Chapter 44

 

Jon, Matt, Tony, and Greg the contractor went upstairs Jon took them to the bedroom.

 

“I want to strip the wallpaper and carpet, the furniture will be out by Wednesday. Can your crew have it done by Friday?” Jon asked him.

 

Greg looked at the size of the room and walked around the room.  “You have the blueprints with the dimensions, I can have it stripped by Friday, I can pull in extra help,” Greg told Jon.  “It’ll cost extra.”

 

“Cost isn’t even a problem,” Jon told him.

 

“Okay, Mr. Bon Jovi,” Greg told him.

 

“Just send the invoice to Matt and he’ll let me know the cost and I’ll get my accountant to cut the check,” Jon told him.  “Once Colleen and I decide on what we want to do in here, we’ll setup a time to talk about colors.  Can you leave a color chart of paint colors?”

 

Stephanie came into the room and watched her dad with the contractor.

 

“Dad, I can be here while they work, I’ve got the time and the Uncles don’t need to take time off to sit here with the crew,” Stephanie smiled at Greg who smiled back.

 

Jon, Matt, and Tony watched the flirting going on between Greg and Stephanie.  It was like watching a tennis match.  This was his baby girl flirting right in front of him. She was creeping closer to thirty, and she wasn’t dating anyone, or so he got when he asked about Christian. He saw no ring on Greg’s hand and no tan line, he’d have to do some checking before he would feel comfortable with Steph and Greg working together. ‘I have to remember she isn’t my baby anymore, she’s an adult.’ Jon thought to himself.

 

Jon and his brothers went down to the kitchen.

 

“That was something,” Tony said.

 

“Just wait your turn bro, it’s gonna be here before you know it,” Jon told him.

 

“Nope not Ally, she’ll be forty before she dates,” Tony smacked his hand on the counter.

 

Jon and Matt laughed.  “I mean it, I’ll get her a Chasity belt at sixteen,” Tony joined their laughter.

 

Soon it was just Jon and Stephanie in the house, they were sitting in the office, and Stephanie pulled out a crown royal bag and handed it to her dad.

 

“Okay daddy, I took these to my Jeweler and got them appraised for Insurance coverage, I know the Nutt bunch wouldn’t think to protect these,” Stephanie said as she watched as Jon took the ring boxes out.

 

Opening one at a time, putting them in order, of when he bought each of them.  He pulled the first one out and took it out, putting on his pinkie finger.

 

“This was the ring I bought between Vegas and the reception, your grandmother set up,” Jon held out to Steph.  “I went to Tiffany’s, your mom was back at the hotel, and it was the first one I saw in the case. My gut said this was the one.”

 

“So this was a love gift,” Stephanie said as she slipped the ring off his hand, and put it on her finger. “This is mine, because you two were in love.”

 

“Yeah we were, I was so in love with your mom,” Jon said softly.

 

The next ring was a princess Di look alike ring, but it was a ruby.

 

“We were in London, out walking around Piccadilly, your mom saw it first, sitting along with Princess Di knock off rings” Jon laughed.  “It wasn’t a knock off, that’s a real ruby, a red rose ruby,” Jon put it on his pinkie and held it up to the light.  It was a pure red, not a blood red.  “We had a fight that morning, she said she saw me flirting with a blond all night. Hell with my contacts out I couldn’t see her good enough to see if she was a looker or willing,” Jon laughed harder.

 

“Okay even sharing mom’s middle name I’ll give it to Jake,” taking the ring and the box, putting the ring in she turned the box over and put JH, on the bottom.

 

“Good choice Steph,” Jon picked up the next ring. “Oh this one has a long story, I’ll need a glass of wine before we go over its history,” Jon got up and grabbed a bottle out of the wine fridge I his office.

 

Stephanie watched him bring the wine bottle back, with two glasses.  After pouring a nice amount into each glass, Jon handed one to Stephanie.

 

After a swallow or two Jon picked up the third ring. “Three days of constant yelling about me cheating, your mom told me to get the hell out.  This was before you were born, I know it’s all over the internet, and it’s true.” The ring was a pearl ring.

 

“This was when you dated the movie star?” Stephanie asked him.

 

“Yeah, Diane Lane we were rebound lovers, really just to piss off your mom,” Jon took another two sips of wine.  “I was on the street and already hooked up, your mom told me year later, she really hated that I found a rebound before she did.”

 

“So this is an I fucked up ring?  I guess Jesse gets this one, because he’s had more girlfriends in the past two years,” Stephanie laughed as she finished her glass, and reached for the bottle.

 

“Why Jesse,” Jon questioned Stephanie?

 

“You bought him a winery, he can afford a better ring,” Stephanie told him as she turned over the box and put J.J. on the bottom.

 

“I’d like to say we fucked up, cause we were only split a few months before we got back together,” Jon drained his glass. “All these rings were before you were born.”

