Speed of the Sound of Loneliness Ch. 03

Molly looked at me with the beginnings of tears and reached for me and hugged me tightly to her. I heard her sob a couple of times but I could tell these weren't tears of regret but tears of relief.

"I'm going to get some clothes and things and put them back in our house ... if that's OK with you." I said tentatively.

"Yes ... Oh yes, Jack. That's very OK. It's what I really want." she said though her tear-filled eyes.

"There are a couple of conditions though." I said with a warning tone.

"What?"

"You're going to have to confess what you did with the old Molly. Where did you dump the body?" I kidded.

"Oh ... that! Well ... I guess I can live with that." she offered with a slight smile. "Anything else?" she asked warily.

"Yes ... there are a number of things ... I'll let you know about them this week. I've got the whole week off so I'll be able to think up all kinds of things." I grinned.

She didn't respond, but I could see she was relieved and sensed that the worst was over for us. I know I felt much better and I was looking forward to being with my new and improved Molly. After all, I was the new and improved Jack.

-0-

I dropped Molly off at the store and headed for my apartment to pack up my clothes and essentials. It didn't take long and I put them in the trunk. I dialed the number of Marina Montague, the real estate agent I had talked to and wondered if she'd be working today. As luck would have it, she answered on the first ring. I arranged a meeting at her office just before noon and then headed for my old clunker computer. Aser may have denied me my laptop for the holidays, but I still had my internet connection and a printer. I quickly looked up the properties that I had noted on my previous visits to the various subdivisions and printed out their descriptions. I stuffed them in a soft leather folder that I had been given by one of my suppliers and headed off to the real estate office.

I'm sure real estate sales people hate vagueness as much as I do, so I had put together a list of Musts, Wants and Likes to give them the basics of what I was looking for. I chose not to give them a tight dollar range as I didn't want to exclude anything that might really be spectacular. I arrived at her office a little before eleven and the front door was locked but the lights were on. I knocked and soon a somewhat stocky woman in her forties came to the door and opened it.

"You must by Mr. Tompkins ... I'm Marina Montague. Nice to meet you." she said cheerfully.

"I didn't realize you might not be open. The locked door I mean." I said with a curious look.

"Oh, I'm the only one on duty today. This time of year it's rare we get any calls and usually I'm just doing paperwork or looking up new listings ... that sort of thing." she explained. "You'll have my undivided attention."

"Great. Uhm ... here's a list of the things I'm looking for and here's some properties that I've seen just driving around Drayton that look interesting. Maybe that will help you." I offered.

"Absolutely. Why don't you come on over here to my cubbyhole and we can look at what you want and what's available." And with that, the process was underway.

After about an hour, she had a pretty good idea of what was in my mind and when she sorted through the prospective properties I had downloaded, she weeded out a couple that wouldn't fit my needs. She added a couple more that she knew about and we had a solid list of seven prospects. She indicated it would take her at least a day to arrange for appointments to see these properties. I assumed that Molly would be working her usual hours on Wednesday through Friday, so I suggested she set the appointments up for tomorrow and Thursday and then we'd see about Friday. I walked out of the office with some confidence that I was going to find what I wanted. What I wasn't so sure about was whether it might be what Molly wanted, but that was part of the excitement. What had I learned about her in the last two days?

I stopped in at Bruno's and treated myself to a light lunch instead of heading back to the apartment. I was hoping that I was done with that place. I took my belongings back to our old house and hung my clothes up and put the rest in the drawers I used to use. I noticed that some of my old clothes were still there and I gathered them up and put them in a trash bag and stuck them in the trunk. Maybe the Goodwill could use them. As I drove through Drayton, I got another brainwave and headed for the east side of town and pulled into the parking lot of the Drayton Manor Inn.

