In My Dreams

“That’s what I thought.” She was happy with his observations so far. “Come see the kitchen.”

The walls were white and the floor and backsplash were black-and-white tiles. “It’s institutional looking,” she said, “but the appliances are big because of the restaurant, and the specs say they work.” The window looked out onto the green wall of the fabric store next door.

“Is the water on?”

“Yes.”

Jack went to the double sink and turned on the hot faucet. The pressure was strong and steam rose almost immediately.

“That’s good,” he said. “If anything, you might want to turn the water heater down a notch. There’s an elevator, as I recall.”

“Yes. At the back, just beyond the kitchen.”

The slightly musty-smelling car was small and a little rickety, but there was a new inspection sticker near the controls. Sarah and Jack stood side by side while the car rose.

* * *

JACK PUT HIS hands in his pockets. Awareness of her closed in on him, applying more pressure on his body than the rising elevator. It was difficult to see her pretty profile and the soft roundness of her and know she didn’t want children. She seemed so perfect a vessel! But he did want kids and he wasn’t a perfect prospect for fatherhood at all. He guessed everyone put limits on themselves that greatly underestimated what they were capable of.

Still, in her case it seemed a shame. And Ben had gone off to work that morning looking as though someone had hammered him into his clothes. Jack was determined not to mention her refusal of Ben’s proposal unless she brought it up.

The elevator doors parted on a big room, empty except for two men wearing ventilators, who were putting a pile of trash into black plastic bags.

“What was up here?” Jack asked.

“Living quarters for the people who owned the restaurant. They moved out in the middle of the night a couple of years ago to escape their creditors. Their furniture’s been given to Goodwill.”

Suddenly she smiled brightly. “Can’t you see this with three or four sofas, lots of comfortable chairs, craft tables to work on, a couple of televisions and earphones, and a small library in one corner?”

“The real one is right across the street.”

“True, but it might not have Crochet Monthly magazine and all the history books Vinny loves.”

It always surprised him how well she knew her clients. And how much she cared.

“I’d say if the inspection your attorney is arranging comes out well—” Jack turned slowly in a circle, looking the room over again “—this seems ideal for the seniors’ center.”

Her smile widened further. “Great! That’s what I thought. Maybe you’ll want to bid on the work if we get to move in. We’ll have to repair, do the floors, put in new light fixtures, all kinds of stuff.”

He nodded. He needed work.

In the elevator on the way down, she seemed to lose some of her sparkle. “How was Ben this morning?” she asked.

“Brokenhearted,” he replied truthfully.

Arms folded, she leaned against the wall of the car. “He told you about it?”

“Some. About children.”

“You think that’s awful?”

“Of course not. Misguided, maybe. But everybody has to do what works for them. It’s just hard to deal with when the same things don’t work for the person you love.”

She smiled faintly as the doors parted. “Thank you for understanding,” she said.

Their footsteps rang on the floor as they walked to the back door.

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