Chapter 40

Jon watched as Colleen left with the boys to go to school. He had a lot to accomplish today while they were out of the house.  Pulling out his phone he unlocked it and pulled up his messages.

 

One from Matt about the book list and the name of the company who were taking care of the chair. 

 

The next was Max, with the update on the townhouse clean out, they had to order another dumpster, the damage was too much for the one to hold it all. Furniture was stored that was useable, and that Matty had the list, if he needed anything else, to call.

 

Then he had a few from Jamie and Colleen’s parents.  Those answered he closed out that selection on his phone and pulled up his favorite list and called Stephanie.

 

“Morning dad, what’s new,” Stephanie asked?

 

“Are you busy the next two days,” Jon asked as he went over to the counter and popped in another pod.

 

“Nothing I can’t get out of, why,” She asked?

 

“Want to help me at the river house? I want to go through your mom’s stuff,” Jon said as he took the coffee to his office.  “I need to know what to donate and what you and the boys want to keep.”

 

Stephanie let what he was saying sink in, was he finally ready to let it all go and move on?  Was Colleen, who she needed to thank, for getting her dad to this part of his new life?

 

“Sure dad, I’ll come over and help you,” Stephanie said.  “What brought this on, if I can ask?”

 

“You know Colleen is moving in with me, and I was thinking, now that the boys are in school in Jersey, I’m thinking about moving us back there,” Jon finally answered her question.

 

“So you’re pulling the river home off the market and putting the Manhattan house on the market,” Stephanie asked?  Yep, she would have to have some girl time with Colleen.

 

“Yeah, I think it’s time, I want to get everything out of the master bedroom down to the bare walls,” Jon told her of his plans.

 

“Bare walls, no more wallpaper,” Stephanie asked?

 

“No more wallpaper, no more carpet, furniture nothing but wall to wall empty,” Jon said as he powered up his laptop.  “I’ll get us help to move the furniture, you think Christian would like to help?”  Jon thought that having Stephanie’s boy toy at the time might help her with the memories they were taking out of the house.

 

“Christian, ah daddy he was so last week, but I’ll ask my girl squad if they’re free,” Stephanie laughed.

 

“Do you think this is a good thing? I thought about it last night chatting with Matty on messenger,” Jon admitted.

 

“Instagram, Twitter and now messenger, who are you and what have you done with my daddy,” Stephanie laughed and asked her dad?

 

“Well you know I had to come into this kicking and screaming, but it’s not as bad as I thought,” Jon said going into his notes.

 

“I think it will be better for Colleen, it has to feel bad sleeping in the bed you shared with Mom,” Stephanie stated.  “This would give her a place in that house that she made for the two of you.”

 

That was sort of what he had thought, maybe the two of them could pick out the things to make it their bedroom, not his and Dorothea’s room. Colleen and Dorothea had two totally different styles, where interior design was concerned.  Dot loved French provincial in colors and furniture, where Colleen was lived in casual with blues, creams, and pinks.  Jon got a big smile on his face, thinking about the two of them shopping for a new bed.  Stephanie waited for her father to answer.

 

“Earth to Dad, you want me to meet you at the house or the apartment and we go together,” Stephanie asked?

 

“You and the girls take the Path and I’ll pick you up in Red Bank.  You think Pizza would hit the spot for lunch,” Jon asked.

 

“Pizza sounds great, don’t forget the garlic knots,” Stephanie called as her dad signed off on the call.  Laughing she called her girlfriends from college and headed to the train depot.

 

Jon got to the house and pulled his car down the drive.  Punching in the garage opener he parked next to the Suburban.  He’d take that one to pick up the pies and knots, then go get the girls.  He had placed the order as he crossed over to the Garden State Parkway, he hopped the girls were hungry, or it would be leftovers for dinner tonight.

 

Stephanie and her three friends, we waiting on Jon as he pulled into the train lot.  These were the same girls who were with Stephanie during college, and were her support system, through the last few weeks of her mom’s death.