I wasn't hopeful that I would get what I wanted at this late date, but once again my miraculous string of luck prevailed. I reserved a suite for New Years Eve and ordered a bottle of champagne to be delivered just before midnight. It was expensive, but I didn't care. I got what I wanted. The hotel had a dinner dance that evening and I bought a pair of tickets. All that remained was part three of my plan; Molly needed a new gown and I needed to rent a tuxedo; again if I wasn't too late. This time, I wasn't so lucky. What they had in traditional black tuxes didn't fit me and what they had that fit looked more like a clown suit from a bad wedding party. I would just have to make-do with my blazer and grey flannels. Perhaps a new shirt and tie?

I arrived at Molly's shop just after two and walked in to find her. It was obvious almost immediately that the store had been very quiet that day and it was even more obvious from the looks I got that I was a topic of conversation. I was getting 'the look' and 'the once over' as I waited for her to finish up and she had a wrinkled smile and a blush on her cheeks as she put her coat on. I was grinning at that stage as I could see that she was a bit flustered but not unhappy. I took her hand, said 'good afternoon' to the other three ladies and opened the store door for her. She seemed to let her breath out as we exited, but I didn't comment. When we were in the car and on our way, I asked her how her day had gone.

"Boring. We had five customers all day and I don't think our sales would have amounted to enough to pay the phone bill for the day." she said. "They really didn't need more than two of us. Maybe it'll pick up tomorrow. I hope so. It took forever for the time to pass today."

"Well, cheer up. I have a surprise or two for you." I was driving through town and then pulled into a parking slot near the dress shop I thought would have what I wanted.

"What's the surprise?" she asked.

"Come with me." I said in a not too commanding tone.

I took Molly's hand and led her into the dress shop that Marina had recommended. I took a chance that she had led me to the right place based on the clothes she had been wearing earlier that day. I think she was flattered that I would ask for her opinion.

"I want you to pick out a nice dress for New Years Eve. We are going to a dinner dance party." I said, leaving her no doubt that it wasn't arguable.

"Jack, this is crazy. You're spending so much money. How can we afford it?" she asked with genuine concern.

"You probably didn't hear everything I told you yesterday about my new job and my income and my bonus. You'll just have to trust me that I won't do anything we can't afford." I said almost with an air of dismissal. I wasn't going to argue with her; she was getting a new dress.

As she looked over the selection on the racks I walked back toward the woman at the back counter. In a low voice I told her why we were here and would she please recommend a suitable dress for a dinner dance; specifically New Years Eve. She smiled and slowly walked over to where Molly was looking at some of the dresses.

"Can I help you Madame?" she asked.

"Uh ... I'm looking for a dress." Molly answered in a quiet, non-committal tone.

"Let me guess. For a New Years party?" she suggested with a smile.

"Uh ... yes. That's right."

"I think I have something over here that would suit you very well." she said walking to the other side of the store. "Do you have a favorite color or one that you think suits you best?" she asked.

"No ... I like muted tones rather than bright colors." she offered.

They chatted back and forth and the woman took several dresses out and held them against Molly to see how they looked. She offered no opinion but kept looking and finally seemed to settle on a very elegant, pale blue gown that was simple in design but I thought would look wonderful on her. The clerk convinced Molly to try it on and she disappeared into the changing room. The woman came over to me, smiled and said quietly:

"She will look lovely in that dress. You wait and see."

Her confidence was justified. Molly looked striking and aside from the usual small fitting issues, she might have been able to wear it right off the rack.

"It looks fabulous, Molly." I said with what I hoped was both enthusiasm and sincerity. Shopping for women's clothes was never my forte and I was happy it had been, so far, a relatively painless proposition.

"I like it too, Jack." she smiled.

"Good ... then can I tell the lady we'll take it?" I asked hopefully.

"Are you sure, Jack?"

"Very!" I said. I signaled to the clerk and she set about the minor alterations needed and indicated that the dress would be ready Friday afternoon. I walked to the back counter and pulled out my Visa card to look after the bill. It wasn't as much as I had expected and I thought when I saw Molly wearing it that she might need some new shoes to go with it. While the woman was processing my card, I quietly asked her about a good shoe store and she mentioned a place just a block further along.

