Stockholm Diaries, Melanie Page 23

  Mel tugged on his hand and walked over to the spot where she had sat yesterday. She motioned for him to sit down on the floor with her.

  Silently, she handed Henrik the bundle of letters. His jaw tightened as he looked down. Just the handwriting was enough to tell him who had written them. He grabbed them out of her hand and abruptly stood up.

  “I’m not going to—” The words came out through clenched teeth and then stopped as he ran his hand through his hair a couple times. He took a deep breath.

  “You can’t—”

  Again he stopped. He took another visible breath, and she watched his shoulders sag as he let it out. Then he knelt down next to her again, and his eyes pleaded with her.

  “Mel, please don’t put me in this position. Don’t do this to me.”

  “I’m not,” she said quietly. “I want you to give them to your mother. You can read them if you want, but I’m done with them.”

  Henrik’s eyes widened.

  “What—what do you mean?”

  His knuckles were white around the pile of letters, bending the yellowing papers. Mel put her hand on his leg.

  “Henrik, I’m not sure I want to write the biography anymore.”

  His mouth fell open, and his eyes widened further. Then he shook his head.

  “No,” he said softly. “No, you can’t do that.”

  Mel almost laughed.

  “Actually, I already decided. Sorry I didn’t consult you first.”

  Henrik shook his head again.

  “That doesn’t feel right, Melanie. As much as I don’t want you to write about my mother, it would feel even worse if you didn’t write your book at all.”

  He rested his forehead on his hand and stared at the ground. Mel stroked his thigh, and his muscles responded to her touch.

  “It’s not just for you, Henrik. In fact, I decided before I found your mother’s letters, before you came over yesterday.”

  He looked at her with that same, intense gaze that always found its way deep inside her.

  “Why, Melanie? It’s almost like your life has been one long preparation for this project.”

  “That’s the problem, isn’t it?” she whispered. “I’ve been waiting for these answers for as long as I can remember. But I can’t write the book. I’ve been trying all summer, and I can’t do it. You were right when you told me I was doing this for the wrong reasons.”

  His eyes narrowed.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  His mouth curved up a little.

  “You have to give me a little more credit—I wouldn’t say it like that, would I?”

  Mel laughed.

  “Maybe not exactly, but that’s what you meant.”

  He didn’t disagree. Instead, he put the letters aside and sat down next to her. He put his arms around her and pulled her gently into him. She could feel the heaviness of the last 24 hours melt, and in its place was the closeness between the two of them. He kissed the top of her head, and his low voice was next to her ear, still with a hint of worry.

  “What about your career? And what about the advance money?

  Mel shrugged.

  “I’m not sure yet. I’ve used most of it. I’d sell my car, but I doubt it’s worth enough. Maybe I’ll move in with my mother.”

  Mel sighed at the images that this line of thought brought: her old car, parked in her mother’s driveway for the summer. The stairs up to her flat in the dark, Colonial-era building. She had only been in Sweden for the summer, but these images felt like they belonged to another life. Her life without her father, her life before Henrik. It was a life that didn’t seem to belong to her anymore.

  She could feel Henrik tense up against her.

  “You’re not going back, are you?” he asked, his voice sharp and anxious. “You said that like you were planning for just yourself.”

  She turned to him, and she saw the lines of worry crease his forehead again.

  “I—I don’t know. I wasn’t really thinking when I said that.”

  She tried to give him a little smile and added, “This cabin won’t get me through the winter, will it?”

  Henrik didn’t smile back, and Mel could sense that this was the wrong thing to say.

  “Last night—”

  He stopped and let out a heavy sigh. He cupped her face in his hands and whispered, “I have another idea, but I don’t want you to answer right away. Just listen.”

  She nodded.

  “I don’t want you to give up your career just because of your father’s choices. Don’t let him control this part of your life, too. Instead, let’s try to finish the book togeth—”

  “Henrik, I—”

  “Wait, Melanie. Just listen first,” he said.

  His hands drifted down over her shoulders, easing the tension he found there. When he spoke again, his voice was soft and smooth.

