The Solstice Mistletoe Effect (7 page)

feeling as restless as he did, neither of them was going to get

any sleep any time soon.

“What’s wrong?” Magnus’s warm breath caressed

Lance’s cheek.

“I was just thinking about all the people that seem to

have problems with how we live our lives.” Lance moved in

more closely, sliding one of his legs between Magnus’s

thighs.

“No wonder you’re tossing and turning.” Magnus slid

one of his hands down along Lance’s spine and created a

wonderful tingling feeling all over his body.

“I’m sorry for keeping you awake, but I just can’t stop

wondering why they don’t leave us alone.” Magnus’s warm

embrace was already relaxing Lance very effectively. Why

had he even tried to fall asleep on the other side of the bed?

He should have known it was pointless.

“Don’t worry about keeping me awake. I’ve been

thinking too.” Magnus rested his warm hand on Lance’s hip.

“One thing is certain. We can’t live our life the way others

want us to live it. If they don’t like it, that’s just too bad.”

“Even if it’s your family that doesn’t approve?” Lance

was still a little shocked. While his own family hadn’t been

overly enthusiastic when he told them he was moving in with

Magnus, they hadn’t attacked him either. Over the last few

months, they’d even become supportive. It didn’t look like

Magnus’s parents were going to move in that direction.

“Especially if it’s your family. They’re closer to you than

anyone else, and the potential for them to do damage is

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much bigger. I didn’t come out to my parents until after I’d

finished college for that reason. I was afraid they wouldn’t

understand and would try to change my mind.” Magnus

chuckled. “They did try, but luckily Mikkel and his wife Irene

were there to support me, and my father gave up.”

“So we’ll just ignore their unease?” The idea didn’t sit

well with Lance.

“I don’t think we have a choice, as my father isn’t likely

to change his mind any time soon. And we won’t be here long

enough to help him see how wrong he is.” Magnus shrugged.

“For all I know, it might take a few years.”

Lance had been afraid of that. Nothing much he could

do about it, though. Since he was nice and warm, safe in

Magnus’s arms, he decided to let it go for now. Tomorrow

was another day.

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Chapter Six

MAGNUS opened the front door with the key his mother had

given him yesterday morning. A very tired Jakob and an

exhausted Lance were right behind him. Their visit to

Junibacken, a park featuring the fairytale world of Astrid

Lindgren, had been a big success, but he was ready for a

quiet evening at home and possibly an early night.

“We’re back.” Magnus led the way toward the kitchen,

where he knew his mother would be working on dinner.

“Did you have a good day?” His mother looked up from

the pie she was making and smiled at them. It looked as if

she was completely over her misgivings.

“It was great!” Jakob perked up as soon as he saw the

snack of cookies and milk that sat waiting for him on the

small kitchen table. “The rides were amazing, and we met

Pippi Långstrump and Emil i Lönneberga. And then we took a

train around all of these scenes from the books. It was very

exciting. And I got some new books as well!”

“It hasn’t changed that much since I last went, but I still

enjoyed it.” Magnus sat down opposite Jakob and pulled

Lance into a chair next to him.

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“Would you two also like a snack?” His mother smiled at

Magnus, and Lance nodded. She brought over more cookies.

“Dinner won’t be until later today, since we’ll have a guest.”

Magnus almost groaned out loud. He didn’t like his

father’s business associates. Why had he invited someone

over, anyway? Wasn’t this holiday supposed to be family

time? From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Lance

looked surprised, even a little worried.

“Do you know who it is?” Magnus took Lance’s hand for

support.

“Your father wants it to be a surprise.” His mother

shrugged apologetically. “I’m sure you’ll be okay, since it

isn’t one of his business partners.”

They finished their snack and spent some time reading

with Jakob before bathing him and tucking him into his bed.

The boy was asleep before they closed the bedroom door

behind them. Magnus wished he could go straight to bed as

well. Instead, they got dressed for dinner and went back

downstairs when they heard the doorbell ring.

Magnus’s father was opening the front door.

“Hello, Mr. Carstens. It’s good to see you again.” The

blonde woman in the light blue sundress looked vaguely

familiar. She barely glanced at his father before she turned

to gaze at him, clearly expecting a warm welcome. “Hello,

Magnus, what a nice surprise to see you.”

“Welcome, Miss Nilsson.” Magnus’s father smiled

triumphantly and stepped aside to let their guest enter the

foyer.

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Sigrid? What was Sigrid doing here? She’d been one of

the most promising students of glaciology when Magnus was

teaching and writing his dissertation at Stockholm

University. He’d supported her professional development

wholeheartedly and felt somewhat responsible for her career.

But she’d obviously misinterpreted that professional

interest and had started making very unwanted advances in

his final year. Magnus had thought he’d gotten rid of her

after her attempt at getting him to join the university-funded

polar expedition in the winter of 2007 and 2008. The many

letters she’d sent after he’d left told a different story. He’d

always responded politely but had never entered into a

personal discussion.

“Well, aren’t you going to say hello?” Sigrid stepped up

to him with her hand held out, giving him no choice but to

shake it.

