by Kris Tualla
She looked up at him. “How?”
Teigen heaved a heavy sigh. “I love teaching.”
“I know. And you’re very good at it.”
Teigen kept walking while he ordered his thoughts.
“I trust Dahl. I trust his character,” he finally said.
“He’s a good man, there’s no question there,” Selby confirmed. “And he’s been a very good friend to both of us for many years.”
“If Kyle married Dahl…” Teigen ran his free hand through his hair. “I could tell Pappa to sell the business without worrying that someone would take advantage of Thor’s inheritance.”
Selby stopped walking again. “Is that the deciding factor?”
“It’s a large part of it, to be honest,” Teigen admitted. “I hate the idea of an American getting his hand on Thor’s money when we can’t do anything about it.”
“Kyle wouldn’t let that happen,” Selby declared. “She’s far too smart for that.”
“But what if something happened to her?” Teigen pressed. “Say she got hit by a bus or something before Thor turned twenty-one. Then her husband would have control.”
“What a terrible thought!” Selby scolded.
“It could happen, and you know it,” Teigen argued. “And we are talking about a lot of money. Enough to take him through college and buy a house free and clear.”
“And if Kyle invests it wisely, it could double in sixteen years.” Selby sighed. “I see your point.”
“So we’re agreed?” Teigen asked hopefully.
“Agreed that we want Kyle to marry Dahl? Sure.”
Teigen laughed. “Not just that. Agreed to do what we can to help them along.”
Selby’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
“Why not? It could be fun.”
She pointed a finger at him. “But we can’t be obvious about it or it’ll backfire for sure.”
*****
Kyle heard the commotion in the entry hall and hurried to see what was happening. It had to be more than just Dahl returning from the train station—there were too many voices.
When she rounded the corner, Dahl was standing inside the door with a lanky young man with short blond hair and soulful brown eyes who was grinning from ear to ear. “Hey everybody! Look what I found at the train station!”
Teigen rushed forward and wrapped the boy in a suffocating bear hug. “Ben! We didn’t know you were coming back!”
When he let go, Selby grabbed Ben in a hug of her own which ended in a loud kiss on his cheek. “I’m so glad to see you!”
Ben’s gaze moved around the group and landed blankly on Kyle. “Uh, hello.”
Teigen motioned her to his side. “Ben this is our sister-in-law from America, Kyle Hansen.”
Understanding washed over the young man’s face. “Oh! You’re Tor’s wife.”
“Yes. I was,” Kyle forced herself to say calmly. “And our son Thor is running around somewhere with Torhild.”
“The cousins are getting along wonderfully, even though Thor doesn’t have any Norsk yet,” Selby added.
“And this,” Teigen said proudly to Kyle. “Is Benjamin Thorkelsen Isaksen, our foster son.”
Foster son?
Isaksen is a Jewish name.
“Teigen found me hiding in the woods after the Nazis killed my mother and took my father and brother. He kept me safe until the war ended.” Ben had obviously recited that explanation many, many times before. He held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Kyle smiled at the engaging young man and shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Ben.”
“Ben’s an artist about to start his last year of university. And we thought he was in Italy for the summer.” Teigen shot Ben an inquisitive look. “What’s going on?”
“I saw what I needed to see. Florence was incredible, but Rome was old, hot, and stinking.” He shrugged. “So I decided to head home.”
“Well, I’m very glad to see you,” Selby smiled happily. “I’ll tell Mrs. Nilssen to set another place at supper.”
*****
Because of Ben’s surprising appearance, Thor and Torhild were again having dinner in the dining room with the adults. The addition of Ben to the group as a replacement for Olina was like pouring sunshine into a fog.
Ben’s stories about his month-long journey through Italy were both hilarious and awe-inspiring.
As the main dish was served and conversation slowed, Thor turned to Kyle. “He’s funny.”
Kyle nodded. “Yes he is. Can you understand him?”
“No, but he makes funny faces. I like him better than Olina.” Thor paused. “Mamma, do you like Olina?”
Kyle glanced apologetically around the supper table before she smiled at her son and answered him in English. “Not in the least bit. She was very annoying. But she’s gone and I don’t think she’s coming back.”
Thor’s gaze bounced to the subject of his next question and then returned to Kyle. “Do you like Dahl?”
Kyle forced herself not to look at the actor. “Yes I do. I like him very much. Do you?”
Thor’s mouth twisted. “I guess. But you like me best, right?”
Kyle hesitated; that question signaled trouble ahead.
Now is not the time.
“Of course.” She ruffled Thor’s hair and faced a table full of inquisitive adults. “He was just asking why Olina left and Dahl’s still here,” she said in Norsk.
Everyone nodded and went back to their meal. Everyone except Dahl, that was. He was looking at her pensively.
When Kyle lifted her brows in question, he just smiled and stabbed his fork into his red deer steak.
Chapter
Five
July 9, 1950
When Dahl drove away from the Arendal train station three days ago he felt like he’d unloaded a huge burden. If he was unsure before, he was certain now. He needed to break from Olina.
