Because of Lauren: A Love Story

by Vivi Underwood

  “Oh, Jonas, how awful!”

  “Her screams brought me running from the house. I thought something terrible had happened to my mother. And then I saw my father. My mother was inconsolable, and I didn’t know what to do. I don’t remember much from my early childhood, but I still remember that.”

  He glanced at Lauren. She looked just as devastated as he had felt at the time. He tugged her a little closer in comfort, then continued.

  “Eventually, we adjusted as well as anyone does under those circumstances. But my mother became extremely overprotective and worried about me constantly. I understood why, but there were times I felt smothered. It was my grandfather’s idea that I go to college in the States. He could see what was happening and thought it would be good for me to get away. My mother eventually remarried, and it has been good for her. She was a widow far too long.”

  “Do you see her often?”

  “Several times a year, and we talk often on the phone.” He chuckled. “She still keeps close tabs on me.”

  “Because she loves you.”

  Jonas leaned down and whispered in her ear. “She knows about you.”

  “Already? When did you tell her?”

  “Yesterday, early in the morning.”

  “You were in an awful hurry.”

  “I had fallen in love with the most amazing girl. I had to tell someone. My mother had waited a long time for a phone call like that.” He smiled down at her. “She can’t wait to meet you.”

  “Does she know I am American?”

  “Of course. She was surprised but very happy that we have found each other.”

  “She must be a pretty amazing woman, having raised a son who turned out like you.”

  “I hope you don’t mind if I tell her you said that. She will be even more impressed by you.”

  A wonderful aroma met them as they entered the Jansen home. The whole family was there, even the grandchildren, and the house had a festive feeling. How kind of Bente to make an occasion of this, Lauren thought.

  The grandchildren came running into the hall, eager to see Lauren and meet Jonas.

  “Are you really Lauren’s cousin?” asked nine-year-old Anne.

  “Distant cousin,” replied Jonas. “Our great-grandparents were brother and sister, so it’s a long way back.”

  “Does that mean you can get married?”

  Jonas smiled down at her. “We could if we wanted to.”

  “I wanted Lauren to marry Uncle Lasse, then she would stay here.”

  Jonas’ smile widened. This could prove to be an interesting evening. “And does Lauren want to marry Uncle Lasse?”

  Anne scrunched up her face and innocently spilled the beans. “I don’t think so. A long time ago, he wanted her to live with him, but she said no.”

  An eyebrow raised quizzically, Jonas turned to Lauren. “Want to add to that?”

  Eyes dancing, she shook her head. “Nope!” Nothing Anne said surprised her anymore. The child had a positive genius for eavesdropping.

  “I was afraid of that.”

  Jon came into the hall to greet them and saved them from any more unexpected revelations. For the moment.

  The conversation around the dinner table was lively, and Lasse was in top form. Lauren doubted she would get away unscathed this evening.

  He directed his first hit at Jonas. “Did Lauren tell you she’s going sailing tomorrow night with a group of bachelors who are all crazy about her and are just waiting for her to make up her mind which one of us she wants?”

  Jonas chuckled. “She did mention the sailing part, but I’m afraid you are going to be disappointed. Lauren and I have a date tomorrow night.”

  “Sorry,” said Lasse firmly. “We booked her first. We have plans.”

  “And so do we,” said Jonas pleasantly.

  There was a tinkling sound as Lauren gently tapped a spoon against her crystal goblet. “Excuse me! I happen to be very much present and can speak for myself.”

  Lasse let out a guffaw. “Oh, Jonas, do I have a story for you. Miss Prim and Proper’s bell tinkling is bringing back memories.”

  “Not tonight, Lasse,” came his mother’s soft rebuke. “I insist on decorum at the table.”

  With a wickedly gleeful look Lasse coaxed, “Come on, Mother. Jonas will get a kick out of this story.”

  His mother gave him a stern look. She had no illusions about her son. She was also fully aware of the reason his and Lauren’s long-ago romance ended abruptly and that Lasse still harbored hopes of someday winning her back. Bente, however, dealt in reality, and the last thing Lauren needed tonight was Lasse needling her.

  “Not tonight,” she repeated with finality.

  Though plainly frustrated, to everyone’s relief Lasse backed off and dropped the subject.

  Mouthing a silent “Thank you” to Bente, Lauren turned to Lasse.

  “I was looking forward to going sailing with you and your friends. However, as Jonas has arranged for me to have dinner with two more distant cousins tomorrow night, I am going to beg off and hope that you invite me again sometime.”

  “Very diplomatic,” expressed Gustav, the Jansens’ older son and Anne’s father. “Short and to the point. You should let the women do the talking more often, Lasse.”

  “Excellent advice,” concurred Bente amid the laughter. “Is everyone ready for dessert?”

  They relaxed and chatted over dessert until Jonas finally stood up and faced his hosts. “Bente, Jon, thank you for a very enjoyable evening.” He nodded to the others around the table. “It was a pleasure getting to know all of you. I do, however, have work waiting for me, so I’m going to have to cut the evening short. I hope you’ll forgive me.” He put a light hand on Lauren’s shoulder. “Come see me off.”

