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When Jakob opens the door to our room, a tall, curvy woman with a mass of wavy, flame-red hair bursts inside. She’s also hugely pregnant.
So. This is Stasi.
I have to bite my cheek very hard while I watch her hug Jakob and squeal over him.
“It’s been a while,” he says, patting her swollen belly.
I know I’m being ridiculous, but I want to scream.
“No kidding! Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you since I got engaged, but no one has seen you! And now you turn up in the same town where Sigurd was hiding? And now you’re married? I had to come and see for myself.”
Her wide, searching eyes flick from Jakob to me, and I immediately feel nurtured in her warmth. She looks like a damn Mother Earth goddess. It’s preposterous to even think she’d put the moves on Jakob.
“Hello,” she says with a beaming smile. “Are you the mystery lady that Jakob’s been writing letters to since we were kids?”
I suddenly feel exposed.
“I suppose I am.”
Stasi shakes her head, clucking her tongue. “I knew it had to be someone special that Jakob was pining for all these years, but my gods, he never said you were stunning!”
Relief floods through my lungs. A little bit. “You’re too kind.”
“On the contrary, I’m an absolute monster with these pregnancy hormones. Just ask Sigurd. That’s how you know a compliment from me is real.”
She seems overwhelmed with the urge to hug me, and so I let her.
“Oh, gods! Welcome to the palace. I hope you don’t mind if I borrow your husband to walk me down the aisle tomorrow?”
Okay, fine. I like her. She’s sweet and welcoming and not at all a threat.
“Of course I don’t mind.”
After Stasi leaves, Jakob turns to me, beaming.
“I can’t imagine it, and yet it happened. Stasi’s pregnant. She looks amazing, doesn’t she?”
I fidget with the lapel of my bathrobe. “I suppose. She’s glowing just like any other expectant mother. I have nothing to compare it to, of course. I didn’t know her before.”
I crawl onto the bed, exhausted, and close my eyes. The mattress gives under the weight of Jakob as he sits down next to me.
“This is a lot to take in. The coincidence is pretty wild.”
“Yeah,” I say, my throat dry.
An awkward pause follows. “You must be exhausted from the trip.”
I answer with barely a grunt.
“Other than that, are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just tired.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I open one eye and watch Jakob as he stands up and makes a move toward the bathroom. But then he turns back, scrubbing his face. I guess we’re hashing this out right now.
“You seem sullen with me. If I didn’t know you, I’d say you were jealous. That can’t possibly be the case.”