“Hello, Sigrid.” Magnus tried to pull back his hand, but

Sigrid resisted long enough to let him know that she wanted

more than just a handshake.

“I’m so happy you finally came home. It will be great to

reconnect.” She ran a hand through her long blonde locks. “I

could do with your help on planning the next expedition and

hope you will have some time to come see me at the

university.”

Hell no. He had a few university meetings lined up, just

to reconnect with ex-colleagues and friends. But he had no

interest in spending any time with Sigrid if he could possibly

avoid it. She made him uncomfortable. Why hadn’t she

gotten the message when he’d ignored the advances she’d

made in her letters?

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Lance already looked as though he was going to explode

if he didn’t get to ask a few questions. Magnus’s father

looked way too smug. Something was definitely up, and

Magnus didn’t like it one bit.

“This is Lance, my partner.” Magnus took his lover’s

hand. “We met just before Christmas and now take care of

Jakob together.”

“I know. Your father told me.” Sigrid briefly shook

Lance’s hand, a somewhat forced smile on her lipstick-

covered mouth. “It’s so nice of you to help Magnus with

Jakob. I’m sure he appreciates your support a lot.”

Before Lance could respond, she’d already turned away

and started peppering Magnus with questions on the results

from the latest Antarctic expedition, which had just been

published in the Scientific American. She made some

interesting points, and Magnus quickly found himself

embroiled in a discussion about the pros and cons of using

different ice boring drills and methods.

He hardly noticed dinner being served. He hadn’t had

such a fascinating discussion in a long time. His work for the

Grand Teton National Park was interesting, but not exactly

at the cutting edge of scientific exploration. He found he’d

missed that, and talking to Sigrid gave him a small glimpse

of the world he’d left behind.

It turned out to be a fascinating evening, even if Lance

did leave rather early. But he’d been very tired and was

probably getting bored by all the technical language, so it

was better he went to bed and got some sleep. They had

another big day planned tomorrow.

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When Magnus did finally make it upstairs after an

excellent glass of brandy or two, he found Lance curled up

on his side, facing away from the middle of the bed. That was

very unusual. Magnus went around the bed to have a closer

look. Lance’s face looked suspiciously wet, and when

Magnus pressed a careful kiss onto his lover’s relaxed lips,

they tasted salty. Huh? Had Lance been crying?

MAGNUS woke to an empty bed. A stab of surprised pain

made him sit up in hopes of finding Lance somewhere else in

their room. But he was gone. Shit! There’d be no chance to

get him alone until the evening. They needed to be alone and

talk about what had happened last night, but it looked like

he’d have to hold on for a while longer.

He liked spending time with his little family, and

including Jakob in their activities was wonderful. But it did

mean less time for Lance and him as a couple. In cases like

this, with a misunderstanding or a problem between them, it

meant having to wait until they could clear things up. That

part he didn’t like at all.

By the time he made it downstairs, breakfast was

almost over.

“Good morning, Uncle Magnus!” Jakob was bouncing in

his seat, a big empty bowl with crumbs of cereal in front of

him. “Did you have a good sleep-in?”

“Good morning, Jakob.” Magnus smiled. “I slept well,

thanks. You look like you’re ready to go.”

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“Yes, I am. But you should have some breakfast first.

Farmor Carine says it’s the most important meal of the day.”

Jakob grinned.

“Well, in that case, I’ll definitely have some food and

coffee, if any is left.” Magnus sat down next to Lance,

glancing at his tired-looking lover and hoping for one of his

wonderful smiles. “Good morning, Lance. I missed you this

morning.”

“Good morning, Magnus.” Lance’s voice was soft and

low, his big eyes wider than normal when he looked up. “I

missed you last night.”

Fuck! Lance looked like a hurt puppy, those doleful

brown eyes stabbing Magnus through the heart. It was way

worse than he’d feared. All he wanted to do was to take

Lance into his arms and make the pain go away. But Lance

didn’t look as though that would help. They’d definitely have

to talk first. How was Magnus going to survive the day

knowing how much Lance was hurting?

“I’m so sorry. We need to talk about this.” Magnus raked

a hand through his hair. “I really want to drop everything

and do that right now.”

“We can’t.” Lance shook his head. “Jakob’s been looking

forward to visiting the Vasamuseet to see the preserved war

ship. He’s been talking about it all morning.”

“But what about you? What about us?” Magnus wasn’t

hungry any longer.

“We’ll have to wait.” There was a sad little smile on

Lance’s lips, but he looked confident. “Jakob comes first.”

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LANCE kept thinking back to their conversation in the

kitchen as the day progressed. Even though he was sure that

Jakob came first, maybe he should’ve found a way to talk to

Magnus.

The situation last night had been too weird. Sigrid

turning up like that was almost surreal, and the way she’d

been welcomed by Mr. Carstens was disquieting at the very

least. Even though Magnus hadn’t reacted to her at first, by

the time he’d been discussing God knew what glaciologist’s

secret details with her, he’d been totally lost to the rest of the

world. Lance had felt completely invisible.