Chapter 15: Feels Like Home To Me

When I woke, nearly two hours later, I was immediately aware of two things. One was the scent of something delicious wafting into the bedroom from the kitchen. The other was the feeling of a soft pair of lips brushing against mine.

I opened my eyes, slowly, not sure if I was dreaming or not. I wasn’t. Jessica was leaning over me, her mouth close to mine. When she saw that my eyes were open, she kissed me again.

“Sorry to wake you. But Kate says supper will be ready in about 10 minutes.”

I smiled and pulled her down for another kiss.

“You can wake me up like that any time you want to,” I told her. “Especially if your sister feeds me afterwards.”

She slapped my arm, then leaned down and kissed me one more time before she left the room. I stretched, got up, and followed her, though I had to stop at the bathroom on my way past. When I reached the dining area, Kate had dinner on the table. She’d heated up the ready-made tourtiere that we had picked up while we were exploring Quebec on Saturday, and thrown together a salad to go with it. Jess opened a bottle of wine to go with it. It all tasted divine.

Jess and I did the dishes, since Kate had done the cooking. After dinner we played cards, the girls teaching me a game called Blitz that they used to play with their mother. It was nearly midnight by the time the three of us went to bed, squeezing in beside each other, with Jess in the centre. And as I drifted off, I thought, not for the first time, that this would be a lot more comfortable if the bed was just a bit bigger.

Tuesday began like most mornings with the girls. We all woke around the same time - which may have had something to do with the size of the bed, and the fact that as soon as one person woke up so did everyone else. Kate got up and hit the bathroom first, then went to start the coffee. Jess went into the bathroom next, and I followed. Soon we were sitting around the table with mugs of steaming morning bliss in our hands.

“So, what’s up for today?” I asked.

“I have to work from 4:00 to closing,” Jessica replied, “today, and every day this week. I’m off on Sunday.”

“Kate?”

“I need to do some grocery shopping. But that’s about it. What about you, Alex?”

“I thought I might call Kim’s friend, and see if I could start the process of getting us some houses to look at.”

Jess turned a bit pale. She was still worried about this, obviously.

“So how does this all work? What do you have to do?”

“Well, first I call her, and see if we can get together. Then we give her the list of stuff we need and want in a house, and she sees what she can find for us. Once she’s found a few places that more or less fit our description, she takes us to them and lets us see them. If we find one we like, we make an offer on it. If nothing she shows us looks and feels right, then we ask her to try again.”

“How long does it take?”

I shrugged.

“Depends on what’s on the market, I guess. Sorry. I realize I’m being vague, but I really don’t know what things are like here. I’ll know more after the initial contact with her. Why don’t you come meet with her, if she’s available before you have to go to work? Katie, do you want to come too?”

Kate shook her head.

“I really want to look at the houses. I think that will be super fun. But I don’t care about meeting with the agent first.”

After we were done breakfast, I called the number that Kim had given me for her friend Judy. She answered on the second ring, and as soon as I gave her my name, she knew who I was.

“Kim sent me an email telling me to expect your call, Alex. When is a good time to get together?”

“I’m free this morning, if you are.”

We agreed on a meeting at her office around 11:00. That left me just enough time to take Kate to the grocery store, so she wouldn’t have walk home carrying groceries. Jess gave Kate money for this trip. I tried to argue, but I got nowhere, so I just let it go. After she’d done the shopping, I dropped Kate and the food off at the apartment, picked Jess up, and the two of us went to meet our real estate agent.

Judy was waiting for us in the lobby of the real estate office. She held out her hand to me as we came in.

“You must be Alex. So good to meet you. And Jessica, good to meet you too.”

I smiled.

“You’ve done your homework.”

“Kim briefed me,” she said, showing us into a conference room, and motioning for us to choose seats. “By the way, I don’t know what you’ve done for Kim, or what favours she owes you for. And I don’t really want to know. But she put me on very clear notice about all the horrible things she will do to me if I give you anything less than the best service.”

I laughed.

“We go way back, Kim and I,” I said. “I think we both owe each other a lot.”

Judy took a notebook and pen out of her briefcase, then sat down.

“So,” she began, “what is it that you’re looking for?”

I took out my list, so I wouldn’t forget anything.

