Chapter 9
Emilie walked up the cellar stairs with heavy steps.
She had no idea how many times she’d made the same journey.
As elves, Christmas curtains and Lucia brides found their way into properly marked boxes, the house was slowly transforming into a completely normal house without Christmas fever.
She almost didn’t dare to count the number of boxes, and it wouldn’t be possible to keep them in the cellar forever; she had to figure out what to do with all these things.
She heard the front door open and hurried up to greet Linn, who must have gotten off work early.
“Hello!”
Emilie sighed heavily, it wasn’t Linn but the walking specter, Birgitta. She chuckled, if Birgitta only knew what her and the girls called her behind her back, since she kept popping up without warning.
“Hello Birgitta”, she said.
“Ah, there you are, I didn’t think there was anybody home.”
Birgitta almost sounded a bit disappointed, but why would she come to visit if she thought that nobody was home?
“To what do I owe the honour?”
“Oh, nothing in particular, I was just passing by and figured I could pop in and see how you were doing?”
Birgitta looked lost and confused standing in Emelie’s kitchen.
Her flowery, purple blouse had probably been fashionable and fit her ten years ago, but now the colours were faded and it looked uncomfortably tight over her chest and upper arms. Ever since Andreas had told Emelie about Birgitta’s fate and her sick and demanding husband, Emelie had a soft spot for the insistent old neighbour and now, a wave of tenderness swept over her.
“Do you have time for a cup of coffee? I was just making some coffee and I think it's perfect to sit outside under the apple trees right now”, she said, looking out over the back garden.
“But don’t you need help going through your cupboards and drawers?”
“I don’t want to look at another cardboard box or another Santa right now, thank you very much. Why don’t you go outside and put your feet up, and then I’ll come out with the coffee?”
When Emelie came out carrying a tray with a thermos, two cups with Santas on, Christmas napkins and a pack of biscuits, Birgitta was actually sitting in the white wooden sofa with her feet on the chair across from her.
She had kicked off her sandals, leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
When the tray hit the table she looked up. Emelie showed her the pack of biscuits.
“Nothing home-made or amazing, but some coffee and a small, store-bought biscuit.”
“Sounds lovely. It’s just so beautiful here in Astrid’s garden. Or, I mean your garden”, she said, and grabbed one of the biscuits.
“I understand that it will be Astrid’s house and Astrid’s garden for you for a long time to come, and it doesn't matter. The garden is mostly Andreas’ work and Astrid’s Christmas spirit is watching over the house,” Emelie answered with a chuckle.
As she was saying it, she felt that it was true.
Things were starting to fall into place and she didn’t feel quite as stressed about all the things and Andreas’ presence anymore.
As long as he stayed away from Linn. She peeked over at his little cottage.
Perhaps she should ask him about those planks for a kitchen table anyways.
“So, you have gone through everything now?”
Birgitta slurped her coffee and took another biscuit.
“No, and now it's impossible to access the cellar, there are so many boxes there, so I really need to find a solution. I wonder where she got all those things, I bet she didn’t order them online?”
Birgitta seemed lost in her own thoughts, but then slowly shook her head.
“Yes, we really need to be able to find our way around the cellar,” she said distractedly.
She gave Emilie a distant look but then seemed to return to reality.
“What was that? You were wondering where she got everything? She was a collector for many, many years and everyone who ever went into town would always bring something back for her. I believe that Andreas is responsible of many of the items in that house. And then of course it was the market.”
“The market?”
“Yes, back in the day, up until perhaps seven or eight years ago, we always had a large Christmas market on the island, in the community centre to be exact. It was rather famous; people came from the mainland to visit it. Astrid was always there, her baking was famous, you see, and it sold like…yes, like hot cakes… and she always picked up some new Christmas things there”, Birgitta said, smiling at the memory.
“It sounds lovely, but why did you stop arranging it?”
“Oh well…”, Birgitta let her wait for the answer. “I’m not entirely sure, but it was Christer up on the hill who was responsible for the market, he is in charge of the community centre too and…”
Birgitta took a sip of her coffee, looking at Emelie as if she was debating whether she was worthy of sharing in the secrets of the island or not. Emelie smiled at her and raised her coffee cup, as if to propose a toast.
