Helsinki Sunrise (4 page)

He turned and Eveliina pulled her hand away from the blinds. She grabbed the remote and pushed all the buttons at once. Light streamed into the cottage as the rising blinds compressed like a concertina.

The time had come to send this missionary packing. But Mikko had called earlier, begging her to be nice to his friend. She promised to try. Offering Adam breakfast before she sent him on his way would be the polite thing to do.
This is for you, big brother.
However, after her rudeness last night, she needed to make the gesture for herself, too. The missionary must think her a terrible person, and she wasn't. Not really.

Eveliina unlocked the door to the deck, pushed it open and breathed deep. She loved that early morning smell of the surrounding forest. She placed some dark bread, cheese, cucumber, cold meats, fruit juice and blueberries on the dining room table, glancing at Adam as he neared the cottage. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air as the last of the water spluttered through the coffee machine's spout. She walked to the kitchen and poured herself a cup.

Hearing a knock, Eveliina turned. Adam stood in the doorway, mattress in his arms.

“Good morning.” His face brightened. “Coffee smells good.”

For a brief moment, her heart gave an unexpected flutter. “Morning.”

Adam waited. “Do you mind if I come in? I'd like to put this back.”

Eveliina gestured with her hand for Adam to do what he needed. She'd be glad to have the mattress back in its rightful place. The daybed looked bare without it, but she couldn't very well have let him sleep on the hard wooden benches of the sauna. Loaning him the mattress last night, albeit thin, was the least she could do.

Be nice to my friend
, Mikko's voice reminded.

“I see the bump on your forehead has gone down.” She grabbed another cup and the coffee pot, and placed them on the table beside their breakfast. “Did you sleep well?”

“Best sleep I've had in a while.” Adam pointed at the windows. “Where was the remote? I searched for days.”

A giggle escaped her mouth. Another would have done the same had she not trapped the naughty laugh behind her lips. The last thing she needed was for Adam Carter to think she enjoyed having him there. “My grandfather fried it in the sauna. I had to get a new one.”

Adam smoothed the cover over the mattress and laughed. “No wonder I couldn't find it.”

Eveliina returned to the kitchen area for milk and cereal. “Would you like some coffee and breakfast before you leave?”

He shook his head. “No. But thank you.” He walked over to the table and pulled out a chair for Eveliina. “You go ahead, though.”

Adam waited for her to sit down before taking a seat on the opposite side of the table.

She placed a piece of bread on her plate and covered it with a slice of cheese and some cucumber. “Maybe some juice?”

He shook his head again. “Thanks for the offer. I'll just have a glass of water.” He walked to the kitchen and filled a glass from the tap.

Suddenly Eveliina remembered what Mikko had told her last night.

“I'm so sorry.”

Adam slipped into his chair and took a swig of water. He rested his left arm on the table. “For what?”

Eveliina reached across and touched his hand, unprepared for the tingling sensation that followed, although the feeling was not totally foreign. Though she'd tried to deny it, she'd felt it when Adam had walked in and smiled at her minutes ago. She'd felt it as she'd watched him through the blinds earlier, standing at the water's edge. And she'd certainly felt those same tingles when she'd visualized the painting of
The Kiss
.

“I just remembered. Mikko told me you were fasting. I should have had breakfast after you'd left.”

Adam set his glass down on the table. “It's not a problem.”

“No really, that was thoughtless.” Eveliina got up to clear the table. She'd eat later.

Adam grasped her arm gently.

Drat, there were those tingles again. This wasn't good. She had Joel. And Adam was everything she didn't want in a man. She looked at his hand—strong, hardworking. Then at his handsome face. OK, so that wasn't entirely true. Except for his profession, he was probably everything she could ever want in a man, and more.

“It's OK. I don't mind. Sit and have your breakfast.”

