Ebba scrambled back and forth across the house, tidying up, making sure everything was in its right place. No spec of dust was safe from her meticulous eyes, no photo frame dared to tilt beyond a perfect ninety degree angle.
Nils nearly cowered when she rounded a corner and burst in through the kitchen. She had already laid into him twice about helping her make the place look immaculate, and he wasn’t prepared to face her wrath a third time this morning.
“What are you doing?” she demanded more than asked.
“Nothing,” he murmured, stepping back from her. “Thought I might grab something to snack—”
“Snack? Snack?” she asked, as if he were the raving lunatic. “I just went through the house making sure this place is spotless, and you want to leave a trail of crumbs everywhere?”
“Ebba, I’m starving,” Nils protested. “He’s already two—”
“Ugh, this attitude is the reason he barely visits at all!” she practically screamed at him, even though it wasn’t true.
Her husband had become extremely docile over the past decade. He was a shadow of the man she had married nearly five decades ago, strong headed but strong willed as well, there had been a sureness to him that had been so easy to fall for when she’d been the same age her granddaughter is now.
The thought of her granddaughter caused her to come up short of breath. She eyed Nils with a look of betrayal. Her eyes accused him of wanting to know where her husband had gone, and why he’d been replaced with this terrified dreck before him.
But she knew why. They both did.
“He’ll be here,” she rasped. “Go sit in the living room and turn on the news if you want to take your mind off your belly. And don’t you dare make a mess in there.”
Her eyes trailed him as he exited the room sulking. She turned back to her stove where she was keeping the lunch she prepared at a simmer, awaiting his arrival.
Ebba had grown used to him arriving late. He’d done so ever since his company started its contractor work with the U.S. At first, she’d bought the guise he was selling that something always came up that caused him to get on a later flight. Now, she knew he always delayed his arrival on purpose.
Oh please, please forgive us. Please finally forgive us.
Despite always being fashionably late when he came home, she didn’t dare start cooking her meals later to compensate. Ebba didn’t want to risk the one time she got a late start on having a home cooked meal prepared for him be the one time her son actually showed some punctuality. She was already being punished because of what her husband had done almost three decades ago. Ebba didn’t want to risk finding out what her Axel would retaliate with if she disappointed him.
She looked up at the sound of a car door slamming, them scurried through the window. A bolt of excitement charged through her body.
“He’s here!” she called to Nils. She watched as two doors opened, and for a moment, got her hopes up.
“Is he…alone?” Nils asked.
Ebba did her best to fight back the frown, and the tears, when she saw the second person to emerge from the car was the cab driver. Nils didn’t need to wait for her to reply. The delayed response was all he needed to know.
Their granddaughter hadn’t made the trip as well.