The past two days had been hectic for everyone. Brenda had been working with Benton to get their personal belongings organized at the penthouse so they could be packed and moved to the house. Benton had split his time between the two locations, either supervising the packing at the penthouse or the unpacking at the house. He made sure everything was unpacked exactly according to Brenda's instructions.
Amazingly they were actually slightly ahead of schedule. Brenda had been to the house only once in the past two days. With all the decorating completed she had wanted to make sure things were being put away as she wanted. She quickly came to realize that Benton had complete control of the chaos at both the penthouse and the house. She intended to tell Jax that he deserved a bonus for his work these last few days. He was so organized she actually had time for herself. She had spent her free time shopping for a special outfit for their first night in the house. Since she never went anywhere without Thomas, he had kept a discreet distance while she shopped -- not hovering over her, but never letting her out of his sight. Even he had no idea what she had selected for that evening. No one would see it except Jax, and she knew he would love it!
Jax had been working to complete several pending deals at Jacks International in order to be able to take a few days off when they moved. He fully intended to make the first week in their new home memorable for both Brenda and himself. His plans for their first night in the house were coming together perfectly. He and Mrs. Kelly were planning a dinner that would be extra special for that night. Jax had special plans for dessert, too. It had taken some persuading on Jax's part to convince Mrs. Kelly that his choice was appropriate, but when he explained things to her she was more than willing to change her dessert plans. Jax hoped this would be an evening that neither of them would forget for the rest of their lives.
Travis had been running final checks on the phone and information transfer lines coming into the house. He had his men sweep all the rooms and phones for electronic listening or interference devices. Jax had joked about it being excessive, but Travis insisted. With Jerry's unauthorized entrance in the house, Travis wasn't willing to take any chances. Jax had agreed as long as Travis had his men out of the house before the 14th. They had finished on the 12th.
No one had seen much of Thomas over the past few days, except for Brenda's shopping trip. He was at the penthouse part of the day supervising the movers when Brenda and Benton were at the house. Otherwise, he was spending most of his time going over the research material he had gotten from Matthew and Travis.
Matthew had only been to the house once this week. His job was done. All the furniture was in place; the decorations were installed and approved. All he had left to do was write a few checks to pay off the last of the shipments and organize the paperwork on the furniture for Jax and Brenda. Today would be his last day at the house, and he would miss it and its owners. He was scheduled to meet Jax and Brenda at 2:30 to turn over the books and paperwork from the purchases. For the first time in all the houses he had worked on and all the families he had met, he was dreading the end of the project. He had become very fond of this young couple and this house. He never could put his finger on why, but he knew they would always, in some way, be a part of his life.
For Brenda, decorating this house had been the experience of a lifetime. She had never been entrusted with as much responsibility as this in her entire life. She knew she would never be able to thank Jax, not only for the house itself, but also for the trust he had shown in her by allowing her a free hand and open checkbook to furnish and decorate the house as she wanted. Her only fear now was that he would not like their bedroom. He had kept his promise to allow her to keep it a surprise. He had never asked one question of her or Thomas or Matthew about the suite. He had never questioned the amount of money she had spent on the house either. She knew it was a considerable amount, so she was not looking forward to their final meeting with Matthew this afternoon. She was going to miss Matthew. Both she and Jax had come to count him as a friend, something neither of them had in great supply. She had every intention of keeping him a part of their lives and planned on telling him so this afternoon.
2:15 p.m.
Jax arrived at the house straight from his office. He had managed to finish the last of the pending deals this morning, so his desk was clear for the next week. When he drove up to the house, he noticed the security car that Thomas drove parked in the driveway. Matthew had not arrived yet, so he planned on asking Brenda for a guided tour of the house. He had not spent as much time here as he would have liked because of a hectic business schedule, but he had complete faith in Brenda and Matthew. He knew the completed project would be spectacular, regardless of the cost.
Brenda had seen Jax drive up, so she was waiting for him at the door. When Thomas saw Jax coming up the walk, he had made himself scarce. As Jax reached for the doorknob, Brenda opened the door, "Hello, there." Brenda wrapped her arms around him and leaned up for a kiss, which Jax willingly provided. "I'm glad you got here early. Want to look around a little before Matthew gets here?"
"If you're the tour guide -- most definitely!" He kissed her again before letting her go. He had seen all of the first floor rooms several times since they had been finished, so Brenda started the tour on the top floor.
