16. Oskar
On Tuesday morning,I heard Kelsey moving down the hall toward the kitchen.
She walked in wearing her robe and a drowsy, adorable expression. “There’s a shirtless chef in my kitchen.”
I smiled. “You get the shirtless package this morning. Coffee is almost finished.”
She rubbed her hands on my shoulders. “How are you not cold?”
I laughed a little. “Kelsey, this weather is not cold.”
“It is for me, you stoic Viking.”
She came and snuggled into my chest, sneaking her arms around my waist to hug me. I reveled in the feeling of this sleepy woman leaning into me, and I crossed my arms around her back before leaning down to kiss the top of her head.
I forgot sometimes how short she was because her personality was so big. And I was relieved as fuck that she hadn’t broken up with me.
There had never been a good time to tell her.
By the way, Kelsey, you’re the reason I uprooted my life and moved halfway around the world to a brand-new country.
But I’m not a stalker, I promise.
She let out a happy sigh. “Tell me again how amazing my writing is?”
I rolled my eyes. “Life changing.”
“I know.” She reached down to pat my ass. “I’m extraordinary.”
I laughed a little, but I was so damn happy she hadn’t kicked me out the day before that I didn’t say a word.
“I think I’m going to go take a shower and try to wake up.” She looked up at me. “Can you make omelets later?”
“You mean I don’t have to pass the poached-egg test yet?”
“Nope. That’s tomorrow morning.”
“Want shower company?”
She snorted. “Better not. You wore me out last night, Chef.”
“Good.” I smiled. “That was the idea.”
She leaned in, kissed my bare chest, and ran her fingers across my stomach, causing me to squirm away quickly. I was going to be in trouble now that she had figured out how ticklish I was.
She snickered as she walked toward the bathroom, and I reached down to smack her ass. She squeaked a little and turned to give me a dirty look.
“Run along, k?reste. I’ll save you some coffee.”
I was paging through the Food and Wine section of yesterday’s paper when I heard a knock on the door. Kelsey had mentioned that Felipe frequently stopped by in the mornings, so I just yelled at the door.
“Come on in, Felipe. Door’s open.”
The door didn’t open and the knock sounded again, so I put my coffee down and went to the door. On the porch was a very average-looking blond man with oddly fluffy hair holding a bouquet of pink roses and wearing a grey Patagonia vest.
From the bouquet and the expectant yet dull expression on his face, I guessed this must be Asshole Austin. Well, at least I had answered the door shirtless. I leaned casually against the doorjamb and hooked my thumb in my jeans pocket.
This could be fun.
“Can I help you?”
Asshole Austin smiled politely. “You must be a friend of Felipe’s. I heard you call his name through the door, but I didn’t want to be presumptuous.”
I cocked my eyebrow at him.
Seriously? A half-naked man answers your ex-girlfriend’s door at eight thirty in the morning, and you jump to that conclusion? I cleared my throat. I could work with misconception. “As a matter of fact, I am a friend of Felipe’s. I’m Oskar. And who are you?” I might have cocked my hip just a little at the end to add to the effect.
He held his hand out. “I’m Austin, Kelsey’s boyfriend.”
Oh really?
“Hmm. I don’t remember her mentioning an Austin.”
He chuckled and looked away a little bashfully.
Laugh it up, asshole.
“We’ve been taking a break for a bit. Just a couple of weeks. She’s so independent.”
It grated on me that he said independent in such a condescending way.
I frowned. What the fuck had Kelsey seen in this guy? An idea started to bloom regarding Asshole Austin. I smiled.
“You know… now that you mention it, she did mention an Austin. Something about flowers. They made her sneeze.”
He looked confused. “Really? I don’t recall her mentioning a rose allergy.”
“Oh yes. Violently allergic to most flowers. Surely she mentioned that’s why she moved from the country?”
Austin paused, searching his memory for any recollection of the complete bullshit I was serving him. He started nodding.
“Oh, of course. How could I forget? That would defeat the purpose of all the flowers I’ve been sending her, wouldn’t it?”
