(Another long wait lays behind us and again I'm more than sorry that I was not able to update on that story sooner. It took me weeks/months and a lot of effort to get this chapter done since my brain is completely useless lately, so please refrain from writing reviews about how you dislike Lisa or Jack or both or reviews that have nothing to do with this story.
I hope you enjoy this chapter.)
Chapter 9
The smell of fresh coffee had caused him to wake up to another sunny day. A fresh morning breeze entered through the ajar balcony door and let the curtains flow lightly in the air. Jack's head turned to his left to find an empty spot next to him, then turned to his right to look at the time on the face of the alarm clock. It was shortly after half past seven and he remembered that Lisa had told him yesterday that she would be up pretty early due to a phone call that was scheduled with her assistant at Fairfield Stables.
Only by the name of the place that lay so close to his own home, Jack had felt the strong homesickness again but kept it to himself, not wanting to get started on this topic while being here in Europe. Especially since his return flight was going in two days anyway. As much as Jack hated to fly, he couldn't wait to get home. To sink back into his comfort-zone and becoming the man he used to be. He couldn't wait to see the girls. Lou, Amy and Katie. He wondered if Ty had found the courage to propose to his granddaughter yet. Maybe they would have something to celebrate. On the last call Amy didn't mention any news on it, but perhaps they were just waiting for him to come back and to tell him in person.
A smile crossed Jack's lips when the vision of his granddaughter's delighted faces appeared in front of his eyes. With a sigh he swung the sheet off his body and got up.
The smell of coffee still hung in the air when he made his way from the bathroom through the house following the pleasant morning scent.
The kitchen was empty. Only a pot of coffee stood on the counter next to an empty mug that had been most likely placed there for him. Jack took the silent offer gratefully and poured himself some of the still hot content and took a sip to get his blood running. The energy immediately run through his veins. After setting the mug back on the counter he proceeded his way through the wide open living-room area towards the attached hallway. The doors that led out onto the stone flagged porch stood wide open and sent in some fresh morning air as well as the noises of an slowly awakening French town.
"Lis'?
"Over here!"
The voice came from the office that had been set up in a small room of the house.
Jack walked down the hallway to the second door on the left and peeked around the corner. Other than the rest of Lisa's house the room was decorated pretty sparsely and business-like. There was a black desk standing in the middle of the room and facing the high windows that gave a view upon the opposite side of the sea. There were the neighbours' houses, trees and the street that led up to Lisa's residence. Several white shelves loaded with books and folders leaned against the wall behind the desk. The two pictures that hung above a chest of drawers on which Lisa kept a printer and other electronic devices gave the plain room something like a personal touch. Other than that it was held pretty white and kind of nude. A room where business was made.
Jack spotted Lisa sitting at her computer. Obviously something interesting must have caught her eye since she was leaning a bit closer, examining what was on the screen. However, once he stepped across the threshold to enter and walk towards her, she pushed the top of her laptop down and raised her head to smile at him."Hey. Did you sleep well?"
For a second Jack wondered if she was hiding something from him that she had been observing in her computer, but decided quickly not to confront her with it. Perhaps it was just business stuff she was still working on.
At that moment he was more set back to yesterday's happenings and a wave of guilt washed over him again. They had talked about his behaviour at David's but it didn't satisfy him much. He wanted to apologize, make sure that it didn't stand between them.
"I did. Look, I'm sorry about yesterday. I've been an idiot."
She hadn't expected him bringing up that topic again, Jack could tell by the expression on her face.
"Oh honey, it's okay. I am not even thinking about it anymore."
"So are we okay?"
"Of course we are. Better than ever, right?", she spun around on her revolving chair and held out both hands for him to take. With a loving smirk he took on the offer and got pulled closer. Looking down, he was drowning in that crystal clear blue of her eyes.
"I agree."
They indeed were better than ever before. During those last five years their relationship had never been more profound and Jack wondered why it needed five years and a trip to France to become like that.
Somehow with stepping into the air plane and setting foot onto this foreign country he also opened a new door. He had been hesitant to step through it. She however entered open-minded, took his hand and confidently pulled him with her into it. Once there they both realized that they just entered something new in their relationship – a room that was much closer to the centre of the house they were obviously building themselves. A house of their love and life.
Jack knew what it was that waited for them in the centre. They had been there once before, realizing that they had taken a shortcut to it.