Eveliina dropped back into her chair and lifted the bread to her mouth, eyeing him over a cucumber slice. Adam stared at her, or was it her breakfast that held his rapt attention? She set the bread down on a plate and took a mouthful of coffee.

“So how long have you been fasting?” Had that been presumptuous of her? Wasn't there something in the Bible about not being able to talk about your fasting? She wished she remembered.

“Five days.” His smile set her a little more at ease.

“Fi— I can't go a day without food. How do you do it?”

“Anything's easy to do if you believe in the reasons enough. The benefits far outweigh the discomfort.”

Eveliina wrapped her fingers around the coffee mug again. The porcelain vessel had become her lifeline, something she could do with her shaking hands. “What are your reasons for going without?”

“To entreat God to save your country, to save your city—” He hesitated and lowered his eyes. His fingers trailed the wood grain patterns. When he looked up, he captured her gaze. “To save you…”

Eveliina shifted. She took a slow drink of her coffee, using the mug to hide her reaction. She should end this conversation now, tell him she didn't need saving, but somehow she couldn't resist asking the next question.

“How much longer before you can eat again?” Just how important
were
Finland, Helsinki and Eveliina Mikkola to Adam Carter?

He smiled. “Including today, ten more days.”

She shook her head. How could anyone smile about a fortnight without food, except of course for the money they'd save? A missionary's salary was probably reason enough to make one grin broadly. “Is that crazy brother of mine on this fast with you?”

“Only for the first week.” Adam's laughter filled the air, thicker than the smell of filtered coffee. “I didn't have the heart to tell him about week two.”

How had she not noticed the way the upward curve of his mouth placed a twinkle in his soft brown eyes?

“You don't look like you've been without food for days. A razor maybe.”

Adam scratched his jaw and chuckled. “I might leave it a while longer.”

How often she'd wished Joel would lose his baby look. A man a little rough around the edges was enticing, and a few days without a shave had certainly given Adam that edge. “Don't leave off shaving for too long—you look perfect the way you are.” Had she really said that? She hurriedly stood. “You need to go.”

Adam reached out to stop her. “Eveliina, sit. We should talk. I have something to tell you.”

 

****

 

Eveliina smacked her hand on the table like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum. “What do you mean you're not leaving?” Even though it would have been nice to continue to feel the flutters, it was pointless. The sooner this ended, the better. She really needed her space to unwind. She'd been looking forward to it since Thursday.

“Just what I said. Your brother gave me this place to use for three weeks. I need this time away from the world to fast and pray…to prepare. Please, it's really important.”

“And it's just as important for me to be here. What do you propose I do?”

“Go home? Go to your grandparents' other summer cottage. You'd be in Lapland before dinner.”

Eveliina shoved her chair back and sprang to her feet. There wasn't a chance a pair of missionaries were going to dictate her actions. Nobody did that. Even if one was her brother; even if she found the other highly attractive. “No.”

Adam chuckled. “Well then, we have a problem.”

Eveliina put her hands on her hips. “You can't stay. I need this time to unwind from the stresses of work.”

“I can't go, either. God told me to come here, to pray and fast.” His gaze was soft, the hint of humor in his eyes unmistakable. Did he really find this funny? “Who do I obey, Eveliina? You or the Creator of the universe?” His question was unfair.

How could she argue with that? She
could
find a way to make Adam
want
to leave. This island was just too small for both of them.

 

 

 

 

5

 

Everything had gone so crazy after Eveliina's arrival that Adam completely forgot he'd left the canoe tied up on the other side of the island. When he went to put on his sneakers, he remembered—his shoelaces were still tied to the canoe. Hopefully, they'd been strong enough to keep the vessel secure overnight.

Had that really been but twelve hours ago?

He grabbed a short length of thin rope he'd tucked away in the side of his backpack for emergencies before setting off. He needed to take a walk—to pray and give Eveliina time alone to come to a decision about the impasse they'd reached.

