‘Mormor loves you,’ Jannes said. ‘You know that.’
Well, Lara certainly loved Mormor, that much was true. She was mischievous and sharp and wry. And Lara still hadn’t quite got the knack of knowing if she was one hundred per cent joking or not at any time. But she still couldn’t shake these nerves.
‘Hmm, we’ll see if she still feels that way about me when she finds out I’m not really making an honest man out of you.’
‘She doesn’t think that we’re getting married. It’s not that far out of hand.’
Lara shuddered at the thought of things between her and Jannes getting that far—the certainty that she would end up losing him if they did.
‘Well, that’s a relief at least.’
‘Ready?’ Jannes asked, and then knocked on the door. Lara set her shoulders, not sure why she felt as if she were going into battle.
‘Älskling!’ Mormor announced, throwing open the door. ‘And you brought Lara with you. You’re a good boy.’
She pinched his cheek and Lara smothered a laugh at the grimace on Jannes’s face. ‘You two have made an old woman very happy. I knew you couldn’t be so stupid for ever. I can’t believe it’s taken you so long to work out that you’re perfect for one another.’
Jannes threw Lara a look that was pure I told you so as they walked through the apartment to the elegant living room.
‘Like I explained on the phone, Mormor,’ Jannes said, his voice slow and deliberate. ‘Lara and I are just friends. We were pretending to be a couple for...for a few reasons, but we’re not really together.’
Mormor narrowed her eyes at him. ‘I saw a picture of you kissing her. Are you telling me you go around kissing women who are not your girlfriend?’
Well, that sent him a delightful shade of pink, Lara thought, watching him squirm with embarrassment.
‘Like I keep saying, that wasn’t real.’
‘I imagined it? I didn’t see you kiss? Are you trying to make me think I’m going senile?’
‘No, of course not. We did kiss, but—’
‘So you are friends who kiss sometimes. She is your girlfriend,’ Mormor declared, as if that settled the matter. ‘Now, Lara, I need you to tell me everything and explain in great detail because Jannes has told me nothing.’ She tutted and Lara felt a lurch of dread in her stomach.
‘Mormor,’ Lara said as they followed Mormor through to the kitchen, watched her fill a coffee pot from the tap and add heaped scoops of coffee. ‘I’m really not his girlfriend. I’m sorry if we’ve disappointed you.’
‘Oh, you kids, always overcomplicating things.’ Mormor threw her hands up in an expression of exasperation as she reached into a high cupboard for cups and saucers. ‘Jannes. If I say she’s your girlfriend, she’s your girlfriend. Now, who is going to drink coffee with me?’
‘Some help you were,’ Jannes said under his breath as Mormor bustled around them, taking a tin of cinnamon buns from the cupboard and swearing colourfully when she couldn’t find the milk jug.
‘I told her!’ Lara whispered back. ‘It’s not my fault she didn’t want to listen.’
‘No, you’re right,’ Jannes said, shaking his head, the picture of dejection. ‘It’s my fault for yesterday. For thinking that something like this would be simple.’
She hated when Jannes looked dejected. It just made her want to comfort him. To make him feel better. In all sorts of ways that would lead to nothing but trouble for them both. So she kept things on track.
‘It’s your fault for thinking that you know better than Mormor whether I’m your girlfriend? I don’t think you can really take the blame for that. So what do we do?’ They threw a look over to Mormor, where she was arranging the coffee things on a silver tray on the kitchen island.
‘We drink the coffee and eat the pastries, I suppose,’ he said. ‘Try and show her that she’s made a mistake.’
Lara crossed her arms in front of her body. ‘How do we prove that we’re not together? It’s not like we would be going at it on the kitchen counter either way.’
He spluttered in surprise and Lara laughed. ‘Oh, close your mouth, Jannes,’ she whispered. ‘You’re so easily shocked. It makes it impossible not to tease you. You’re adorable.’
He threw a look to make sure Mormor wasn’t listening and then crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. ‘Adorable?’
‘You still have a problem with adorable?’ Lara asked with a smile.
‘It’s not very manly.’