A lot of effort had been put into Royal Rumble weekend by both Jay and Erin. They were in need of some down time, even if it was only a day in her case. She had taken the Wednesday as a personal day, and said it was time for Jay to find out what the surprise she had for him was.
"I don't like surprises," he had complained as they had gotten into her car.
"You'll like this one," was all she had offered in reply.
On the way to wherever they were going, Jay decided to use the opportunity of them having some time to talk to ask her about something that had been on his mind.
"Honey, you know how I've been doing a lot better with my self-confidence and stuff lately?"
"You really have," she said with affection.
"Well, I got to thinking that I've been doing better at work, with the women and all that. And I think I've been doing better in our relationship too."
"You have. Where is this going?" she asked, encouraging him to open up.
"I want to be a better friend to Raquel. She's done a lot for me, and she's always there for me. I've tried to be for her too. Can't help thinking I've not been good at it though. She hasn't opened up to me about things. I mean, I know very little about her childhood, her military service, or anything like that. As her best friend, I should know more by now. What I'm asking is how do I talk to her to get her to let me in?"
"It's possibly not so much a question of how you talk to her, but how you listen. Be the kind of listener she needs."
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, hoping to learn something.
"To get someone to open up, it's a good idea to make them feel like they're being truly listened to. It's not a case of bumping into her backstage and saying, 'How are you?' You should spend more time with her away from work. I know that's not easy when we live up here and she spends most of her time in Florida or Texas, but make it happen more often. And when you talk, engage in conversation and truly listen. If she believes you'll truly listen, she may tell you things."
"That's all good advice," Jay said thoughtfully. "Still not sure how to get her to start opening up to me though. Like, how do you start a conversation like that?"
"In the right setting and at the right time, you could say that you'd like her to tell you more about her childhood, or her military service, or whatever. And if she decides to tell you, make sure she feels listened to, like I said. One other thing I'd say with Raquel is remember that although she's tall, strong and undoubtedly badass, she is a woman. Treat her and talk to her accordingly. Does that make sense?"
"I think so," he said, although in truth he was a bit lost. Outwardly, there wasn't much that was ladylike about Raquel, apart from her obvious good looks. But inside it might be quite different, he realised. She had once said to him herself that at one time she had been a vulnerable little girl. That girl, now a woman, was still in there underneath the tough exterior. That was the part of his best friend he ought to know, and wanted to know.
"Giving advice isn't my strongest suit. I hope I've managed to help you?" Erin was saying.
"Yeah, you have. Thanks, honey."
"Of course," she said, looking at him with a warm smile on her face.
The journey ended up taking almost three hours before Erin parked up out front of a large grey brick beach house with a dormer roof, a detached garage and a quaint picket fence. They were in The Hamptons, one of the most sought-after places to live in the country.
"Here we are," she proclaimed, killing the Ford GT's engine.
Jay looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean 'here we are'? Who lives here?"
Erin got out of the car and waited for him to do the same. "We do. I know there are quite a few things about Eagle's Nest you're not entirely comfortable with, particularly how modern it is. So I bought us this place as a second home. We can get away here on days off or at weekends, when time allows. It's my gift to you."
A gift, he thought incredulously. A house in The Hamptons as a gift. Not a watch or a new shirt. It showed him once again how different the world was for him now that he was with Erin. He did like the look of the house though. It was exactly the style he liked, from the outside at least. She had known that before buying it of course.
"It's... I don't know what to say," was all he could manage.
Erin took his loss for words in her stride. She had probably expected it, he thought. "Have you seen the name?"
The name was on a small wooden sign above the mailbox. 'Whitecaps'
"I like that," he said. Starting to get over the initial shock, he began to properly think about what Erin had done. She had her dream home for them to live in at Eagle's Nest. Now she had tried to make the same thing true for him. Ludicrously extravagant, yes, but also a very loving gesture. He resolved himself to only think of it in the latter terms. She deserved that.
"Sorry, you probably expected me to react more excitedly," he said. "It looks like an amazing house, and I know how sought after this area is. I'm trying to take it in, that's all."
Erin took his hand and squeezed it. "You're wrong, this is how I expected you to react. Come on, let's go inside. I know you're going to love it."
She never failed to amaze him with how well she knew him – reading his reactions or even predicting them ahead of time. It was almost as if she knew him better than he knew himself.
