Present Day:

On an early spring morning, Charlotte awoke from a deep sleep to the sound of the shower. She reached over and felt the warm place in the bed recently vacated by her lover. She turned over, put a pillow over her head and tried to get back to sleep. Charlotte must've dozed off again and then woke as Justin turned off the light and left the en suite. Charlotte removed the pillow and smiled at Justin. "Sorry J. Was way late last night, just got in a couple of hours ago."

He walked over to the bed and kissed her on the cheek. "Sorry for waking you, go back to sleep, babe."

She looked up in the dim light and noticed that Justin was actually wearing a tie. "Right, that big meeting you told me about."

He nodded. "Right, and I most definitely don't want to be late. I'll call you later."

Charlotte smiled, put the pillow back over her head and was asleep almost instantly. She slept for a few more hours and finally got up just after 10 AM. She showered and changed into jeans and a comfortable T-shirt and went into the kitchen. As she was making coffee, Charlotte noticed that the table was still set complete with candles, wineglasses, and the nice dishes she had inherited from her grandmother. The night before she was supposed to have been home by 5 PM and Justin had come over and was going to prepare a nice romantic meal for the two of them. He had previously mentioned that there were a couple of important things he wanted to talk to her about. Unfortunately, between some aircraft maintenance issues in Los Angeles and bad weather in Seattle, she didn't make it back to Boise until well after midnight.

Charlotte sipped her coffee, started a load of laundry and took care of a couple of other domestic chores. At just after 11 AM her phone alerted with a text from Justin.

//C. Meeting went great. I got the house on Warm Springs! Meet me there and I'll show you the plan. I'll take you for a late lunch. Have resv at Cottonwood Grill at 130. J//

Charlotte immediately returned the text.

//Awesome J! I'll meet you there in 45. ❤C//

Charlotte finished her coffee while wolfing down a granola bar and some melon to hold her over until lunch. She then put the laundry in the dryer and went to her room to change into something nice. The Cottonwood Grill was right on the Riverwalk and catered to a fairly high-end business crowd during the week and families who went there after church and the like. For some reason, she was feeling sexy and put on a nice knee-length green strapless dress which equally showed off her nice legs and bare shoulders. She also put on her mother's old hand-made leather thong necklace and tucked the gold nugget between her breasts. She locked the house, went to the detached garage and got into the 1964 Mustang she had inherited from her grandfather. Luckily, it was just warm enough to leave the top down which she did. Charlotte drove the back way from the North End, past old Fort Boise, the massive St. Luke's hospital complex and finally onto Warm Springs Blvd. That street was named for the geothermal hot Springs that heated most of the houses on it for over 100 years.

The old Victorian mansion Justin had just purchased was easy to spot as it had a fanciful three-story turret with a million-dollar 360-degree view of downtown Boise, the State Capital, the nearby foothills and even a bit of the Boise River. Justin was standing at his truck with a big smile on his face. Charlotte parked the Mustang behind Justin's Ford and got out. He took a long look. "Wow, must be my lucky day a beautiful babe in a hot car, or is it a hot babe in a beautiful car?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes but very much enjoyed the compliment. She had worked very hard to restore that car after all. "Hi J. You look pretty nice yourself. Guess you wowed those bankers with your killer smile and savvy business plan."

The tall couple embraced and kissed. Justin looked into her eyes. "You really do look great Char, come on in. I'll show you the house and then we'll have lunch."

"Sounds good, lead the way. Now that I'm here to see this place in person, tell me all about the mansion you just bought."

He smiled, held her hand and led her up the magnificent granite steps to the nine-foot-high carved oak double doors. "Okay, this place was built in 1905. It has six bedrooms, and five bathrooms plus a Butler's apartment, a maid's room and there are four fireplaces. The kitchen needs a lot of work, but there's also two living rooms, a formal dining room and then there's the turret."

Justin showed her around the main floor and then took her up the grand staircase to the bedroom level. He gestured to the floors.

"These oak floors are all original, but for some reason, they covered them with wall-to-wall carpet in the 70's. Mostly preserved the wood, but over here these are pet stains that will not sand out, it's too deep into the wood. All we can do is stain the floors a dark color to cover it up. As we say in the trade, someone let the cat piss on the carpet, and more than just once."

Charlotte looked down at the damaged floor and then into Justin's eyes. "Well in case it ever comes up in the future, just say sorry we can't have a cat, Mommie is allergic."

"Right, no cats. Are dogs okay?"

"Sure, I love dogs, just never had a place for one before."

"You know Char, I think that you just asked me to have kids with you."

"Did not! That was only a hypothetical."

"Right, but hypothetically speaking, is two or three okay?"

"Yeah, I was an only child as you know until I met your sister and you. It was still kinda' lonely at times, so two or three would be good. Hypothetically speaking of course."

"Of course."

