Because of Lauren: A Love Story

by Vivi Underwood

  “It’s nice, isn’t it?” She put the baby down and walked with Lauren to the large window. “We love this area, and we love our house. It was originally quite small.”

  “Jonas told me.”

  “With the addition, we have plenty of room for the family plus guests. And Jake has a home office now, a nice step up from the dining table, which used to pass for one.”

  Lauren laughed. “My place in Manhattan is so small it looks messy the minute I leave my laptop or the mail on the coffee table. This is wonderful.”

  Allison smiled. She liked Lauren. She was warm and friendly and easy to talk to. Jonas had done well. “I understand you and Jonas are going sailing.”

  “If we may use the boat. We both love being on the water.”

  Allison noticed Jake and Jonas in quiet conversation. The girls were entertaining Henry presently, so she turned back to Lauren. “Jonas has told us so little about you. How did you happen to meet?”

  Lauren explained about her own family and Jonas’ search for his, and how they interconnected. “When I found out I had family in Norway, though very distant, I was determined to come and meet him. I talked to my aunt, who emailed Jonas. He agreed to meet me for lunch one day.”

  “Did you know much about Jonas before meeting him?”

  “Nothing really. I arrived in the country armed only with his name, his contact information, and the name and address of the restaurant he had chosen. But he was family, so naturally I was very anxious to meet him.”

  Allison gave her a warm smile. “I’m so glad you found each other.”

  “We haven’t known each other very long, but I can’t imagine my life without him now.”

  “Be good to him,” said Allison softly. “Jonas has a very tender heart.”

  “Yes, he does,” Lauren agreed as Jonas walked toward them.

  He reached for Lauren’s hand and gave her a light kiss. “What are you two whispering about?” he wanted to know.

  “I have been asking Lauren questions about how you met since you have been hopelessly uninformative on the subject.”

  Jonas defended himself. “I wanted you to form your own opinion gradually, as you got to know her.” He looked at Lauren. “It’s getting close to dinner time. Do you want to eat first or go sailing?”

  “Eat please,” she said hopefully “It doesn’t have to be much. Something light is fine.”

  Jonas smiled. “Lauren is a girl who doesn’t like to miss a meal. We’ll grab something quick.”

  “I have taco salad ready,” Allison informed them. “I thought that would be nice and easy tonight.”

  The meal was a lively one. What a delightful family, Lauren thought. The girls were full of questions about her, and she was just as curious about them. She told them of the church members in Bergen and their reaction to seeing Jonas in church. Then Jonas mentioned his Sunday date with Mrs. Gustavsen.

  Lauren looked at him in surprise. “You went to church on your own?”

  “With a date,” he corrected with a grin. “An 86-year-old widow,” he explained to the others. “I brought her back to my place for dinner afterward, and she was delightful company. To my surprise, she was also a treasure trove of information about my family.”

  “Mrs. Gustavsen?”

  “You’d be amazed, Lauren,” said Jonas. “I’ll fill you in while we’re sailing.”

  “Can I come sailing, too?” Leah asked eagerly.

  “Not tonight, sweetheart,” replied Jonas, and wanting to let her down gently added, “You and your family have some important things to discuss while we are gone.”

  “We do?”

  “We do,” affirmed her father. “Very important and interesting things. Maybe Jonas will take you sailing another night.”

  “Can Lauren come with us, Jonas?”

  “If she gets off work in time.” He turned to Lauren. “What does your week look like?”

  “I’ll know better on Monday.” She looked at her hosts. “I was supposed to leave for Calgary on Tuesday, but I rescheduled because of Jonas. Now things are up in the air a bit. We have decided not to wait too long to be married, so I gave my resignation this morning.”

  Jake looked at Jonas with a gleam in his eyes. “You’re not wasting any time, my friend.”

  “That’s right. I had hoped to take Lauren home with me when I leave in a couple of weeks, but she doesn’t think she can plan a wedding that quickly.”

  Allison laughed gently. It was good to see Jonas so eager and happy. “You are in a hurry.”

  “I have agreed to give her a month.”

  “Generous of you. A whole month!”

  “I could have done it in two weeks if I didn’t have to work in addition to packing up my life,” Lauren insisted. “Or if I had known that’s what Jonas had in mind when I left him just over two weeks ago.”

  “Where do you plan to be married?”

  “We thought Utah and a garden wedding. We haven’t finalized details yet. There hasn’t been time, and my parents only found out this morning that their daughter is engaged.”

  “Shock tactics,” said Jake. “How do they feel about you marrying a non-member?”

  Lauren’s features softened. “They are both in shock. They always took for granted that I would marry in the Salt Lake Temple. I don’t like to disappoint them, but they’ll understand my decision once they get to know Jonas.”

  All they heard from Jonas was a deafening silence.

  Finally, Allison, looking pointedly at Jonas, said, “Well, you should be able to put on a beautiful event even at short notice. It is amazing what can happen when money is no object.”

  Puzzled by Allison’s comment and wondering what was behind it, Lauren decided not to touch that one. Instead, she said mildly, “I have a very supportive family. We’ll pull it off.”

