Handy for you, p.18
Handy for You, page 18
“So,” Sam gave Graham a sidelong glance before looking at Kari and Rob, making Kari wonder if a more serious announcement was on the way. Too fast. Too soon. “You guys seem cozy.”
Kari coughed and color flamed on Rob’s cheekbones.
“Rob’s been over here a lot. Helping me with the house.” Kari indicated the dining room. “I didn’t know how to paint a wall, for instance. But he helped.”
She glanced back at Rob, but his cheeks were still red. And his eyes were hard. “Yeah,” he said. “It all started with the kitchen sink and ended with paint.”
Ended? Kari’s brain whirled. “Um. Could you give me a hand in the kitchen while I plate everything?” she asked Rob.
“Sure.” But even in agreement, his voice was clipped.
“Sam, feel free to put on some music.” Kari strode through the dining room and into the kitchen. Out of immediate earshot of her other guests, she asked Rob, “Are you mad at me for some reason?”
His jaw clenched and he put his wineglass down on the counter with a snap. “I don’t know. Are you ashamed of me for some reason?”
“What?” Kari fought to keep her voice from rising. This was the last thing she expected tonight.
“I’m just your handyman? Jesus, Kari. If that was the way you really felt about me, maybe you should have told me first.”
Anger and embarrassment welled up in her. “That wasn’t what I meant at all.” But she could see how he took it that way. Shame and defensiveness mixed in her belly, a toxic brew.
“Then why did you basically contradict Sam when she inferred that we were seeing each other?”
“Weren’t you the one worried about ‘giving us away’? Wasn’t that about not telling them that we’re together?”
“No.” Rob’s jaw clenched. “It was about not having sex with them in the house.”
“For crying out loud, I thought I was keeping the focus on them. Tonight was about them.” Why was he flipping out like this? His extreme reaction wasn’t the calm, measured Rob she thought she knew. At all.
“There’s room in people’s heads for more than one thought at a time,” he rasped, the anger in his low tones unconcealed. “And both Sam and Gray seemed to think that our being together was a good thing. I guess you’re the only one who disagrees.”
“I don’t disagree.” Kari’s voice started to rise and she slapped a hand over her mouth. Taking a breath, she removed her hand and whispered. “I also didn’t know how you would react to me taking us public without talking to you about it first. Maybe you would be ashamed of me.”
“That’s horseshit and you know it.”
“I don’t know it. I know you didn’t date for ten years.”
“And I broke that streak very consciously. For you. I have your art—signed by you—hanging on my wall. And you think that means I would be ashamed of you?” Rob’s fists settled on his hips.
Kari flung her hands wide, exasperated. “You didn’t exactly run out and tell Mia. She basically inferred it too. I don’t know how your mind works.”
“Well I obviously don’t know how yours works if you take what I’ve done and boil it down to that conclusion.”
Kari closed her eyes, pinched her lips together, trying to figure out how this had gotten out of hand so quickly and completely. “Okay. Can we start over? I’m perfectly happy to march in there and tell them that yes, we’re seeing each other. That it’s very new. So new that I was nervous about talking about it. Would that help?”
“Help what? Help get through the evening or help things long term? If there is a long term?”
Ice shot through Kari’s veins. “Hopefully both. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Okay. Fine. Apology accepted.”
But he didn’t look any happier.
Rob helped Kari portion the meal and plate it up, but anger still simmered through him.
This was exactly what he’d been afraid of. Everything going off the rails and them living right next door to each other, forced to see each other all the time no matter how much it hurt.
Kari shot him a nervous look and picked up two plates, carrying them into the dining room without a word. He had two choices right now. He could go home, leave Kari to explain what had happened, or he could make the best of the rest of the evening.
He did what he always did when he was in a moral quandary: he thought about what kind of example he would have wanted to model for Mia when she was a kid.
Dammit.
