***
They finished cleaning up the bottles and Erik tied up the garbage bags while Katrin showered and got dressed. She wore a traditional white, Swedish peasant blouse with delicate floral embroidery and a traditional lace-up bodice over the blouse. To complete the costume, she would have worn an apron over a long striped or patterned skirt. But, the revelations about Wade had taken the shine off the morning, and she didn’t feel like wearing the full, cheerful costume. She tugged on jeans and black ballet flats instead.
While she got dressed, she heard Erik on the phone, first with the local police, whom he updated on Wade’s nightly sojourns in Katrin’s back yard and his suspected trips up to Skidoo Bay. The police cautioned that they would note Erik’s suspicions, but without actual proof of Wade’s trespassing, they couldn’t do much of anything. Erik assured them that he and Kat would be in to file the paperwork for a restraining order that morning. Erik called Ingrid next, and explained what they’d found behind Katrin’s apartment. She gave Erik the name of the rehab center where Wade was getting treatment in Great Falls. Next he called the rehab center, and Katrin overheard him confirm that yes, Wade was there, and yes, they were keeping a close eye on him.
For now, there was nothing to worry about and nothing else they could do.
With that news, Katrin finally started to feel the tension ebbing out of her as she sat on her messy bed, which smelled of her and Erik, and last night. It made her happy and made her feel safe and sexy, and she tried to let go of her fears and discomfiture. Erik was here. He would keep her safe. She braided her long blonde hair into two, intricate Swedish braids from her crown to the nape of her neck, where she joined them into a long braid that trailed down her back. When she finished braiding, she looked up to see Erik watching her from the doorway.
“I could watch you do that forever,” he said simply, gesturing to her braids.
I love you, Erik. I love you so much. This morning would have been unbearable without you here.
“Det är dags för Midsommardagen, Katrin Svenson.” It’s time for Midsummer.
“Ja, Kärlek,” she replied to her love, standing up and taking his hand. “Let’s go.”
***
After a stop at the police station in Choteau to file the restraining order against Wade, Erik dropped her off at Paradise, where her mother and aunt would weave tiny spring flowers into her braids. He made his way to the porch off the main lodge where Lisabet told him he could find his father, brothers, Sam, Sam’s father, Sean, and Kristian. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to it. It was time to settle things with Katrin’s brother.
He parked in the main parking lot and made his way through the great room of the lodge, which was decorated for the holiday: there were wreaths and garlands everywhere he looked, festooning every possible surface. His eyes followed a garland of yellow and blue blossoms up the main stairs, and he smiled at the yellow, blue, and white flowered wreath settled carefully around the neck of an elk head over the massive fieldstone fireplace. Traditional Swedish folk tunes were being piped in through the main speaker system, and Erik hummed along softly, grabbing a Kringla cookie from a platter as he opened the door that led to the porch balcony where his father and Uncle Sean rocked in rocking chairs, and the younger men leaned on the banister, catching up with one another.
“Erik!” Nils raised his massive hand in greeting. “Wondering when you’d get here!”
“Had to drop off Kat at Paradise.”
He shook his brothers’ hands, and smiled warmly at Katrin’s uncle Sean, whom he had met several times when the Kelleys visited Jenny and Sam in Great Falls.
“Good to see you again, Erik.”
“When’d you get back from Egg Mountain, Sean?”
“Ah. It was good and dark by the time I came down. I caught hell from Margaret.”
“I bet,” chortled Carl, giving his daughter’s father-in-law a sympathetic smile. “You missed the big news at dinner.”
Sean looked at Sam, smiling with approval. “I heard this morning. Couldn’t be happier.”
“That makes two happy grandfathers,” agreed Carl beside him, slapping him on the back.
Erik noticed Kristian leaning against the thick wood railing at the edge of the group, arms crossed, face cold. His eyes said it all: You’re sleeping with my sister and I have no idea if I can trust you.
Erik could only imagine how he would feel if it were Jenny.
“I need to talk to you,” Erik said.
Kristian rubbed his jaw with his thumb and forefinger and nodded.
“Want us to come with you?” Lars asked at Erik’s elbow.
“This is between me and Kristian.”
Lars backed off, but he didn’t look happy. Nor did Nils, who stood shoulder to shoulder with his middle brother, eyeing Kristian with menace.
Erik led the way, down the length of the porch, turning around the building to an empty side porch where he faced Kristian.
“You better speak fast, Erik, because my fist is dying to—”
“I love her.”
Kristian looked flummoxed. Of all the things he had expected to hear, this must not have been one of them.
“You what?”
“I love her. I love your sister. I love Katrin.”
“You love her.” Kristian looked down, but Erik could hear the softening in Kristian’s tone and in his shoulders. He looked back up, eyes narrow. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because it’s true. Because you’re looking at me and you know it’s true.”
Kristian nodded slowly, searching Erik’s