It was the room of marriage.
-They had been leaving this room as quick as they had stumbled into it.
Now after three years and establishing room after room they were getting pretty close to the centre again. Jack could feel it in the tension of the current stage of their relationship. Yet, the thought of getting married a second time and in his age and stage of life was still unsettling.
With a shaking head Jack pushed those thoughts to the back of his head, postponing them to another and more quiet day.
"So, what are you up to?", he changed the topic and nodded at the still closed laptop.
"Oh, I-", her head returned to the computer as if to find the forgotten answer there, then looked back up at him, with a uncertain smile on her lips. She was definitely up to something important, something she knew he maybe wouldn't like. Now Jack was definitely eager to know and rose an eyebrow at her which put her slightly under pressure.
She bit her lip before finding a start on the thing she had been hiding.
"Well... we...we had some great days here, hadn't we?"
"We did."
"I enjoyed your company a lot."
"So did I."
She smiled at his quick responses, yet returned thoughtful quickly.
"This got me thinking, if...if...", a heavy sigh found its way over her lips, "if you'd like the idea of buying a house together. A vacation house? Just something private for the two of us."
She looked so excited, yet at the same time sounded so worried and afraid that he would reject that idea right away.
A vacation house.
A private place for them.
Something small.
It didn't need to be big.
Maybe something with a nice view.
A porch would be great.
A swing on it, or just some comfortable wooden chairs to spend the evenings sitting outside, watching the sun go down behind some hills or mountains.
No neighbours of course or at least a few acres in between.
He remained silent while the picture of their vacation house came more and more into life in front of his eyes.
"On the other hand, I...I would understand if you don't-", Lisa started, misinterpreting the silence and the lost glance in his eyes.
When he focused back on her, her facial expression had changed. Changed to worry only. Something he needed to return to the previous excitement.
"I would very much love this idea.", he finally agreed, finding himself weak to refuse any of her wishes.
"Really?"
"Yes, I've got a bit money I could invest and it would be nice to spend more time like this together."
"Oh Jack...", she tilted her head to the side and this time a touched expression moved across her face.
He was amazed by his unknown ability to make her the happiest woman on this planet. If it was always that simple, Jack thought to himself fully aware of all the secrets he still carried around. It wasn't as if he wanted to keep them to himself, it was just hard to talk about. Especially since he was facing a wide grinning, happy Lisa all day. He couldn't bring himself to disappoint her. To ruin that week for her.
"So, well I've been looking at houses.", she turned and this time opened her computer to reveal what she had been working on. No surprise here and Jack felt an amused smile crossing his lips.
"Of course you have."
A slight chuckle went through her body.
"What do you say about this one here?"
He stepped behind her to have a better look over her shoulder and leaned closer. One hand on the backrest of the chair, the other one on the desk.
For a moment Jack didn't know what he saw. It was a house with a lot of ivy covering the front and revealing only small glimpses of the blue painted window shutters that lay hidden underneath all the leaves. A balcony in the second story overlooked the sea where the sun was just setting. Clouds of colourful geraniums spurted out from several hanging baskets and hung low from the iron balustrade so that they almost reached the windows of the ground floor.
It was only the first picture of a series that held thirteen more photos of the property, but only by that first look Jack already missed the mountains, the rough landscape, the wide view, the wood. It didn't look like any architecture he had in mind. In fact it looked quite similar to the buildings he had seen during his stay here in the southern French town. So his second glance was dedicated to the address of the property.
Toulon, France.
Jack swallowed before the cold crept into his gut and a shiver ran down his spine.
It was the least Jack had imagined.
"So?", Lisa slightly turned her head in anticipation.
"Well,", he tried hard keep out the shocked tone in his voice. "I don't have my glasses on. Can barely see what I'm looking at."
"Oh c'mon", she hit him playfully on the arm, knowing that he was bluffing. "You can see it in its real beauty when we go for a showing later today."
She turned back and started to click through the photographs.
"To a-?"
"Yeah, I already called the agent. Turns out she's got some time to let us in."
Jack rose and inhaled deeply, still looking at the screen of the computer and hoping this moment was just a dream. A dream he didn't like.
"What do you say?"
"I don't know what to say."
"I know, it's breathtaking, isn't it?"
Yeah, it definitely was but in a whole different way than she was referring to.
Jack just nodded faintly, feeling completely sick to his stomach now.