"One more thing, hypothetically speaking that is, sooner rather than later, I don't want to be a 50 year old Soccer Mom."

He kissed her playfully and she returned with a slap on his firm butt. "Well, I promise to be the coach at whatever age. Okay then, follow me, Char."

There was a narrow door with a cut glass window off of the main hallway on the second floor. "Char, this is the turret, follow me but watch your step, it's closer to a ladder than a stairway, but the view is worth it."

Charlotte followed Justin up the narrow, steep stairway. It was well-lit by natural light from above, but she was glad that she had not worn heels. At the top, the turret room was a hexagon about 12 feet across. Each of the six windows featured a spectacular view. Justin put his arm around Charlotte and held her close. "Pretty awesome, don't you think?"

She answered by leaning over and kissing him. "Yeah, it surely is. How in God's green earth did you get this place?"

He shrugged. "Little bit of luck. The guy who owned it is a Californian and is way over-leveraged on a bunch of properties out there. Anyway, this place was going into foreclosure and I know a guy who knows a guy and I got a meet with a local banker who owns the paper on this place and a couple of others. Anyway, I offered them just over what they would get if this property went into a short sale. And to top it off my terms were cash and an immediate close and today we did. Just so you know, I got it for $800 and need to put about $300 into it for a historically correct reno. After that, I'm going to list it for $2.2 and at that price it ought to end up in a bidding war."

Charlotte took in the spectacular cityscape view one more time. "Well then, I guess you're buying lunch."

He smiled and kissed her again. "There is one more thing we need to talk about which is way more important than business."

She nodded silently and then he kissed her gently and looked into her pale blue-grey eyes. "Charlotte, I, I have wanted to say this to you for a long, long time. I almost did the other morning before you left for your last trip when you know, we were...anyway. I love you. I always have."

She kissed him gently held him close and whispered. "Me too. I love you, Justin."

After their lunch on the Riverwalk, they drove back to Charlotte's house in their two vehicles. Upon arriving home, they decided that a long shower together would be a good place to practice saying those three little words to each other a few more times. And they did.

After changing into casual clothes, they went to the kitchen. Justin poured some wine and gestured to the already set table. "Well Char, we're 24 hours late give or take, but I'm cooking for you tonight."

She nodded. "Sounds great J. What ya' got for me?"

"A big thick beef tenderloin, Idaho Baker and a green salad. Oh yeah and your favorite sourdough from Zepole."

Charlotte leaned over and kissed him. "You know that chicks really do like hot guys to cook for them."

Justin chuckled. "That's what my dad taught me. Is it working?"

The tall dark-haired girl answered with a kiss.

He looked serious for a moment and carefully sipped his wine.

"So Char, there is actually, one more thing I want to talk about."

She smiled at him. "Okay, sounds important. Go ahead."

"Well, it is. I think that it's time I fixed my house too, not just cosmetic stuff but a full gut reno."

Charlotte looked into his eyes. "Well, that is your job and you are pretty good at it."

"Thanks." Justin hesitated a moment before continuing. "It'll be a lot of the same work as the Warm Springs house so I can use the same crew back-to-back and then I want to rent it out, should be a pretty good business model."

Charlotte gave her lover her best poker face. "Okay, tell me everything. Just pretend I'm your accountant. I am pretty good with numbers you know."

"Right. Okay, I bought the house when I was just 21. I was still working on my contractor's license and was working for Bill Smithson and his son. Anyway, the place had been owned by the same family for like 50 years. After the grandparents passed, the family rented it out as is for about 10 years. They didn't pay enough attention to it and after the last tenants moved out and by moved out, I mean evicted for cause. Drug abuse and way too many cats."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Ugh, I don't think I want to know, but go on."

"Right. So anyway, the property sat vacant and uncared for about a year or so. In the end, due to some various family dynamics, they decided to sell."

Charlotte smiled knowingly. "You mean they needed the money?"

"Exactly. So, I made them an all-cash, no contingency offer. It was low, but fair based on the state of the real estate market and how bad a condition the property was in at the time."

Charlotte had previously heard most of the story from Lena but just let Justin continue. "So, to my surprise, they took the offer."

"Where did you get the money?"

Justin smiled. "Well you'd be surprised how much I had saved up over the previous couple of years, but anyway my dad cosigned the loan on his business account. So, at the age of 21, I became the owner of a trashed 80-year-old house on one of the nicest streets in the North End."

"I remember a little of the story. Lena told me that when you bought the place it was pretty nasty."

Justin nodded. "It was to the tune of two full dumpsters and after cleaning it up I just moved in anyway. For a while, it was kind of like camping."

"I hate camping, like that anyway."

He raised his brows. "You do? I thought you liked outdoor stuff."

Charlotte shook her head. "Oh, I do. You can take me camping and hiking in the woods of Idaho any time you know, trees, singing birds, babbling brooks and that stuff. It's the kind of camping in a 125° sandy, dusty desert tent city. Have I ever told you about Camel Spiders?