Dahl understood that the post-war marriage situation for women in his country—in all of Europe for that matter—provided vastly diminished opportunities. And he also understood that he was considered prime marriage material because of his relatively young age and his leading-man appearance.
If he doubted it, all he had to do was step outside the stage door after any play that he had a part in. Ninety percent of the crowd waiting there was comprised of women looking for him, all asking for autographs and pictures. He could have his pick of them and he knew it. If he was the type of man that played with women, he’d never have to spend another night alone.
Throughout the war Dahl spent most of his time unsuccessfully wooing Selby, and then dealing with the rejection of her sudden marriage to Teigen towards the end. After the Royal Shakespearean Acting Troupe was forced to disband, he moved to Bergen and continued his work in Milorg until the Germans surrendered.
After the Nazis were arrested and Norway’s occupation ended, Dahl was able to help Norway rebuild her theater tradition. In the process he transitioned from always playing the handsome but often uninteresting leading man to directing and taking on more meaty roles.
Of course, that decision meant not having a permanent home. Dahl traveled between Bergen and Oslo two or three times a year, so he rented rooms near the theaters and lived his life out of trunks.
Dahl was very satisfied with his career and his income—with his Spartan lifestyle he’d managed to put away quite a lot of money, especially in the last three years. And he had good friends in the theater community in both cities so he was never lacking companionship.
But at thirty-seven years of age he was lacking a wife.
And children.
And a house to put them in that was his.
Why that was weighing on his mind so heavily these last two weeks was a mystery. Maybe because of this trip to Arendal with Olina and her obvious hope that being godparents to little Jans would prompt Dahl to make a commitment to her as well.
Olina was a truly lovely woman; there was noth
ing overtly wrong with her. She just didn’t prompt any sort of physical response in Dahl when he saw her—no stepped-up heartbeat, no unquenchable smile, nothing like that. Nor did he miss her when he was away from her.
He grinned crookedly into the mirror while he shaved.
Now I know how Selby felt about me.
Dahl resolved to phone Olina that same evening and let her down gently. Sadly, he doubted he’d miss her.
Kyle, however, was a completely different story.
From the minute he laid eyes on her he was gobsmacked. Nearly speechless. He thought for a moment that someone was pushing him toward her, though that had to be his imagination.
Now that Olina was gone, Dahl and Kyle made a neat and comfortable foursome with Teigen and Selby. After the children were put to bed, they spent the last two evenings in a variety of cozy activities that Teigen or Selby suggested.
Tonight they were going to walk around Arendal’s charming center and enjoy the summer’s long twilight. Teigen mentioned a tavern on the pier that had tables outside and suggested they might have a drink there after the walking tour.
Dahl smiled without meaning to.
He stared at himself in the mirror, razor poised for the last stroke, and wondered if his life was about to change.
*****
Kyle felt like the last three days in Arendal were redefining her entire life and she felt completely knocked off balance by the realization.
Dahl was the culprit.
The handsome, charming, kind, and unexpectedly humble culprit.
The culprit who stirred something in Kyle that she hadn’t felt since she met Tor.
That was six years ago.
Kyle knew Tor wanted her to remarry, and she had every intention of doing so once she finished her master’s degree. Of course, that’s what she said about finishing her bachelor’s degree. And now the suggestion by her professors that she continue on and get her doctorate in psychology loomed.
How long could she put this off? She was already thirty-one and Thor was growing up fast. Seeing him here in Arendal had shown her aspects of his upbringing that now worried her.
The first was his possessiveness of her. Of course that made sense. Since he was born he’d never had to share her time or her affections with anyone else. And those siblings Tor urged her to give him were nowhere in sight.
Kyle always blamed her busy schedule and her son’s needs for refusing the invitations that occasionally came her way.
But a shocking realization hit her these last days and she was struggling to accept it. She hadn’t been putting Thor first out of selfless devotion. She did it out of fear.
And that fear was centered in Tor.
Kyle knew she was making her husband into some sort of ideal man and the love they shared almost holy. But Tor had flaws that she refused to think about. And their love was perfect because it was brief.
They never had the chance to actually live in their marriage. To experience the struggles inherent in any relationship and work through them. To resolutely love each other more deeply as they grew old together.
Kyle held the lipstick tube in midair and her gaze dropped from the mirror to the sink.
If she married again, she would have the chance at that sort of life-long relationship—and deep down she was afraid that her love affair and marriage with Thor’s father would seem lacking by comparison.
And it should.
Kyle dropped the lipstick and grabbed the sink for support as that staggering concept surged through her mind.
That was why she was afraid. Because she knew that a fifty-year marriage would be far more intimate and satisfying than one that ended after three months.
Tor knew that. And he wanted that for her if he died.
Kyle sat on the edge of the porcelain tub. Her hands were shaking and her pulse thrummed in her ears. She’d failed Tor. She hadn’t done what he wanted her to do.
I’ve been selfish.