There had been very little work necessary on the third floor. Brenda, Jax, and Matthew had decided from the beginning to keep it as a ballroom. The only improvements had been to install telephone jacks and upgrade the heating system. They had also decided to add two powder rooms on this floor. Finding space for them had not been difficult; apparently a previous owner had begun installation of the necessary plumbing and never completed it. The decoration needs had been minimal. Matthew had arranged to have the floors restored, and Brenda had selected new brocade draperies for the floor-to-ceiling windows. When the room was not being used, the draperies would be pulled closed to protect the floors and prevent heat loss. When Jax and Brenda would be using the room for entertaining, they could easily be pulled back and lace curtains hung in the windows to complete them. The room looked perfect, as Jax knew it would.
"Brenda, this place is beautiful! You and Matthew have done a great job. I can't wait to see the rest of the house." Jax had put his arm around Brenda and pulled her close. He could feel how tense she was. "Relax, honey, there is nothing for you to be worried about."
"I know, it's just that I want both of us to enjoy this house. After all, it is OUR home, you know! Come on, let's go see the rest." Brenda grabbed Jax by the hand and led him back down to the second floor. They explored each of the rooms on that floor with the obvious exception of the master suite. When they reached the closed doors, Brenda stopped. "Do you want to go in?" She looked up at him.
"Do you want me to? I thought we agreed I'd see it tomorrow when we move in. Do you want to change that? I'm willing to wait, Brenda. I promised I would, and I never break my promises to you." Jax pulled her to him and gave her a hug.
"Actually, I was hoping you'd say that! Thank you!" Brenda reached up and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. Just then there was a knock on the door. "That must be Matthew," Brenda said as she looked at her watch. "On time as usual."
Jax and Brenda headed downstairs to meet him. About halfway down the stairs, Brenda stopped, "Jax, I need to ask you something. How do you feel about Matthew?"
Jax was a little confused by Brenda's question, "What do you mean? How do I feel about Matthew? You know I consider him to be a friend. Why?"
"No reason. I was just thinking that this is the last time that he'll be here as an employee, and I really hate the idea of never seeing him again. Is there some way we can make sure he stays a part of our lives?"
"We can let him know how we feel Brenda, but we can't force him to stay around. I have a feeling though that he feels much the same way we do. I think we'll be seeing a lot more of Matthew Rollins in the future, house or no house. Besides, he'll have to come back when it's time to decorate the nursery for little baby Jacks, remember? My guess is he'll be back here VERY SOON! After all, the way we've been practicing our baby making skills, I wouldn't be surprised if he's working here again in just a few weeks!" Jax looked at her with the evil, little twinkle in his eyes that Brenda had grown to love. She giggled a little and hugged him.
"You've got that right! Let's go find out how badly I put you in the poorhouse. I sure hope those business deals you just finished are very lucrative. I have a feeling we're going to need it when you see what I've spent." Brenda raced down the stairs in front of Jax, leaving him standing there laughing. She knew the money didn't matter to him; all that mattered was her happiness and his, and she knew it.
Brenda opened the door for Matthew, "Why didn't you use your keys?"
"Well, I figured since the job was done, I should use the door the same as everyone else. Is Jax here yet?" Matthew looked around again for what he thought would probably be the last time for a while. He saw Thomas in the parlor, reading over the reports he had gotten from Travis and himself.
"I'm here, Matthew, on time for once. How are you doing? I haven't seen you in a while." Jax extended his hand for Matthew to shake.
"Sorry, I didn't see you up there. Been checking on how we spent your money?" Matthew asked with a smile (and a little bit of nervousness). He had never spent so much money on a project. He knew Jax and Brenda had a substantial amount of money, but this project had cost a fortune!
"Yep, Brenda's been giving me the cook's tour. I must say, the place looks amazing. Congratulations."
"Well, wait until you see the bills -- you may change your mind about that," Matthew said with an obvious, nervous edge to his voice.
"I seriously doubt that, but let's have a look anyway." Jax took the books from Matthew as they all headed into the parlor to join Thomas. "Hey, mate, where have you been hiding?" Jax asked Thomas.
"Oh, I've been around. Seems you were a little too preoccupied with a certain, little brunette to notice little, old me. How you doin'?" Thomas always enjoyed seeing Jax and Brenda together -- they were like two halves of the same person. "What brings you out here a day early anyway?"
"Oh, nothing big -- just reviewing the bills for the house. Want to join in the fun?" Jax looked at Thomas with what could best be described as a pleading look.