  “We’d leave the island and stay at my apartment in Stockholm together. This cabin is your father’s place. Let’s make our own. We’ll guide each other and learn from each other.”

  Henrik kept his gaze fixed on her, and she couldn’t look away. He took a deep breath and continued.

  “We can decide together what needs to be told, and what should be left alone. Isn’t that what biographers do?”

  Mel frowned. “I’m not sure I can.”

  “That’s why we’d finish this together. Your name on the book. This is your story now. Your father gave it to you. He must have known what he was doing when he left you this cabin.”

  Mel tried to imagine putting the story together with Henrik. Truthfully, she needed someone else’s help, and Henrik had the potential to be either the perfect collaborator or the worst possible choice.

  “What about everything with your mother?” she asked. “Only a few minutes ago you were ready to demand that I leave those letters out of the book.”

  He winced and said nothing.

  “Henrik?”

  “That’s the part you’ll help me with,” he whispered. “That’s why we’d do this together.”

  His statement held compromise, given freely. Mel let the idea sink in.

  “I’d only consider your idea if you’d co-author it,” she said quietly. “Both of us writing, both of our names on the cover.”

  Henrik frowned.

  “I don’t know if I can,” he said. “I’ve already told you I’m stuck. Everything I write these days is shit.”

  “Maybe working on this project will change that.”

  Henrik sighed.

  “Maybe,” he said, though he didn’t look convinced. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise you anything.”

  They both sat quietly on her father’s bedroom floor, surrounded by photos. The morning light poured in through the window.

  “Henrik, you like to be on your own,” she said. “And I don’t think I could handle living apart from you when—”

  “No,” he said impatiently. “No, Melanie. I don’t want that world that I’ve made for myself. I want you at the center of it. That’s what I’ve been missing all this time.”

  Mel tried to smile.

  “Maybe it’s just the sex you’ve been missing,” she said.

  Henrik smiled a little and ran his fingers over her cheek.

  “I can’t imagine that sex will ever stop being amazing with you, but that’s not what I was referring to,” he said. He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and traced it down past her shoulder.

  “I swore I’d never have another relationship after my divorce, and that’s what I thought I wanted—until now. I’m not going to change. I’m still the same person who needs some distance from the rest of the world, but I want it with you. And if I have to choose between the two—between having a life away from the rest of the world and spending my life with you, I choose you.”

  “Good,” she whispered, her lips brushing against his, “because I think I chose you a long time ago. I just d
idn’t know what to do about it. That’s how bad I am at relationships.”

  He let out a low chuckle.

  “You chose me?” he asked kissing her gently again.

  “Yes,” she said, playing with the ends of his hair that curled up from his neck. Without the salt water, his hair was silky smooth. “In fact, I accepted a party invitation next door for both of us. It’s on Friday.”

  He looked amused.

  “Okay. That sounds like something regular couples do together.”

  “Yes,” she said, “I guess it does.”

  “Because in spite of the last few days, you knew in the end that I’d say yes to whatever you asked me to do?”

  Mel shook her head and laughed.

  “Not quite, though I’ll keep that in mind for the future,” she said. “It’s because I wanted it to happen. And I guess I wanted to see what you’d do if I took the lead for once.”

  Henrik laughed, too.

  “Did I do the right thing?”

  Mel kissed the soft, vulnerable part of his neck.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Definitely.”

  He pulled her tighter into him.

  “What’s your answer, Melanie? Will you give the book—and us—a try?”

  It seemed almost impossible that this was the same man who had discovered her undressed in her cabin the first day. The events of the summer had changed him, opened him up to her, as much as they had changed her. It wasn’t so long ago that he had told her their relationship wouldn’t survive off the island. Now he was inviting her to try. And this was just the beginning.

  She leaned forward and brushed her lips against his.

  “Okay, I’ll try,” she whispered. “We’ll try.”

  Henrik crushed her in his arms and held her there, mumbling words in Swedish that she might one day understand. But for right now, it was enough to bury herself in the warmth of his embrace and let go. The other parts—they’d get there.