Gritting his teeth, he followed her with the other two portions. Graham and Sam came in as he was setting the plates down on the table. Sam commented favorably on the wall color as they sat down.
“Yeah. Rob did it all in here when I was doing the motif in the living room.” She shot him another nervous glance, exasperating him. What did she think he was going to do?
Then he remembered that he’d been one short, sharp decision away from just walking out the back door and leaving her swinging. The realization shamed him. He looked across the table at Graham. The younger man’s brows were drawn together and he was looking at Kari, but his expression smoothed when he met Rob’s eyes. The change in his face seemed to say, “I don’t like any of this but it’s none of my business and I’m staying out of it.”
Rob picked up his fork and took a bite of roast, nearly moaning out loud at the tender, savory meat. Absurd as it was, he wasn’t sure he could stay mad at Kari and eat food this good. He swallowed. “Delicious, Kari.”
“Thank you.” Her face relaxed just a little and the other two chimed in with praise for the meal.
“Kari’s always been good at anything creative,” Sam said. “Cooking, drawing, painting, music, knitting, hardanger… Anything.”
Kari ducked her head. “I don’t know about anything. I know I enjoy creating something out of ingredients or paint or yarn. What about you, Gray? Do you have hobbies?”
Graham looked at Sam, warmth in his expression. “Well, fishing obviously. I enjoy hiking as well. But I don’t have a creative bone in my body, I’m afraid.”
“Kari got all the creative genes in our family too,” Sam said.
“Untrue. You tie flies,” Graham retorted. “She’s been experimenting with some original designs, too.”
Kari’s face glowed with pride. “That’s great, Sammie. What a neat accomplishment.”
Sam shrugged. “Some traditional patterns just weren’t working on some rivers. I had some ideas about why. That’s all. No big deal.”
Rob chewed, a smile spreading across his face as he watched this byplay, shoveling another bite into his mouth. His daughter’s voice seemed to resonate in his ears. Dad, I told you you should have something to eat before you went over. Hangry again.
He almost let his hand slam into his forehead. That was why he’d flown off the handle at Kari. His blood sugar level was probably hovering somewhere around his toes. Add his impulsive nature to that and bingo, he’d overreacted.
He looked at Kari. She was looking at Sam with pride and affection, her expression open and relaxed. She seemed to feel his gaze on her and she glanced at him, her face going taut.
Nothing for it but to try to row back to normal interaction. “You work at Montgomery University?” he asked Graham.
“Yeah. I’m head of technical services in the library,” Graham said.
“Rob is the head of I.T. for a gaming company,” Kari said. The anxious look on her face as she made the attempt to connect them almost broke Rob’s heart.
Graham’s fork paused between his plate and his mouth and he shook his head at an apparently common misconception. “Not at all the same thing. We have an I.T. department too. Library technical services are the things you—hopefully—don’t see as a patron. Cataloging. Acquisitions. That kind of thing. Stuff that happens behind the scenes so you can get what you need.”
“And you’re in charge of all that?” Kari’s gaze flicked from Graham’s face to Sam’s. Rob read the message there. Impressive.
Graham chewed, swallowed, shrugged. “It’s a small department.”
“Being in charge of a department is a big deal, no matter the size,” Rob said.
Graham’s head lifted and he looked Rob in the eye. “Being responsible for people is always a big deal.”
Point taken. “You’re right.” He glanced at Kari. She swallowed and looked at her plate.
“We are seeing one another. Rob and I,” she said.
“And I was kind of a jackass about it in the kitchen,” Rob said, reaching out to wrap his hand around hers. Kari looked up, her mouth falling open in surprise.
He wanted to kick himself for his thoughts earlier.
He’d been ready to chuck everything because she’d had a moment. His throat went tight. He squeezed Kari’s hand and looked at Sam. She was regarding him with an interested frown. “Why were you a jackass?” Sam asked.
“Because I deflected when you asked about us. I hurt his feelings.” Kari poked at her food with her fork, her eyes on her plate.
