Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders Book 1) by Viveca Sten Read Free Book Online

like his mother.

C HAPTER 10
    “I thought we might barbecue some pork steaks tonight. What do you think?”
    Nora looked at her husband, who was sitting on the garden seat splicing a rope. Repairing frayed ropes was almost a forgotten skill. A kind of bobbin lace–making for men. Perhaps it wasn’t an occupation one would normally associate with a radiography consultant at Danderyd Hospital, but it was something Henrik enjoyed doing on those few occasions when he had time to sit quietly in the garden. He was completely focused on the task at hand.
    Nora took the opportunity to nip a few wilting leaves off the pelargoniums on the gateposts as she waited for a reply.
    Which didn’t come.
    “Henrik,” she said again, feeling a surge of irritation. “You could at least give me an answer. Can we barbecue tonight?”
    Henrik looked up from the rope in his hand and gazed at her. “What did you say?”
    “A barbecue. Pork steaks. Tonight. It would help if we could decide what we’re going to eat before the shops close.”
    Henrik suddenly looked guilty. “I said I’d go for a beer with the guys.”
    Nora sighed. Henrik would be involved in a yacht race the entire following week. The European Championship was to form part of the Sandhamn regatta, the annual competitive sailing week when the Royal Swedish Yacht Club arranged races for different types of boats.
    Henrik sailed as helmsman on a Class 6, a one-design class boat with a crew of four to six. It was a class with long-standing traditions and Olympic status. Fantastic old mahogany boats kept in perfect condition by their owners still took part, but of course the new boats, like Henrik’s, were made of modern material enhanced by technological advances.
    His father had also sailed a Class 6 and had won the Swedish Championship several times along with a former chairman of the Royal Swedish Yacht Club, so sailing was a high priority for the Linde family.
    As far as Nora was concerned, this meant that she was more or less a sailing widow for the entire week of the Sandhamn regatta.
    This evening was one of the last opportunities for the whole family to have dinner together before the competition got under way. Tomorrow they were expecting guests, and then it would be time for Henrik to join the crew.
    She suppressed her frustration and forced herself to adopt a pleasant tone. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have dinner with the children this evening, just the family?”
    “But I’ve promised the guys. And we need to talk tactics before the competition.”
    He put down the rope and looked at her apologetically. “Come on, it’s not the end of the world. You know how things are.”
    Nora decided to drop it. There was no point in starting an argument over a dinner. “It’s OK. I’ll sort something out for myself and the boys.” She turned to fetch a watering can. The sun had been shining on the plants all day, and the soil in the pots was bone dry.
    “By the way,” Henrik called after her, “my mother called. They’d like to come over on Monday to watch the racing, if that’s OK. I said they were welcome, obviously.”
    Nora’s heart sank. A visit from Henrik’s parents was a full-time job. They expected to be provided with a delicious home-cooked lunch and to be entertained all day. With Henrik racing, she would have to look after them and keep an eye on the boys at the same time. And she would have to give the house a thorough cleaning before they arrived.
    She had once tried to explain to her mother-in-law that she just didn’t have time to keep everything in perfect order. She had been informed that if she just got herself a nice little Polish girl, everything would be fine.
    “In my day, finding decent help was never a problem,” her mother-in-law had said, waving her well-manicured hands. “I just don’t understand mothers today who insist on doing everything themselves. Imagine how practical it would be if you had a nanny to take care of the