The bathroom seemed to grow brighter. The tears Kyle expected didn’t materialize. She felt the last remaining wisp of her grief-induced fog blow away.
It’s time.
Kyle stood. She looked at herself in the mirror, surprised at what she saw.
She was smiling.
*****
Kyle’s new resolve was tested within minutes.
“I want you to stay home,” Thor grumbled. “And read me stories.”
Kyle sat on Thor’s bed. “I’ll read you one book, but then I have to go.”
“Why?”
Kyle picked a short fairytale from Thor’s little stack of picture books. “Because your aunt and uncle want to go out and show Dahl and me around Arendal.”
Thor frowned his deepest frown. “I don’t like him anymore.”
Kyle opened the book. “Who? Dahl?”
Thor nodded vehemently and crossed his arms. “He told me to stop running.”
“Where were you running?” Kyle looked into Thor’s eyes. “Was it in the house again?”
“Torhild runs in the house.”
“And did Dahl tell her to stop, too?”
Thor clearly saw that he was losing ground and he switched tactics. “Dahl’s not my Pappa. He can’t tell me what to do.”
“Dahl’s an adult who is staying in this house just like we are,” Kyle countered. “And if you are doing something you’re not supposed to, then he can tell you to stop.”
Thor’s eyes welled with tears. “That’s not fair!”
“I’m afraid it’s completely fair.” Kyle gave Thor a sympathetic smile. “But don’t worry. When you’re a grown-up, you can do the same thing.”
That apparently wasn’t helpful.
Thor’s mouth turned down at the corners and his lower lip trembled. “You like him better than me.”
“No, sweetheart. I like him different than you. You are my best little boy and I will always love you. Nothing will ever change that.” Kyle kissed him soundly on the forehead and laid the book in his lap. “We’ve used up our time and I have to go. But you can stay up and look at your books until I get home.”
Thor pushed the book off the edge of the bed.
Kyle’s second concern about Thor’s upbringing which had recently come to light was being played out in front of her, and she sadly realized it was also her fault.
My son is spoiled.
She tried so hard to make up for Thor not having a father at home that she gave her son whatever he wanted whenever it was possible for her to do so. But if she was going to marry someone and have more children, that needed to stop.
Not to mention that when he went to kindergarten in the fall he would need to know how to play nicely with the other children there. He couldn’t always have things his way.
Kyle stood up and told herself that she knew psychology and this was the right thing to do.
“You don’t have to look at your books if you don’t want to,” she said sweetly. “I’ll be home before it’s dark.”
And then she picked up the light sweater that was lying across her bed and walked to the bedroom door. She blew Thor a kiss and left the room, closing the door behind her.
*****
“It was so hard.” Kyle looked miserable. “But I didn’t realize how I was spoiling Thor until I’ve seen him here. I thought I was doing a good job and raising a good boy.”
Dahl took her hand and squeezed it as they followed Teigen, Selby, and Ben down the hill into town. “You have done a good job, Kyle. And he is a good boy.”
Kyle sighed. “Being away from home like this, I can see some things he needs to learn that I haven’t taught him.”
“He’s only five,” Dahl reminded her. “There’s time.”
She looked up at him, her expression sheepish. “Thank you for scolding him when he was running in the house.”
Dahl smiled. “Don’t worry. I scolded Torhild, too.”
Dahl didn’t let go of Kyle’s hand when she stopped talking. And she didn’t pull her
s away.
Until Teigen turned around to say something to them. Did she think he would disapprove?
Would he?
Dahl decided to talk to Teigen later and make sure his friend didn’t object to Dahl courting his brother’s widow.
Dahl stopped like he walked into an invisible wall.
I’m going to court Kyle?
Kyle halted one step farther and turned back to look at him. “Is something wrong?”
Dahl drew a deep breath. “I—um—no.”
He forced an awkward smile and started walking again, allowing the gap between them and the trio walking ahead of them to grow. “Can I ask you something personal?”
Kyle’s glance slid to the side and then met his again. “Sure.”
“Do you think you’ll you marry again?”
*****
Now Kyle stopped walking. Was Dahl reading her mind?
That’s him, Kyle.
Kyle spun in a circle looking for the source of her dead husband’s voice. Of course, he wasn’t there any more than he was the first time she heard him.
“Kyle?” Dahl looked appropriately worried.
She rested one hand on her hip and the other against her forehead. “What?”
“Did I offend you by asking you that?” He spread his hands in supplication. “I didn’t mean any disrespect. Please believe me.”
“No. I’m not offended.” She drew a shaky breath. “I—have been thinking about that a lot. Lately.”
Dahl looked at her oddly. “Lately?”
“Since coming to Arendal.” Kyle shook out both of her hands and started walking again.
Dahl fell in step beside her. “Have you come to a decision?”
She nodded without looking at him.
“What have you decided?”
“I think it’s time I started… I mean, I don’t know how, but… Thor does need a father,” she babbled. “And brothers or sisters.”
“So if I understand the language of Kyle,” Dahl teased. “You do want to remarry, because it’s good for Thor—”