“Jess’ sister Kate is still in high school,” I said, “so we need to stay within the catchment area for King George VI school. We’re looking for at least three bedrooms, with the master a decent size, The kitchen needs to be large as well, with lots of work space. We want the bathrooms to have been upgraded, or at least be upgradeable. I will do some consulting work from home, likely, so I need a room that could be an office. We want a two-car garage - doesn’t matter if its attached or freestanding. A pool would be nice, but isn’t essential - but we some outdoor entertaining space - either a patio or a deck - or enough space to put one in. I think that’s it. Jess, did I miss anything?”

Jess shook her head.

“Wow,” Judy said, when she had finished writing down what I’d said. “You’ve given this some thought. Most people just look at me blankly when I ask them that question!”

I laughed.

“I don’t see the point in wasting your time - or having you waste ours - by showing us places we are totally uninterested in,” I replied.

“Price range?”

I shrugged.

“I don’t know. To be honest, I’m more interested in value than price. I mean, I want to know that the house is worth what we paid for it, and is what we want - not just that it is available for a certain price.”

Judy nodded.

“Financing?”

I shook my head.

“Won’t be necessary. I’ll be listing my condo in Ottawa over the next week or so. If we’re ready to buy before the condo sells, I have enough liquid assets to get us over the gap.”

“One last question: timeframe for closing?”

“I’d say the sooner the better. But we’d be willing to wait for the right place, if the seller wasn’t able to move quickly.”

She nodded again.

“That flexibility will work in your favour,” she said. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

I looked at Jessica. She shook her head.

“Then if you’ll give me a day or two, I will see what I can come up with. I can think of one house already that you might want to look at. Would you be free Thursday, by any chance?”

I nodded.

“Yes, as long as we were done before 4.”

“Amazing. I’ll see what I can arrange for Thursday - maybe starting around 9:30?”

“That’ll be great.”

We stood and shook hands again, and then Jess and I headed back to the apartment. Kate had made lunch - just some soup, she said, but it was delicious. After we ate, Jess asked if I was up for a nap, and I said sure. Kate sat down in the livingroom to do some schoolwork - why they assign homework over Christmas vacation is a mystery to me - and Jess and I went into the bedroom. And when I found out that Jess really intended to nap, and wasn’t using that word as a euphemism for something else, I wasn’t even disappointed. OK, so maybe a bit. But not that much. I snuggled in beside her, and fell asleep with a smile on my face.

Kate came and woke us a bit before 3:00, and Jess hopped into the shower and then got dressed for work. Once she was ready, Kate and I walked her down to the bar, and I suggested we stay and have some food there before we went back home again. We shared a pizza - bacon double cheeseburger, they called it - and a Greek salad, like the one I’d had my first time there. Then we went for a walk together, Kate and I. It wasn’t the best part of the city, but it wasn’t that late at night, and as Kate said, she didn’t need to worry when I was with her. We strolled along the quiet streets, past some homes that had seen better days, and eventually got back to the apartment. Somewhere along the way, Kate slipped her hand into mine.

When we got back to the apartment, Kate did a bit of school work. Her friend Tami was getting back to town tonight, and they had made plans to get together and work on their joint project the next day. I opened up my laptop and did some work, mostly checking my bank accounts and credit cards, and paying some bills. I also responded to a couple of emails, including one from Kim, who wondered how things had gone with Judy.

Around 11:00, Kate yawned, stretched, and said she was heading to bed. She gave me a hug, and went into the bathroom, then into the bedroom. I continued goofing around on the computer. To be honest, I was really just putting in time until I could walk back to the bar and bring Jess home.

It was about 11:45 when Kate came out, in her usual sleepwear of a t-shirt and panties.

“Alex? I can’t sleep. I know this is stupid, but...”

She hesitated. I smiled.

“Say it, Kate. Whatever it is. Just say it.”

“I can’t get to sleep. Can you come and hold me for a bit? Please?”

How could I say no to that? I shut down my laptop and followed Kate into the bedroom. She climbed back under the covers, and I lay down on top of them and wrapped her up in my arms. I think she was asleep in 10 minutes. I stayed for a bit, enjoying the rest and the feeling of her body against mine, then quietly pulled myself away from her and eased off the bed. When she didn’t stir, I moved towards the door and out into the hallway. I stopped at the bathroom before I pulled on my coat and boots and walked back down to Johnny’s.

Jess’ face lit up when she saw me enter the room. She came out from behind the bar and gave me a hug and a kiss, then motioned me to a stool.

“Drink?”

“Sure.”

She mixed me a rum and Coke, then carried on with her work. When closing time came, she helped John and the waitresses clean up, then we walked home, hand in hand, cycled through the bathroom, then snuggled into bed, with Jess beside Kate, and me on the outside.