  Both Allison and Jake looked from Lauren to Jonas and back to Lauren.

  Jonas remained silent. His poker face gave nothing away.

  Finally, Allison said, “I think you should let Jonas help pay for the wedding, Lauren. It’s only right since he is the one rushing it.”

  “We’ll talk about it,” said Lauren calmly. “He already insisted on buying me this amazingly beautiful ring when I would have been happy with a simple gold band.”

  “Good for Jonas!” Allison and Jake said in emphatic unison.

  “Are you two quite finished?” Jonas inquired, amused.

  “Lauren and I are perfectly capable of working out the details of our wedding without meddling from the peanut gallery.”

  “What’s a peanut gallery?” Leah asked.

  “That’s when people offer comments and advice that are not asked for and not wanted,” Jonas explained easily. “Your parents don’t seem to think we can handle our own wedding.”

  Leah giggled. “That’s silly. Are you going to have flower girls?”

  Jonas raised an eyebrow at Lauren. Were they?

  Lauren hadn’t given the matter of flower girls a single thought until that moment. Seeing the hopeful, expectant look on Leah’s face, she made a quick decision. “Oh, I think so. Little girls add so much to a wedding celebration.” Her gaze passed from Jake to Allison then back to Leah’s hopeful face. “If your family can come and be part of our special day, I would love to have you and Nora be two of the flower girls. I have two little nieces who would make perfect flower girls, too. What do you think? Are four too many?”

  Leah shook her head. “Uh-uh. Can I walk in front of the bride and throw rose petals? I saw that on TV once.”

  Lauren smiled at the young girl. “I think that can probably be arranged. But first, we must let your parents decide if all of you can be there. Utah is a long way from here, and it’s expensive for a whole family to travel so far.”

  Nora turned pleading eyes to her father
. “Couldn’t we take the company jet, Daddy? I think we should all be at Jonas’ wedding.”

  Lauren’s wide-eyed gaze sought Jonas’. There was a company jet?

  “That depends. Jonas may have it tied up at that time.”

  “Couldn’t we fly with him?”

  “We’ll see. But we will be at the wedding, I promise. Jonas is not getting married without his family there.”

  Leah beamed, and Nora looked gratified.

  Lauren looked mystified.

  With the meal finished, Jonas got to his feet. From the conversation that had just taken place, he knew Lauren had questions. He planned on answering each one, but privately. He held out a hand. “Ready for a sail?”

  Eyes full of questions, she put her hand in his.

  He turned to the others. “See you all later. We should be back in a couple of hours.”

  The girls were excused from the table, but Allison and Jake lingered. Watching Lauren and Jonas leave, Allison looked at her husband. “She doesn’t know,” she said softly. “I wonder why?”

  “Because he’s been burned in the past.”

  “He loves her.”

  “Yes, he does. Let’s trust that Jonas knows what he’s doing.”

  “This could prove to be an eventful weekend,” Jake said thoughtfully, moments later. “I had an interesting conversation with Jonas while you were getting acquainted with Lauren.” Jake proceeded to tell her about his father and Lauren’s relationship with his parents. Then he related Lauren’s idea of bringing Leah to meet them in the morning.

  “Lauren loves my parents, Allison. She told Jonas that Mom and Dad treat her like a daughter. They know she’s LDS and still accept her. I think we should give her idea a try.”

  Allison remained quiet. She and Jake had long ago forgiven his parents, but she felt protective of her children. Weighing the pros and cons of the proposed outing, she finally suggested, “Instead of Lauren taking only Leah with her, I think both girls should go as support for each other. But we ought to let them make the final decision. They already know why we don’t have a relationship with your parents, and it has always made them sad. They may surprise us.”

  Jake rose and lifted a restless Henry out of his high chair. Watching him toddle off he put an arm around his wife’s shoulders. “I agree. Let’s go tell them.”

  The early evening was beautiful, with just enough of a breeze to make the little dinghy skim gently across the lake.

  “This is nice,” Lauren told him after a while. “My parents have a ski boat, so I am an experienced water-skier, but the only sailing I’ve done has been with Lasse and his friends.”

  “I enjoy sailing, especially when there is a good breeze. I got my first sailboat when I was about twelve.”

  “A gift from your grandfather?”

  Jonas smiled, remembering. “Yes. I thought it was the best gift ever.”

  Lauren pressed her cheek against his shoulder. Being here like this with him was exactly what she needed. After a while, she asked casually, “Do you know how to pilot a jet, Jonas?”

  He chuckled softly, “No, we employ a pilot.”

  “Convenient.”

  “We think so. Practical, too, as neither Jake nor I have ever had flying lessons.”

  “Hmm!” She paused a moment then said softly, “Jonas?”

  “Mm-hmm?”

  “Are you going to explain Allison’s remark?”

  “There is not much to explain except to say her words were meant for me, not you. She was reminding me that there are things about me you are entitled to know.”