Still clad in what he called his Jesus sandals—those brown plastic slip-ons that cost almost nothing—Adam headed through the forest. They weren't exactly walking shoes, particularly not for this uneven terrain. He stumbled several times as the forest floor gave way beneath thick moss, or when a rock covered by undergrowth suddenly made an unannounced appearance. He should have put on the sneakers sans shoelaces.

Adam made a mental note to never again use his laces as a mooring line. In fact, he vowed not to remove them from his shoes once they were laced up.

Nearing the other side of the island, he raised a prayer of thanks to heaven. The yellow canoe bobbed in the water. He found a spot beside a large rock. Surrounded by towering birch, Adam knelt on the soft green floor. All the prayers he'd heard Mikko pray for his sister now weighed heavily on his heart.

The plan he'd put in motion should work, but what if Eveliina surprised him and decided to leave after all?

 

****

 

For nearly an hour, Eveliina paced the cottage. What could she do to make the missionary leave of his own accord?

She sat on the patio outside the kitchen for a while, gazing across the lake one moment, staring through the glass wall into the dining room the next. Adam's Bible still lay near the edge of the table where she'd moved it earlier to make space for the breakfast ingredients.

With a huff, she rose and pattered through the kitchen, grabbing a handful of blueberries from the bowl as she passed the kitchen counter. Ten paces later she exited the other side of the cottage beside the sauna. Standing on that patio, she rested her elbows on the wooden railing like Adam had done the night before. The lake looked the same from that angle as it had from the kitchen patio. She glanced to her right. Looking through the glass wall into the dining room from this side of the house, her gaze once again landed squarely on Adam's Bible. Like the lake, the view had not changed. The only difference was Adam's backpack standing in the corner by the sauna door.

Did he presume to move back inside the cottage?
I don't think so, Mr. Missionary.

Eveliina repeated her sojourns on the twin decks, hopping between kitchen side and sauna side. With each crossing, she stuffed her mouth with blueberries. At this rate, she'd soon need more.

The third time she traipsed through the cottage, Eveliina stopped and walked to the end of the dining room table. She ran her fingers over the leather cover of Adam's Bible. Would it be prying if she opened it?

Deciding the Bible was meant to be common property, Eveliina sat down and flipped through the highlighted and underlined pages. She raised her brows. Notes were scribbled on almost every available piece of white. Adam had certainly read his Bible from front to back—several times she was sure. There were too many notes for a single read.

Remembering the stories her mother had taught her, Eveliina knew of one that might provide a solution. She turned to Genesis and flipped from chapter one to chapter two, until she found the heading: Adam and Eve. She felt the smile ease across her lips. This passage would surely shed light on how Eve had managed to manipulate her Adam.

Finding no answer in chapter two, she turned the page to chapter three and continued to read, stopping at verse six. Could the answer be this easy? Was a little fruit all it took to turn God's finest creation to apple crumble? Had the way to a man's heart been through his stomach since the beginning of time?

But she wasn't interested in Adam's heart—she wanted her space. And Eveliina was sure the temptation she had in mind would lead to Adam's fall and subsequent departure.

Unable to stop reading, she continued to the end of the chapter, amused by the blame game played. From the serpent, to Eve, to Adam, each had done their part to cause creation's fall. If all were to blame, then surely all should be punished? The question lingered.

Like the first woman, Eveliina made her choice, fully aware there could be dire consequences. But she couldn't stop herself. Leaving the Bible open, she rose. Eveliina knew exactly what she had to do to send Adam packing.

 

****

 

The smell reached Adam's nostrils before he'd tied up the canoe at the jetty. As he stepped onto the kitchen patio, there it stood, in full view, cooling on the dining room table.

Blueberry pie.

Seemed Eveliina had decided to stay. And she'd declared war.

So had Adam. He'd entered the arena, equipped and prepared to do battle for her soul. The smell of the baked blueberries teased his tongue. He could practically taste their warm, sweet gooiness. Delicious.