First Class to Portland (13 page)

“Well I can’t speak for Janie, but you’ve made your mother
very happy,” Peter chuckled.

“Oh, Janie! This is wonderful! When is the big day?” Maureen
asked.

“Oh. Well, we um, well,” Janie stumbled.

“Mom! Let’s talk about this later okay? Janie and I have yet
to make any decisions like that. Can you let her breathe please?”

Maureen pulled back from Janie, tears in her eyes. “Yes, we
can talk about this later,” she smiled.

“Not we,” said Matt. “Janie and me.”

Matt returned Janie’s hand to his and led her down the aisle
to the doors where Father Todd was shaking hands with his congregation as they
left. Matt acknowledged the priest but kept walking through the doors, hoping
to avoid another scene. Too late.

“Father Todd,” Maureen yelled, scurrying towards them. “My
Matthew is finally marrying a wonderful girl.”

Matt rolled his eyes, and now Janie had understood why Matt
had been worried.  But she wasn’t nervous anymore. Somehow his mother’s
overwhelming excitement and approval had relaxed her. She squeezed his hand and
winked at him, Matt smiling back.

“You can do this,” she whispered. “We can do this.”

Father Todd smiled at them both and shook Matt’s hand.
“Well, congratulations,” he said.

“Thank you,” Janie said.

“We’ll call you later with the date so we can make
arrangements. Hopefully, we won’t have to bump anything from the schedule,”
Maureen said as she walked to them.

Janie’s eyebrows raised and she looked at Matt, equally
surprised.

“Oh that’s wonderful that you will be married here. I would
be honored,” said Father Todd sincerely. Then he noticed their expressions and
added, “Are you getting married here?”

“Well,” Matt said. “We haven’t discussed any plans yet.” He
glared at his mother.

Maureen didn’t take any notice of Matt. “Why wouldn’t you
get married here?” She looked right at Janie.

Considering her options, Janie thought about having the
wedding in Portland versus New York City. She had married Robert in Portland
anymore. And they had lived a very happy life there. And Matt had not made any
demands of her. In fact, it had been quite the opposite; he had said he would
live wherever she was. But she didn’t feel the pull to stay in Portland. Yes,
her boys were there, but that would change next year. And yes her mother was
there, but her sisters weren’t. Elizabeth lived in Atlanta with her husband and
their four children, and Lilly was an up and coming architect in Chicago. She
didn’t get to see them very often and New York would make her much closer to
them.

Then there was Katy.
Could I leave Katy?
If the tables
were turned and Katy was in her shoes, she would be mad as hell if she found
out she had refused to move to where her new husband was because of her. Yes,
Katy would want her to go. And they could always fly back and forth to see each
other. There was nothing keeping her in Portland and every reason to be in New
York so why not have the wedding here?
Why not?

Janie looked up at Matt, a small smile forming on her face.
Matt’s eyebrows raised and he mouthed ‘really?’ She nodded. “You’re sure?” he
asked again.

She squeezed his hand and spoke softly. “Can you think of a
better place?”

He sighed and smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “Well,
mom, round one goes to you. We will be getting married in St. Luke’s.”

*****

By the time they had finished Sunday dinner, Maureen had all
but planned the entire wedding. The service would be at St. Luke’s and the
reception would be in the Ritz Carlton at Central Park. Janie had thought it a
perfect idea until it dawned on her how much it was going to cost. As they sat
eating the lemon cream cake for dessert, Janie played with her fork, not sure
how to suggest something more affordable. Matt noticed and excused himself from
the table, pulling her with him.

Stepping onto the back terrace, he asked her, “What is it?
Do I need to tell my mom to back off?” He swept away a tendril of hair from her
eye.

“No, it’s just that, well, umm, I don’t have, you guys are
way more, and I’m not, and it’s too…”

Matt stopped her and tilted her chin up to him. “Is this
about me being Catholic?”

Janie bit the inside of her cheek and moved her head out of
his hand, lowering it to her chest.

“Fuck, Janie! You HAVE to tell me what you think, what you
feel. We can get married in a deli for all I care. Just tell me, please?”

