Atonement(37)

She didn’t seem like the grandmotherly type at all with her voluptuous though slender figure, blonde bobbed hair and pale blue eyes. In fact, she seemed like a slightly older version of Catherine Deneuve and equally well preserved.

His grandfather introduced himself last and he was equally as warm with his sandy brown hair flecked with gray, his grandson’s crystal blue eyes and charming demeanor.

“You are free to call me Kerstan, my Christian name, welcome to our family,” he greeted before he embraced me warmly.

“Thank you,” I responded to both of them. “Although I should tell you Colin and I haven’t been dating very long but it really is a pleasure to meet you both.”

“Well, dinner is on the table and I made a very popular Norwegian dish it has taken me ages to perfect so I hope you enjoy it,” Laurina explained as we walked toward the dining room together.

“You shouldn’t feel too bad. I have never been all that picky when it comes to food so it’s no problem, really.”

We all sat at the table with Laurina and Kerstan at the head of the table which obviously made sense to me. Ironically, Colin and I sat across from one another. It turned out Laurina had understated how much she’d cooked as there was a large lidded bowl on the table filled with a very popular local specialty, Seafood Bisque. There was a large carafe of water and also a bottle of aquavit.

“Well, before we dig into this delicious food, Colin, why don’t you pour everyone a helping of aquavit so we can toast? It’s bad luck in our family not to take a drink before dinner is served instead of afterwards,” Kerstan explained.

Colin stood and poured the aquavit in a quite skilled manner. I’d almost forgotten he’d been a bartender before I had persuaded him to quit and open up his own business. I would have so much fun helping him get it off the ground.

We all raised our glasses of aquavit as Laurina said, “Here is to a long life and the wonderful houseguests we have been blessed to have. Kerstan and I get lonely out here though our neighbors are wonderful. Unfortunately, we don’t see our grandchildren enough so we are grateful you two are here. Thank you and, Deirdre, welcome to Norway.”

I smiled back and whispered, “Thank you.”

“As we say here in Norway, skål!” Kerstan added in a cheerful voice.

“Proost!” Colin and Laurina replied before we all burst out laughing.

“Proost is cheers in Dutch,” Laurina explained to me as she began to serve the seafood bisque. “Sometimes I think my husband wishes we’d been born Norwegian or something. I know and speak enough of the language out there but I would rather speak Dutch here at home. We’re older, we’re not senile. Us speaking Dutch to one another isn’t going to make us forget Norwegian, not when everyone around us speaks it.”

“Oh goodness, do you two expect Deirdre and I to learn any Norwegian?” Colin questioned with resignation.

“Just enough to get by. You know how to drive a car and you’ll need to go into town. It won’t be so hard in Oslo as you will find people who are willing to use English but Norway isn’t the Netherlands. There, people love to use English if only to show off our former nation’s language skills. Most Dutch children grow up knowing at least four languages. Your father knows French and German besides Dutch and English. He also told us he was taking Mandarin classes. I suppose that comes in handy in Washington?”

Colin clicked his tongue as he poured himself another shot of aquavit. “There are a lot of foreigners in Washington State, Oma,” he explained in a halting voice. “I believe Dad thinks he can improve his practice if he learns Mandarin as many of the Chinese residents speak it and are more comfortable with their native language than English, even when their English is perfect.”

I began to eat my soup which was actually better than it smelled and I didn’t think that was possible.

“Did Colin tell you why we moved here to Norway?” Kerstan inquired out loud.

I looked up from my bowl and didn’t turn down the refill Colin offered as he refilled my glass of aquavit.

“Yes, he did,” I replied.

“Mmm, you must think we are terrible people?”

“No, I don’t,” I answered honestly. “There is nothing worse than not enjoying your life. It is so fleeting and I can only hope my father lived a fulfilling life before he died. I don’t judge people—it’s not really my style.”

“Yes, well, our particular area of the Netherlands had progressed over the years to a place we didn’t want to live,” Kerstan began in a soft voice. “After Nine Eleven…the terrorist attacks and the daily violence by the local youth, it just became too much. I couldn’t imagine us living our retirement years in those conditions.