Finding Norway: The Norsemen's War: Book Three - Kyle & Dahl (The Hansen Series 3)

by Kris Tualla

  “Do what Dahl shows you to do,” Kyle instructed. “If you misbehave, even the littlest bit, you won’t be able to go ever again. Do you understand?”

  Thor’s head bounced in an enthusiastic nod. “Yes, Mamma.”

  Selby stood next to her as they watched Dahl and Ben, with Thor between them, walk out of the courtyard and head toward the forest.

  “He’ll be fine, you know,” Selby assured her. “Dahl knows how to handle a gun and he’ll show Thor the right way.”

  “I know.” Kyle looked at her sister-in-law. “But it’s so hard to let go.”

  Selby sighed. “We all have to. That’s turning out to be the hardest part of being a mother, in my opinion.”

  “Agreed.” Kyle faced Selby. “Let’s go bake something. A reward for the mighty hunters on their triumphant return.”

  *****

  The trio appeared two hours later, Thor proudly carrying his pellet gun like it was the mightiest of machine guns. He ran up to her, grinning like a hyena.

  “I hit the tree, Mamma!”

  “Did you?” Kyle wasn’t sure what she expected, but thought that was good news.

  “He did well.” Dahl took the gun from Thor. “He learned how to load the pellets and shoot the gun. But we only shot at trees today.”

  Ben smiled. “Those two shot at trees. I managed to take out a couple of crows.”

  Thor tugged on her sweater. “I want to go again, Mamma. Can I?”

  Kyle looked at Dahl, who was obviously glad that Thor didn’t hate him at the moment. “Would you take him again?”

  “Happily.”

  Ben handed Dahl his shotgun. “Without me, I’m afraid. I’m heading back the university tomorrow. I’m taking the bus to Oslo in the morning.”

  Kyle smiled at the young man. “Thank you for spending time with Thor. He’s going to miss you.”

  Ben ruffled Thor’s hair. “He’s a good kid.”

  Kyle considered her filthy son; sweaty dirt smudged his cheeks and bits of leaves stuck in his hair. “I think we’ll do your bath before supper today. And Aunt Selby and I made almond cookies for dessert.”

  “Yay!” Thor squiggled in an outburst of joy. “Can I have one now?”

  “If you wash your hands first.”

  When Thor bolted toward the bathroom, Kyle looked at Dahl, her heart full of gratitude. “Thank you.”

  Dahl smiled at her, his blue eyes glowing. “Thank you for letting him go with me.”

  She was beginning to believe the voice.

  This very well might be him.

  July 15, 1950

  Dahl was walking toward the front door when he heard giggling and the scrape of furniture coming from the Great Hall. He turned to look through the doorway then sprinted inside to catch Thor in mid-tumble.

  The five-year-old was apparently trying to reach a sword that was mounted on the wall. To reach his goal, he’d lifted a wooden chair on top of a side table and was climbing the wobbly tower when Dahl spotted him.

  “You know you’re not supposed to do that!” Dahl shouted at Thor then turned to Torhild. “Why didn’t you come get someone?”

  Torhild’s lips trembled. “I told him not to.”

  Dahl set Thor on his feet. “That was very dangerous, Thor! You could have gotten hurt!”

  Thor stared up at him, looking exactly like a puppy caught chewing a slipper.

  Until his mother appeared.

  Kyle looked at Dahl, the wooden chair which had clattered to the floor, and her son. “What’s going on?”

  “Thor tried to use that chair on top of that table.” Dahl pointed at the evidence as he spoke. “To try and reach that sword.”

  Kyle’s expression darkened and she strode straight toward Thor. “Are you all right?”

  The boy shifted from puppy to bulldog. “He can’t yell at me! He’s not my pappa!”

  Kyle looked at Dahl. “You yelled at him?”

  “After I caught him in mid-air? Yes I did,” Dahl huffed. He wasn’t the guilty party here.

  “I hate you!” Thor bellowed at Dahl. Then he ran from the room.