 

“Yeah these were the ones I didn’t know about,” Stephanie said.

 

“So this is a dirty laundry talk.” Jon said as he topped off his glass. “Hell I should’ve gotten the Jack bottle instead of a wine bottle.”

 

“I prefer tequila,” Stephanie laughed.

 

“Yeah I did too at your age, but now I learned my lesson.  You know there is a country singer who talks about Bon Jovi, tequila, and clothes coming off,” Jon told her, laughing.

 

“Oh God, now I have to change my choice of drink,” Stephanie told her dad. They both laughed.

 

“Okay, next ring was a Christmas present, we were in Toronto recording and your mom surprised me while we were at a strip club and I was being given a lap dance, boy that ring got me out of the dog house,” Jon told her.  The ring was a jade ring with a sort of dragon as the ring base.

 

“Okay, these is Romeo’s ring, he’s still into Harry Potter and Games of Throne books,” Stephanie said turning over the ring box and marking it with an R.

 

“Yeah out of the four of you he’s the reader in the family,” Jon said then remembered Colleen and their book talk.

 

“He’s also the baby and smartest, you know what mom told him why he’s not like the rest of us,” Stephanie asked her dad?

 

“Not a fucking word was true Steph, he’s mine through and through.  He looks like our Sicilian Uncle Peppy.  He also takes after your mom,” Jon said, still a sore spot between him and his memory of Dorothea.  “Last ring,” Jon opened the last ring and took it out and put it on his pinkie.

 

“Yeah this one stumped me, it looks newer then the others,” Stephanie looked at his dad’s face the clouds coming into his eyes.

 

“I bought this, to bribe your mom to take her meds.  When she didn’t take them she was constantly on Romeo and Jake about their different appearance, that and she started cutting,” Jon yanked the ring off and put it back in the box. He looked at the box and got up and tossed the ring in the trash.  “It’s where it should be, not to any of my kids.”

 

Picking his wine glass he drained it and threw the glass into the sink, then slammed the cork back into the bottle and it too joined the ring into the trashcan.

 

Stephanie sat there in shock.  The ring had a bad vibe as she pulled it out of the box this morning before taking the path.  That ring had nothing no place in the family where memories were still sharp and painful.

 

“I have two necklaces.  The filigree one was for your reception at Grandmothers house, right,” Stephanie asked him?

 

“Yeah, that came from Tiffany’s with the first ring, your mom saved it for you to wear at your wedding, something old she said that night after the reception.  We were lucky to have you, I can’t see any of the nutt crew as you call your brothers wearing it,” Jon laughed.

 

“It’ll go into my hope chest,” Stephanie smiled and put it back in the jeweler baggie.

 

Jon pour the last necklace into his hand, it was a single heart pendant.

 

“This is yours Steph, it was your grandmother’s gift to your mom on the day you were born, and her mom gave it to her when your mom was born.” Jon told her.  He dropped it back into the baggie and handed it to Stephanie.  “You can pass it down to your Daughter, when you have one.”

 

They sat in silence for a few minutes.  Jon thought back to what Matt had asked him earlier.

 

“Steph, how do you feel about St Barts at Christmas? Do you kids miss a white Christmas,” Jon asked.

 

“What do you want to do this year daddy?  This is the first one without mom,” Stephanie started to say.  “The Nutt crew would vote St Barts, because it was a tradition.  But you now have Colleen, I think you should ask her what she wants to do?”

 

“I’ll ask her, but I think I agree that the Nutt crew would vote St Barts.  Since it’s a tradition, maybe one last trip,” Jon said. “But what do you want, you didn’t answer me?”

 

“I haven’t seen a white Christmas since the ‘90s, so St Barts is sand, ocean and suntans, that’s our tradition, what we always done,” She answered. “We can always choose another island for the warm part of Christmas.”

 

“I like that idea, I don’t like freezing my ass off either,” Jon told her.

“Here’s an idea dad, Christmas is on Tuesday, we can go down till Wednesday and then come back for Christmas in the Hamptons,” Stephanie told him, “We have to accept that things we’ll never be the same again, it’s time we make new traditions.”

 

“Great suggestion Steph, I’ll do a conference call tonight with all of us,” Jon loved the idea and it would be something he could get behind. “New traditions with us and Colleen.”

 

“Can it just be the six us, including Colleen?” Steph asked.  “It’s going be hard as it is the first one without mom, I would like for it to be just us.”

 

Jon thought about what she said, it was going to be hard. “I have to agree with you baby girl.” He pulled her in his arms and hugged her close.

 

 It wasn’t long before he took her back to the path after he locked up the house.  “Thanks for working with Greg tomorrow,” Jon said watching Steph’s face.

 

“He’s easy on the eye dad, no hardship at all, who knows where it might lead,” Stephanie smirked at her dad.

 

‘Wonder if amazon has a Chasity belt on prime delivery before tomorrow?’ Jon thought as he watched her walk into the station.