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Kayla was under no delusion that she was welcomed here, though. She may have the strength and confidence to mingle in the yard and the living room without Tove introducing her to everyone, but that was a byproduct of Kayla always putting herself on the chopping block. Not everyone liked her. That was fine. All that mattered was that Tove did.
Besides, why be boring? Kayla didn’t want her social network in this family to only be Polly, who sat at the kitchen table looking sorry for herself. Nor did she want to rely on men like Oskar, who acted as if he regretted not putting on the moves when examining her for free. The older women either treated Kayla with disdain or bitter indifference – the men often went along with their wives. More than once, she came across Nils, June’s husband, and Thomas’s older brother. The willowy man with wire-rim glasses and a striped shirt barely acknowledged Kayla’s presence every time they crossed paths. Even if he knew who she was, she was as inconsequential as a fly on the wall.Be careful what you say around me, but that’s about it.
Kayla didn’t hate this treatment. She even understood it to a certain extent.
There was only one person at the reunion who might get under her skin, and that woman was also the only one with the last name Fredriksson to approach her while she filled up a small paper plate with cheeses and crackers.
“Ms. Smith.” A poised, wrinkled hand landed on Kayla’s arm. “Do me the honor of a private conversation, would you?”
Kayla instantly searched for Tove among the crowd of Fredrikssons. Yet she couldn’t find her girlfriend’s familiar face.Fine thing, that.Because that was Aunt Kiersten addressing Kayla in a quiet corner of the dining room. The only person to glance at them was Polly, who looked like she’d rather vomit than get involved.
“Sure.” Kayla put down her plate without having had a bite. “Is something the matter?”
“No, no, but I would appreciate you following me upstairs to my room. Things are much quieter there.”
Kayla’s eyes widened.
“Please. I’m not going to lay a hand on you, girl.” When she said that, Kiersten retracted her hand from Kayla’s arm. “It’s not a conversation I want to have in front of our nice family. I doubt you want them hearing it, either.”
“Does Tove know about this?”
“Tove is busy elsewhere. I’ve seen to it.”
Kayla hated this the more she thought about it, but what could she say? No?I have a feeling that’s a bad idea.So Kayla followed Kiersten up the stairs and down the hallway to the bedroom that had once held more than one night of passion between Tove and her younger lover. Kayla kept that joke to herself. Especially when she saw Kiersten’s fine things neatly spread around the room.Of course she sleeps in here. I bet she thinks it’s her room away from home.The truth was that this house in Hood River belonged to the whole family, who collectively chipped in on maintenance costs and yearly property taxes. That was why Tove was allowed to reserve it whenever it might be available.
The other thing Kayla had noticed, though… nobody had approached them the whole way here, and it wasn’t like Aunt Kiersten didn’t stick out in her baby pink pantsuit and bright white hair that puffed around her ears. Any kiss-ass in the family would want her attention, even if Kiersten were on her way out the door. So why didn’t anyone stop to say hi or ask a question? Was it because everyone knew better than to interrupt her when she was about to berate the new family punching bag?
“How long have you been dating our Tove, now?” Kiersten sat on the small sofa by the big bay window overlooking the Columbia River. The silence in this room was more deafening than the roar of conversations one story below them. “Five months? Six months?”
“It’s barely been four,” Kayla corrected.
“Only four? It feels much longer than that. No matter. Whether it’s four or seven, that’s long enough now for you to have an idea of where your relationship with her might be going. If you haven’t noticed, marriage and babies are in the air here. A great cause for celebration, but I want to know if we as a family have bitten off more than we can chew with you here.”
“Tove and I love each other. That’s about the size of it right now.”
“Love? Has she said that to you?”
“And me to her. Why? I’d think you’d be happy. She’s been single a very long time.”
“Yes, trust me, I am aware. Having Tove stay single is something that benefits this family. She does not do well when she’s distracted, and she has incredible responsibilities in this family. I don’t know what she’s told you,” Kiersten flattened a crease in her pants before placing those same fingers near her delicate mouth laced in deep pink lipstick, “but it’s because of her the coffers in this family fare so well. I’m not sure what we would do without her.”
“All the more reason for her to be happy.”
“Happy. Yes. I am very invested in the happiness of my successors, and I consider Tove to be such a person.” Kiersten pried her eyes away from the window and leveled her gaze on Kayla, who had taken to sitting on the vanity stool. “What has she told you about her upbringing? You know her mother is still alive, yes? Have you met her?”
“She told me what she thought was important,” Kayla carefully said. “That she was born to a single mom in the Fredriksson family and doesn’t know who her father was.”
“Yes. Even I’m not sure who her father is. Her mother was… well, her mother had, and has a big heart. There wasn’t a day in which she would not be helpful to us or someone else. I don’t doubt she fell in such a troubled way with Tove because of that heart. We’ve done our best to not judge her, although during that time it was difficult to not see how it would affect both her and Tove’s lives. I myself helped them out quite often. I like to think I’m the reason Tove went into accounting. I instilled in her the importance of money management.”
“Seems you did a great job. She’s good at it.”
“Isn’t she? She managed to go from living in a trailer to having a three-bedroom house in a hot market. Any man or woman would be lucky to have her be in love with them. Aren’t you lucky, Ms. Smith?”
Kayla didn’t fall into the trap so easily.
“Smith. What a delightfully common name. I bet you don’t even know where your family comes from.”
“My mom was from California,” Kayla said.
