|
One in a Billion
Chapter Seven
“Day Seven”
The
next morning Jim woke early and decided not to wake Donna and the kids. He went
to the restaurant around 7 and ate breakfast, then ordered three more plates to
go. He carried these back to the motel and knocked gently on Donna's door.
Donna opened the door, still in her pajamas and looking as if she had just woke
up. She asked Jim in and noticed the food he had brought, she apologized for
not hearing him knock earlier before he went to the restaurant and was very
happy and thankful he had brought them some breakfast back. Jim told her he
hadn't bothered to even knock earlier as he figured they all could use the
extra rest. He sat the food on the table and told her he needed to run and if
she needed him to call his cell phone. Donna gave him a tight hug and a gentle
kiss on the corner of the mouth. Then she stepped backed and told him to be
careful. Jim headed out to his van to do his errands.
Jim
headed to the house he had bought for Donna to see how the work was coming on
it. When he pulled in the driveway he noticed that Donna's car was in one side
of the two car garage. He also noticed that there was only one truck there
today so maybe the work was almost finished. He entered the house and found the
walls and trim already repainted as they were when Donna lived there before. He
heard noise coming from the back of the house so he continued through to the
kitchen. There was a man applying a finish to the hardwood floor there. He told
Jim that the kitchen was the last room he had to finish and this was the final
coat on the floor. Jim said that was great and asked when the man expected the
house to be ready to move into. The man told Jim any time except keep heavy
traffic off the kitchen until the finish cured completely, which would be about
Tuesday.
Jim
went through the rest of the house, every room was finished and even the
bathrooms had new fixtures and plumbing. The whole house had been rewired and
the central units had been replaced also. Jim was very pleased of the way it
looked and hoped that Donna would also be pleased. He looked into the master
bedroom, it was exactly as the pictures he had gave the contractor showed it.
They had even reworked the closet so it had the modern wire type shelves and
racks for more space. Jim thought now he could go find furniture for the house,
but was still undecided as to whether he should try to buy back the originals
that belonged to Donna's mom or buy new items. He figured he might discuss this
with Donna before making his decision. Jim went on through the house and
returned to the kitchen doorway. The man had just finished the floor and was
coming out of the kitchen. Jim told him he was very pleased with the work and
that if he ever needed anything done, he would be sure to call on him again.
Jim then left to go to the local car dealerships. He wanted to buy a minivan
for Donna so she would have transportation that was reliable and could handle
her and the kids comfortably. Jim
pulled his van into the Dodge dealership and drove over close to where the new
minivans were parked in a row. He got out and walked over to a white one that
had tinted windows and opened the door. He climbed into the driver's seat and
began checking things out. It had all the extras anyone could want and had a
bluish grey interior. Jim was very sure this was the one he wanted and he
started to get out of the van a salesman came up. Jim took a look at the
sticker price and seen it had a little over 28 thousand on it, he turned to the
salesman and told him he would like to buy the van. The salesman introduced
himself as Rick Harmon and told Jim he was sure they could work out a fair
trade. Jim quickly told Rick he would not be trading as the minivan was to be a
second vehicle. He then told him he would give him 25 thousand including tax
and not a penny more. Rick
said he wasn't sure they could get it down that low including tax, but for Jim
to come on up to the office and they would work on it. Jim told him that was ok;
for he knew where he could get one identical to it for that and was sorry he
had wasted the man's time. Jim headed to his van and got in. He was pulling
away when the man told him to hold on, and give him just three minutes to check
with the owner of the dealership. Jim backed up a little and looked at his watch;
he told Rick he had exactly 3 minutes. Rick ran to the office as Jim looked at
his watch to see if he would make the 3 minute deadline or not. Just as the
time was about to run out, Rick came running back towards Jim's van with some
papers in his hand. Jim stepped out of the van and asked if they had a deal at
his price. Rick told him yes the owner said he could have it for 25 thousand
cash.
They
went back to the office so they could put the van purchase on Jim's credit card
and he could sign all the paper work. After twenty minutes in the office the
van now belonged totally to Donna Clifton and Jim had the title application in
his hands along with one set of key. The dealership was going to deliver it to
the house and leave the other set of keys in the door pocket and lock the van
afterwards. They had also took care of getting her state license plates for it
and now Jim only had to get insurance coverage on it. He headed to an insurance
agency the dealership had recommended. Once there it took only about twenty more
minutes and now the van had full coverage insurance on it for two full years.
Now Jim headed back to the motel, thinking he may even take a short nap as he
was a little tired from the errands and getting up so early.
As Jim
pulled into his parking spot at the motel he noticed it was already 11:45 , nearly lunch time he thought to himself. As he got out of the van
Donna's room door opened and she came out. She greeted him with a smile on her
face and Jim could swear she had a glow about her. She asked Jim if he was
thinking of going to the restaurant for lunch and he told that would be ok and
if the kids were ready, they could go now. Donna stepped back inside her room
and then she and the kids came out and got in the van. They drove to the
restaurant and ate lunch. As they were driving back to the motel afterwards,
Jim told Donna he needed to speak to her in private about some very important
matters and would like to do so at her convenience. After seeing Donna's face,
he quickly assured her it was nothing bad or dreadful. At least not for her he
thought to himself.
|
Return to Main Page