"Let's go have a look," he said, feeling excitement begin to build at last.
They went inside, and the more Jay saw of the house, the more he liked it. He was no expert on interior design, so all he could think was that it wasn't built or decorated in a modern style like Eagle's Nest. This was the kind of house he could fully relax in and call home, whereas at Eagle's Nest there was always a slight feeling in the back of his mind that he was cluttering up the place. Whitecaps was a house that felt to him as if it wanted to be lived in, although it was currently completely unfurnished. What exactly they were going to do with four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living rooms and a large kitchen, he didn't know. For a getaway house for two of them it was way too big, but there was the option of inviting friends out to spend time with them, or family in Erin's case.
"So, verdict?" Erin asked when they had finished the tour. She was clearly excited and happy. Now that he had seen the house, Jay didn't have to fake feeling the same way. Finding words was a different matter though.
"I love it. This is an ideal home for me, and I'm not just saying that. As usual, I wish I had more words. Thank you though, honey. Thank you so much for always putting thought into making me happy and treating me so well. I'll never fully believe I deserve it."
"Hush," she said gently, giving him a soft peck on the cheek. "You deserve the whole world, and I'd buy that for you too if I had enough money."
"That's a bit 'supervillain' isn't it?" he asked and they both laughed.
"Come out back. It won't be nice out there at this time of year but we're on the water. It'll be perfect in summer."
"I'm sure it will," he said, following her through the house to the French doors that opened onto a deck, where there was a barbecue and a hot tub. There was a lawn, then the seafront. Along the seafront, all of the properties had what he assumed were called docks or moorings. There was a white yacht tied up to the one behind Whitecaps.
"Is that our dock?" he asked, pointing.
"It is. It belongs to Whitecaps," Erin said, standing next to him with an arm around his waist.
"Why has someone moored a yacht at our dock?"
"They've moored it to our dock because Whitecaps is my treat for you." She pointed at the yacht. "That's my treat for me. I've always dreamed of having my own yacht."
"We've got a new house and a new yacht?"
"We have. Although it's not a new house or a new yacht. I know what you mean though – new for us. Want to go have a look at it?"
Jay had no idea how much a yacht cost, even for one like this that wasn't particularly big. He choose not to even try at this point. Erin was worth more money than anyone could ever hope to spend, so why couldn't she treat herself? She sure worked hard enough to deserve it.
"What do you think of the name?"
The yacht was moored with it's rear end facing them. The name was painted on the back, not far above the waterline. "Valiant," he read. "What does that mean? Like, courageous?"
"Yes," she said, smiling at him. As always, there was no hint of judgement from her when in his own opinion he had made himself look a bit of an idiot.
"I think it's a perfect name for a yacht you'd own. I see we get on here at the back."
"The back is called the stern," she explained. "The front is the bow. As you face the bow, the right side is called starboard and the left side is called port."
He looked at her and shook his head. "How do you know so much stuff?"
"I looked that up yesterday," she admitted, and they both laughed again.
Jay stepped up onto the yacht first and offered a hand to Erin. It wasn't really necessary, but it was a gentlemanly thing to do and she liked that kind of thing.
The tour around the yacht didn't take long. It had a sitting area, a small kitchen that Erin told him was called a galley, and two small bedrooms. While it wasn't big, it was luxurious. Jay could certainly imagine himself relaxing on-board during a trip out to sea in nice weather.
"I love it. That goes for the yacht and the house. Can't wait to spend time with you in both," he said, giving her a kiss. They were in the yacht's sitting area.
"That makes me really happy. We'll make choices on furnishing the house together, I promise. It'll be great to invite people up here in the summer months."
Jay wanted to smile. One thing he apparently was smart enough to do was figure out one of the reasons Erin wanted this retreat. It felt ridiculous to think of a house as big as Whitecaps as a retreat, but that was its purpose.
"Got to get Z and Raquel up here on the yacht," he said. "You know how Raquel loves the water. We could go out diving or snorkelling or something. Assuming you can do that here?"
"Up here, I doubt it. Raquel and Z are in the right place for that kind of thing, down in Florida. We could take the yacht down there some time. But I agree that we've got to get them up here to stay with us. We'd all have a great time. So, want to go in the house and start talking furniture?"
"Sure," he said, giving her another kiss.