First Class to Portland (14 page)

“Another stop in Denver,” she sighed.

“They have a nice lounge there,” Matt offered.

“I’ve heard that before,” she said. “And I didn’t enjoy it
much last time.”

They walked hand in hand to the beginning of the security
checkpoint. Janie could feel her eyes filling, her throat tightening. She turned
and placed her hand gently on his cheek and looked into his eyes.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered.

Matt kissed her sweetly and smiled. “I will be here next
week waiting for you,” he promised. “And I will call you more often than my
mother does,” he chuckled. “I love you, my sweet Janie.”

“I love you,” she smiled, and she turned and walked to the
TSA agent sitting on the stool.

“Janie!” Matt yelled.

Janie swung around to see him smiling. “I love you!” he
screamed through the airport.

Katy was getting ready to leave for the airport to pick up
Janie. She had her purse and her keys, but she couldn’t find her sunglasses.
She was sure she had left them on her kitchen counter but they were nowhere to
be found. This was the second thing she had apparently misplaced in the last
week, the first being her favorite pair of running shorts. She had searched
everywhere for them. She had told herself that the washing machine ate socks so
maybe hers had graduated to shorts.

“I’ll have to go without them,” she frowned.

She backed her Subaru out of the driveway and pulled onto
the street, never seeing Danny poised at the corner of her house.

*****

Janie met Katy at the curb, dragging her suitcase behind
her. Katy jumped from the car and threw her arms around her best friend,
thrilled to hear about the romantic trip to New York with the sexy Matt Lathem.

As she helped Janie with hefting her luggage into the back
of the car, she screamed as she saw the ring.

“ARGH!!! Janie!!”

Janie laughed and held her hand in front of her friend,
showing off the exquisite piece of jewelry.

“Oh, Janie!! I am SO happy for you!! SO, SO HAPPY!” She
hugged her friend, genuinely thrilled at her good fortune.

“I am afraid it’s all a dream,” she smiled.

“No, it’s real,” said Katy. “You deserve it.”

They drove back to Katy’s house consumed with the wedding.
Katy was shocked it would be so soon, but thrilled her best friend was going to
seize her happiness.

“You’ll be my maid of honor, right?” Janie asked.

Katy grinned, “Of course!”

“So tomorrow I have to sign all the papers for the house.
Mom and the boys emptied it and had it professionally cleaned, so my signature
is the last thing. And I have to tell the boys,” she said, anxiety in her tone.
“I’m really nervous about that.”

“Once they see how happy you are, they will be happy too,”
Katy hoped. She wasn’t really sure how they would take it either.

“And then its dress shopping!” Janie said, this time
excitement in her voice.

“What are you going to wear?”

“Well I’m not doing white,” Janie said. “That would be a
little weird.”

“I’m sure we will find something perfect,” Katy smiled.

*****

Signing the legal documents to sell the house that had been her
home for the last twenty years was bittersweet for Janie, and it was all done
in about fifteen minutes.

“That’s it?” she asked.

“That’s it!” replied Amanda. “Money will be transferred into
your account today.”

“Wow,” she whispered.

Janie left the office building and slid into her car. She
pulled her phone from her purse and waited impatiently as she heard the ringing
in her ear.

“Hi,” he drawled. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Janie smiled. “It’s all done. The house is
officially sold.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah I am. I’m just impatiently waiting to get back to
you.”

She heard him chuckle. “Can I call you back in a bit?” he
asked.

“Oh, did I call at a bad time?”

“It’s never a bad time for you. You can call anytime and I
will answer every time. I just need to wrap up a few things with the men
sitting at my desk wondering who the hell I’m talking to.” She could actually
hear him smiling through the phone.

“How did I get so lucky?” she asked. “Call me anytime. I
will answer every time,” she smiled.

“Love you,” he said.

“Love you too.”

Janie dropped the phone back in her purse and felt
ridiculous sitting in the parking lot grinning like an idiot.