  Kyle started to follow him but Dahl grabbed her arm. “He nearly went head-first onto the stone, Kyle. He would have suffered a bad concussion—or worse.”

  She glared up at him. “I need to go to him.”

  “What he did was dangerous. He has to understand that.”

  Kyle gave a quick shake of her head. “That’s my job, not yours. Just because we’re dating doesn’t give you the right to discipline my son.”

  “If this becomes more than dating, it’ll be my job too,” Dahl reminded her before he let go of her arm. “Go on then. Do what you need to do.”

  She hesitated. “Thank you.”

  Then she ran after Thor.

  *****

  Kyle knew Dahl was right. Thor was wrong. But how was she going to bring peace between the two of them? If she didn’t figure that out, she’d be returning to Minneapolis as unattached as when she left.

  Thor needed to be dealt with first. “You know what you did was wrong, don’t you?”

  Thor didn’t answer—a sure admission of guilt. Instead, he repeated his previous stance, “Dahl can’t yell at me.”

  “We’ve talked about this, Thor. Any adult in this house has the right to stop you when you do something wrong.” Kyle grabbed his arm to assure he was listening. “And if Dahl hadn’t been there, you would have been badly hurt.”

  “He’s not my pappa.”

  Thor’s litany pushed Kyle to the edge of her patience. “No, Thor. He’s not. Your pappa died in Italy fighting the Nazis. Right?”

  Thor looked shocked at her harsh tone. He nodded a little.

  “Someday, I’m going to get married again,” Kyle said sternly. “And when I do, you will have a different pappa.”

  He frowned. “What?”

  “My husband will live in our house, sleep in my room, and be the pappa of our family.” Kyle’s head of steam took over and she charged through her terse explanation. “When that happens, I will have more babies. And you will have brothers and sisters. You won’t be the only child anymore.”

  Thor stared at her like she had just given him the worst news he could imagine. “Who are you getting married with?”

  “I don’t know for sure.” She paused, wondering if she dared to tell him the truth. Might as well prepare the way now, not later. “But it could be Dahl.”

  *****

  Dahl waited in the Hall wondering just how angry Kyle was with him, because he was damn angry with her.

  Was he crazy to continue to pursue her? Thor was always going to be a reminder of her first husband and the boy wasn’t going to be pleased with any man who wanted to share his mother’s attention.

  He better be sure she was worth the struggle before he spent one more hour with her.

  Dahl walked to the sideboard and poured himself a glass of aquavit. Then he poured a glass of wine.

  As he did, Kyle walked up next to him. “Is that for me?”

  Dahl handed her the glass. He wasn’t smiling.

  “So… how angry are you?” she ventured.

  “Very.”

  Dahl walked to an upholstered chair and dropped into it. He sipped his drink before he looked at her.

  Kyle followed and sat in the chair next to his but she wasn’t looking at him. “I don’t blame you. I didn’t handle any of that well.”

  “Nope.”

  Kyle nervously twirled her glass. “I’m sorry, Dahl. I should have fallen down and kissed your feet, not taken you to task for saving my wayward son.”

  “Yep.”

  She finally looked at him then. “Will you accept my apology?”

  He sipped his aquavit again before he answered. “I will. But I have to ask you something.”

  Kyle gave a little nod. “You want to know if I have room for a husband in my life.”

  How did she know?

  Dahl watched her carefully. “What’s your
answer?”

  Her eyes welled and she ineffectually blinked the tears back. “It’s not going to be easy, I know that. But it’s what I want.”

  “Are you sure, Kyle?” he pressed. “Without any doubt?”

  “I am, Dahl.” She wiped her cheek. “Will you be patient with me?”

  “We only have three weeks before you fly back to Minneapolis,” he pointed out. “Call me crazy, Kyle, but in my opinion you either go back as a married woman, or a completely unattached one.”

  Her eyes rounded. “Is this a proposal?”

  “Not yet.” He dipped his head to the side. “But it has the possibility of turning into one, I think.”

  “You’re crazy,” she murmured.

  One corner of his mouth lifted. “Are you as crazy as I am?”