  Looking off into the distance, he was silent for quite a while. Because they were so attuned to each other, Lauren waited patiently. Finally, he began. “One day, about eleven years ago, I had a phone call from Allison. She said Jake had been working on an idea for a software application but lacked the funds to market it. She wondered if I’d consider helping. When Jake found out she had called me he was furious, but once he calmed down and put his pride on hold, he told me what he had been working on. I was impressed and talked it over with my grandfather. He agreed it might be a good investment and trusted me enough to give me carte blanche to help my friend. I flew over here, and Jake and I sat down together. We agreed to form a partnership. Jake would handle the creative side of the business while my grandfather and I would provide the initial capital and business knowledge. The product was a success. We’ve been partners ever since, and because Jake is something of a genius in the field, we have both become quite well off.”

  “Define quite well off,” Lauren said softly.

  Jonas’ gaze met hers. “I compare favorably with your twenty-million-dollar suitor.”

  Lauren swallowed. “How favorably?”

  “Very favorably,” was all she got out of him.

  “So, you run a successful business in Norway and another one over here?”

  He looked at her, trying to gauge her reaction. She seemed stunned more than anything. “Juul Enterprises is a Multinational corporation and demands most of my time. Jake and I are still partners in J & J Technologies, the company we started together, and we consult regularly, but it’s really Jake’s baby.”

  Lauren blinked. J & J Technologies? Oh help!

  She was familiar with the tech firm and suddenly realized she was marrying a very wealthy man. “You are one of the J’s in J & J Tech?” she asked slowly.

  He nodded.

  After several moments of total silence, she said, “You don’t appear to live particularly extravagantly.”

  Jonas shrugged and gave Lauren a lopsided smile. “Not my style.”

  Lauren took a slow, very deep breath. “Jonas?”

  He gave her a tender look. She was handling it well. “Mm-hmm?”

  “Is it common knowledge in Norway? That you are worth so much?”

  Jonas shrugged. “In some circles.” It was, in fact, widely known as his net worth was published in the area’s leading newspapers, much to his chagrin. But he saw no reason to burden her with that piece of information.

  “Would Simon Berg know?”

  “I expect so.”

  “No wonder he was so interested in you.” Lauren was silent a few moments then repeated, “Jonas?”

  “Mm-hmm?”

  “You said I wouldn’t be too overwhelmed.”

  “I said I thought you could handle it.”

  After a long pause, she said once again, “Jonas?”

  His face held humor as he repeated slowly, “Mm-hmm?”

  “I think I will let you help pay for the wedding.”

  Jonas burst out laughing. “Mercenary little thing,” he said affectionately and knew it was her way of telling him she forgave him for keeping such an enormous thing from her.

  “I’ll try to keep expenses down, and I want to pay for my dress,” Lauren stipulated. “No way is the groom going to pay for the wedding dress.”

  “Agreed.” He turned his head and found her lips with his own, then smiled as he kissed her. She had just been told his net worth was well north of twenty million dollars, and she promised to keep expenses down. There was no one like Lauren.

  “I don’t suppose you want to break with tradition and help me choose it? Since it’s our wedding, I want my dress to be one we both love.”

  “Not much has followed tradition so far in this relationship,” Jonas chuckled. “Why start now?”

  “You’ll come with me?”

  “Why not? We are in this together, aren’t we?”

  Sailing with Jonas on a peaceful evening like this was just what I needed, thought Lauren. She tried to dismiss his wealth from her mind because in the end, it didn’t matter. It didn’t change who he was and how he lived his life, and it didn’t change her love for him. Sighing with contentment, she said, “I like your friends,
Jonas. I like that they love you and that they welcomed me so warmly, without reservation.

  “They know I love you.”

  “How could they have known from the minuscule bit of information you gave them?”

  “Other than Annie, you are the only woman I have brought here. Allison would have known it was serious the moment I mentioned you.”

  They stayed on the water a while longer, then Jonas turned the dinghy toward home.

  “Are we turning back already?”

  “I have things to tell you. If we sit on the dock, you can dangle your feet in the water. I’d rather talk away from the house.”

  “This sounds serious.”

  “It is. Will you be patient until we get to shore?”

  “Of course.”

  Docking the little dinghy took no time at all, and once ashore, they sat side by side on the edge of the dock. Before long, Lauren slipped off her shoes to test the water.

  “It’s quite warm,” she exclaimed happily and plunged her feet in further. “It feels good.”

  A smile touched his lips. The smallest things made her happy. He reached for her hand and held it firmly. “Are you ready to hear about my date with Mrs. Gustavsen?”

  Lauren shook her head in mock reprimand. “Dating behind my back!”

  “I only had a date,” he pointed out. “You had a proposal.”

  “Oh yeah! I forgot about that.”

  “Hussy!”

  Lauren laughed delightedly. “Casanova!” she shot back.

  He let go of her hand and pulled her into his arms. “Don’t ever leave me, Lauren.”

  “I have a date with the missionaries when I return home,” Jonas said when they finally settled down to have their talk.

  Lauren stared at him in surprise. “You do?”

  “One of them cornered me after church, and I agreed to let them come to my home.”

  “That was accommodating of you.”

  “After everything Mrs. Gustavsen told me, I was glad I had agreed to see them. It’s time for me to learn all I can about the Church.”