“You going to be a jackass again?” Sam asked.
He smiled at her fierce expression “No ma’am.”
“Good.”
Chapter Twenty
After dinner, the little group sat in the living room, savoring Sam’s pound cake and drinking decaf. “I’m going to have to disagree with you, Sam,” Rob said. “Kari may be a creative mastermind, but you definitely have it going on where baked goods are at.”
Kari nodded. The cake’s texture was perfect, the flavor the right balance between tart and sweet as it spread across her tongue.
Graham gave Sam a look of pride, then glanced at Kari, his light eyes shining behind his glasses. “It’s true. She made me julekake a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing.”
Kari’s eyebrows shot up. “You made julekake? But it’s not Christmas.”
Rob’s bewildered face swiveled to look at the rest of the group. “Is this more Norwegian insider talk?”
“Norwegian food,” Kari said.
“You haven’t told him about lutefisk have you?” Sam asked with a sly smile.
Kari shook her head. “No. I don’t want to scare him. But he told me to do eeny-meeny-miney-mo to make a decision and was a little taken aback when I busted out elle melle, deg fortelle instead.”
Sam laughed, and Kari realized it was the first time in over a month she had heard that sound. A pang of time lost shot through her at the same time as a surge of elation.
“If you ladies have had enough of your inside jokes, I’d like to know what kind of baked goods I’m missing out on,” Rob said with a long-suffering air.
“Bread,” Graham said. “With cardamom and candied fruit and nuts.”
“Fruitcake?” Rob’s brows scrunched together and his nose wrinkled.
“No. Most definitely bread,” Graham corrected. “Delicious. Sam’s informed me that there will be no more until Christmas, though.” He laid a hand over his heart and looked at the ceiling, the picture of a wounded man.
“But…I still don’t know why you made Christmas bread in June,” Kari said.
“It was a thank-you,” Sam said, darting a pleased glance at Graham. “Gray’s brother is an attorney. He’s helping us with the Norwegian lawyer. To sell the farm.”
“You’re…selling Litengård?” Kari’s throat closed and she set her plate down on the coffee table.
“I have to,” Sam said, her face the picture of helpless woe. “I can’t afford to keep a farm in the U.S., let alone one in another country.”
Kari nodded, numb. Sam inheriting the farm had been what started this mess in the first place. Mor’s family had lost it in a debt to Sam’s real grandfather’s family, the Johannasens. Mor had married Einar Johannasen on the assurance that he would return the farm to her family. Instead, he had taken her to America and his family had kept the farm. Einar’s brother, Sam’s great-uncle, had left the property to Sam upon his death, apparently in a fit of conscience.
Kari had known and accepted the farm was Sam’s. And that meant she could do as she liked with it. So why did it hurt so much to know she was selling it?
“Are you okay?” Sam asked.
“Sure,” Kari said with a brightness she knew sounded forced and off.
Sam pushed the last little morsel of cake around her plate. “I should have consulted you. Before deciding to sell.”
Kari shook her head and picked up her coffee. Her throat was dry. “No, you shouldn’t have. You inherited Litengård, not me. It’s yours to do whatever you want with.”
Rob watched the byplay between Kari and Sam with increasing bewilderment. What were they even talking about? He glanced at Graham. The younger man’s expression was concerned, but he didn’t look puzzled.
But now wasn’t the time to ask for explanations. The rift between aunt and niece had been well on its way to being repaired and now something else was going on.
“Bestemor was your mother,” Sam said.
“Yes, and Einar Johannasen was your grandfather. And his brother left the farm to you.”
“But the Johannasens shouldn’t have had it in the first place. It should have been in Bestemor’s family, not my…grandfather’s.” She said the last word as if the utterance cost her something. Or as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.
Kari leaned over and grasped Sam’s wrist. “I happen to think this is the best outcome. After all, I ended up inheriting everything from Mor.”
“That wasn’t much,” Sam said.