I crossed my arms across my chest and leaned toward him a little. I really hoped Kelsey was going to take her time in the shower this morning. “You know, Austin. I think you two would be just adorable if you got back together. Can I offer you a little advice about Kelsey?”
He pulled his eyebrows together in confusion. Did the man actually not realize that Kelsey had broken up with him? “Uh… well, sure. I guess if?—”
“Great.” I lowered my voice. “You know, she is so socially conscious. There are so many local causes that she supports. You would know that, obviously.”
Austin’s eyebrows looked like they might get stuck together they were so tightly drawn in confusion. “Her causes?”
I nodded encouragingly until he nodded along with me.
“Yes. Of course.”
“Just last week, that donation she made to San Francisco Hamster Rescue was all she could talk about.”
“Really?”
“Oh, she’s passionate about hamsters.”
“How does this?—?”
“I was just thinking that if she knew how much you cared about those same things, it would mean so much to her.”
“Really?”
I nodded solemnly. I couldn’t believe he was buying this bullshit, but I was having fun.
“I think, Austin, instead of buying her all those flowers that make her sneeze, if you were to spend the same amount on making donations to those worthy causes that she cares so much about, she would understand how much she means to you.”
Austin looked at me like I had just solved the energy crisis. “Oskar, that makes so much sense.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“I could send her a card and?—”
“No.”
“No?”
I shook my head sadly. “Don’t you think it should be anonymous? I mean, anonymous donations are so much more altruistic.”
He nodded slowly. “But then how would she know?—?”
“Have the organizations send her a note that someone has made a donation in her name. She’ll be… intrigued.”
Or freaked out, I suddenly realized. Shit, I’d have to brainstorm with Felipe on how to avoid that happening. I had a feeling he’d enjoy getting in on this. I looked over my shoulder. “You know, she’s probably almost done in the bathroom. You should go.”
He started, staring at the flowers in his hand. “But what…?”
“Just take them with you, Austin. It’s for the best. You wouldn’t want to cause an attack.” I was pretty sure the flowers would cause an attack of some kind, that was for sure.
“Oh, of course. Hey, Oskar?”
“Yes, Austin?”
“Feel free to refuse, but if I needed any other advice about Kelsey… I mean, you seem to know her so well?—”
“Biblically.”
He frowned. “Did you meet at church?”
I cocked my head to the side. “What did you want to ask?”
“If I needed any more advice about Kelsey, could I give you a call?” He leaned closer. “I think we might be drifting apart.”
I managed to suppress a laugh. “Let me get you my card.”
I shut the door behind me as I turned to get my wallet, stifling the laughter he would have been able to hear through the door. I pulled one of my business cards out, quickly scribbled my mobile number and email address, and walked back to the door.
As I walked by the hall, I heard the shower shut off.
Shit. I had to work quickly.
I opened the door to a nervous-looking Austin and shoved the card at him. “Here you go. Call anytime. She’s out of the shower.” I dropped my voice. “You should probably go.”
“You don’t think I should at least say hello?”
“Oh, Austin.” I shook my head. “You should let your philanthropy speak for itself.”
He nodded sagely. “Of course. Thank you.” He held up my card. “It was so helpful meeting you.”
“It was completely my pleasure. Really.”
“I’ll be leaving. Thanks again.” He waved as he walked to his car.
I quickly shut the door and leaned against it.
Just then, Kelsey walked down the hall. “Who was at the door?”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t I hear you talking at the door?”
“Oh yeah. Yes.”
She frowned. “Who was it? Did Felipe come by?”
I shook my head. “No. Misdirected delivery. Someone got really bad directions.”
“Weird.” She frowned and walked to the kitchen. “Any coffee left?”
Later that evening,on the way to Hanna’s house, I noticed Kelsey fidgeting nervously and tugging on her clothes.
“You’re not nervous, are you?”
“Oskar, I’m the new girl meeting the sister of the man I… am dating. Of course I’m nervous. She’s a very important person to you, and I want to make a good impression.”
“But I’ve met all your family. I’m not nervous around them. I think you’re overreacting.”
