First Class to Portland (3 page)

“Yes, I saw it. I actually had a harbor tour. If you had
Facebook you could look at all the pictures,” Janie teased her mom.

“Oh I am too old to be messing around with the computer. I
can barely check my email!” Patty laughed.

Janie finished her coffee and confirmed with her mom that it
was still fine for the boys to stay with her while they were home for the
summer. They had offered to stay with their Grandma so Janie’s house would stay
clean and tidy while it was for sale. She had appreciated them being so
accommodating and amazed that they had finally recognized they were slobs.

Janie kissed her mom goodbye and figured the tour of her
house should be over so she headed home.

*****

At five minutes to two, Matt stood outside City Hall. He
didn’t want to be late to his brother, Andrew’s wedding, so he headed up the
steps and made his way to the wedding party. All his brothers were there,
except Paul, of course, who was still on some secret mission as a Navy Seal. He
sat down next to his dad, who was holding his mom’s hand, as she had already
begun crying and the ceremony hadn’t even started. Andrew and Rory were at the
front of the room talking to the City Clerk. Matt was the last one to arrive so
they got started.  

They had decided to write their own vows and keep the
ceremony short and simple. Matt was trying to focus on what was being said but
his mind wouldn’t let him. All he could think about was Janie and how much he
missed her. He knew that she had been the one woman who had let him be who he
really was. He didn’t need to put on a show for her or pretend to be something
he wasn’t. She listened to him because she was interested in what he had to say
and their bodies melded together perfectly. He could see himself never getting
bored of waking up next to her, of sitting eating Thai food in comfortable
silence, or cuddling on the couch listening to music. He knew he’d become sappy
but he didn’t care. He really did want all those things, but he
only
wanted them with Janie.

He was pulled from his own thoughts as Andrew spoke.

“I was happy and content before I met you, Rory. I had a
promising career and a loving family. And my life was good. And then I met you
and I realized that life didn’t have to be just good. Life could be joyful and
sweet and I understood what people meant when they said they were head over
heels in love.”

Matt listened as his brother bore his soul to the one person
he trusted completely, the one person who knew him better than anyone else, the
one person he loved unconditionally.  

“You have completed my life in a way I never knew was
possible and today I promise you that I will love and cherish you until the day
that I die.”

Matt heard those words and an overwhelming feeling of loss washed
over him. He knew that he had been a fool to let Janie leave without telling
her how he felt. Mark had been right. He had to tell her. He had to lay his
heart out for her. And then the ball would be in her court.

The next few days went by very quickly for Janie. There was
nothing like an Open House with strangers critiquing your home to make you want
to scrub every surface, every nook and cranny, every inch of the house. Janie
did nothing else but clean, clean, and clean some more. By Friday evening, Katy
told her the house was cleaner and more sterile than the operating rooms at the
hospital.

“Well, now that I’ve made the decision to sell and start
over, I want someone to buy it before I change my mind,” Janie explained as
they sat at the Mexican restaurant enjoying chips and salsa before their dinner
arrived.

“Are you worried you’ll change your mind?”

“No. I’m just ready for the next chapter to begin.”

“So, if you could be anywhere, doing anything, what would it
be?” Katy asked.

Janie’s eyes dropped to her hands and she closed her eyes
.
I’d be with Matt
, she thought.
Anywhere he was.

“You know, you could call him,” Katy said.

Janie looked up at her friend, a sad smile on her face. “You
know me too well.”

“I’m serious. Why don’t you call him?”

“I’ll need several more drinks before that will ever happen.
And you know he could have called
me
if he’d wanted to, but I know that
he’s already moved on. What we had in New York was just fun entertainment for
him. It didn’t mean anything. He told me up front, Katy. He wasn’t looking for
anything more.”

Katy took a sip of her drink, knowing full well that it did
mean something more than that. Matt had told her. He’d said he was in love with
Janie, and Katy didn’t understand why he hadn’t done a damn thing about it. He still
hadn’t called Janie once and it had been over two weeks. Maybe he was just a
coward. Maybe he didn’t deserve her friend.

