Just a Fika by Beck Erixson

Author:Beck Erixson [Beck Erixson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beck Erixson
Published: 2023-09-26T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Ah! Today is moving too fast, and I’m still sore as anything from yesterday’s sunburn and last night’s lecture from Mormor. Late fika with Svea is great, but all I want to do is ride Frida up and down each street. The bike is within reach of the porch swing, and each time we swing far enough forward I want to reach out and drag my fingers across the handlebars.

“Did you kiss him?” Svea shatters my daydream.

I straighten. “Does it matter?” Yale’s probably busy right now figuring out other ways to destroy the personality of this neighborhood. “No, it took a wrong turn.”

“What do you mean? What about the sparks, the light, the electricity?” Svea is undoubtedly picturing double dates, weddings, and raising babies together.

Different lives—different goals. Though, she’d have thrown him off the boat when he mentioned the house. Feisty is in the bloodline.

“I’m so sorry. I know you want me to date—I’m no good at dating.” I shift my weight and the board under the porch swing creaks.

“What about Kurt?” she asks, with a bluntness only family can get away with.

“What about him?” I’m really not ready for twenty questions, nor trying to decipher if I’m misreading our interactions. The bad taste Yale left in my mouth is not helping my mood.

Svea’s eyes glance to the white beam board ceiling. “I think—”

“Careful,” I cut her off. “The walls have ears—and mouths.”

Svea laughs. “Are you two eavesdropping again?”

Neither member of the busybody duo respond to her question. If they’re here, they are hidden well. At this point, it is safer to assume my dead family is everywhere I go. I’m the puppet they are playing with to finish whatever business they think is important.

“Maybe they are eating,” I joke. “Or drinking.”

“Nah, they are totally out scanning for your next date.” Svea folds her hands around her glass and gazes ahead. “Picture it, a nice boy from one of the clubs. Dapper, kind, someone to watch out for you who is stable.”

“By stable, you mean boring and self-centered?” I say.

“Oh, ouch,” Svea says. “Maybe you misunderstood? I’ve never known Yale to be—off-putting. Usually the women in town are trying to marry him off as a good catch.”

“And what about Kurt?”

“Thought you weren’t interested,” she says with a teasing hiss.

My heart warms and tears of happiness well behind my eyes as we swing. She’s friendship, loyalty, love, and most importantly my family.

Damn, this drink is stronger than I remember. “How much rum did you put in this?”

She chuckles. “Enough to knock Santa on his ass.”

“Ah, good times. Full spiked punch on Christmas Eve. Santa stumbling into the living room with his bag of gifts. And us all sitting on a drunk man’s lap.” I raise my glass.

“The best part of all this,”—she waves her glass left to right in front of her—“I don’t have to wait for major holidays and hope you show up.”

My stomach twists. To be fair, she never knew it wasn’t totally my decision. She’s always included me without hesitation.

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