I actually thought she wasn’t, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell Kelsey that. Hanna could be jealous about her remaining family, and she was very accustomed to getting her own way. She’d like Kelsey though.
She might like her better if she was not dating her big brother.
“But you didn’t know my family was my family when you met them, so you didn’t have a chance to get nervous about meeting my family because you already knew them.”
I steered the car toward Hanna’s house in San Rafael. “I’m not following what you just said there.”
She sighed. “And I’m getting confused trying to explain why it’s perfectly normal for me to be nervous when you weren’t. Can you just nod and smile a little?”
I grabbed her hand over the center console of the truck. “You’ll be fine. Hanna’s a very good person. She just has that Olson reserve, in a dryer sense, until she gets to know you better. I’d like if the two of you were friends.”
Kelsey squeezed my hand. “I’m sure we’ll be fine. I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m probably overreacting.”
I brought her left hand up to kiss her fingers as we pulled into the driveway to Hanna’s modern town house in San Rafael.
My sister worked in textile imports for the company my mother’s best friend—who was more like our aunt—had started years ago. Hanna had attended fashion school in New York, but when Aunt Cristiáne started her San Francisco office, which focused more on Asian suppliers, Hanna was a natural fit. She loved her work, and because she was fluent in Mandarin, she was comfortable traveling throughout China.
Hanna was also about as interested in food as I was interested in shantung, which I’ve been told is a Chinese fabric. I was hoping that she and Kelsey would find some common interest.
I knocked on the door before opening it and popping my head in. Kelsey had my hand in a death grip. She was stronger than she looked.
“Hanna?” I called out when I heard music coming from the kitchen. Was she cooking? That was disturbing somehow, as if I’d just broken into a ballad about velvet.
I walked back to the kitchen with Kelsey still gripping my hand. Hanna was standing in a fancy suit and heels, pouring a restaurant box into a serving dish on the kitchen island.
It struck me again how annoying it was that she had a much nicer kitchen than I did.
My sister looked up when we walked in. She cocked her eyebrow. I cocked mine.
Hanna said, “You didn’t actually think I was going to attempt to cook for the food people, did you?”
“What restaurant did you order from?”
“Chrysanthemum. I like the duck.”
“Good choice. Hanna, this is Kelsey Rankin.” I dragged Kelsey from behind my back as she held on to my hand. She finally relaxed the death grip and walked forward to greet Hanna. “Kelsey, this is my darling sister, Hanna Olson.”
Kelsey held out her hand while Hanna wiped hers on a kitchen towel. She shook Kelsey’s hand cautiously, looking her up and down.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Kelsey said. “I love your kitchen—it’s beautiful.”
“I never use it. I just renovated it for the added resale value. Kitchens are important. Apparently.”
I cleared my throat.
“I mean thank you.” Hanna smiled stiffly and turned to me. “When did I become your darling sister? The last time we talked, you were calling me a nosy brat.” She narrowed her eyes. “Kelsey, you must be making him nicer. I’ll let you know how I feel about that later. Let’s eat—I’m starving.”
Kelsey and I helped Hanna finish “making dinner” and carried everything into the small dining room. Hanna and Kelsey immediately began discussing the texture of the tablecloth or something, and I sighed in relief.
My sister and I had a great relationship, but if you didn’t know us, you might think we didn’t like each other much. We were very blunt with each other and could be very reserved with new people. Since Hanna was already speaking with Kelsey the way she would with me, I decided that she at least liked the idea of her.
“Oskar, this is the longest I think you’ve been in Marin since you helped with the kitchen remodel last summer. I still have a few friends who are passing around shirtless pictures of you at work.” She looked at Kelsey. “I hope you don’t mind, but the one of him in with his tool belt on is very popular in the office.”
“I can’t really blame them. Can I get a copy?”
Hanna nodded. “Give me your email and I’ll have Jared forward one to you.”
I winced, but they kept talking.
“It’s quite awkward anytime someone emails me one, not knowing you’re my brother.” Hanna picked at her plate. “The captions can be vomit inducing. Kelsey, how do you like the food?”
“It’s great. I love Chinese.”
