, “Are you hungry?”

  He looked down at her. His eyes crinkled attractively. “I can be persuaded to eat something.”

  “Oh, good. I’m starving!”

  “Of course, you are. There is a place on the way to the island, a nice little restaurant that serves mostly traditional Norwegian food. Does that appeal to you?”

  “Mm, yes, please! Do they serve meatballs by any chance?”

  He smiled and leaned into her, enjoying her company. She made even walking around town fun. “I’m sure they do. If not, I’ll request them for you,” he promised.

  “Can one do that?”

  “Of course. They will be happy to oblige.”

  “Really? Because you are well-known?” She had not missed the repeated looks the sales clerk cast his way.

  “No, because they want to please their clientele.”

  Lauren heard the dry amusement in his voice and glanced at his face. “They know you, don’t they?”

  “I am one of their seasonal regulars.”

  “But do they know you as Jonas Juul?”

  “Of course.”

  Lauren gave him a speculative look. “Are you ever in the newspaper, Jonas? I don’t mean the tabloids.”

  “Occasionally. Usually the business section.”

  “And your picture?”

  “Very rarely,” he said lightly. “You can take my word for it, Lauren, my face really is quite anonymous these days. The tabloid thing was a long time ago and people don’t remember a face they were unfamiliar with in the first place.”

  “Hmm.” She looked up at him and grinned. “All right. End of interrogation!”

  “Jonas!” The middle-aged man coming towards them had a hand outstretched and a wide smile on his face. His business attire was impeccable. With a sweeping nod of his head he indicated the shopping bags, the linked hands and their casual attire. “Playing hooky today?”

  Having been caught, Jonas smiled comfortably. “For a few hours.” He turned to Lauren. “Lauren, this is Sverre Lie, one of my executives. Sverre, I’d like you to meet Lauren Hart, the young lady who tempted me to play hooky.”

  Sverre shook Lauren’s hand. “A pleasure to meet someone who can entice Jonas out of the office. It rarely happens.”

  Lauren smiled charmingly. “I’ll try not to keep him away too long.”

  “Enjoy the day,” Sverre called and moved on.

  “He seemed nice.”

  “And if I know him he is still grinning from ear to ear.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I have never been known to go shopping with a woman in the middle of the day when I should be in my office.”

  Lauren laughed softly. “Good thing you’re the boss.”

  “Isn’t it?” he agreed and in sheer joy bent down and kissed her in the middle of the sidewalk in the middle of town.

  “I wonder if I’ll ever tire of being on the water.”

  The temperature had dropped, the wind kicked up, and Lauren’s light jacket was no longer adequate. Over it she had donned a down-filled vest she found on board.

  “It’s one of my favorite places to be,” Jonas agreed.

  Inside, the lounge was warm and sheltered, but Lauren wanted to be on deck where she could feel the wind on her face. She had squeezed in next to Jonas on the oversized seat by the secondary controls on the upper deck.

  “I love seeing the city from this vantage point,” Lauren said as they skirted the inner harbor on their way north.

  “It has its own unique charm,” Jonas agreed.

  “We are a long way from the island. Are we headed somewhere special?”

  “Mm-hmm. You’ll know in a little while.”

  “Before we get to our destination, may I ask you something?”

  Jonas gave her an indulgent smile. “Am I going to like the question?”

  “Will you tell me about your friend Jake and his family and why an eight-year old girl would call all the way from New Jersey and invite you to her baptism?”

  Jonas no
dded briefly and smiled as he thought of his student days and the friendship he and Jake had formed all those years ago, a friendship that had stood the test of time and distance. He began a story.

  “One of the first people I met when I arrived at Harvard was Jake Andrews. I liked him right away. Like me, he didn’t have any of the bad habits—drinking, drug use, smoking—so we started hanging out together when time permitted.”