"No, do I want to ask?"

"Do you remember that movie, Alien? Camel Spiders are like that face-sucking monster only they are scorpions and are real and can move about 30 miles an hour! Anyway, I don't like stuff like that or living in an abandoned hanger on a bombed-out airfield or in old Soviet barracks in someplace that ends with -stan. That's the kind of camping I hated."

Justin shrugged. "Okay, my camping out was a little like that only with pizza delivery and burgers and beer. But, the roof leaked, the heat barely worked, it had never had air conditioning and you don't want to know about the stains in the carpet."

Charlotte covered her eyes with her hand and groaned. "Yuck, you said many cats and anyway if you want to stay my friend, don't tell me about the bathrooms."

Justin chuckled. "Okay, I won't. But yuck does not even begin to describe..."

Charlotte made a skip-ahead gesture with her right hand and he continued. "Right, so I started cleaning up the mess and just started fixing the worst things first."

"Charlotte pointed up. "Like the roof?"

"Exactly, and my dad helped with the plumbing. After that, it was mostly easy stuff like drywall, paint and refinishing the old hardwood floors, a lot like your house."

Charlotte smiled. "Well, I think you did a pretty good job with your house as well as mine. So, what next?"

"I want to do a full gut renovation, plumbing, electric, HVAC and everything. Really the same stuff we did at your place. I'm not changing anything on the exterior or adding on and the foundation is solid, so I should not have to battle the minions of orthodoxy as you described the nice people on the historical commission."

Charlotte smiled again. "Sounds like you've been thinking about this for a while. How do the numbers work out? I know how much it cost to fix my place up, and I'm pretty sure that my contractor was sweet on me, so I got a girlfriends and family rate."

Justin laughed and for the thousandth time reflected on how beautiful Charlotte's eyes were. "Something like that. So anyway, for example, if someone were to buy that house at fair market, which by the way is way more than I paid and then they paid someone like me to fix it up, they could never rent it out at a profit."

"How so?"

Justin counted on his fingers. "Between the cash value of the house, you know the time value of money, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and a contingency fund, they would lose money on a monthly cash flow basis. The only upside of an investment like that would be deducting depreciation every year and hoping that the value of the property would continue to go up over time."

Charlotte laughed. "And I'm pretty sure that just like combat, hope is not a very good business strategy."

Justin returned the laugh. "No, no it most definitely is not. Anyway, since I own the house free and clear and can fix it up at below cost, and with my own labor and all that. So, when I'm done, it will be a nice high-end family rental, the cash flow should be sweet."

Charlotte looked away for a moment. "Sounds great." She then deadpanned. "So, where are you going to live? Are you going to get an apartment or move back in with your mom and dad?"

Justin blanched for a moment. "Well, that's one idea, but I was thinking that you have lots of room here..."

Charlotte continued with the charade but had to turn away to hide a big smile. "Well, the carriage house is rented out again since you fixed it up, but there's lots of room in the basement and that couch is pretty comfortable after all."

Justin hesitated again. "Char I, I thought that..."

Charlotte leaned over and gave him a long and passionate kiss and then in a low voice said. "Justin Crawford will you please just say what you want to say!"

He finally got it. "Okay, okay Char, I think that we should move in together, here in your house."

Charlotte laughed so hard that tears rolled out of her eyes. "Finally, the boy asks. I didn't think you would ever get around to it. I've been dropping hints for weeks. Of course, I want you to move in with me, you practically live here anyway."

"So, you?"

Charlotte squeezed his hand. "I was advised that this was one of those things that the boy is supposed to ask the girl, the frail male ego and all of that."

"So, you have been messing with me this whole time!"

She laughed again. "Just a little and the look on your face was priceless. So how about tomorrow morning bright and early we take your truck over and start moving your stuff? I have tomorrow off, but then have to work the next five days. Should give us plenty of time to get a good start."

"Okay, but I've been thinking about it. And I want to pay half of everything you know the mortgage the bills everything."

Charlotte smiled and shook her head. "I've been thinking about it too. And the answer is no. Here's why. When I was a Lieutenant in Germany, I shared a flat with another pilot. We were both broke and it was real expensive living on the economy so it made sense. When I was stationed in Charleston, I shared a condo with you know who and that made sense at the time until it didn't. But no, I'll continue to pay the bills, they are all on auto-pay anyway. But you can buy groceries and pizza and stuff. However, you will be responsible for other stuff and I do expect certain things to be performed in a timely, efficient and satisfying manner."

It was Justin's turn to deadpan his response. "You mean like doing the dishes and laundry?"

Charlotte put both of her arms around him, pulled him close and gave him another kiss that almost stopped his heart. "Exactly. Things like that, but for now you may cook dinner for me and later, how would you like to go see your new bedroom, roomie?"