  “Is there somewhere we can be private for a moment?” he asked as they left the dining room.

  Lauren led him down the hall and into her room. The minute the door closed behind them he pulled her into his arms. “I wish I could suggest we spend the rest of the evening together.”

  “We’ll still have tomorrow.”

  Not nearly enough time, he thought. “We should have coordinated our schedules better when you decided on the trip over.”

  “At the time, it wasn’t an issue. I thought I’d be having lunch with a sixty-year-old man,” Lauren reminded him.

  “And I thought I’d be meeting a forty-something woman.”

  “Did you really? I wonder why.”

  “I made an assumption based on the ages of your mother and her sisters.”

  Lauren smiled. “Sorry to have disappointed you.”

  In reply, he kissed her.

  “I’m walking you down to the car,” she said when he released her.

  They slipped out through the French doors of her room and straight onto the back terrace.

  “It’s spectacular up here, isn’t it?” Jonas remarked. He walked to the edge and looked down. The roof of the boathouse was partly visible from where he stood. “Quite a way down, though.”

  “Several flights of stairs bolted into the rock wall,” Lauren explained.

  They walked down to where Jonas’ car was parked. They stood there holding each other until Lauren finally said, “You should probably be on your way or you’ll be up all night working.”

  “What will you do now?”

  “Check in with my office to make sure there are no problems.”

  “You check in when you are on vacation?”

  “I have someone handling things for me, but they run more smoothly if I can nip potential problems in the bud.”

  “And what do you do, exactly?”

  “I’ve been given a fancy title, but primarily I’m head of our executive management team—the people handling our top accounts. I also oversee the training of o
ur sales teams around the country, and to add to my burden, I personally handle a few of our most lucrative accounts.”

  “Why is that?”

  “They refuse to deal with anyone but me.”

  Jonas smiled. She looked so young, so appealing standing there downplaying what was obviously a high stress, very demanding job. And she made it sound like it was all in a day’s work.

  “And why is that?” he said again.

  He saw the lurking smile, but she answered without any false modesty. “Because I am good at what I do. My team is top notch but there are always a few clients who demand special pampering.”

  “And that’s where you come in?”

  “Well . . . I’m the one who went and fought for their business and now they refuse to deal with anyone but me.”

  “And you are good at pampering,” Jonas surmised.

  “Apparently. They spend enormous amounts of money with us. The down side is I travel too much, and my workdays often seem endless.”

  More impressed then he let on, he said lightly, “I had no idea I had fallen in love with a rising young executive.”

  She brushed that aside. “I don’t think of myself that way. Fortunately, the CEO likes my work and I am well compensated.” A mischievous grin appeared. “Paying for the shoes wasn’t a hardship.”

  Even more impressed, Jonas laughed silently. “And it allows you to live on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. I wondered how you could afford that.”

  “I live there because it is a safe neighborhood and only a short subway ride from my office. But my apartment is approximately the size of a shoe box.”

  Jonas shook his head. “Do you know what I find most captivating about you, Lauren? Your ability to constantly surprise me. I have never met a woman with so many facets to her. Is there anything you can’t do?”

  “I speak almost no Chinese.”

  Jonas smiled. “I’ll overlook that small deficiency. Now, kiss me goodnight, unless you would like me to walk you back up to the house.”

  “Definitely not,” she said and lifted her face for a last kiss.

  Chapter Nine

  Lauren awoke to softly pouring rain. She was seeing Jonas that evening, but this morning she planned on treating herself to a hike in the mountains.

  Bente was sipping her morning cup of coffee when Lauren entered the kitchen. “There is herbal tea if you want some,” she told Lauren, “and boiled eggs. Oh, and the pastries are fresh this morning.”

  “Yum! Who went to the bakery so early?”

  “Jon, before he left for work.”

  “There is a reason why you’re my favorite home away from home. You spoil me.” Lauren loaded a couple of items onto a plate. Nothing tasted like fresh Norwegian baked goods.

  Bente smiled. “He didn’t do it for you this time, he did it for himself. He was in the mood for something sweet this morning.”

  “Then I’m grateful he bought enough to share.” Lauren fixed a cup of herbal tea and brought it and her plate of goodies to the table. “Thank you for making dinner so special last night, Bente. Jonas really enjoyed himself.”

  “I’m glad. And we enjoyed getting to know him. What are your plans for today?”

  Lauren smiled. “I want to hike to Sandvikspilen.” Sandvikspilen was a lookout on the Sandvik Mountain, one of the seven mountains surrounding the city of Bergen.

  “All the way up there in the rain?”

  “That’s the plan.”

  “The rain gear is hanging by the back door. Bundle up good, it’s pretty wet out.”

  “I will.”

  Bente rose and gathered her dishes. “I have a shift at the hospital this morning so I’ll need the car today.” She still worked three days a week as a pediatric nurse at Haukeland Hospital, the city’s largest.

  “I won’t need a car. Other than my hike I plan on sticking close to home. And there is always the bus.”

  “Enjoy your hike, and I’ll see you this evening.”