I took Molly's hand as we left the store and she was beaming. Instead of heading for the car, I led her down the street to the next block and into the shoe store the clerk had recommended.

"I want you to pick out a pair of shoes that you can dance in and that go with your new gown." I said.

"Oh ... Jack." She started to laugh. "This could take a while."

"Uh ... OK ... I'll just wander next door to the book store and you can holler for me if I'm not back in time."

My timing wasn't too bad. I gave her over twenty minutes and by the time I returned to the store, she had narrowed the choice down to two pair. I looked at them and liked the appearance of both of them.

"Do they feel comfortable; the kind that you'd like to dance in?" I asked.

"Yes. That's what makes it hard to decide. They both look and feel great." she said.

"Good!" I said. "Miss ... we'll take both pair." again using my 'don't bother to argue' voice.

I paid the bill and we left with Molly toting a large boutique bag with two shoe boxes enclosed. We had one more stop to make. We walked back toward the car, put the bag in the trunk and then I steered Molly back into the dress shop The clerk was surprised to see us again and no doubt was wondering if we had second thoughts about the dress.

"When we were here a few minutes ago, I saw some top coats that might look good as well. Can you suggest something?" I asked. At this stage, I think Molly was a little shell-shocked. I got no resistance from her and the lady picked out three possible choices. I thought they all looked fine, but I let Molly and her discuss which was the nicer and a decision was made. Again I paid the bill, Molly carried the bag and I was leading her out the door to the car.

When we were in the car and on our way home, I tried to explain what brought on this sudden spree.

"Molly, I'm a senior manager at a major business in this town. I'm expected to be visible and look successful. You are my wife and I want you to be visible and look successful too. This is just the beginning for us. I'm going to show you off to this town on New Years Eve. And, by the way, we're staying at the hotel overnight; so we can drink champagne and not have to worry." I tried to make my comments light and yet serious. I was serious about bringing her out of her shell and showing her off to others. She was a beautiful and graceful woman that I was lucky enough to have a second chance to be with. I was going to make the most of this chance.

She looked at me and leaned over and kissed my cheek as we drove along. "Thank you Jack. You are full of surprises; but I like your kind of surprises. We are going to have fun on New Years Eve; before and after!" she grinned. I got the message.

When we got home, I hadn't really had any time to discuss my diet with Molly and I thought this would be a good time to let her know what I was trying to accomplish. Happily, we both loved cold turkey and we had lots of that. It was low in fat and high on the healthy food list. Molly had a couple of recipes for the other leftovers and I learned that she too had changed her diet; partly to lose weight and partly to prevent what had happened to my health. We weren't going to have a problem with our food choices.

For the rest of the week, I was busy with Marina looking a house prospects. I did not tell Molly what I was up to and the fun would begin on Friday afternoon. Molly's work schedule was a half day on Friday morning and a half day on Saturday afternoons along with the full days Monday to Thursday. She was no longer the junior at the store and had some say in her hours. I had some reservations about her work hours, but I held off in commenting until our lives were a little more settled. She had been exposed to a lot of change and surprise in the past couple of days and I wanted to make sure I didn't overwhelm her.

During the week, we had begun to slip into some form of routine for ourselves. It would change again when I went back to work on Monday, but we were getting used to being around each other and I purposely didn't throw any more surprises at her for the balance of the week until I picked her up at Friday noon. We had already agreed to have lunch at the Paradise Café and we sat and chatted about our week together and quietly finished our lunch.

When I pulled out of the parking lot I decided that I'd better tell her what was going on since I would be heading away from our normal route home and going in the opposite direction.

"Well Molly, I have another surprise for you." I grinned.

"What now, Jack?" She looked as if she wondered whether I wasn't losing my grip.

"Just sit tight and I'll show you." I said confidently and I headed toward the Rolling Meadow subdivision on the north side of town. I had arranged for Marina to leave the back door of one particular house unlocked for me and give me a chance to show the house to Molly before she came by. She was reluctant, but since there were no other clients and the house wasn't furnished, she decided to take a chance.

