Chapter 95

We pulled up to my house about ten minutes later.

"Let's go look at the apartment."

"I'll be ready in a minute. I need to go potty first."

She went into the house and I headed over to the gate to say hello to Queenie. Being the adult, she didn't get anywhere near the attention that the cute puppies got. In reality, she was a much more pleasant animal to have around, content to let you do whatever but eager for any affection you were willing to provide. And I didn't have to constantly keep my eyes open in case she got it into her head to chew on something or otherwise get in trouble.

Jill came out a couple of minutes later.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. I decided I can't let him ruin my life. I also decided I don't want him to ruin Wanda's, either."

"OK. As long as you can live with the results."

"Jack, I don't know if I could live with myself if I let him hurt her."

"All right. Let's take a look at the apartment."

I went into the garage to plug in the extension cord and noticed it wasn't there. I did notice several doors stacked on top of each other as well as the shingles and tar paper for the roof. There was also a tall box that contained our stackable washer and dryer.

I told Jill to hang on and got a flashlight out of the kitchen. We made our way upstairs and she reached inside the doorway for the light switch.

"Jill, that's not going to..."

I was amazed when the whole living room lit up. Jill walked through the doorway.

"Oooh."

Oooh indeed. I followed her in and looked around. Where the inside of the ceiling had been mostly open yesterday, it was now totally finished. The drywall was all up, it was painted and there were lights installed and working. I looked at the switch Jill had hit and noticed that there were four sliders next to it. I played with them and found that each one controlled a row of track lights, each pointing at a different area of the living room. The sliders set the intensity of each track, the switch was the master.

"Oooh."

I couldn't believe the difference. The room was completely painted and what had been a plywood floor was now covered in oak. The room was ready to move into.

There was a light switch in the hall, right where you'd expect it to be. Even though it wasn't a long hallway, there were two light fixtures in the ceiling. So far, I hadn't seen an old fashioned light bulb anywhere in the apartment. Everything was energy efficient.

The bedroom was also finished. I could see our back yard out one window, the next door neighbor's house out of the other. Once again, the light fixtures were controlled by a dimmer switch. There were two lights with one rotating knob that dimmed both. Everywhere we'd been was painted and had the new oak floor. We could furnish the place tonight if we wished.

The kitchen looked done, too. The floor now had the Formica tile. I hadn't realized it was part of the design, but the countertops matched the floor. And it was also on the walls above the countertops up to the bottom of the cabinets. It wasn't a perfect match; that would have been too boring. The counters and walls had the same white that was on the floor without the gold specks my women had chosen. I felt the wall above the counter. A wet sponge would handle most any cleanup.

There was a nice double, stainless steel sink. The refrigerator, stove & oven combination and dishwasher were also stainless. I opened the closet and saw that it was all ready for the washer and dryer. I heard the low hum of the refrigerator. There was a jug of milk and some lunch meats and cheese inside I opened the freezer to see a new half gallon of Rocky Road ice cream. The front of the door had a dispenser for water and ice.

There was plenty of counter space plus cupboards both below and above it. The side of the kitchen with the greenhouse window had the sink, dishwasher, more cabinets plus an under cabinet microwave and coffeemaker. The other side was stove, refrigerator, more counter and cabinets. I noticed four plants lined up in the window, each with a card attached. They were from Alex, Mom, Mary and Sara and John and Wanda. Jill's eyes got wet when I showed her the cards. I found I had a lump in my throat.

The floor tile and countertops continued into the bathroom. There would be no romantic evenings with Jill relaxing in a bubble bath, candles setting the mood. We had a toilet, shower and sink. The row of makeup lights above the mirror seemed to ease the pain for Jill.

Actually, there wasn't any pain. She had been oohing and aahing from the moment she first turned on that light, squeezing my hand every few seconds. If I wanted romance, I'd just have to get a little inventive. I could always take her into the house if I wanted to give her a bath. Or we could go to a hotel with a real romantic tub. Somehow, I didn't think it was going to be an issue. Right now, she be willing to be bent over a counter in the kitchen.

I went over to the sink and turned it on. Water came out of the faucet.

"You know, we could move the mattress up here tonight if you wanted to."

She squeezed my hand and squealed at the same time.

"Really?"

"I don't see why not. But you can expect some workers up here first thing in the morning."

"It looks done to me."

"The washer and dryer have to be installed. And there isn't a single door in the apartment. I think the inside is pretty much done except for that, but the roof needs to be covered. We'll have to shower in the house tomorrow unless you want to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning. Or you could just take your chances with the workers."