  After a while, his hold loosened.

  “What’s this?” he asked, stretching over to the pile of photos that Mel had left on the ground.

  She pulled back to see what he had in his hand. It was the photo of her mother and her, taken on the swing.

  “You found this in the drawer?” asked Henrik.

  Mel nodded. His hand ran down her back in long, soothing strokes.

  “My grandmother must have sent it.”

  “This is your mother, right?” he asked, looking closer at the photo. “You both look beautiful. And happy.”

  “We were happy,” she said, laughing. “I think my grandmother was trying to tell my father that he didn’t ruin our lives. That everything turned out fine.”

  She took the photo to study it again and handed it back to Henrik.

  “Did it? Did everything turn out fine, Melanie?”

  Until this summer, she wouldn’t have known what to answer. But now, the hole in her life that her father had left had changed. It was no longer a hole but an ache, filled with a story. A story that had led her to Henrik. If her father hadn’t left, if her own story had taken another turn, would she and Henrik have even met?

  Both she and Henrik had inherited this story and lived with the consequences. But out of it, she had found happiness.

  She looked into his deep green eyes and saw his own happiness, too.

  “Yes, Henrik, everything turned out fine. Better than fine, in fact. Much, much better.”

  Dear Reader,

  Thanks so much for spending time with Melanie and Henrik as they find their way to their own happily ever after. Writing an island romance, where the characters are together for almost the entire story, was a fun challenge!

  I’d be grateful if you took a moment to let readers know what you thought about the book, either using the prompt at the end of this ebook or by following this link: http://www.amazon.com/Stockholm-Diaries-Melanie-Rebecca-Hunter-ebook/dp/B015YKFYG0/

  Are you interested in receiving news, sneak peeks and free stories? Sign up on my website: www.rebeccahunterwriter.com.

  Thanks again, and I hope to hear from you!

  xoxo,

  Rebecca

  About the Author

  Rebecca is a writer, editor and translator who has always loved to read and travel. She has, over the years, called many places home, including Michigan, where she grew up, New York City, San Francisco, and, of course, Stockholm, Sweden. After their most recent move back to the San Francisco Bay Area, she and her husband assured each other that they’d never move again.

  Well, probably not.

  Other Books in the Stockholm Diaries Series…

  “Stockholm Diaries, Alice”

  Editor Alice O’Connor is caught off guard at the Stockholm Book Expo when sexy author Jonas Hällström approaches her—to get her to read his book. Or so she thinks. But Alice’s quick flirtation with Jonas takes another turn when he shows up later that night with more than dinner on his mind.

  The irresistible pull of attraction between Jonas and her gives Alice a glimpse into how it feels to be someone different. But what if she wants to be this new version of herself for more than just a night?

  Available on Kindle Unlimited: http://www.amazon.com/Stockholm-Diaries-Alice-Novelette-episodes-ebook/dp/B013IHKCPO/

  Stockholm Diaries, Caroline

  A Swedish pro hockey player with a rough reputation meets an American looking for a taste of adventure in a steamy twist of travel and romance. Will they be able to overcome his dark past and her uncertain future to turn their sensual nights into something more?

  Photographer Caroline Mendoza finally sheds her safe life in Michigan for adventure and a fresh start, and her first stop is Sweden. But Stockholm suddenly becomes more than just a casual stopover when Caroline discovers her reclusive next-door neighbor is ex-Red Wings player Niklas Almquist, whose high-profile alpha bad-boy image, both on and off the ice, has followed him back to Sweden.

  While Niklas’s darker side draws her to him, she knows the sensible decision is to move on from Stockholm before she gets too attached. Her time in Stockholm is running out. She must choose between what is safe and what her heart tells her is right. Is she strong enough to take the risk?

  Available on Kindle Unlimited and in paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Stockholm-Diaries-Caroline-Rebecca-Hunter-ebook/dp/B00XZN6PVW/

  Coming in 2016…

  Stockholm Diaries, Caroline 2

  Stockholm Diaries, Veronica