“Where in New York?” Agotia cut in, warmth and longing dancing in her eyes.
A thrill ran through me when I realized she was talking to me.
“My headquarters are in the city. I live in SoHo,” I said, the words feeling forced and braggadocious.
“Agotia just moved back from that city,” Asta informed me. "I would love to hear all about your schooling and job. Why don't you come to the lodge tomorrow for dinner? We can catch up. There are beautiful hiking trails on the land I know you will love."
I raised an eyebrow at Asta. She was up to something, and we both knew it. It was not like Asta couldn’t invite guests to the lodge - it was her home as much as it was mine. It was just that she so rarely did.
“I would love that,” Agotia said, smiling at Asta.
A rush of jealousy ran through me. Even though I had sworn off women, there was a yearning in me that wanted to claim all her smiles.
“Aunt,” Lucas grumbled, “you know I must work tomorrow night. I won’t be able to join you.”
“Oh, that’s alright,” Agotia dismissed, “we will still have plenty to talk about, I’m sure.”
I cocked my head as my gaze flickered between her and Lucas. The way he watched her screamed of an envious possession, but she hardly paid him any attention. And the tension in his shoulders had not eased since I joined their conversation. Needing an excuse to talk to her, I turned my attention to the table between us. It was covered in individually wrapped cheeses and jars of butter with the strangest names.
“Blossom?” I asked, holding up a cheese wedge.
She laughed, and I could have sworn that my traitorous heart stopped beating for a moment. It was an addicting sound that I knew I would do almost anything to hear again.
“Would you like to meet the goat whose milk made that cheese?”
My eyes went wide at her words; the delight on her face aided me in nodding. She motioned for me to follow her to a pen with bleating goats. I could feel Asta’s eyes on my back as she watched Agotia scoop up a rust-colored goat wearing a bell around its neck. The little beast squirmed in my arms before settling her head into the crook of my elbow, resigned to being held.
“She likes you,” Agotia chuckled.
I smiled, the muscles in my face lifting of their own accord. I had smiled more in the past five minutes than I had in the last two weeks. It was unnerving.
"It was her milk that went into the Blossom Cheese. You should try it. You will find that Norwegian cheese is unlike anything you've ever tasted.
"I have had my fair share of Norwegian cheeses," I said, unsure why I needed to prove to her that I was more than an American tourist here.
“Have you been to Voss before then?”
The open honesty in her eyes had me caught off guard. The women I am used to always have an ulterior motive for talking with me. But with Agotia, this is the kind of conversation she would have with anyone.
I nodded before telling her, “Several times. My grandfather grew up here. As a kid, I would spend summers with him. Family history was as important to him as the family business was.”
“He sounds like my father,” she admitted, but this time, there was a sadness to her smile. “My family has been here for generations. I was the first in decades to leave the country for longer than a vacation.”
“Alexander?” Asta called, cutting into our conversation.
I held Agotia’s gaze for a heartbeat longer before looking at my housekeeper over my shoulder.
“I am heading back to the lodge. Is there anything you would like me to bring back with me?”
I twisted around and put Blossom back on the ground. Dusting off my hands, I looked Agotia in the eyes once more as I answered Asta -
“Yes. I want one of everything Agotia is selling. And all the Blossom cheese she has.”
Agotia’s mouth swung open in shock.
“You don’t have to do that,” she whispered.
"I don't do anything I don't want to," I responded. "Besides, Blossom and I have a connection, and I am not a man who likes to share. What choice do I have but to take it all?"