  “You’re sweeping me off my feet,” she admitted. “That worries me.”

  “We’re not children, Kyle. We just need to decide to make a commitment and then work together to keep it.”

  Kyle set her glass on the low table in front of them and wove her fingers together before she faced him again. “What about love?”

  Dahl sighed. “Can I say I love you? Not yet. But my feelings for you are growing faster than I thought possible.”

  “Mine too,” she whispered without the trace of a smile.

  That’s encouraging. “If things between us continue as they have been, then in a few weeks I’d be marrying a woman who completely owned my heart.”

  “And moving to America?”

  “And moving to America,” he promised.

  Her gaze dropped and lifted again. “Are you ready to be a father to a spoiled five-year-old?”

  Dahl leaned forward and pinned her gaze with his. “That little guy needs me, Kyle. Maybe even more than you do.”

  Kyle stared at him. “Are you real?”

  He chuckled and stuck out an arm. “You tell me.”

  Kyle grabbed his arm and squeezed it. “Seems solid.”

  “Good.” Dahl withdrew his arm. “Now you need to promise me something.”

  “What?”

  “You have to trust me.”

  She frowned. “Trust you with what?”

  “With Thor. You need to let me treat him like my son while you’re here. He and I need to figure that out together.”

  “I don’t know…” Kyle retrieved her wine glass from the table in front of her and finally took a drink. “What if it doesn’t work out?”

  “It’s better that we find that out now,” he said kindly. “Before licenses and ceremonies and airplane tickets are involved.”

  Kyle was clearly struggling with his suggestion. “I don’t want him to end up hating you.”

  “He loved me the day I took him shooting, remember?” Dahl smiled. “I want more time with him doing things like that.”

  Dahl could see Kyle’s resolve setting in. He could already read her moods better than any woman he’d known—even Selby.

  She heaved a sigh. “You’re right. I’ll trust you with Thor.”

  “Good.” He set his glass down and stood. Grinning at her, he held out his hand. “Now kiss me to seal the agreement.”

  Kyle took his hand and he lifted her from her chair. He wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

  “I am falling in love with you,” he whispered. Then his lips sought hers.

  Kyle’s response was warm and eager—so eager, in fact, he wondered if she’d been holding back before. He was submerged in her touch, lost in her kiss, aware of nothing but the woman snuggled in his arms.

  “Nooo!”

  Thor’s anguished scream shattered his blissful world.

  Chapter

  Eight

  Dahl let go of Kyle and whirled around to face an enraged Thor. But he wasn’t looking at Dahl. He was glaring at his mother with all the fury a five-year-old could muster.

  “I don’t like that!” he shrieked.

  Then he bolted down the hall toward the back of the house.

  Kyle started to go after him.

  “Kyle!” Dahl barked.

  She turned to look back at him, her pupils wide enough to steal the color from her eyes and the effects of their passionate kiss blurring her lips. “What?”

  “Give him a minute, okay?” Dahl said. “He’s angry at you this time, not me.”

  “No. He’s angry at both of us,” she said sadly.

  Teigen ran into the room. “What happened?”

  Selby rounded the corner right after him. Her eyes swept the room. “Is everyone okay?”

  “Yes.” Dahl wondered if Kyle would tell them or if he should. It was probably her place since it was her son who exploded. “Kyle?”

  Her cheeks bloomed red. “We were kissing. Thor saw us. He’s… not happy.”

  Teigen and Selby exchanged looks that seemed odd for the situation.

  “Kissing?” Teigen asked, his eyes twinkling. “What’s going on between you two?”

  Selby smacked his chest with the back of her hand. “As if you don’t know.”

  “I don’t know details.” Teigen rubbed the spot but he was smiling. “Will you tell us?”

  Again Dahl wondered which one of them should speak. He decided to start with, “I asked Kyle if she would let me court her.”

  Kyle was clearly distracted by Thor’s outburst, but she pulled her attention back to Dahl. “We’ve been talking about our future. If there could be one.”

  “And now we’ve hit this bump.” Dahl closed the space between him and Kyle.

