How Beth Met Teddy

‘You’re sure Joel will let you go for a ten days? He just did the whole down-on-one-knee thing and might not want to let you out of his sight. Maybe you meet a big handsome Viking and change your mind – it’s a risk!’ Beth added with a wink.
As a kid Anna had travelled with her family, the four of them setting off twice a year, hauling their little camping trailer for a week’s cheap vacation at the beach. Adult Anna had been further afield, once taking the overnight sleeper train to Florida, and one very crazy summer, two days riding in an old van with a bunch of friends, all the way to Texas.
This was different. A visit to Copenhagen, all paid, and all she had to do was travel with this woman she’d loved since second grade, when she had been Mrs. Metcalfe, the grandmother of her best friend.
She hadn’t even considered Joel’s opinion. They were both in their thirties for goodness sake. Not teenagers who thought a day apart was the end of the world. He would never consider trying to stop her, even if it meant she would be gone for a hundred days.
‘Beth, I’d be honored to be your travel companion. The only time I ever left the country was to go to Canada, and I don’t think that even counts. And I’ve never been anywhere by plane’

‘That wasn’t as scary as I thought’ said Anna when the jet levelled off and the seat belt sign blinked out, ‘It was actually a bit of a rush.’ Beth laughed at the obvious relief that stole the confidence from Anna’s words.
‘Teddy and I were flying before you were born. Mostly it’s boring and the biggest problem is finding some way to occupy yourself.’ I never would have taken Chloe’s grandparents for world travelers, thought Anna. Back when she was Mrs. Metcalf, she’d been a picture book grandma, always baking or cooking something delicious for the two of them to try, and pass a verdict on, before carrying the acceptable dishes to a pot-luck somewhere.
‘Remember when you’d bake something new and test it on us before deeming it good enough for your friends? Anna asked.
‘I do. If I had doubts about how good something looked, I’d be waiting for you to come by and be my testers. If you kids said it tasted like heaven, I would risk sharing it.’
‘I’d forgotten. That was our phrase when we absolutely loved the cupcake or the pie – “It tastes like Heaven!” Sometimes we didn’t say it on purpose, hoping you’d decide the food wasn’t good enough, just so we could have more of the “defective” goodies.
‘I think I knew every time you did it’ replied Beth, ‘sometimes I even let you get away with it.’
Where was all this nostalgia coming from? Anna wondered, then recalled how Beth had started it. Just before leaving for the airport she had turned and looked long and hard at the pretty white house with the forest green shingles and shutters. It was almost as if she didn’t expect to return. Anna was too excited and afraid about the flight to notice then, but now it seemed odd.

March in Copenhagen was cold, barely forty degrees. Anna clutched her coat and looked up into the washed-out blue winter sky.
‘It’ll be a while before the daffodils poke their heads out here.’
‘Did I ever tell you how Teddy and I met? Beth asked.
‘In Copenhagen, but I don’t know the details’ replied Anna, interested in the adventuring couple’s younger days.
‘Back-packing around the fjords almost fifty years ago. A last fling before college. We met at a hotel when we both fancied an early swim. The hotel had a huge indoor pool with a glass domed roof to let in the sunlight, and late the night before a German tourist and a group of his buddies claimed all the loungers for the next day by covering them with their towels. That way nobody else would use them and later, when the Germans woke with their hangovers, they could be sure of a place to sit.
Teddy and I took one look and threw all their towels into the pool. We were together ever after. We stayed here for a year and made some good friends. I’m taking you to see one of them now.’
‘I thought we were going to a hotel’ said Anna, but didn’t press when she noticed Beth’s faraway look.

‘I’d like you to meet Margrete.’ Beth introduced Anna to her friend as soon as their coats were stowed, and they’d been ushered into the cozy living room. ‘We met the same day as Teddy and I. Local guides are the best way to see a city and Margrete and Tovi were the best.’
‘I like to think they are smiling down on us right now’ said Margrete in excellent English.
‘I’m staying Anna, not going home.’
‘What do you mean?’ Anna asked confused.
‘I mean my house is yours, everything in it, my car. All yours. The deed and title are all signed over. It’s done. My attorney will be in touch as soon as you get back.’
‘Are you ok? Anna asked, tears just seconds away.
‘Yes I’m fine! I will prove it to you over the next few days when I drag you around to see the Mermaid, Christiansborg Palace, and a hundred other things I want to see. Anna, this is where I feel my life began and I want it to end here. But not yet!
‘But what about Chloe?’
‘Chloe knows, she’s thrilled. I’m so proud of her. She and Toby have done well and she truly believes that she partially owes her accomplishments to you – for being there for me, like an extra daughter. There’s a letter from her with the attorney.
Now get some rest because this week is going to be a wild ride!