  Lauren found it surprising that Jonas hadn’t picked up any of those habits in his youth. Except for Church members, most of the Norwegians she knew would occasionally have a drink, one or two smoked, and they all drank coffee. Yet in the time she had spent with him, Jonas had not smoked a single cigarette nor consumed a drop of alcohol, and he claimed he didn’t drink coffee.

  “Then one day,” Jonas continued, “he told me he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and went to church on Sundays. At the time, I was vaguely familiar with the name of the church but knew nothing of their beliefs. And I guess I wasn’t curious enough to ask. Then Jake met Allison. They were married within three months of meeting even though he was in school.” Jonas turned to Lauren and grinned. “I made the mistake of asking what the hurry was, and he shared with me the Church’s view on chastity and fidelity. I knew Jake hadn’t been sleeping around like a lot of the students did, but now I knew why.

  “I thought once he and Allison were married, our hanging out days were over, but I was wrong. Allison saw to that. She included me in their lives as though I were a real sibling.”

  “You liked her,” Lauren guessed from the tone of his voice.

  “Very much. She was kind and thoughtful,” he said. “But best of all, she really loved Jake. Then she became pregnant. When I asked why they didn’t wait to have children until he was out of school and working full time, I got a short lesson on the Church’s view on families.”

  He paused and looked at Lauren who had been listening intently. The wind had a bit of a bite to it so he asked, “You warm enough, or do you need a little cuddling?”

  She smiled into his eyes. “I’m not cold, but I wouldn’t turn down a little cuddling.”

  He took one hand off the wheel, tucked it securely around her, and pulled her close. “Better?” he asked.

  She leaned her head against him. “Mm-hmm.” She sighed. “I wish I could stay here forever. I don’t want to go home, Jonas.”

  “My beautiful girl,” he said and placed a light kiss on her temple. He, too, dreaded their coming separation, but telling her would only make it more difficult, so he remained silent.

  Lauren sighed again then said softly, “Will you tell me the rest?”

  “When their baby, Nora, was born, they explained why Latter-day Saint babies are blessed instead of baptized, and they invited me to the blessing. Jake is the closest thing I have to a brother, so I attended the blessing and the family gathering afterward. Nora is twelve now.”

  “She is the one who sent you the little song book.”

  “That’s right. Then there is Leah.”

  “The one who called you.”

  “Yes, and your rival. She has been talking marriage for the last four years. To me.”

  “And she’s eight?”

  “Just turned. She is already planning our children. She has informed her mother that I will be doing all the diaper changing because messy diapers are too yucky.”

  Lauren shook with laughter. “She sounds wonderful. I can’t wait to meet her.”

  “She can be a handful,” he warned her, “but she’s a charmer. Then there is baby Henry, almost a year old. Jake and Allison planned on a larger family, but it didn’t work out that way for them, so they treasure the children they have. I think they are amazing parents. They are the reason I know something about your church. They have family night on Mondays, and if I’m there the girls always want me to be part of it. So, over the years I’ve heard the simple lessons they teach their children.”

  “And that’s why you were comfortable going to church with me?”

  “Yes. I usually attend church with them when I am there.”

  “You’re full of surprises, Jonas.”

  He hugged her tight, then nodded to the right. “See anything familiar?”

  Lauren smiled with pleasure. This was home ground. “That’s Jon’s boathouse by the water and their house on the cliff above it.” She pointed out a few more houses whose owners were childhood friends of her mother’s. Several minutes later, Jonas steered the boat smoothly into a sheltered bay with a more gentle terrain. Here some of the homes were built closer to the water’s edge, their accompanying boathouses dotting the shore. And then she saw it, on its gentle slope, shimmering in the pale sunlight.

  “Oh!”

  Jonas heard her indrawn breath and saw the look on her face. It was worth the trip.

  She was right, he thought, the house did look striking from the water. Simple in design and not too large, its soft white walls and aged red tiled roof were reminiscent of an Italian villa. Across the front were three sets of double French doors, recessed and framed by two sets of impressive columns. They opened onto what appeared to be a large terrace. Across the second story were three long French windows, evenly spaced. The whole design was simplicity itself.