  He smiled into her worried eyes. “Let me talk to him, Kyle. He needs to hear me say that I’m not going to take his mamma away from him.”

  She looked at him like he was simple. “How do you plan to do that? He doesn’t understand Norsk, Dahl.”

  “No, but I speak English,” he said realizing with a shock that he’d never mentioned that. “I’m out of practice, true, but I can converse with a child well enough.”

  *****

  Kyle froze in disbelief.

  Her pulse surged in her ears. This couldn’t be happening again! Another Norwegian suitor hiding the fact he spoke her language?

  Why is this always happening to me?

  “You. Speak. English,” she growled.

  Dahl’s expression and tone were cautious. “Yes…”

  Her brow lowered and she glared at him. “Since when?”

  “Since I was a theater major. English was required as a second language.” He cleared his throat nervously. “Probably because of Shakespeare. Or Oscar Wilde. Maybe Eugene O’Neill.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” she cried.

  Dahl looked confused now. “I wasn’t intentionally keeping it a secret. Your Norsk is so good, much better than my English, that I never thought to talk to you in English.”

  Kyle put a hand over her brow and wracked her memory. What incriminating things had she said in front of Dahl when she thought he couldn’t understand her?

  Only that she didn’t like Olina.

  And that she did like him.

  She felt her cheeks grow tight with embarrassment.

  Another thought occurred. “Did you speak English to Thor when you went shooting?”

  “Of course.” He shrugged. “How else could I teach him what to do?”

  I should have figured that out.

  “Damn it.” Kyle walked in a circle, staring at the stone floor with her hands on her hips.

  “Kyle?” Selby approached her. “What’s wrong?”

  Kyle looked at her sister-in-law. “Nothing. Really.”

  “You’re not acting like it’s nothing,” Selby challenged. “What’s going on?”

  Kyle looked from Selby to Teigen. His face displayed the same concerned confusion as Dahl’s and Selby’s. Of course it did. None of them knew about Tor’s intentional deception. She hadn’t planned to tell them about it, but it seemed that now she’d have to.

  “When Tor first came to Camp Hale he was assigned a translator,” she
began. “That was me. It’s why I enlisted and it’s how we met.”

  “But Tor spent a lot of time in England.” Teigen looked to Selby and Dahl for confirmation. “Did he really need a translator?”

  “As it turns out, no. But I didn’t find that out until… for months.”

  Kyle decided they didn’t need to know exactly how she found out and she didn’t look at Dahl as she continued.

  “In the meantime, we’d fallen in love and he asked me to teach him English.”

  “Oh, dear.” Selby laid a hand on Kyle’s arm. “You must have felt so betrayed when you found out he was lying to you.”

  God bless you, Selby.

  Kyle nodded.

  “Did he tell you why he kept that secret? He must have had a good reason.” Teigen was clearly hoping his brother could be vindicated.

  Kyle hated to say more about Tor in front of Dahl, but if he was going to be her next husband he needed to hear it all.

  “Tor said he was very attracted to me and he didn’t want me to be reassigned. He wanted me to stay with him.”

  Teigen grunted. “That’s Tor.”

  She risked a glance at Dahl. His expression was somber but he didn’t seem upset by her words, so she kept going.

  “He also said he thought it might be useful if others thought they could talk openly in front of him. He might learn secrets.”

  “Did that happen?” Teigen asked.

  Kyle huffed a laugh. “Only when he overheard the prisoners of war speaking German, which he spoke fluently. But he told me about that.”

  Dahl took Kyle’s hand and turned her to face him. “I am so sorry, Kyle. I had no idea.”

  Kyle gazed up into Dahl’s bright blue eyes and her distress seemed to drown in their beautiful pools. “No, you couldn’t have.”

  He laid a hand over his heart. “I promise that I have no more secret skills.” His eyes twinkled a little. “Do you?”

  Kyle chuckled. “Only my ability to ruin any recipe.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing I can cook, then.” Dahl kissed the back of her hand. “Let’s go find Thor. He should be calmer by now.”

  *****