“I’ve been thinking about the press launch next week,” he said. “Maybe we could have dinner that night? The whole team usually goes out to eat together afterward, so we’ll have to go with them, but then I wondered if you’d like to stay in Stockholm for a couple of days?”
Her posture changed almost imperceptibly; it was as if she disappeared into her own thoughts for a moment before she looked at him. “That would be difficult—I have the patisserie to run. I can’t just take off.”
“Okay.”
He leaned forward and took her hand. He couldn’t help himself, he had to say it. “I’d love to have breakfast with you like this every morning.”
She looked shaken. Something changed unmistakably in that moment, and she gave a stiff little smile. He wished he hadn’t spoken, but he meant what he’d said. She was special, and he wanted to go on seeing her. Maybe she’d reacted this way because she didn’t know where they stood?
“Nora ... I’m serious. I want to have breakfast with you every day. And not just in some hotel room.”
She laughed—but it was a brittle, nervous laugh. “How’s that supposed to work? I live in Västervik and you live in Stockholm.”
“Maybe we could change that?”
Another fleeting smile. “By the way, do you think Elnaz has met someone down here?”
He frowned. “I don’t want to talk about Elnaz, I want to talk about us.”
“Us?” She sounded shocked.
“Yes. I know it’s early days, but I want to go on seeing you.”
“You’re right, it’s way too early to decide on something like that,” she said coldly, taking a gulp of her coffee.
Henrik nodded briefly. He had no intention of pushing her, but her reaction wasn’t what he’d expected. Maybe he’d been too direct? The relaxed, easy mood between them was gone.
“I’d better go home,” she said. “I need to change my clothes before we start filming.”
Henrik nodded again. Nora finished her coffee, then went over to the bed and got dressed. She suddenly seemed in a hurry to leave. His thoughts were whirling as he stood up. What had he done? Why had she reacted this way?
He followed her to the door. Surely he could say goodbye properly without her thinking he was proposing? She turned back and gave him a quick kiss on the lips.
“See you in the square,” he said.
“Absolutely.” She was already hurrying down the corridor.
36
The square was already crowded when Henrik arrived, and many of the people there were dressed as Santas. Of course, there was a Santa Claus parade today—Nora had told him it was a long-standing local tradition. A large stage had been erected at one end of the square, and fairy lights twinkled everywhere. At the other end there was an ice rink, where skaters were whizzing around and around. Stalls were selling mulled wine, gingerbread cookies, Lucia buns, and hot dogs, all very welcome on such a cold day.
Henrik had been thinking about Nora on his way down. Even an early run in the freezing cold by the water hadn’t cleared his head. She confused him. They hadn’t known each other very long, but there was something about her. This thing between them was special, and he definitely wanted to see her again. They couldn’t simply end it when filming was over, which seemed to be her intention.
The production company truck was parked in a corner of the square, and the team was busy unloading crates containing the various gingerbread house components. Henrik went over to help them. Nora didn’t seem to have arrived yet, which at the moment felt like something of a relief after the strange vibe he’d gotten from her earlier.
He soon saw her approaching. She was wearing sturdy winter shoes, her bright-blue quilted jacket, and a woolen hat, with her blonde hair loose over her shoulders. The short walk in the cold had given her rosy cheeks. She looked exactly as she had on the day they bought theChristmas tree, when she’d kissed him. She gave him a hesitant smile, then headed for Ted and Elnaz over by the stage. Henrik took a deep breath and joined her.
“Okay, we start filming in ten minutes,” Ted announced. “You know what to do, but I’ll start things off by explaining the competition to the audience, and then you can take it from there.”
They waited while everything was arranged, and then Ted stepped onto the stage, followed by Nora and Henrik. Everyone applauded.
“A warm welcome to the gingerbread house competition between Nora Jansson, Västervik’s leading baker, and Henrik Eklund, everyone’s favorite baker.” Ted gestured toward them, and there was plenty of applause and a few whistles. Henrik looked out at the audience and noted the position of the TV cameras. He could see Nora out of the corner of his eye. “Henrik and Nora will each assemble one end of Västervik’s beautiful town silhouette. The rules are simple: the one who finishes first is the winner. But of course it has to look good too.” Ted turned to them. “Are you ready?”
Henrik nodded, and heard Nora sayyes.
“Then let’s go!”
Henrik turned his attention to the items laid out on the table. He squeezed some glue from a little tube and began to assemble one end of Saint Gertrude’s church. For some reason it seemed important to beat Nora; maybe his bruised ego from this morning was speaking up? As if winning would somehow pay her back for being so unresponsive to his feelings. He continued with the church tower—how could there possibly be so many pieces? He had already been working for several minutes and hadn’t even finished the first building. He pressed the tower onto the main body of the church, with a large blob of glue to hold it in place.
