Camilla Läckberg - The Ice Princess

They both started laughing through their tears, and it was Erica’s turn to wipe her nose with a paper napkin. All the emotion in the room made the air feel supersaturated, but at the same time it felt as if they were doing some spring cleaning of the soul. There was so much that had gone unspoken, so much dust in the corners, and they both could feel that it was time to take out the dust mop.

They talked all night, until the winter darkness began to be replaced by a grey morning mist. The children slept longer than usual, and when Adrian finally announced that he was awake with a piercing shriek, Erica offered to take care of the kids and let Anna sleep for a couple of hours.

She felt in lighter spirits than she could ever remember feeling. Naturally she was still furious about what had happened to Emma, but she and Anna had said a lot during the night that should have been said long ago. Some truths had been unpleasant but necessary to hear, and it surprised her how easily her sister could see right through her. Erica had to admit to herself that she had probably underestimated Anna. She may even have been a bit patronizing and only seen her as a big, irresponsible child. She was much more than that, and Erica was glad that she had finally managed to see the real Anna.

They had also talked a lot about Patrik, and with Adrian on her arm Erica now gave him a ring. He didn’t answer at home, so she tried his mobile instead. Placing a call turned out to be a bigger challenge than she was used to, since Adrian was overjoyed by the marvellous toy she had in her hand and tried desperately to make it his own. When Patrik answered his mobile after only one ring all the night’s weariness vanished as if by magic.

‘Hi, darling.’

‘Mmm, I like it when you call me that,’ Erica said.

‘How’s it going?’

‘Okay, thanks. There’s a bit of a family crisis here. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you. A lot has happened, and Anna and I stayed up all night talking. Right now I’m watching the kids so she can get some sleep.’

He heard her stifle a yawn.

‘You sound tired.’

‘I am tired. Hitting the wall. But Anna needs sleep more than I do, so I have to stay awake a couple more hours. The kids aren’t old enough to take care of themselves yet.’

Adrian babbled in agreement.

Patrik made a snap decision. ‘There’s another solution to the problem.’

‘Oh yeah, what’s that? Should I tie them to the banister for a couple of hours?’ She laughed.

‘I’ll come over and take care of them.’

Erica gave an incredulous snort. ‘You? Take care of the kids?’

He put on his most aggrieved voice. ‘Are you implying that I might not be man enough for the job? If I can take down two burglars single-handedly, I can certainly handle two extremely short human beings. Or don’t you trust me?’

He paused for effect and heard Erica sigh theatrically on the other end.

‘All right, you may be able to handle it. But I’m warning you, these are really small wild animals. Are you really sure you can stand the pace, at your age I mean?’

‘I’ll try. I should probably bring my heart medicine just in case.’

‘Okay, offer accepted. When can you get here?’

‘Right now, actually. I was already on my way to Fjällbacka for something else and I’ve just passed the minigolf course. So I’ll see you in about five minutes.’

She was standing in the doorway waiting for him when he stepped out of the car. On her arm she had a boy with round cheeks and flailing arms. Behind her, scarcely visible, stood a little girl with her thumb in her mouth and her other arm in a cast and sling. He still didn’t know the reason for Anna’s sudden appearance, but from what Erica had told him about her brother-in-law combined with the sight of the little girl’s plaster-wrapped arm, a nasty suspicion emerged. He didn’t ask. Erica would tell him what happened when she had a chance.

Patrik said hello to all three of them in turn. Erica got a kiss on the mouth, Adrian a pat on the cheek, and then he squatted down to say hello to a solemn Emma. He took her good hand and said, ‘Hi, my name’s Patrik. What’s yours?’

The reply came after a long delay. ‘Emma.’ Then she stuck her thumb back in her mouth.

‘She’ll thaw out,’ said Erica as she handed Adrian to Patrik and turned to Emma.

‘Mamma and Auntie have to take a nap, so Patrik came over to take care of you for a while. Is that okay? He’s a friend of mine and he’s very, very nice. And if you’re very, very nice Patrik might take an ice cream bar out of the freezer for you.’

Emma gave Erica a suspicious look, but the chance for an ice cream bar exerted an irresistible attraction, and she nodded reluctantly.

‘So I’ll leave them to you and see you in a while. Try to make sure they’re in one piece when I wake up, if you would.’

Erica vanished up the stairs.

Patrik turned to Emma, who was still giving him a suspicious look.

‘So, what do you say? Shall we play a game of chess? No? How about having a little ice cream for lunch? You think that sounds fine? Okay. Last one to the fridge gets a carrot instead.’

Slowly Anna struggled back to consciousness. It felt like she’d been dozing a hundred years, like Sleeping Beauty. When she opened her eyes she had a hard time orienting herself at first. Then she recognized the wallpaper from her childhood room and reality crashed over her like a ton of bricks. She sat up at once. The kids! Then she heard Emma’s happy shriek from downstairs and remembered that Erica was watching them while she slept. She lay back down and decided to snooze for a few more minutes in the warm bed. As soon as she got up, she’d have to deal with everything; this way she could buy herself a few more minutes of escape from reality.

Slowly it penetrated her brain that it wasn’t Erica’s voice she heard from downstairs, mixed in with Emma and Adrian’s laughter. In a cold, icy moment she thought that Lucas was here, but then she realized that Erica would rather shoot him on the spot than let him in the front door. She had a hunch who the visitor might be, and in curiosity she crept out to the landing and looked through the bars of the banister. Down in the living room it looked as if a bomb had gone off. The sofa cushions along with four dining room chairs and a blanket: had been turned into a fort, and Adrian’s blocks were scattered all over the floor. On the coffee table were strewn so many ice cream wrappers that Anna hoped Patrik was a big ice cream eater. With a sigh, she realized that it would probably be extremely difficult to get her daughter to eat either lunch or dinner. The daughter in question was riding on the shoulders of a dark-haired man with a pleasant face and warm brown eyes. She was laughing so hard she was practically choking. Adrian apparently shared her glee as he lay on a blanket on the floor, wearing only a nappy. But the one who seemed to be having the most fun was Patrik, and it was at that moment that he forever won a place in Anna’s heart.

She stood up and cleared her throat to draw the attention of the three playmates.

‘Mamma, look, I got a horsie.’

Emma demonstrated her total power over the ‘horsie’ by pulling hard on his hair, but Patrik’s protests were much too mild for the little tyrant to care.

‘Emma, you have to be nice to the horse. Or else you might not be able to ride him anymore.’

This remark prompted a certain caution in the rider. For safety’s sake she patted Patrik’s mane with her good hand to make sure she wouldn’t lose her riding privileges.

‘Hey, Anna, long time no see.’

‘I know. I hope they haven’t worn you out too badly.’

‘No, we’ve been having a lot of fun.’ He suddenly looked a bit worried. ‘I’ve been very careful with her arm.’