 

“Ladies,” Jon smiled as the girls got into the car.  It was a short drive to the house, the girls were already digging in the bags of garlic knots. Jon was glad he picked up about five dozen knots, he might get a few before the girls devoured them all.

 

Jon rounded up some empty bags and boxes and brought them from the garage storage, up to the bedroom.

 

“Keep what you think you want to keep, I have boxes for keep and bags for donating,” Jon told Stephanie.

 

“You have some cans for stuff to dump, Mr. J.” One of the girls asked as they headed toward the closet?

“Yeah, tomorrow, I’ll have some,” Jon told her.  He watched Stephanie looking at all her mother’s jewelry boxes, Dorothea had as many jewelry boxes as shoe boxes.

 

“You’re the only girl Steph, so you get the jewelry,” Jon said, as he came up and put his hands on her shoulder speaking softly to her.  “Unless you think the boys would like something.”

 

Stephanie wiped a tear out of her eye, “I think I want to go through it with just you and me Daddy,” Stephanie said quietly.  “That way I can ask you about some of the history of the pieces.”

 

“Sounds good baby girl,” Jon said.  Smiling he gave her a shoulder hug and headed to the bedroom doorway.

 

“Boy, your mom really liked designer bags,” came a voice out of the closet.  “Louis Vuitton, Ferragamo, Jimmy Choo, damn.”

 

Jon had to smirk, while Stephanie laughed, that was one thing about Dot, she loved her handbags.

 

 

 

Jon left them to their chore and went down to the lower floors to see what needed to be done down there.  Walking down the pictured hallway to the office, he thought about taking them all down, not just the ones of him and Dot.  ‘Maybe I should ask Colleen what we should do.”  Taking down the pictures of Dorothea and the ones of the two of them down, leaving several holes where the pictures once were. He knew the one picture that had to go up, the first date.  The one that a pap took of them, maybe ones from Thanksgiving and maybe he could ask Colleen mom for the picture of Colleen as she got her teacher's diploma. 

As he was coming back with the boxes the front door opened and Matt came in with Desi.

 

“Anyone home,” Matt called out?

 

“Up here,” Stephanie called from upstairs.

 

“Right here,” Jon told him as he came from the kitchen.

 

“I’ll go up with Stephanie, you help your brother,” Desi said as she headed upstairs. “Hey, Jonny.”

 

“Desi wanted to help Stephanie, so I tagged along to help you,” Matt told him, taking one of the boxes Jon held.

 

“Thanks, Matty,” Jon said as he headed back to the hallway.  “I’m only removing the pictures of Dot and me,” Jon told him.

 

Once those were down, Matt looked at the empty spots on the walls.  He didn’t think it would be as emotional since Dot had been gone now almost a year, but it was.

 

“You okay,” Matt asked Jon.

 

"I shouldn't have waited so long to do this, I know I’m rushing through here now but it's still hard taking her out of the house we shared for so long," Jon told his brother.

 

Jon looked back at the empty spaces, it was hard cleaning out the Hampton house, and now doing this, it was harder.  So many memories, the good and the bad. Giving a shake of his head, he smiled, time for new memories.

 

He and Matt slowly moved from room to room boxing up awards and pictures.

 

Heading to the kitchen, Jon started heating the pizzas, as Matt went to the cellar in the basement for wine.  Soon they were sitting around the bar in the kitchen, eating pizza and telling stories about the house.  Stephanie told Jon, she gave the girls a handbag for helping, and Aunt Desi took some jackets and shoes.  They had a great haul being donated to charity. 

 

It was time to head back to the city, he and Matt had contacted City Sanitation to get a large dumpster, and tomorrow Jon would meet with the contractor who worked on his SOHO house, about what he wanted to do about the renovations.

 

Locking the door, he said goodbye to his brother and took the girls back to the train station to get the Path to the city.  Heading to the Garden State, he called Colleen.