First Class to Portland by Aj Harmon Page A

home. You can do whatever you’d
like.”
    Matt let go of her and headed for the bathroom. He didn’t
shut the door and Janie was shocked he was so comfortable around her. He
flushed, rinsed his hands and disappeared into the closet. Janie realized she
was standing at the window start naked and followed him to get her robe. He was
already in some gym shorts and t-shirt.
    “Do you want to work out with me?” he asked, slipping on
athletic socks.
    Janie all but choked as she roared with laughter. “It is on
my list,” she admitted, “but I am not a real athletic kind of girl.”
    “What list?” Matt was curious.
    “I made a list before I went home last time of the things I
needed to accomplish to get on with my life, and working out was on it, but I
haven’t really done much with it.”
    “What else was on your list?”
    “Oh, well, selling the truck, which I did, and purging all
of my stuff, which I did, and selling the house, which it looks like I’ve done
too.”
    “It sounds like you’ve been very productive in just a couple
of weeks.”
    “Yeah, well I had to keep busy,” she frowned.
    Matt tied his shoelace and stood, wrapping his arms around
her and pulling her into his embrace.
    “I’m sorry,” he whispered into her hair.
    “I know. Me too. But we don’t have to think about that now,
right,” she said full of hope for the future.
    “No, we don’t,” he agreed.
    *****
    Mark was stunned as he looked at the box in Matt’s hand, his
mouth open in obvious shock.
    “Wow.”
    “Do you think she’ll like it?” Matt asked.
    “How did we go from last week to this week, so quickly?”
Mark responded.
    “I realized what I want and I’m not going to wait to get
it,” he said.
    “Well good for you, I guess.”
    Their meeting with the inspector had gone well and all was
on schedule for the Harlem condo project. Matt and Mark had spent several hours
answering a multitude of questions, reviewing blueprints, and accompanied him
on an in-depth tour. Matt was definitely glad he had returned and even happier
that Janie had agreed to come with him. Now all that was left was the big day
he had planned for her tomorrow.
    “She doesn’t know that you know it’s her birthday?”
    “Nope!” Matt grinned.
    “Good luck, bro!”

7.
    Saturday came and Janie and Matt spent a leisurely morning
in bed and when they finally got up, Janie made them brunch. After cooking a
few meals in his kitchen, Janie was really enjoying the state of the art
equipment and thinking in her new house she needed to splurge on the
appliances.
    As they finished eating and Janie was clearing the dishes,
her cell phone rang. She smiled when she saw it was Tyler and answered quickly.
They chatted for a few moments and then she went back to the dishes. A couple
of minutes later, it rang again, this time Adam. They spoke briefly, as Adam
was working, but didn’t want to forget to call her. Janie returned to rinsing
the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher.
    Matt watched her as she spoke with each of her sons. She was
very careful not to give away that today was her birthday. He smiled to himself
hoping he was going to blow her away with his surprise later in the day.
    By the time her phone rang for the third time, she looked as
though she was a tad flustered. This time it was Katy, and Janie excused
herself and went and hid in the bedroom for their conversation, so Matt
finished loading the dishwasher and wiped down the breakfast bar.
    A couple of hours later, they sat on the couch watching the
Yankees game on the TV. They weren’t playing at home otherwise they could have
gone to the game Matt had explained. Janie was completely content to snuggle up
to him on the sofa and watch it with him. It was so very domestic.
    Before the eighth inning had begun, Matt stood and
stretched.
    “I was thinking dinner out tonight. How does that sound?”
    “Okay,” replied Janie, although she was perfectly happy to
stay in.
    “I know this