The Solstice Mistletoe Effect (10 page)

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All the superstitions around picking bouquets of

flowers—seven or nine different types was the accepted

“wisdom”—and putting them under your pillow in the hope

of dreaming about your future spouse were nonsense. As

were the stories about mistletoe and herbs that were picked

on the day of the solstice being particularly potent. And the

belief that greenery placed over houses and barns was going

to bring good fortune and health to people and livestock was

just funny. Nevertheless, his father, even though he was a

scientist himself and should have known better, still

decorated their house every year because it was “tradition.”

Magnus chuckled, realizing that he’d even help if he were

asked. Just like he’d tried to make Christmas as festive as

possible for Jakob even though back then he himself hadn’t

believed any of that made sense.

Magnus shook his head as he turned off the water and

started drying himself. The Mistletoe Phenomenon was one

thing. Strictly speaking, it could have been their mutual

attraction that was strong enough to propel them into a

relationship more quickly than he’d ever seen happen.

To ascribe any sort of magical happenings to the time

around the summer solstice, though, was surely ridiculous,

wasn’t it?

Magnus was dressed and just about ready to go

downstairs when Lance entered the bathroom. His still

sleepy-looking lover blinked at him, almost too adorable to

resist. But Magnus didn’t have a choice; his mother could

get rather draconian around festival time if people didn’t

turn up at the time they were expected or if they didn’t do

what they were told. His relationship with his parents was

already tense enough.

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Magnus gave Lance a quick kiss on his forehead and left

before they got distracted. Not quickly enough, though, to

miss the flare of disappointment in Lance’s eyes. Magnus

shook his head; he’d probably misinterpreted the look. Lance

knew as well as he did that they were expected downstairs.

“Finally!” Jakob sat at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal

untouched in front of him. Several crumbs showed that he’d

eaten something, though. “I was so hungry that Farmor

Carine said I could have a kanelbulle. I hope you don’t

mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind. I know how much you like your

grandmother’s cinnamon rolls. I’m sorry we’re a little late

this morning. Lance will be right downstairs, and then we

can have breakfast properly.” Magnus sat down next to

Jakob once he’d poured himself a large mug of coffee from

the coffee maker his mother had left switched on. “Where is

your grandmother, anyway?”

“She said she needed to do some last-minute shopping

and that she’d be back by ten.” Jakob sat back in his chair,

obviously trying to stay away from the tempting cereal.

“Did she leave any instructions for us?” Magnus took a

sip of his coffee and almost moaned in relief. It made him

feel better equipped to face the day.

“No, she only said that we’re supposed to be done with

breakfast by the time she gets back. She wants us to help

her bake bread, then we need to start peeling potatoes, and

there was something about strawberries.” Jakob grinned.

The boy knew full well how much Magnus liked them.

“There was, hm?” Magnus took another few sips and

looked up when Lance walked into the kitchen.

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“Good morning, Jakob.” Lance bent down and gave

Jakob a kiss on his cheek.

“Good morning, Lance.” Jakob looked up and smiled at

Lance. “Did you sleep well? Farmor Carine said we’d need

lots of energy to get us through the day, so I hope you’re not

tired anymore.”

“I’m sorry.” Lance laughed. “I actually am quite tired,

but I’m sure a cup of coffee and some breakfast will help

with that. We wouldn’t want to disappoint Farmor Carine,

would we? I’m sure she needs all the help she can get.”

“So does Farfar Enar.” Jakob started eating his cereal

while Magnus got out some crisp bread, plates of cold cuts

and cheeses, and a bowl with cut-up vegetables that his

mother had left in the fridge for them. He added butter, jam,

and honey, as well as some plates and cutlery.

“Farfar Enar needs help?” Magnus was surprised. “He’s

always insisted on doing the house decorations all by

himself.”

“No, he definitely said he needed help.” Jakob kept

munching his cereal. “And he said it had to be you, Uncle

Magnus.”

Huh? That was unusual.

Lance sighed and shook his head as if this was

something he’d expected. He didn’t look as though he liked

it, but he didn’t say anything either. What was Magnus

missing?

Before he could consider this further, the door to the

garage on the other side of the house opened and his mother

walked through, laden with bags. How much food did she

think they could cope with? They’d spend most of the day

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tomorrow at Skansen anyway. They had the best

Midsummer Eve celebrations in all of Stockholm, including

children’s activities and the required dancing around the

midsommarstång. They planned to be back for the evening

meal, but he couldn’t imagine they’d be very hungry by then.

There was enough food at Skansen to make sure they

wouldn’t starve.

“Good to see that you’re up. There’s lots of work to be

done.” Magnus’s mother dumped her bags on the kitchen

counter and turned toward them. “Your father expects you to

help him outside, Magnus. I’m glad he’s finally admitting

that he’s getting older and may no longer be the best person

to climb all the way up onto the roof to fasten the garlands.”