I pulled up in front of 1511 Rolling Glen Way and stopped the car. Molly was long past being surprised by anything I did lately and I think she knew almost immediately what I was up to. She looked over at me and just shook her head. I snorted a laugh and got out and went around to her side and took her hand as we walked up the front drive to the new home.

"I want your opinion on this house, Molly. You knew I was looking for something better than my old apartment, we just didn't talk about something better than our old house." We stopped in front of the ranch style bungalow with the two car garage and Molly just gaped at the rock faced entrance and skirt around the bottom of the front.

"That's a bedroom in the front on the left. It would work well for an office I think. The real estate agent left the rear door open for us, so we'll have to go around the side by the garage." I indicated by pointing.

"Oh Jack. It's beautiful. Are you seriously thinking of buying something like this?" she asked in wonderment.

"Not thinking, Molly. We will be buying a new home and I want your opinion on which one. I can't do this without you being involved." I said in a serious tone.

She just looked at me as we walked down the cement steps to the back of the house. The lot dropped almost nine feel from front to back and it allowed a walk-out basement that was unfinished. There was a large deck that covered almost all of the rear facing home and two sets of stairs to the ground level gave us access to the upper floor. The lot was not landscaped but featured a large back yard backing onto a greenbelt area. With good width, our privacy was assured.

We climbed the nearest steps to the upper deck and I walked to the first door I saw and tried the handle. It opened and we walked inside. I pushed the paddle light switch and the lights came on. We were in the laundry room. We walked into the hallway and headed for the kitchen area. As I turned on the lights I heard an audible gasp from Molly. It was large, with a centre island and featured cherry wood cabinets and some sort of stone counter tops. The floor was cherry as well and the effect was something out of a show home.

The kitchen opened into a very large room with a huge set of windows looking out onto the back yard and the woods beyond. This was the view that caused Marina and me to choose this as the first home to show Molly. We continued on through the upper floor exploring the master bedroom and ensuite as well as the two additional bedrooms. Molly had hardly said a word but her eyes were the size of saucers and she was reaching out and touching surfaces and objects just to make sure they were real. We went downstairs to see what was a completely unfinished basement housing only the furnace and a hot water heater. The back of the basement was mostly windows with a pair of doors to the lower area beneath the deck.

We went back upstairs and Molly returned to the kitchen and sat for a moment on an old stool someone had left behind. She put her head in her hands and was silent for a while.

Finally she looked at me.

"Jack, I don't understand any of this. Did you win the lottery or something?" she asked in a completely serious voice.

"No, nothing that complicated." I replied. "This house has been listed at $279,000 for over five months and hasn't sold. If we decided to put on offer on it, I would probably try $260,000. We might get it for that or close. The builder isn't going to sell many homes until spring and this one has been on his inventory since late August. He can get some cash now or wait and hope he can get more later. That's his gamble. As far as we are concerned, we sold our house for $200,000. Not counting fees, we will only be taking on a $60,000 mortgage; not very big in this day and age. On top of that, it's deductible on our income taxes and with any luck, we can pay it off before we are very far into our 60's.

"Oh god, Jack. This house is gorgeous. It's got everything I ever dreamed of in a home." She began to wander through the house again and I went to the front bedroom to keep an eye out for Marina. We had arranged to view two other homes if we wanted to this afternoon. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get Molly out of this one if her oohs and ahs were any indication.

Marina pulled up behind my car and stepped out. I opened the front door for her and she quickly entered.

"How's it going?" she whispered.

"Judge for yourself." I laughed. I walked back to the master bedroom where Molly was looking out the French doors onto the deck and I suspect, imagining something about living here.

"Molly, this is Marina Montague, our real estate agent. Marina, this is my wife, Molly."

"So what do you think of this home, Molly?" Marina asked with a smile. I think she already knew the answer to the question just seeing the look on Molly's face.

"It's lovely. So new and clean and big. I'm not used to this. There's three bathrooms!" she exclaimed.

"Two and a half, actually, but you're right; there are a lot of features in this home." Marina said enthusiastically.