Page 13 of The Christmas Book Flood

Tatiana considered drawing her arm from Anders’s.

.. but if he’d wanted her to, he would have lowered his, releasing her.

The fact that he held his arm steady made her think he didn’t mind his mother seeing them walking like this, together.

And it wasn’t just curiosity in the woman’s gaze, unless Tatiana was mistaken. It was intrigue. Excitement, even.

“Who are your friends?” his mother asked in a tone that implied, And why didn’t I know you were taking a woman and another little girl with you today? Have you been hiding things from me?

Tatiana smiled. Mothers were the same, it seemed, wherever they were.

Anders cleared his throat. “Mother, this is Tatiana, Valdi’s niece.

She works as the publisher’s assistant at the Story Society.

And this is her niece, Elea. I thought Heidi would enjoy making a new friend so invited them to join us.

Tatiana, Elea, allow me to introduce my mother, Gilla, and my sister, Ada. ”

They exchanged hellos, Gilla’s gaze moving from her son to Tatiana and back again, clearly trying to discern what might be between them. But she said only, “It looked as though you’d intended to walk on by—were you seeing Tatiana and Elea home?”

“Of course. Then I was going to take Heidi home to Ram’s house.”

His mother beamed. “I was just saying I could use a walk. We’ll join you.”

There was no refusing such an invitation, but Tatiana didn’t mind the new additions, even when it somehow resulted in her hand losing its place wrapped around Anders’s arm when the little girls darted between them in a game of chase.

In the ensuing laughter, Ada ended up beside her brother and Tatiana beside Gilla, since the sidewalk wasn’t large enough to walk more than two abreast.

“How long have you been working at the Story Society?” Gilla asked with a smile that said she’d maneuvered them exactly to her liking.

Tatiana had no trouble keeping her own smile fresh. If it were her parents who had found them instead of his, she knew very well Pabbi or Mother would be angling for a conversation with him too. “Five years now. I was so excited to be hired—and your son is a large part of that.”

She knew very well he could hear her, and the fact that he almost tripped over his own feet told her he was more than a little surprised by her words.

Her smile turned into a grin. “I’ve long admired his writing and illustrating, and my uncle had told me that he’d been the lead editor on several of my favorite books.

I couldn’t believe I’d actually get to meet him!

You must be so proud. Uncle Valdi is forever saying how Anders is one of the most brilliant literary minds of our day, and I thoroughly agree. ”

Gilla sent an indulgent smile toward her son’s back. “Always smart as a whip, Anders was. So much cleverer than the rest of us. I knew he’d do great things.”

Anders darted an incredulous look over his shoulder.

Tatiana leaned closer to Gilla and pitched her voice low. “And handsome too.” She didn’t really care, just now, if he heard her.

Which was good, because his mother’s laugh was full volume, as was her, “Oh, all my sons are handsome. They take after their father.” A wistful look overtook her face, and she let out a long breath.

“I still miss him. Anders made a painting of the two of us, you know—gave it to us for Christmas just a month before my Johann died. We’d been debating where to hang it, but after that.

.. I had Dalmar hang it in my bedroom for me, so it would be the first thing I see every morning when I wake up, and the last thing before I turn out the lights.

He captured him. Us.” Her smile went a bit mischievous as she looked back to Tatiana.

“You’ll have to come and visit sometime. I’ll show it to you.”

“I’d love to see it,” she said, trying to decipher why in the world Anders was goggling over his shoulder at them now , as if in total confusion.

Was he perhaps surprised that his mother would issue the invitation on so short an acquaintance?

He surely knew it was the fact that they’d been walking arm in arm that had sparked Gilla’s interest in Tatiana.

“He has a few of his drawings at the office, and I can never get enough of seeing them.”

“He did some for his brothers too, that same year, and their wives all took the cue from me and hung them up in their bedrooms. I’d hoped he’d make a tradition of giving us artwork each year, but.

..” She shrugged. “He’s been kept so busy, now that his sagas are being published.

His brothers and I visit him a few times a week just to make sure he’s not working too hard to keep himself fed. ”

Ada was clearly listening in as well. She sent a smile over her shoulder at them and then bumped her shoulder into Anders’s arm. “Well, I’m going to commission a wedding portrait from him. You’ll paint me and Obi, won’t you, Anders? It can be the first piece of art we have in our new home.”

“I...” He frowned at his sister. “Of course I will. If you want me to.”