Magnus finished his breakfast, put the used plates into

the sink, and turned around to say goodbye to Jakob and

Lance. Climbing up ladders would be easy for him; nothing

around the house was as slippery as glacial ice walls. He’d

leave the kitchen activities to Lance, who was much better at

them anyway. His lover liked cooking and preparing food,

and he was really good at it. Magnus had never eaten as well

as he did once Lance had moved in with them in December.

“I’ll see you later.” Lance looked so sad that Magnus was

about to ask what was going on.

“I’ll be right outside.” Magnus had to find out why Lance

looked so needy all of the sudden. “It’s not like I’ll be on the

other side of the city.”

“Sure.” Lance turned away from him and started

washing the dishes.

Definitely strange. There was something going on in

Lance’s head. Maybe something had happened at the

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university while Magnus was in the meetings he’d pre-

arranged before they’d left for Sweden? Shit, that would

explain why Lance seemed so uncertain and sad again. Even

though it wasn’t logical and Lance should know better than

to doubt their love for each other, at least it would be an

explanation.

But there was no time to be lost; this was a big house,

and his father would want everything to look perfect by

tonight. They had their jobs cut out for them.

MAGNUS stared at the heap of greenery that his father had

deposited inside the second garage. It looked like half a

forest had been refashioned into decorations. Loose

branches, garlands, and a few wreaths lay in one corner.

There were several buckets with cut flowers as well as small

bunches of mistletoe; those were meant to go inside the

house. The antique midsommarstång from Småland that had

been in his father’s family for almost a hundred years was

nowhere to be seen. Magnus went into the back garden,

where he knew his father would be busy setting it up in the

middle of their lawn.

“Oh, there you are!” His father stood next to the wooden

pole and, from the looks of it, had just finished winding it

with greenery, a few well-placed flowers and some mistletoe.

“Just in time to help me erect the midsommarstång. Your

mother seemed very keen on you being part of this tradition

this year. You do realize that it’s time you started a family

and followed the traditions with them, don’t you?”

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“Please, Father, can we give this a rest?” Magnus was

angry. “I’d like to enjoy the festivities without this difference

of opinion interfering.”

“But you need to see that what you’re doing is wrong.” It

looked like his father wasn’t ready to give up. “I’ve given you

a lot of leeway before, but now you need to grow up and

leave this nonsense behind you.”

“I will not discuss this with you again, Father. There is

no point, since you don’t seem to listen. I’ve told you that my

choice of partner is final, and I’ll tell you so again. Lance is

that partner, and that’s not going to change. You need to

accept this so we can move on.” Magnus didn’t dare hope

that his father would change his mind that quickly, but he

wanted some peace and quiet for the celebrations.

“Whether or not you want to discuss this with me is

immaterial. The fact is that you’re behaving like an

irresponsible boy instead of a grown man.” His father’s

cheeks were red, and he looked exasperated. “And that’s not

all.”

“What now?” Magnus probably wouldn’t like the next

topic of conversation any better than he did this one.

“It’s bad enough that you’re making irresponsible

decisions regarding your personal life. What’s worse is that

you’re beginning to neglect your career. You have a lot of

talent and are a leader in your field. There are opportunities

out there for you to make even more of an impact on the

scientific community.” His father glared at him. “Why do you

refuse to take advantage of them by hiding in a godforsaken

place in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming?”

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“Oh, please!” Magnus barely refrained from rolling his

eyes. After having exhausted the morality and family

responsibility angle without getting anywhere, it looked like

his father was going to try a new tactic. This one struck

much closer to Magnus’s heart, since he hadn’t made up his

own mind yet.

“Don’t ignore my warning, son. I’m trying to help you

here. The University of Stockholm doesn’t ask just anyone to

lead the polar expedition, you know? This is a big honor and

will give you the exposure and contacts you’ll need to return

to the academic side of glaciology. It’s what you need for the

longer term, since you won’t be able to go on dangerous

expeditions for much longer.” His father cocked his head,

daring Magnus to contradict him.

“How do you know about this? Who’s been talking to

you?” Magnus wasn’t ready to plan his retirement from

active science and field research; he certainly wouldn’t

accept his father doing it for him.

“It doesn’t matter who talked to me. What does matter is

that you make the right decision. And that certainly isn’t

staying in Wyoming, hiding from the world and living in an

unnatural relationship.” His father’s eyes narrowed. “You

need to come back to Stockholm and start to build your

future before it’s too late.”

“My future lies with Lance and Jakob. I will do what’s

right for them because ultimately that’s what’s right for me

as well.” Magnus had spoken without really thinking about

it. The sudden clarity about what he needed to do took him

by surprise.

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The offer to return to cutting-edge science, to combine

fieldwork with academic analysis and peer recognition, had

been very tempting. He’d had no clue how to make a decision

between that and what he knew to be right for Lance and

Jakob. Until his father forced him to face reality just now,

he’d thought about the problem, trying to analyze the facts