Swedish Tango / the Rhythm of Memory Read Online Free PDF

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    Tiny beads of perspiration were beginning to form on Octavio’s forehead. He wanted to reach for his handkerchief, but feared revealing the extent of his nervousness.
    “Love must come before money,” Octavio said with a strong voice. He desperately wanted Salomé to think him brave and not cowardly in front of her father. “I realize that your daughter and I come from different backgrounds, but I love her. I am devoted to her. I will dedicate my life to making her happy. I would hope that you would see that I am an intelligent person who has worked to better himself through education and has the sincerest of intentions—”
    “What I see,” Don Fernando interjected, his voice bordering on a boom, “is that you are a man who has defiled my daughter, filled her head with nonsensical poetic notions, and that you are a ridiculous student who has absolutely no idea how the world works!”
    Doña Olivia was standing next to her husband, her face frozen with disbelief. How, she wondered, could her daughter have returned to them this way? She felt wounded that her daughter had not confided in her. She tried to hide her true feelings that, perhaps, her initial instinct had been right. They should never have sent her to a school so far away from home.
    By speaking, Doña Olivia hoped to restore some sense of calm to the situation. “Don Octavio,” she said quietly, “how are we to know that your love for our daughter is sincere?”
    Octavio turned from the stern gaze of Salomé’s parents and looked deeply into the eyes of his beloved.
    “She is whom I rise for each morning, whom I think of when I hear songs of love. I have never known such sweetness before, neverdreamt that I could find a creature that could captivate both my mind and my soul. Grant me permission to be her husband and I will cherish the title. I will protect her. I will always see that she is safe, that she is loved, and that her life is full of wonder and joy.”
    Doña Olivia was moved by the young boy who stood before her, but her husband was clearly not.
    “I am a fifty-three-year-old man and I know that providing food and a roof over your family’s head requires more than just love.”
    “Papa…” Salomé interrupted.
    “No, it’s all right,” Octavio reassured her, as he slipped his hand into hers. He was trying to appear strong, though clearly Don Fernando intimidated him. He had little to impress the old man with. He knew that after he completed his degree from the university, he would have limited career opportunities. He could be a teacher or perhaps a journalist, but neither would provide her with the childhood luxuries she had been accustomed to.
    Yet, somehow, Octavio believed it would all work out. Perhaps because he had always been something of a dreamer. Perhaps it was his innate belief that life and love were intended to have a happy ending. So, he stood there and gazed into his future father-in-law’s disapproving eyes and said with his most inspired voice, “Let us have an agreement, Dr. Herrera. Allow me to marry your daughter before her belly gets so big that a church wedding will not be possible and I will vow that, by the time the child is born, I will have a job that will ensure your daughter and grandchild of the life they deserve.”
    Don Fernando remained skeptical of the young man, but in the end, fearing the disgrace of an unmarried, pregnant daughter, he reluctantly agreed.

Six

M IKKELI , F INLAND
    J ANUARY 1942
    They chose her because she was the youngest and she could not yet form complete sentences. A little blond girl incapable of asking for an explanation.
    Still, it was difficult for them. The most difficult thing they would ever have to do.
    Kaija, their first and only daughter, had been born in the snow. Beyond the dark forests and the frozen lakes, under a patch of blue-white sky.
    The day of her birth had begun much like any other. Sirka had risen early, her round belly camouflaged by a long