The waitress appeared with their food and Katy picked up her
fork and took a delicious bite of her seafood enchilada just as her phone
rang.  She didn’t recognize the number but answered anyway.

“Katy?”

“Yeah, who’s this?”

“Matt. Matt Lathem.”

Katy choked on her food and dropped her phone on the table.
She coughed and sputtered and finally swallowed and grabbed the phone.

“What the hell?”

“Dropped the phone. What do you want? Why are you calling
me?” Katy snapped.

Janie looked up at her friend with concern in her eyes. She
mouthed something to Katy but she didn’t see.

“Katy, I’m in Portland.”

*****

With his brother’s wedding over, Matt headed back to the
office and tried to work, but he couldn’t concentrate at all. All he could
think about was figuring out his next step with Janie. He needed to tell her
how he felt and see if she felt the same. Katy said she did but he needed to
hear what Janie had to say. He needed a plan.

“Angela, can you come in here for a minute, please? I’d like
to try and clear my schedule for the next few days.”

Angela appeared with her tablet in hand, and Matt explained
that he needed to leave town for a few days.

“Well, you have the meeting with the City Councilman on
Thursday regarding the Brooklyn conversion. If we cancel that, I’m not sure I
can get it rescheduled within the window of time you are hoping for in order to
get that project started. It could be months before he will agree to meet
again. You know how long it took to get this one.”

Matt rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes.
Is two days
going to make a difference?
  “Okay, let’s cancel everything after that
meeting then. I will definitely be back by the 19th for the Harlem walkthrough
with the inspector.”

Angela nodded and made some notes. “Do you need travel
arrangements?”

“Yes please. To Portland on Friday, returning the following
Thursday, the 18th. I’ll need hotel and car, the usual.”

Angela’s head whipped at ‘Portland’, eyes questioning her
boss.

“Yes. I’m going to see her.”

“Oh that’s good,” she smiled. “You have been rather
intolerable the last few days.” And she stood and left Matt’s office.

*****

“What was that all about?” Janie questioned Katy. “You okay?
I thought you were going to fall out of your chair!”

Katy was obviously texting and not paying any attention to
Janie.

“Hey! You’ve got me worried,” Janie raised her voice.

“Oh,” Katy looked up. “It’s, um, just a guy I used to know
ages ago. I’m kinda freaked out he called me after all this time. I, uh, didn’t
think it had ended real well and assumed I’d never hear from him again but I
guess I was wrong.” Katy hoped Janie wouldn’t push it much further.

“Well, you do leave a lasting impression,” Janie grinned.

Katy shoved her phone back into her purse, the text to Matt
sent. It appeared Janie believed her big fat lie. But it was for the best.
Hopefully this would be a wonderful surprise for her best friend. “You know,
I’ve gotta get going.”

“What? You’ve had one bite of your food and I thought we
were going to see a movie later,” Janie was stunned at Katy’s hasty exit.

“I have to work the early shift,” Katy lied. “I just got
texted. That’s what I was doing, just now.”

“Oh,” Janie sighed. “Well, okay. Call me tomorrow then and
we can plan something for next weekend.”

“Sure thing.”
Another lie!
Katy thought. She grabbed
her purse and squeezed Janie’s shoulder. “Have a wonderful day tomorrow,” she
smiled.

“I can’t imagine it being wonderful,” Janie frowned. “But
maybe someone will be interested in the house.”

“Oh yeah, the house,” said Katy. “Good luck with that too.”
And Katy hurried out of the restaurant, leaving Janie very confused.

She finished her taco salad and had the waitress box up
Katy’s dinner. If she wasn’t going to eat it Janie wasn’t about to let it go to
waste. She paid the bill and headed to her car.

“Janie!”

She turned to see Danny walking up the sidewalk. “Hi! Small
world, huh?”

Janie smiled at her neighbor.

“I was just coming to grab some dinner. You all done?”

“Yeah, heading home now,” Janie replied.

“Is, um, Katy with you?” Danny looked around Janie.