“Come on now…”
“Oh well, I guess it’s been such a long time…”
She leaned closer to Emilie, lowering her voice.
“Christer’s wife met a man from Malmo at the market and ran away with him.
The new man loved golf, and I guess he had a house on Mallorca.
Ever since that day Christer has hated everything that has anything to do with Christmas markets or people from Scania.
Oh, and probably golf as well, but I don’t know that for sure.
” Birgitta and Emelie looked at each other and burst out laughing and they continued until Birgitta put her hand over her mouth.
“No, it’s horrid, poor, dear Christer, we mustn’t laugh at it!”
Emilie tried to collect herself but wasn’t able to keep a straight face, and they both started laughing again. Before they had a chance to calm down, the pager in Birgitta’s pocket started beeping.
“Oh, well, that was fun while it lasted. It’s my husband, I have to go.”
“But it was great fun, thanks for the chat”, Emelie said.
Birgitta slowly got to her feet.
“It truly was, it’s been a long time since I laughed that much.
But if I were you, I’d go and speak to Christer, maybe it turns out to be the solution to all your problems. If we arrange a new Christmas market you can sell all of Astrid’s old things there.
And if you can make this old bag laugh, I’m sure you can convince Christer to forget about the Scanian too.
He lives on the first floor in the community centre. ”
She slowly walked through the garden and Emilie saw her stop and pick up the pager, turning it off when it beeped again. She turned towards Emilie and waved.
“By the way, Stig used to be Santa at the market. He was an extraordinary Santa, all the children loved him,” she shouted with a dreamy smile on her face.
And so did you, Emilie thought to herself with a heavy heart and waved back. It was obvious that Birgitta was in love with Stig, but it might be an impossible love, considering the situation. She stayed in the garden for a while, enjoying the sunshine. A Christmas market. It wasn’t a bad idea.
She looked at her watch. Linn would be at work for at least another hour and Liv and Linnea were over at Tore’s, she had time to go over to the community centre.
But where was it? Before she had the time to think any further, she was interrupted by the sound of Andreas’s moped and she just had time to put down her coffee cup and pull her hands through her hair before he skidded up in front of the house, gravel flying around the wheels.
His eyes were glittering as he got off the moped and walked in her direction.
“Are you sitting here all by yourself, having coffee?”
His entire face, the front of his shirt and his underarms were covered in a thin layer of dirt. Emelie couldn’t help but smile back.
“The walking specter has just moved on. From the look of you I guess that you have been digging some flowerbeds today?” she said, squinting.
He looked down at his arms and laughed.
“Christ you’re right, I have a job on the mainland remaking a whole garden. It’s hard work, but it’s looking great and it’s lots of fun.”
“I’m glad you came; I have something to ask you about.”
She told him everything Birgitta had shared with her, and then asked him whether he thought that it was a good idea to start up the old Christmas market, if it was at all possible to talk to Christer about it, and in that case; how to get to the community centre.
“It sounds like a great idea, the Christmas market was lots of fun, there’s lots of people on the island missing it, and I’m sure they would love for it to return.
But we will have to talk to Christer because the community centre is definitely the best place for the market.
Give me ten minutes, and I’ll give you a ride? ”
She nodded and he went over to his. Almost exactly ten minutes later he came back out.
His hair was wet and he had a denim shirt tucked into his well-fitting jeans.
Emelie thought about Sara and how she asked her over the phone the other day if he was a hottie or not.
She hadn’t admitted it then, but there was no use denying it.
The messy fringe, the muscular, tanned underarms and the broad grin.
He was a hottie. Andreas gestured to her to jump up on the platform, but Emelie had something else in mind.
“Can I drive?”
He smiled.
“Of course, have you tried it before?”
“When I was a teenager, but it’s a bit like biking, right?”
Soon, she was the one driving and he was sitting on the pillow up front showing her which way to go.
When he pointed to the left after the centre of town and a large, dovetailed, Swedish red two-story building appeared, she understood that they were there.
She made a soft brake in front of the community centre.