She rolled her eyes as only a sister could. “Of course I want you to. Mother said I shouldn’t ask, but why not? If a little sister can’t pester her talented big brother, then what’s the point?”

Tatiana laughed. Anders did not. He shook his head slowly, as if trying to make sense of something.

“He gets pestered enough by his brothers. Boys,” Gilla said with a smile and a shake of her own head that didn’t look nearly so confused as her son’s.

“His brothers give him such a hard time—of course, they give each other a hard time too. It’s the way they show their affection, but I’ve never understood it. ”

“I only have the one sister,” Tatiana said. “But I have scads of male cousins and have observed this about them. I’ve never understood it either. Why can’t they just say nice things to each other once in a while?”

Gilla laughed. “It’s as if they think the sky will fall.”

The little ones, who had been leading the way, darted around Anders and Ada, Heidi grabbing at her grandmother’s hand. “Ommu, can Elea and her aunt come to your house for Christmas Eve? Can they? Please?”

Now Tatiana’s cheeks warmed again. She had been debating what to do on Christmas Eve—to have a quiet evening with just her and Elea or to go to Valdi and Beta’s, as she’d originally planned. But nowhere in the debate had there been any intention of inviting themselves somewhere else entirely.

Gilla didn’t bat an eye, just grinned at her granddaughter. “Of course they’re welcome, if they could squeeze us in around the other plans they probably already have.”

Heidi didn’t seem to hear the part about other plans. She just clapped and darted forward again, calling out, “You can come!”

Tatiana let out a breath of laughter.

Gilla sent her a wink. “No obligation, of course. But you truly are welcome. Heidi is always complaining about the lack of girl cousins near her age for her to play with. Which neighborhood is your niece from? Perhaps we can get them together more often.”

“Oh, she’s only visiting Reykjavik,” Tatiana said. “My family lives in Hellnar, about three hours away.”

Gilla’s eyes lit. “A fishing village!”

“Once the biggest,” she agreed with a nod.

“Elea’s father is a fisherman, though he and my sister are also running my family farm.

My parents have retired to a little cottage in the village proper where they can help care for my grandmothers more easily.

” She knew very well that it was only because Mother and Pabbi had their hands full with their two mothers, neither of whom was in good health, that Ari had asked Tatiana to help with Elea instead of their parents.

Gunnar’s parents both worked punishing hours at the fishery.

Gilla gave her a big smile and looped their arms together. “I assumed you were from the city, one of the academic types Anders runs with.”

Her own smile felt a bit self-deprecating on her lips.

“I only just moved here five years ago. Though my uncle has called Reykjavik home for about twenty-five years now. Since my father was more interested in keeping the farm than he was, Valdi went to university and then stayed here afterward. It worked out well for everyone.”

“A girl who understands all the publishing things but has roots in Hellnar.” Gilla patted her arm. “Anders, I like this one. Don’t let her get away.”

The expanse of skin above his scarf turned red again. He craned around, looking absolutely mortified. “Mother...”

Tatiana couldn’t help the chuckle that filled her throat. “Don’t worry, Gilla. I’m not going anywhere.”

Her gaze caught his, tangled there. It was more forward than she’d ever been, more pointed.

More vulnerable. But when the corner of his lip tugged up, when his blue eyes went a shade darker with feeling, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

It was time to take a few risks. Let him see that if he was interested, she was too.

She suspected the look they shared wasn’t lost on his mother, not given the little grin Gilla wore and the way she pulled away a step as Elea and Heidi raced toward Tatiana’s building.

“Ada,” the mother called out, “let’s leave them here and go run those errands.

And Anders, you needn’t rush Heidi home—her mother’s busy decorating and Ram isn’t home yet, and the boys are all at Dalmar’s. ”

A not-so-subtle hint that Anders and Heidi should not only see them to their door but come in and visit for a while. Tatiana couldn’t help but agree. She reached out to clasp Gilla’s hand between hers. “It was so lovely to meet you.”

“You’re an answer to prayer is what you are.” Gilla winked, gave her hand a squeeze, and then turned to give Anders a hug, whispering something in his ear that Tatiana couldn’t hear, but which made his cheeks flush yet again.

Poor fellow. Tatiana bided her time while the farewells finished and then gave him a smile she hoped would make up for all the cause for blushing. “If you’re not in a rush, we can let the girls play a bit more and visit.”

For the first time since they’d come upon his family, his shoulders relaxed. “That sounds perfect.”