*****

That night she was taking her sons and mother to dinner. She
figured they met Matt together, they could hear the news together. They thought
it was a ‘selling the house’ celebration. Hopefully it would still be considered
a celebration by the time they left.

They sat in the Red Star Tavern. Somehow the restaurant
choice gave her courage. The waitress brought drinks; Cokes for the boys, a
margarita for her mother and Janie a glass of cabernet, her new favorite wine.

Patty raised her glass in a toast.

“Your mom is an amazing woman,” she said to the boys. “You
should be extremely proud of her. This has been a really hard few years for you
all, but she has remained the rock of this family and I for one, wish her the
best new start she could possibly have.”

“Here, here,” smiled Tyler.

Adam smiled and they all clinked their glasses together.

A sad smile on Janie’s face, she thanked her mom for the
kind words and hoped they would approve of her new start.

“There is something I would like to tell you,” she began.
May
as well just say it,
she thought. “Matt has asked me to marry him and I
have said yes.”
There! Done!

The silence that met her was deafening. All three of them
just looked at her. Finally, Patty smiled and patted her hand.

“Congratulations,” she smiled. “I hope you will be very
happy.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

Tyler sighed. “I guess I figured this day would come,” he
said. “I am happy for you, mom, it’s just gonna be weird.”

Janie smiled at her son. How proud she was of her boys.
“Thank you. Adam?”

“Aw, mom. Give me some time, k?”

“Okay,” she patted his hand.

“That’s the ring?” Tyler blurted, looking at her hand. “Holy
shit! Is he loaded?”

Janie chuckled. “Yes he is.
Very
loaded.”

“Well then double congratulations,” laughed Patty.

Janie relaxed after knowing all would be well in her little
family.

*****

With two of the items now off her ‘to-do-in-Portland’ list,
Janie could concentrate on the wedding dress. Matt had insisted she take the
checkbook with her, even though her new credit card reading ‘Janie Lathem’ was
in her wallet. Janie decided that she was going to use money from the sale of
her house to buy her dress. It would probably be the last thing she bought with
‘their’ money; hers and Robert’s. She didn’t think Robert would mind. In fact,
she was confident he was happy for her, wherever he was.

Katy and Janie set out for the day, a wedding dress the
goal. After trying on over a dozen dresses in a small bridal shop in downtown
Portland, Janie stood looking in the mirror at what she believed was the
perfect dress.

It was ivory, not white. It was satin and chiffon. Short
sleeved and high-waisted with a jeweled band underneath her breasts. It had a deep
V neckline, sexy but still appropriate. It had a court train and Janie felt
positively beautiful in it. She stepped out of the changing room and Katy
gasped, obviously pleased.

“My God, Janie! You are gorgeous!”

“Yeah I think this is it,” she grinned, unable to contain
her excitement. “Now we need to find something for you.”

“It won’t matter what I wear,” Katy laughed. “I’ll look
completely frumpy next to you!”

Providence smiled on them because they found the perfect
dress for Katy in the same shop. It was a champagne colored halter dress that
looked stunning on Katy. With her blonde hair, big brown eyes and perfect
figure, Janie was sure there would be plenty of eyes on her best friend. But
she didn’t care. All she cared about was Matt and she was pretty sure he would
be looking at only her.

“Now shoes!” Janie laughed.

The next few weeks were a blur. Janie was flying back and
forth to New York, meeting with caterers and florists and the hotel, giving
final approval and writing checks, signing them ‘Janie Lathem’. She had told
Maureen she didn’t need to be there but Maureen insisted. And Janie discovered
that she was already falling in love with her soon-to-be mother-in-law.

As they left the bakery that was entrusted with the
four-tier chocolate wedding cake, Maureen patted Janie’s arm and smiled.

“Thank you Janie,” she smiled.

“For what?” asked Janie.

“For a lot of things,” she began. “For loving my son. For
bringing back his spark, the light in his eyes. I haven’t seen that in a very
long time.”

Janie covered Maureen’s hand with her own. “I adore him and
I will love for the rest of my life.”

“I know you do. May I ask a very personal question?”

“Sure,” Janie replied.