“Good. Usually I have Oskar cook for me when he’s here, but since he’s been exerting himself at your house this trip, I thought I’d give him a break.”
Kelsey snorted, and I tried to take control before things went completely off the rails.
“Hanna, how’s work?”
She frowned. “Work is boring. I’m there every day. I’d much rather talk about you two. This whole thing is fascinating. Are you going to marry her and produce lots of small children? I’m toying with the idea of designing children’s clothes. That would be good market research.”
Kelsey and I both spit water on our plates when we heard Hanna’s question.
I turned to my sister. “Hanna, muskrat.”
“Oh, come on.” She rolled her eyes. “You moved halfway across the world because of how she described a vegetable. Even I can see that’s some sort of sign from above or destiny or some shit like that.” Hanna looked at Kelsey. “You know about that part, right?”
And thank goodness we’d already had that conversation.
I turned to check how Kelsey was reacting. She had a strange expression on her face, but then she broke out in a loud laugh. I mentally wiped my forehead in relief.
“That’s a very loud laugh,” Hanna muttered.
Kelsey calmed down enough to speak. “Hanna, I like you.”
Hanna was just looking at her with the Olson eyebrow raised. “That’s good. The verdict is still out on you. You haven’t talked much.”
I kicked Hanna under the table and shot her a look.
Kelsey dabbed at tears in the corner of her eye and patted my arm. “No, you’re right. Why don’t we have lunch next week? I have meetings in the city all week. Where do you work?”
Oh God, what was happening?
Hanna might not cook, but that led to a fairly extensive knowledge of restaurants. Soon she and Kelsey were planning lunch together, chatting about their favorite restaurants in the city, and seemed to be getting along well.
I tried to be optimistic and gave myself a mental pat on the back. I’d known they would get along. In fact, by the time we got to the almond cookies and coffee, they weren’t letting me into the conversation at all.
I went in to make the coffee. Hanna had one of those ultramodern coffee makers that ground the coffee, measured it and made it all at the push of a single button. It probably did your taxes too. I made three cups of coffee and was trying to figure out how to carry them out when Hanna walked in.
“I like her,” my sister said. “Don’t fuck this up.”
“Thank you. Do you have a tray for the coffee? And where’s your cream and sugar? Do you want sugar? You don’t always.”
“I’m serious, Oskar.” She put her hand on the counter. “Don’t fuck this up. She’s perfect for you. Figure out a way to keep her.”
I looked at my sister, and far from the sardonic expression that was usually on her face, I saw that she was quite serious. She looked a little sad too.
“What’s going on?” I walked over and put my arms around her. She stood motionless and didn’t respond. Hanna could be bristly at times, but she’d been warm and affectionate as a child. The affection stopped after our parents died. I was the only one who could hug her now.
She patted my back awkwardly. “You’re happy with her. And it’s just been the two of us for a long time. Just… I like you with her.” She whispered, “You love her already. I can tell.”
“No,” I whispered. “It’s too soon.”
“I can tell.”
Hanna twisted out of my arms to go to the refrigerator to get the cream pitcher. She set everything on a tray she pulled from a top shelf and walked back to the dining room.
On the drive back to Kelsey’s house, I held her hand and thought about what my sister had said. I realized how much my relationship with Kelsey could affect Hanna.
She was right—it had just been the two of us for a long time. We were the first people we called if there was big news. We spent every holiday together, and when it came to the big decisions in life, Hanna had been my top personal priority.
While Kelsey had a lot of friends and a huge support system, I realized that Hanna had me. I knew she had friends, but not really the kind you could call if you were sick. I suddenly realized that my sister, while extremely independent, was possibly quite lonely.
I looked over at Kelsey while we were stopped at the light.
She noticed my stare. “What?”
I just lifted her hand to kiss her fingers again. “I’m really glad you and Hanna got along.”
She smiled sweetly. “Me too. She’s going to be a great source for teasing material.”
I shook my head while Kelsey smiled like the Cheshire cat.
“Oskar?”
“Yes?”
“What the heck is up with the muskrat thing?”