He slipped his sketch into his briefcase, and not a moment too soon. The familiar sound of Tatiana’s heels clicking on the tile floor sounded, Helga called out a greeting that was no doubt a warning, prompting Elea to cover up her drawing with another she’d begun of the Yule Lads. A moment later, Tatiana’s beautiful blonde head peeped into the outer office, a smile on her lips. “How’s it going in here?”
Helga didn’t miss a beat. “Wonderfully. We should be ready to join you in the warehouse after lunch. How are things with the shipping department?”
She sighed, but it didn’t erase the happy gleam in her eyes. “We’ll be cutting it close, but I think we’re on track. All the orders that have farther to go should be in the post today and Monday. That only leaves the local deliveries within Reykjavik and the surrounding towns to finish up next week.”
“Ten days until Christmas.” Elea flashed a smile, though Anders didn’t miss the sorrow that underscored it, and he suspected Tatiana didn’t either. The little girl drew her lip between her teeth. “Mamma’s doctor iscoming to visit today. Do you think he’s been there yet? I hope... I hope the baby’s okay.”
Tatiana moved fully into the outer office so she could smooth a hand over her niece’s hair. “We’ll call her when we get home this evening. And whenever you start to worry, let it remind you to pray.” She offered a small smile. “That’s what I’ve been doing.”
A good reminder for Anders too. He’d been praying for Ari every time he saw the worry overtake Elea—thatwas easy to remember. What proved harder was remembering to offer his own faults to the Lord. When his thoughts spiraled like they did every time he thought of Tatiana, into all the ways he could alienate her, he never seemed to recall that he should pray about it instead.
Maybe that was why he’d gone five years without braving more than idle chitchat over the coffeepot. Why he’d never dared ask her to dinner or a movie.
If his brothers were to be believed, he ought instead to take a page from the Volsungs and just stride up to her and say,You’re the most beautiful and wise woman in the world, and I will spend my life with no one but you. You must marry me, because I want no other.
Right.Becausethatapproach was sure to work for the average man.
Clearly oblivious to his thoughts, she turned to him with an easy smile. “I brought soup and bread for lunch. Helga’s joining us, and you’re welcome too, Anders. I have it heating in the break room.”
Were it not for the little one looking at him with such friendly acceptance, he probably would have hemmed and hawed and made an excuse to decline, lest he make a fool of himself. Within two seconds, he’d have convinced himself that she only issued the invitation out of a sense of duty, a way of thanking him for helping with her niece. That it wasn’t agenuineinvitation, and that she didn’t reallywanthim to accept. But given Elea’s hopeful expression, he shoved aside the self-doubts and found the courage to smile. “I... thank you. I’d be delighted.”
Tatiana beamed a smile at him. One bright enough that he almost wondered... almost thought... almost dared to dream that she was as happy he’d said yes as he was.
SEVEN
16 DECEMBER 1944
Tatiana craned her head to watch the PBY Catalina fly overhead, closer than she ever got to see them in the city. She walked backward for a few steps so that she could keep it in view as it aimed toward the runway at the American base, a few of the day’s last rays of sunlight glinting off its wings. Airplanes never ceased to amaze her. How they could strap engines to giant tin cans and get them airborne was completely beyond her.
“They say someday airplanes will be so commonthat everyone will be able to fly on them, if they want,” Anders said from beside her.
A thought ridiculous enough to make her laugh. Oh, she knew that plenty of people flew these days, and Reykjavik had boasted an airport since 1919—but it wasn’t exactly accessible to common people. She couldn’t imagine spending the money on such a thing. Nor could she imagine actually going up in the air in one of those tin cans.
She took another backward step—but shouldn’t have. Her booted foot found a pothole and a squeal escaped her lips as she lost her balance. Her arms wheeled out, and she would have fallen gracelessly to the ground had Anders not steadied her with an arm around her back. She looked over and up at his face, closer than she’d ever been to him before, and smiled into the warm light in his eyes. “My hero,” she said around another laugh.
He should grin more often. When he did, it made his eyes shrink to glistening crescents that invited her to memorize the shade of blue his irises were. He helped her regain her feet and then, after a moment of clear indecision, offered his elbow. “Perhaps to... steady you?”
She’d be plenty steady once she faced forward again, but she wasn’t about to turn down the offer. Pivoting with him back toward the city and the two little girls skipping happily a few feet ahead of them, she tucked her mittened hand into the crook of his elbow. “Thank you.”
Though his scarf covered much of his neck, she thought she glimpsed just a bit of red rising above it into his face. He cleared his throat and nodded toward their nieces. “Glad they hit it off so quickly.”
She smiled, having thought the same. “Elea is always quick to make friends. She takes after her father in that. Ari and I were both always a bit more introverted.”
“Someone who loves books and art but is still an extrovert. She’s a veritable unicorn.”
Another laugh bubbled up. She’d never heard a unique person being described as a mythical creature before, but it fit. “I can’t thank you enough for all your help with her this week. As sad as she was when she arrived, I thought for sure this would be a visit full of tears and anger—but instead, she’s been all but bursting with stories every day when we get home.”
It reminded her of her own childhood, how she and Ari would race home from school to tell their parentsall the day’s stories. She’d spend the entire journey trying to figure out how to weave all the little minutiae of her day into a tale with a beginning, a middle, and an end, one that exaggerated the adventures with friends or the villainy of her rivals. And their parents would listen with rapt attention, with laughter or gasps, and then compose their own stories to share.
She’d missed that. In general, living alone hadn’t proven to be as lonely as she feared it would be, but having Elea with her for more than just a weekend... it made her remember how much she loved having a family around her. People to share her day with. People to listen to each other’s stories. It made her yearn for children of her own to engrain with the love of storytelling that all Icelanders seemed to be born with, to a greater or lesser degree.
“You don’t need to thank me,” Anders said.Of course.“Helga is the true hero, making her so comfortable. But for my part, it has been a joy, and I have no doubt next week will be as well. Children always have such a fresh way of looking at things, don’t they?”
She nodded her agreement, smiling when Heidi, just a few months older than Elea, turned back for a second to make sure they were still there and flashed a grin ather uncle that declared without words that he was her favorite.
And no wonder. Tatiana had already learned today that, since Anders’s three brothers were out fishing every day but Sundays, he was often the one to step in on Saturdays and take the children on outings. From the sound of it, scarcely a weekend went by when he wasn’t fulfilling the role of doting uncle with at least one niece or nephew, and often three or four at a time. He had a total of eight, she’d learned—five boys and three girls, though two of those girls were under the age of three, so not yet good companions for Heidi. Hence why she’d been so thrilled when he’d said Elea would be joining them.
For a moment, she let herself imagine that they weren’t just colleagues, she and Anders. That they were a real couple walking along the road from the American base back to the city, that Heidi and Elea were truly cousins. Or, better still, their own daughters, laughing and chattering away like she and Ari had always done.