  As they got closer to the property, he heard a disappointed, “Oh!” from Lauren and looked her way. “Look at the bathhouse, Jonas.”

  He looked. The paint was cracked and peeling and one door hung askew. The deck had rotting boards, and the condition of the nearby dock was far from impressive.”

  “Maybe the owners became too old to care. It doesn’t look like it’s been used in a long time.”

  Lauren sighed wistfully. “It used to be so pretty. My mother has pictures in her photo album of her and her friends hanging out there, swimming and water-skiing and messing about in boats.”

  Jonas smiled. Lauren had just described his own summer days as a youth. “What’s the bathhouse like inside?”

  “Just two large changing rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. There were a couple of benches in each room and hooks on the walls to hang your clothes. Nothing fancy. The entry is around the back, and you have to go through the changing rooms to get to the deck.”

  Jonas paid attention to everything she said. He reduced the speed of the boat and looked carefully at the area around the little bathhouse. In addition to the doors, each room had mullioned windows facing the water. Jonas had no trouble picturing the charming little place it must once have been. He saw possibilities but kept silent.

  “The gardens appear to be well cared for here, too,” he commented, He could see the narrow, nearly hidden, gravel lane that led from the house down to the shore. A grove of trees hugged the curve of the lane. “Is that a small orchard to the left,” he asked.

  “Yes. And rows of raspberry bushes. At least there used to be.”

  “I can see why you were so captivated by this place the first time you saw it. It’s one of a kind, isn’t it?”

  “I think so. I never tire of seeing it.”

  He let her look her fill before finally turning the boat toward home. Looking back, he made a vow: if he had it in his power, this property would one day be hers.

  As they eased out of the bay, Lauren stepped behind the seat, wrapped her arms around Jonas and kissed his cheek. “May I have my spot back?”

  He moved over to make room for her, and she settled contentedly next to him once more. After a few minutes, she tilted her head up and asked, “Is kissing allowed on this boat?”

  Jonas shook his head and smiled. She was priceless. “Has it been too long?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “I’ll make an exception for you,” he teased and pulled her close.

  “Have you kissed other girls on this boat before?”

  His lips twitched. “Don’t
ask questions you won’t like the answers to.”

  “You mean you have?”

  “Lauren, I am thirty-five years old. What do you think?”

  “I think I’d better stop asking questions before I find out more than I want to know.”

  Jonas gave her a long look. “I don’t know what that mind of yours is conjuring up, but old rumors to the contrary, I haven’t exactly lived a debauched life.”

  She laughed softly against him. “Debauched? Now there is a word!”

  “Lauren.”

  “Mm-hmm?”

  “For the record . . .”

  “Yes?” Her voice was muffled against him.

  “There hasn’t been a string of affairs, and I have never lived with a woman.”

  She lifted her head and looked at his face. His expression was solemn, as were his eyes. She reached up and gently touched his cheek. He saw love in her eyes, and trust. “I know.”

  The return trip was peaceful and relaxing. The wind subsided a little, and the sun peeked out, but Lauren stayed cocooned in Jonas’ arms.

  “Will you tell me about your mother?”

  “Of course. What do you want to know?”

  “Does she dote on you?”

  Jonas smiled. “She would if I let her. She practically smothered me with affection when I was a boy. It’s much better that we live across the country from each other.”

  “I’ll bet it was because you were so beautiful.”

  He shook his head and tried not to laugh. No one had ever called him beautiful before. “No, it was because I was all she had. She became a widow at thirty-three. I was only seven when my father died.”

  “What happened?”

  “A heart attack. He was only thirty-eight when we lost him. He had been in London on business, and we had gone to pick him up at the airport. Our house had a detached garage, and because it was raining, he dropped us at the front door before parking the car. Time passed and when he didn’t come inside, my mother went to see what was keeping him. She found him in the garage, slumped over the steering wheel. He was already dead.”