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“We’ve only recently started dating.” Tove launched into one of her pre-written spiels she had prepared the night before in the shower.Turned into a rotten prune because I needed at least three variations depending on the context and Kiersten’s mood.“Kayla is new in town, so I’ve been showing her the sights.”
“Oh, is that so? How did you two meet? Gretchen told me that her son might have met
this darling devil first. I thought maybe she knew that… Polly.”
Kayla glanced at Tove for help. Luckily, Tove had prepared for this as well. “We crossed paths while she was looking for a job downtown. She’s started as a waitress at the Brickhouse by the river. I don’t suppose you know it, though.” Breweries were definitely beneath Aunt Kiersten’s sensibilities, who kept to the few high-end restaurants that had popped up around town. Otherwise, she had her own chef who prepared meals for the woman living in the same house she grew up in. “What can I say? We clicked.”
“Interesting. And you’ve brought her here, where you knew many of us would be on the first nice Saturday of the year.”
“To be fair, I didn’t know the weather would be this nice.”
“Either way, you’ve made your point. You’ve beaten us to the punch. I’m sure that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I’m not thinking anything in particular, Aunt Kiersten. Simply enjoying a nice afternoon with my girlfriend.” Tove let the word settle in Kiersten’s ears. “If you have any questions for her, why don’t you ask her yourself? How’s the cider, hon?”
Put on the spot, Kayla answered immediately. “Very nice. Perfect for a day like this.”
That was the correct thing to say since Aunt Kiersten had some investments tied into the regional brewery that produced the country club’s cider.If she doesn’t like something, they stop carrying it unless it’s hugely popular with the “outsiders.”Nobody drew the line in the sand like Kiersten Fredriksson, the woman people like Thomas said was,“So upset to never get married that she takes it out on everyone else’s love lives.”Kiersten’s disapproval of Polly was one of many reasons Thomas eloped with his girlfriend. The only reason he wasn’t kicked out of the family inheritance over it was because he was the second son (and third child) of his direct line, and thus not a threat to the Fredriksson legacy… whatever that meant in 2023. Tove had no idea.
“By the way,” Tove slyly said to her nosy aunt, “you’ll be happy to know that your taxes filed with no issue. You’re good for another year.”
The older woman scoffed. “Must you discuss that in front of her?”
“She knows what I do to ingratiate myself with my fellow Fredrikssons. Besides, Kayla is quite good with money as well. She moved here using funds she accumulated while working in the service industry. A real bootstrap story.”
“I’m sure it is.” Kiersten continued to not once deign Kayla a genuine look. “Don’t get me wrong, Tove. I remember what it’s like to be your age.”
Tove almost choked. “You mean fifty?”
“Don’t be so surprised. I was fifty twenty years ago. That was my last true gasp at relevancy in this family. Like you are now, I was struggling to assert my legacy and decide if I was about to spend the rest of my life as the unmarried woman I am. Fortunately for me, I had the respect of my family to keep me going as a single woman. It turned out I didn’t have to turn to love for a reason to live. I wonder about you, Tove….” Silvery hair fluttered in the breeze. So did the perfect border of Kiersten’s dusty sunset scarf, a fantastic color that called attention to the regal authority one woman leveraged over an entire clan of Fredrikssons. “Are you searching for so-called love? With someone who isn’t even from here?”
Tove did not let her pleasant smile falter. “It’s not easy to be me and date around here, dearest aunt. Perhaps I am more cavalier than you would ever be, but my choices are limited. If I find someone I have a spark with, I should pursue it. I’m not sure what Kayla has to do with my ability to oversee the finances of you and the others.”
“Far be it from me to tell you that you can’t have a personal life. Do us an honor and don’t follow in your cousins’ egregious footsteps. Thomas has done enough to cause me strife these past few years. Just when I thought he had finally come to his senses…”
Voices raised within the county club manor. Tove spared the entryway a single glance but did not wish to call attention to it yet. “I have no desire to upset the cart,” Tove said. “It’s been twenty years since we last discussed my love life. I have not forgotten some of the words we exchanged.” “Good. Because they’re as true today as they were back then. I’d hate to see you fall so far after you’ve spent so much time building yourself up. After all, it’s about time I did the annual updating of my will. You never know who I might choose to remember in my final days.”
“May they be many years away.”
Kiersten leaned forward, her perfume more potent than June’s had been.Smell your heart out, Kayla.Nobody wore the same perfume as Kiersten in Bend. Not if they didn’t want to cross one of the most powerful women in Central Oregon, let alone Deschutes County.
Yet no words passed in the small gap between aunt and niece. Tove’s plan had come to fruition – the biggest distraction she could have asked for was here.
“Hey!” Thomas sauntered out onto the patio, his arm looped around Polly’s delicate shoulders. As she gazed up at her husband with the light of a woman madly in love, Thomas flagged down his cousin and aunt as if they were welcomed with open arms.Right on time.As they had planned since Thomas owed his cousin this much. “Guess who’s back together!”
Polly squealed in delight, hopping up and down on the patio while a server expertly swerved around her with a bottle of wine and two empty glasses. Aunt Kiersten leaped out of her seat and promptly forgot Tove and Kayla, who heaved their collective sigh of relief. With the matriarch now distracted by the biggest family disappointments since Tove made a fool of herself twenty years ago, the new couple easily returned to their cider and salads.
“That was something else,” Kayla said with an exasperated look on her youthful countenance. “She acted like I wasn’t here even though she was talking about me!”
“Yes, she does that… but now the worst is over.”
“What was she talking about? You two have some kind of understanding if you want to keep your inheritance?” Kayla grabbed the cider she had hardly sipped and hid behind the glass. “I mean if you want to talk about it. I understand if it’s too personal.”
“No, it’s fine.” Tove folded her hands in her lap. She never had much appetite when talking about how deep Kiersten’s manipulations could go. “I’ve already told you that my last real relationship was twenty years ago. I was barely thirty when it happened…” She shook her head. "There were many reasons for the breakup, but my aunt played a part. She did not approve of my ‘lifestyle,’ of course, but she didn’t like my girlfriend. Much more than she disliked any other woman I dated during my twenties. It was personal. As I mentioned to her, that was the last time my aunt attempted a romantic relationship of her own. She was even engaged for a short time. We all thought that Mr. Fredriksson had come into the picture. He was even a semi-wealthy dot com man. The kind that had survived the crash in the late ‘90s.”
“I’m guessing it didn’t work out.”
“No. It blew up in her face, and she took it out on me. She insinuated that if I didn’t break up with my girlfriend and move back home so she could do as she pleased with me, I would get nothing. At the time… well, it was a tumultuous time for me. I didn’t see a future for myself in the city. My relationship was falling apart. My mother had become sick, and I needed the family money to take care of her. I want to be clear, Kayla…” Tove looked up from her salad and caught Kayla’s gaze from across the table. “I’m not at the top of the food chain in this family. They like me well enough, so I do well enough. I try not to rock the boat so I can keep doing well and have a secure future of my own. It’s because of this family I could buy my house twenty years ago, and it’s because of them I have a membership to this place. It’s why I have this stupid card.” She pointed to the black card lying atop the table, ready for the server to whisk away when Tove and Kayla had finished their lunch.Half off at any establishment owned by any Fredriksson. Of course that includes the country club in our founder’s town.