"No thanks! I'll leave that up to the guy with the bottomless checkbook. I will tell you this though, whatever it cost, mate, it was worth every penny! Brenda has done an amazing job on this entire house. Have you seen all of it yet?" Thomas felt very proud of Brenda's accomplishments, the way a big brother was supposed to. Thomas had always thought of Jax as his little brother, especially after he was adopted into the village, but after having met Brenda, he found himself feeling the same about her.
"Okay, Matthew, let's see the damage" Jax said as he reached for the books from Matthew. "Why don't you just give me the bottom line? Was there enough money in the account to finish the job?" Jax never opened the ledger, relying instead on Matthew to give him the information he needed.
"Well, actually, yes. In fact, there is even a substantial amount left." Matthew said with a smile. "I'm glad we were able to finish under budget, but considering what our operating budget was, I would have been surprised if we hadn't." Matthew just shook his head when he looked at Brenda and realized that she had no idea what kind of a budget they had been operating on. "Brenda, do you know what our budget for the renovations was?" he asked.
"Uh, no, actually I don't. I never thought to ask. Jax, how much did we spend?" Brenda suddenly became concerned at the amount she and Matthew had spent.
It was at this point that Jax finally opened the ledger. "Well, I'm impressed. You certainly did come in under budget. Matthew, does this include all of the bills? There are none still outstanding?"
"Nope. As you can see on the last page, I sent out the last of the checks yesterday. Everything in the house is yours free and clear, and you still have over $375,000 left in the account." Matthew seemed very proud of himself for having brought the house in under budget, even though he had never had this kind of a budget to work with.
"Jax, what was the starting figure, if there was $375,000 left in the account? How much exactly did we spend on the house?" Brenda suddenly became very nervous. She had a bad feeling about this.
"Does that really matter, honey? All that counts is that the house is finished and you got everything you wanted for it. Brenda, this is our home, it's not a museum or a cold formal mansion -- it's a home. That's what you wanted, and that's what I wanted for us. I don't care what it cost, as long as we both will be comfortable here. Speaking for myself, I know I will be, so the money doesn't matter. Let's drop the subject, okay?" Jax reached over and patted Brenda's knee as he closed the ledger.
Whenever Jax tried to avoid answering one of her questions, Brenda knew there was trouble. He was afraid she wasn't going to like how much she had spent, so he was trying to avoid telling her. That would not do! They had agreed not to keep any secrets this time, no matter what, and she intended that to apply to everything! "No, Jax, let's not drop it! We agreed no secrets regardless of how small or large -- remember? I asked a question, and I want an honest answer. How much did I spend on the house?" She had stood up while talking and was now waiting with her hands on her hips, feet planted firmly on the floor. "I'm waiting…"
Matthew and Thomas looked at each other, unable to believe what they were watching. "Jax, I think you're going to have to tell her, mate." Thomas said, laughing.
"I know. Okay, Brenda, I'll tell you. For the life of me though, I don't understand why it is so important! You know I don't care how much money you spend, and in this case the project was our first real home. Ready?" Jax knew he would tell her, he just enjoyed stringing her along a little longer. "We, and I include myself in this group because if you remember I worked with Matthew on furnishing the library, spent a grand total of $365,827.47."
Brenda could not believe what he had just said. No one could possibly spend that much money on furniture! Not even her! "Jax, are you serious? Let me see that ledger!" Brenda demanded as she grabbed for the ledger. Jax handed it to her open to the last page. "Oh, my God! Jax, I'm so sorry! I never meant to spend so much! Why didn't you stop me? Matthew, why didn't you? You're a lot more practical than either Jax or me!" Brenda's face had gone ashen white. Never in her life had she felt so guilty about anything! This would never do!
"Brenda, why should I stop you? Jax gave me a checkbook with a substantial balance when we started the project and told me if we ran low to let him know and he'd have additional funds transferred. We never even came close to running low! Besides, the pieces of furniture we bought from all over the world were the most appropriate pieces for the house, and I felt, as an authority on antiques, well worth the cost. If you want to assign guilt for the bills, then don't look in the mirror; look at me. You had no way of knowing what the items cost. I showed you photographs for approval, and you either approved or rejected. If you must know, several of the pieces you rejected were substantially more expensive than the ones you selected, so, in a strange way, you actually saved money on the project.