“I, I can’t,” she began.

“Is it Robert? Are you having second thoughts?”

Janie’s eyes flew open and she lifted her eyes to him. “God,
no! I can’t afford a reception at the Ritz. My once-in-a-lifetime stay there
took all the extra cash I have. There’s no way I can afford it,” she admitted.

“Shit Janie! You had me scared to death there for a minute,”
he exhaled. “Money will never be a problem for you again.”

“But the bride pays for the reception,” she began.

“In the nineteenth century,” he scoffed. “We have more money
than we will ever be able to spend. Tell you what, we’ll open our first joint
checking account tomorrow and you can use that to pay for the wedding. All of
it. If money is your only problem then we don’t have any problems at all!” Matt
grabbed her around the waist and lifted her from her feet, spinning her around
and laughing.

As he put her down, Matt kissed her softly, relieved beyond
relief.

“I have the insurance money,” she said.

“Give it to the boys,” he smiled.

“And I will get the money from the house,” she added.

“Give it to the boys,” he said again. “Janie, Robert was
your husband and he took care of you, as he should have. But it’s my turn now
and I promise that you will not want for anything, ever. What’s mine is yours,
all of it, everything. Okay?” He lowered his head and kissed her ever so
sweetly once more.

“Okay,” she smiled.

He took her by the hand and they went back into the dining
room where all eyes swung to them as they sat down.

“Everything okay?” asked Mark.

“Perfect,” Matt replied.

“Good,” said Maureen. “Now let’s set a date, shall we?”

*****

Matt had watched his mother and his future wife plan the
entire wedding down to the smallest detail in about an hour. He was astounded
at how they were suggesting the same things, mostly in complete agreement with
each other.
These two are a force to be reckoned with,
he smiled as he
gazed at them. They were animated and happy. Matt didn’t care about location or
colors or the menu. All he cared about was the bride and as long as that was
Janie, the rest was fine with him.

After much discussion, it was decided to get married sooner
rather than later, which made Matt very happy. He did not want to wait. He
wanted Janie as his wife and the sooner the better.

“Adam’s schedule will be accommodating, but Tyler’s will not
be. He has camp starting next month,” she exclaimed.

“Oh, is he in scouting?” Maureen asked.

“No,” Matt chuckled. “He plays football for the Oregon
Ducks.”

“Camp starts again in June and his first game is at the end
of August,” Janie added.

“Oh my,” frowned Maureen. “I can’t believe that there will
be a slot open for us that soon.” She stood and left the room, leaving the men
to talk sports until their mother returned and made them listen to descriptions
of toile and roses and poached salmon.

“Well you will all leave this afternoon and not have to hear
any more,” Peter finally spoke. “But I’ll still be here with her.”

The boys all laughed at their father. As Maureen returned
she shushed them all, her hand over the receiver of the phone.

“They actually have a cancellation on the 21st,” she said
looking at Janie. “August 21st.”

“That’s only two months away!” she gasped. “It’s not
possible to…”

“Oh yes it is!” Maureen interrupted.

Matt threw his arm around Janie and kissed her on the
temple. “You can be mine in two months,” he growled. “Not a day too soon.”

“Really?” she turned to him. “August 21st?”

Matt smiled that smile that melted her heart and weakened
her knees. “Okay then! In two months it is!”

Maureen squealed with delight and returned to the phone,
hurrying away from the voices all congratulating the happy couple.

Matt couldn’t stop grinning. He felt like a fool but didn’t
care. Everything he didn’t know he always wanted was just two months away.

As promised, Matt took Janie to his bank the next morning
and opened a joint checking account. He transferred an obscene amount of money
into it and the senior account rep said they would rush the new check order and
the appropriate credit cards associated with the account. They would be
delivered to his office on Wednesday. With input from the bank manager, it was
decided that the account would be opened with Janie’s soon to be married name
on the account, Janie Lathem. They had asked her repeatedly if she was going to
be taking Matt’s last name to which she had the same answer of ‘of course!’,
Matt’s obvious satisfaction apparent.