  After Bente left, Lauren spent a few minutes lingering over breakfast and scanning the newspaper. Nothing of vital interest, she thought. Soccer matches, but they seemed to always dominate the news. Other sports, local politics, international . . . She casually checked the happenings across the Atlantic. Not much of interest this morning. Business . . . Lauren stopped abruptly. She recognized the face in the picture above the headline that read: Jonas Juul Headed to Portugal. Then in smaller print below: The head of Juul Enterprises will be part of a delegation of top European business leaders meeting this week in Lisbon to discuss . . .

  “For Pete’s sake!” Lauren exclaimed. Jonas had told her about his upcoming trip to Lisbon but had failed to mention it was an international conference of such importance that it made news headlines. A hint of a smile touched her lips as she thought of the two of them tilling the soil and planting flowers on her grandfather’s grave. Was it only yesterday? And tomorrow he would be sitting down with some of Europe’s most distinguished and important business and government leaders. And he never said a word. Lauren was amazed by his lack of ego.

  The rain had turned soft and gentle, more like a mist, really. Lauren lifted her face to it in pure enjoyment. She had made it to the end of Langevannet, a narrow, elongated old reservoir, when her cell phone rang.

  “Hello, Lauren. Come have lunch with me?”

  Lauren’s disappointment was acute. “Oh! I would love to, but I’m on my way to Sandvikspilen. In fact, I’m walking past Langevannet right now.”

  Jonas’ chuckle came through loud and clear. “Of course, you are. That would have been my first guess in this weather.”

  “The rain was so beautiful, I just had to get out in it.”

  “But all the way to Sandvikspilen?”

  “It’s not that many kilometers and the views are fantastic from there. You can see almost all the way to the North Sea.”

  “On a clear day,” Jonas pointed out.

  Lauren laughed. “True. Maybe it will start to clear before I get there.”

  “I love you, Lauren. And I love your optimism.”

  “I miss you.”

  “Why do you think I invited you to lunch, beautiful girl?”

  “Are you very busy?”

  “Some catching up to do because of yesterday, but not too busy to make time for you.”

  Lauren hesitated a moment, then said, “I wonder if we should change our plans for tonight, do something quick and simple so you’ll have the time you need to prepare for your trip.”

  “I want to take you out tonight,” he assured her, “and Annie and William will be disappointed if we cancel.”

  It wasn’t difficult to give in. “I wish I could meet you for lunch.”

  “Are you crying?” Jonas asked gently, detecting a slight change in her voice.

  Lauren managed a smile though her voice was a little wobbly. “I don’t think so. I think my face is just wet from the rain.”

  “Liar,” he whispered. “Enjoy your hike and I’ll see you at six.”

  “‘Bye, Jonas.”

  She tucked the phone back in her pocket. He knew her so well already, she thought, as she blinked the tears away and wiped her face dry. She had been enjoying the hike but now she missed him. Silly really, considering they only parted last night, and she would see him in a few hours. If she couldn’t handle a day away from him, how on earth was she going to survive several weeks? She forced the unsettling thought from her mind and continued her hike.

  She reached her destination to a gradually clearing sky. The sun very bravely fought its way through the clouds, and though she couldn’t see all the way to the North Sea, she could see the city shrouded in clouds far below as well as parts of the surrounding mountains. The climb had been worth it.

  She found a large, flat rock and sat down to rest and eat the sandw
ich she brought. Being up here, high above the world, rejuvenated the soul and lifted the spirit. Manhattan and its sea of humanity seemed a world away.

  The climb to this lookout had a special meaning for Lauren. It had been her mother’s favorite climb as a youth. Eighteen-year-old Lauren had been awestruck by the view as she stood beside her mother on that perfect summer day eleven years ago. She pondered the path her life had taken since then, so different from what she had once thought it would be. At twenty, she’d had her first serious brush with romance. She’d had stars in her eyes and life seemed full of promise. Until it all came crashing down.

  The years in between had been busy and challenging as she matured into the woman she was today, but true love had proved as elusive as a butterfly in flight.

  Until Jonas.

  Jonas! Just saying his name made her heart sing. In Jonas, she had found the kind of man she had always hoped to find but sometimes wondered if she ever would. With him she had finally, irrevocably, come home.

  From her perch high above the city, she faced a new reality: this city would someday become home. Living an ocean apart might work for some couples but not for her and not for Jonas.

  Juul Enterprises was an old, established firm in this city. Relocating to the States would present major headaches on many levels, and Lauren would never ask that of Jonas. That meant only one thing: if they wanted to be together, and they did, she would be the one relocating.

  She was reminded of something her mother told her long ago. When she met and fell in love with Lauren’s father, America finally started to feel like home.

  It had been different for Lauren. She had felt at home in Norway from her very first visit. She loved her own country, of course, always would, but the idea of eventually settling here in this beautiful country that still held a piece of her mother’s heart appealed to her in many ways. Over the years, she had known military families who had spent time overseas. She also had a couple of friends whose husbands had accepted employment opportunities abroad. They all spoke positively of the experience, and Lauren had every confidence the same would be true for her.