“She was, but she had to leave. Enjoy your dinner.” Janie
smiled and walked the last few feet to her car. Danny was a nice enough guy,
although she didn’t know him
that
well. He and Robert had gone out
kayaking a couple of times on the Willamette River and had gone fishing in the
Columbia River once or twice, but since Robert died, Janie had really only seen
Danny if they happened to be in the yard at the same time, or when Katy was
over. Danny obviously liked her and always seemed to be outside when Katy was
leaving. But Katy wasn’t interested. Danny wasn’t her type. He was short; about
5’8” and Katy liked to wear high heels, so 5’10” was her minimum. He was thin;
Katy liked some muscle on her men. He was blonde; Katy always dated dark-haired
men. And Danny wasn’t overly intellectual. Not that Katy was brilliant or
anything, but she liked to be able to have intelligent conversations and Danny
didn’t fit that bill either. He was more of a let’s go bowling and talk about
beer and the NFL.
There’s no way Katy will ever go out with you
, thought
Janie as she pulled out of the parking lot as he stood on the sidewalk.

*****

Janie woke up to the sound of the alarm buzzing on Saturday
morning
. UGH! Six o’clock is way too early
, she thought as she hit the
snooze.

Ten minutes later the alarm buzzed again and Janie grudgingly
threw the comforter off and hit the alarm clock.

“Okay! I’m up!” she growled as she made her way into the
bathroom.

There was a lot she needed to do before she left the house
at 9:30. She showered and made her bed. She gathered up her dirty laundry and
shoved it into the washing machine. She emptied the dishwasher and wiped off
all the brushed nickel knobs on the kitchen cabinets. As per requested by
Amanda, Janie had made a batch of cookie dough the day before and scooped it
onto cookie sheets and stacked them in the fridge so Amanda could have the
house smelling of fresh baked cookies all day long. She said it made the house
feel more like a home to the potential buyers. Janie wasn’t sure she believed
it, but figured it couldn’t hurt so she did as she was told.

Giving the house one last check before heading out, she
stopped at the fireplace mantle and gazed at the Statue of Liberty snow globe
she had purchased on her trip. She’d only been home for just over two weeks but
it felt as though it had been months since she’d been in New York. She gently
ran her fingers over the smooth glass and remembered being in Matt’s apartment,
standing at his bedroom window looking at the statue all lit up at night. She
closed her eyes and could feel Matt’s hands on her, his lips on her shoulders.
It had been the most magical of nights; one she would never forget.
I love
him
, she thought.
It’s crazy but I do
.

Janie took a deep breath and was glad there was a knock at
the door to snap her back to the present. She found herself remembering perfect
moments with Matt, and that only made her miss him more and it wasn’t doing her
any good at all. She needed to move on, start new and fresh and somehow put him
out of her mind. It was much more difficult in practice.

She let Amanda in and told her about the cookies in the
fridge and grabbed her purse. The open house was for six hours, so she was
going to spend it at the mall, shopping. Number six on her to do list, getting
a new wardrobe, was only barely started. She had a lot more to do.

Open houses were a nightmarish necessity to Amanda. She
really didn’t like them but they helped to sell houses and she knew she could
get Janie’s house sold quickly and at asking price so she was going to get
through it with a smile. She was going to keep her eye on the prize - a quick
sale and then a big fat check.

After a couple of hours, she had shown several people
through the house and was excited to see some definite interest. She was
pulling another batch of cookies from the oven in the kitchen when she heard footsteps
walking across the hardwood floors.

“Come on in! There are flyers on the dining room table. I’ll
be right with you.” Amanda scooped the last of the cookies from the hot sheet
onto the cooling rack and removed the oven mitts from her hands and went to
greet the next potential buyer.

“Hi, I’m Amanda and welcome to your next home,” she smiled
and reached out her hand. The man standing in front of her turned slowly and
looked at her, confusion apparent.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“Excuse me?”

“Er, um, hello.” Amanda was speechless, something that never
happened. In front of her stood one of the most gorgeous men she had ever seen.
He wore dark blue jeans and a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up
to expose his forearms. He had dark hair and beautiful dark blue eyes. He eyed
Amanda suspiciously, but shook her offered hand.