"Look, Brenda, I know you are shocked by the amount of money we spent, but you have to realize that this is not the first Victorian house I've restored and helped furnish. If I had felt the expenditures were excessive for particular pieces or accessories, I'd have told you. Regardless of the reputation of decorators and consultants, I'm one who believes in watching the checkbook. Relax, Brenda. Enjoy your new home and accept the word of someone who has done this before. YOU DID NOT OVERSPEND on the house!" Matthew came over and gave Brenda a very paternal hug and kissed the top of her head. "Okay?"
Brenda looked up at him still shaken by the amount of money they had spent, but feeling much better after what Matthew had just said. She knew that once she had time to process the information and look at the ledger, she would become more comfortable with the amount. "Okay. Matthew… thanks." Brenda wrapped her arms around Matthew again for another hug before she sat down next to Jax again. "I'm sorry I blew up at you before, honey. I just never expected to have spent so much."
"I know you didn't, that's why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you'd react like this, and I didn't want anything to spoil our first day in this house. Believe me, Brenda, everything you've done in this house is well worth the expense -- honestly! If the master suite is anything like the rest of this house, I can promise you what you spent will seem like nothing compared to the happiness we'll be sharing in this house, especially if our plans for tomorrow night pan out!" Jax looked at Brenda with that evil twinkle that she knew so well.
"Jax, please! We'll talk about that later. For right now, let's finish this up so we can get back to the penthouse. I think we still need a little bit of practice for tomorrow, don't you?" Brenda answered with a giggle. Thomas and Matthew just looked at each other, totally confused. Both decided it was better not to ask.
8:15 p.m.
Jax and Brenda had finished up quickly at the house. Jax had insisted on giving Matthew the money remaining in the furnishings account as a bonus. It had taken a substantial amount of convincing by both Brenda and Jax with a little help from Thomas to get him to accept it, along with an invitation to a housewarming party to be given very soon. Thomas had said his good-byes at the house, claiming to have an appointment with Travis as a reason for turning down a dinner invitation from Jax and Brenda. They had returned to the penthouse about three hours ago and had managed to get in at least three 'practice sessions' before stopping for dinner.
Jax and Brenda were standing in front of the fireplace after dinner looking at the three most precious items in the room: the little yacht, the steam engine, and the wooden box from New Orleans that contained their wedding vows from their second wedding. Brenda was gently running her fingers over the surface of the box as Jax had his arms wrapped around her shoulders, his head resting on top of hers. "What are you thinking about, Brenda? You seem a million miles away."
"I was just thinking about what each of these means to us. Each one signifies a major event in our life together. The yacht was where we were married the first time. The train ride to Malibu after my plane crash, where we had a chance to really sort out our feelings for each other, and then this…" She gently picked up the box and opened it, staring at the papers inside. "Jax, this is probably the most important. On these slips of paper are our wedding vows. You have no idea how important they are to me.
"Each one of these has been a turning point in my life -- a life I never would have had without you." Brenda turned around in his arms and kissed his chest at his open robe. "Thank you for being my life." She looked up at him with the beginnings of tears in her eyes.
"You're a silly one, you know that? I know how important these marriage vows are to you because they are just as important to me. Each of these things is a part of us -- a part that can never be replaced, but yet will always be there even if these things were gone. We are two parts of the same person, Brenda. I think we always have been, but we just never realized it until we got engaged this time.
"Now don't you think it's about time we packed these for the move tomorrow? You don't want to leave them here, do you?"
"Definitely not! These will go on the mantle of our new home, just as we agreed!" Brenda handed Jax the box to wrap, as she gently picked up the yacht. They each wrapped their precious possession securely and placed it in the special, cushioned box that Benton had made for them. Brenda then wrapped the steam engine securely, and Jax placed it in the box as well. Jax closed and latched the lid, setting the case on the coffee table. He and Brenda would be taking the box with them tomorrow. Brenda had given Benton specific instructions that no one was to touch the box, either here or at the house, except for Jax or herself.
"There! All secure! Well, Mrs. Jacks, what do you think? Time for another 'practice session' tonight? I know we have to be up early for the movers tomorrow," Jax said with 'that' grin on his face as he looked down at her, running his index finger along the opening of her robe.
"Well, I don't know, Mr. Jacks… Do you think you're up to a little more practice? I wouldn't want you too tired for tomorrow you know…" Brenda returned his grin and reached for the ties on his robe.
Jax pulled her close to him, and she immediately realized how foolish her question had been. He picked her up over his shoulder and headed up the stairs to the bedroom, both of them laughing and completely in love.