“Have you talked about children?”

Janie sighed. “Maureen, I, Matt doesn’t, he isn’t very, not
really.”

“Oh,” Maureen sighed.

“I do know all about Suzanne and I am very open to the
possibility of having children with Matt. But he isn’t ready to entertain the
idea. Not yet, anyway.”

Maureen smiled and nodded.

Peter met them on the sidewalk and opened the cab door for
them to slide in.

“Don’t give up hope,” Janie smiled at Maureen. “I haven’t.”

*****

Two weeks before the wedding, Janie arrived back in New York
for a week. Matt met her at the airport with a dozen red roses.

“They are beautiful,” she grinned.

“I know you like lilies, but nothing says ‘I love you’ more
than red roses,” he explained.

Janie took the bouquet from him and buried her face in them,
the scent filling her senses.

“I have some exciting news,” he said, excitement obvious.

“What is it?” she asked, intrigued.

“Can’t tell you!” he laughed.

“Then why tell me you have exciting news?” Janie swatted his
arm.

“I have to show you.”

Ray helped them in to the car and they headed for their
apartment. During the drive, Matt filled Janie in on the new developments at
the office and the work on the remodeling of the executive suite.

“I still haven’t seen your office,” Janie frowned.

“Seriously?”

“Your mother occupies my time when you are at work,” she
laughed.

“We will have to remedy that,” he grinned.

They pulled up to their building and Matt all but drug Janie
to the elevator.
It must be in the apartment,
she thought.

As they got out of the elevator, Janie turned to the left
and headed to their door.

“Wrong way,” Matt grinned and headed for the other apartment
occupying the floor of the building.

“What are you doing?”

Matt placed a key in the lock and turned it, pushing open
the door. Janie followed cautiously.

They stepped into the apartment and it had been gutted down
to the wall studs and concrete floor.

“We bought it,” he grinned.

Janie was shocked. “But what about the view? Our view? Our
spot in front of the Statue of Liberty?” She was visibly upset. She had come to
love that desk in front of the window in their bedroom.

“We still have our view, sweet Janie. We have bought this
apartment too so we now have the whole floor!”

Matt was giddy! Janie watched him as he bounced around the
massive open space, it finally dawning on her what he had done.

“When did you do all this?”

“The day after you said yes!” he grinned. “I made the former
owner an offer he couldn’t, and didn’t, refuse.”

“You’re expanding the apartment? Because it wasn’t big
enough before?” she laughed.

“Well, there are the boys and your mom. They’re going to
need space when they’re here and I have my office and the gym, but I thought
you’d need some space for, for, for stuff,” he explained. “And, I don’t know.
Maybe we’ll need more bedrooms.”

Janie wasn’t sure what he meant by that last statement and
decided better than to ask him about it now.

“Okay,” she said. “Now what?”

“The architect will be here tomorrow with three potential
floor plans and you can choose which one we want. Obviously, the contractor has
already started. It can be done by the time we get back from our honeymoon so
we won’t be here for most of the noise. I am paying them a lot of money to be
finished on time,” he grinned. “What do you think?”

“I think I love you!”

*****

Two days later, Matt left for work early but confirmed with
Janie that Ray would bring her to the office just before lunch. She wanted to
see where he spent so much of his time and Matt wanted her to see the view.

Ray pulled curbside in front of the massive glass structure
and Janie thanked him for the ride. She stood on the sidewalk, remembering the
last time she was there.
A lifetime ago
, she thought. She walked in and
headed to the elevators. MEL Holdings had three floors but Matt’s office was on
the sixty-seventh. She pushed the button and the elevator shot upwards.  The
doors opened a couple of times as people exited and she continued on. The doors
finally opened on Matt’s floor and she stepped out into the hallway that held
so much pain for her the last time she tried to visit Matt. Pushing the dark
memories from her mind, she ventured through the construction zone to where
Matt’s office was.

The lady she had seen the last time she was here stopped her
as she stepped over a pile of lumber.

“Oh, I am sorry for the mess,” she apologized. “How can I
help you?”