As they entered Matt’s apartment, Matt stopped just inside
the door and frowned. “It’s not very homey here is it?”

Janie looked at him with puzzlement. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, it’s very magazine-ish. Do you want to move?”

“Why?” she gasped.

“We should probably talk about that huh?” Matt shrugged out
of his jacket and tie and through them on a chair. “Thirsty?” He walked to the
bar and pulled two bottles of water from the fridge. “If you could live
anywhere, where would it be?”

Unscrewing the cap from her bottle, Janie looked at him
intently and answered truthfully. “I honestly don’t care. As long as we are
together it really doesn’t matter. I kind of thought that we’d live here, though.”

“Really? Do you want to live here?”

“Why not? Unless you want to move,” she added.

“I want you to be happy.”

“I can be just as happy here as anywhere else. We can make a
home together here.”

Matt smiled, a plan formulating in his mind, and pulled his
phone from his pocket. “I need to make a couple of calls. You okay for a bit?”

“I’ll make lunch,” she smiled.

Matt kissed her on the forehead and headed for his office.

*****

“Okay,” sighed Janie. “No, it’s great news Amanda. I’m
thrilled, I really am.”

Matt listened to Janie on her cell phone. She didn’t
seem
very happy.

“Yes, I will. Thanks. Bye.” Janie pushed the off button on
her phone.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, concern in his eyes.

“The home inspection went well,” she explained.

“That’s great news,” he said.

“Yeah, but we close next Wednesday,” she pouted.

“Again! That’s great news,” he insisted.

“I have to go back to Portland,” she whispered.

“Oh my sweet Janie,” he grinned. “You’re gonna miss me.”

“Yes,” she blushed. “Very much.”

“Well then let’s make the most of the next few days to tie
you over till you come back to me,” his devilish grin back, bigger than ever.

*****

Tuesday morning came far too quickly for Janie. She didn’t
want to leave Matt, but she had to be in back in Portland the following day and
she had to tell Katy and her family about the engagement and the wedding date.

Matt reached for her hand in the back of the BMW as Ray
drove them to La Guardia. She squeezed it and smiled at him. She didn’t think
she had stopped smiling the entire time she had been in New York this time and
she was already counting down the minutes till she would be back.

Angela had made all of the travel arrangements for her. She
had to admit that is was certainly nice having someone take care of
her
for a change. She was already booked to come back to Matt in a week.
It’s
only seven days,
she thought.

Her cell phone rang and Janie reached for her purse and
smiled when she saw it was Maureen. They had been in constant communication
with wedding plans. Janie was actually relieved that Maureen really wanted to
take care of all the details. Maureen didn’t have any daughters so she would
never have the opportunity to be the mother of the bride and Janie didn’t know
the first thing about planning a social event like a Lathem wedding reception.
And fortunately, the two women had the same taste in just about everything. The
only thing that Janie had to worry about was her wedding dress and the maid of
honor dress for Katy. Maureen had offered to shop for those with her, but Janie
decided that this was something she wanted to do with Katy. She didn’t need a
ten thousand dollar designer dress, so she hoped she would be able to find
something in Portland with Katy at her side.

“Hi Maureen,” she smiled. Matt rolled his eyes.

“Lilies are my favorite. Yes, white. That would look lovely.
No I trust your taste Maureen. I will. Bye.”

Janie put her phone back in her purse and bit her lip trying
not to smile.

“I love my mother, but…” Matt began.

“I adore your mother!” grinned Janie. “And this wedding is
going to be beautiful, the event of the season,” she giggled.

“You are a saint to let her do it,” Matt kissed her hand,
her engagement ring sparkling on her finger.

“Matt, she doesn’t have girls. Every mother longs to help
her daughter plan her wedding,” she said wistfully.

Matt watched his fiancée and wondered if she spoke for women
in general or just for herself.

Ray pulled up the airport curb and jumped out to retrieve
Janie’s bags from the trunk.

Matt wheeled her suitcases in to the terminal and walked
straight to the first class ticket counter. Janie handed the agent her driver’s
license and Matt lifted her bags on to the scales. The agent produced her
boarding pass and wished her a good flight.