“I don’t care. You deserve something. Can we drop it? Enjoy your inheritance? Have something for yourself for once?”
Sam swallowed and nodded, but Rob saw it was with reluctance. And looking at Kari’s tense, unhappy face, he couldn’t tease out what was misery on her niece’s behalf and what might be personal heartache.
Graham held up a hand. “May I ask something?”
Kari leaned back in her chair. “Of course.”
“Are you upset that Litengård went to Sam or are you unhappy with how she is disposing of it?”
Kari’s face worked. “I don’t know.” Tears glistened in her eyes but didn’t fall.
Rob ached. He looked at Sam, who looked at her aunt with an anguished expression.
“So if I’m understanding this correctly, Sam inherited property in Norway?” Rob asked. Both women nodded.
“Family property,” Sam said with a guilty glance at Kari.
“It’s a windfall. Take it.” Now Kari just seemed weary and resigned.
“Is there any way you could compromise? Do something like sell most of the land and keep the house?” Rob asked.
Sam shook her head. “The attorney in Norway found a buyer who wants to turn it into an agritourism place—kind of like a bed and breakfast, but the guests help out on the farm. For that, they need the house as well as the actual working part of the farm.”
“Is that the only possible buyer?” Rob asked.
Graham rested his hand on Sam’s, squeezing it a little. “What would be the point of having a house in an expensive, distant foreign country? How would she maintain it? If she hired people to look after it, how would she know they could be trusted? And even if she was able to sell just the farmland, how long would the money last to keep the house maintained? And all for what? It’s a lot to ask.”
“Good grief,” Kari said, her face going pale. “Graham’s right. I can barely handle owning a house I live in. I can’t imagine what it would be like to deal with that. I’m sorry, Sam. I should have known you’d sell it. It’s logical. I just…didn’t think beyond the idea that Mor was getting justice.”
“It’s okay.” Sam leaned her head on Graham’s shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and looked down at her drawn face.
“I think it’s probably time for us to hit the road,” Graham said. “Thanks for a great meal, Kari. Nice to meet you, Rob.”
The four of them got to their feet and moved to the foyer where Rob shook Graham’s hand and Kari and Sam hugged. Sam gave him a solemn look and pointed her finger at Rob as Graham opened the door.
“Don’t be a jackass again,” she said.
“I’ll try not to be.” Rob smiled.
“Okay then.” She smiled at Kari, then went out with Graham.
Kari closed the door and leaned back against it. “Well, that went…well? Maybe?”
“Well on some levels, okay on others,” Rob said.
“What did you think of Gray?” Concern etched furrows in Kari’s brow.
“Solid guy. Besotted with your niece. If he was age-appropriate for Mia and she brought him home and he behaved that way, I’d give him the Dad seal of approval.”
Kari’s shoulders sagged. “I’m relieved. I thought so too, but he’s kind of quiet. Not a lot to go on. And I’m not used to this. I haven’t met anyone Sam’s dated in years. She had a really bad experience a while ago and was leery about dating. But for a second there I thought they were going to announce they were getting engaged.”
“And that would be a bad thing?”
Kari flung up her hands. “It just seems so fast. Like everything else. That flash flood feeling I was talking about. I feel caught up in too many things I can’t control.”
Rob reached out, wrapped his fingers around hers and tugged her away from the door. “Come on. There’s a little wine left over. Let’s build a raft and enjoy the ride.”
After dealing with the dishes, Kari allowed Rob to tow her away from the mess and return to the living room, glasses of wine in hand. They sank to the couch and Rob kicked off his shoes, turning to sit sideways and pulling Kari against his chest. She leaned, letting his body heat soak into the tense muscles of her back.
“Tell me what’s bugging you.” He set his wineglass down on the coffee table and pressed his thumbs into the base of her neck, rubbing in slow, tiny circles.
“You keep doing that and I’m going to lose any ability to speak at all,” she said.
“Do your best.”
