I drove toward downtown but didn't know what Claire wanted for dinner yet. I guessed she wasn't into the fancy stuff, but you never know with people.
"So what are you in the mood for Claire?" I asked.
"Oh just a burger sounds good."
"Just a burger? Have you ever been out to Thompson's on the river?" I asked.
"Can't say that I have. They have good burgers?"
"The chef there makes the best burger I've ever had anywhere. He puts maple syrup in the beef patty. I know, it sounds gross, but trust me it is amazing. He puts a ton of other stuff in there too. It's so good."
"Maple syrup? That's pretty strange, but I'll give it a try. Is this some fancy kind of restaurant?" she said looking down at her coveralls.
"Yeah everything else on the menu is pretty swanky, but I'm telling you their burgers are the best!"
"Don't you think we're a little underdressed?"
I wasn't in my usual slick suit. I had on jeans and a t-shirt to work on the house earlier that day.
"You make a good point Claire, but I have brought a lot of clients there to sign paperwork and celebrate. They've had a lot of business from me over the years. They won't care how we're dressed."
"If you say so. I'm used to getting looks."
"I'm sure you are."
"I was going to say because most people don't expect to see a woman contractor. Now about that roof. It's going to be a lot more expensive than you might think," Claire said.
"I'm sure you're right. Replacing a roof on a small house is pretty expensive. Don't you think we can save a ton of money by doing it ourselves though? Or at least by hiring out some help instead of a roofing company?"
"Listen man. Even with me hiring a roofing crew, I think that roof is going to cost way more to fix than you think," Claire said.
"We have a decent budget. I don't want to spend it all on the roof, but I guess it's a pretty important thing to get fixed. We'll figure it out. We have to get this house in great shape so buyers won't be able to resist it. If I have to sell my car to pay for the roof, I'll do it." I said.
"That'll be a shame. This is a nice car, but I'm pretty sure you're going to have to," Claire said.
"So be it," I said. "And another thing. I need to find a way to cut the legs out from under that Bill Baldock guy. I need to do some research and go find the places he is trying to buy from. I've got to find a way to convince homeowners not to sell to him. It makes me sick thinking of him destroying beautiful old homes to build apartments."
"Yeah I'm with you," Claire said nodding as she looked out the window.
"Maybe I can convince one of them to sell to me instead so they can see their properties renovated instead of demolished."
"Why don't you offer to rid their house of demons?" Claire said.
"That does not sound fun, but I've seen the tools work."
I drummed my fingers on my leather wrapped steering wheel. Claire made a really good point. The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how good of an idea it was.
"Claire you're a genius!" I said. "If I could prove to them that the evil spirits were no longer haunting their houses, maybe I could convince them to at least try and sell to someone else that won't destroy their house. I could even offer to be a realtor for them and help them sell it! Man! You just helped me come up with a new business model that doesn't involve having to buy a house in the first place!"
"First, I'm a woman. And second, that one was free, but the next one will cost you. Oh and another thing: I'm not going anywhere near those houses dude. Not for anything," Claire said.
"You'll come once the demon is gone. I still want to be a haunted house flipper, but this could be a great way to build capital so I can buy haunted houses! I might need to buy you two burgers!" I said.
"Throw in a diet soda while you're at it."
Claire laughed, and just like every other time, I couldn't stop myself from joining in. I liked this new thing called laughing. I guess it's supposed to be good for you. It sure feels good when you've spent your whole life without laughter.
We drove over a bridge, crossing the river, and up a windy hill to where the restaurant sat overlooking the water.
"This is where you've got to go to get the best burgers in town?" Claire asked.
"Yes it is."
We rolled up to the entrance. I put it in park and took my seat belt off.
"You can't just park here, can you?"
"Oh they have valet parking here."
"Oh man. They're definitely not going to let us in dressed like this."
"It'll be fine. I'm a regular."
We did get several stares as we waited to be seated, but there was no way they were going to turn us away. We were seated in the back away from most of the other restaurant goers, but they placed us near a window so we had a great view of the nearby river.
"Wow. This place is nice," Claire said. "That's quite a view."
"I love his place. You've never been here?"
"No. I usually just make my own food. It's cheaper that way."
"I'm hopeless when it comes to cooking. Seriously though, people laugh at me for ordering a burger here when there's all the other fancy stuff on the menu, but it's like no burger you've ever had."
A waiter came and poured us waters. I told him we were ready for food and ordered a couple of their gourmet cheeseburgers and some diet sodas. The waiter left us staring out the windows at the winding blue river below.
"So do you think will be able to finish all the yard work tomorrow?" I asked.
"It will probably take all day, but yeah," Claire said.
"Cool. I'll be ready to work. Tonight I'm going to look into this Bill Baldock guy and see if I can't cause him some trouble. Maybe I should offer to buy him drinks and see if I can get some good information out of him. He's probably the best guy in the city for me to talk to about acquiring haunted houses. I doubt he'll want to talk to me though, unless I offer to buy him a few rounds."
"Yeah. Good idea," Claire said.
"Do you think there's any safe way we could at least get up and look at the roof tomorrow? Maybe see what we're dealing with?"
"Yeah we can use the lift to get up there tomorrow. We might as well do it first thing before we're exhausted. That will be safer."
"Good thinking. I bet I'm in for a world of hurt after tomorrow. My body is used to a lot of driving and signing papers. The most exercise I get is walking around the house, which is actually just a lot of standing around while clients talk."
"Oh yeah. It'll be pretty rough at first, but after a while your body will get used to it."
The waiter brought us our meals. Each burger sat on a huge white porcelain plate next to a metal ring stuffed full of fries. Our diet sodas were served in huge tumblers made of thick glass with tall black straws sticking out the top.
"Pretty fancy presentation for a cheeseburger and fries," Claire said.
"The taste will live up to the fancy presentation. Go ahead, dig in."
Claire closed her eyes and bowed her head, mumbling to herself for a few seconds. Then she looked up and grabbed her burger. I've come to know that she is something of a burger connoisseur, but mostly of the fast food variety. The way she lifted it to take her first bite with a wide eyed excitement cracked me up.
"I know I've hyped up these burgers a lot, but you look like a kid on Christmas morning," I said.
She took a huge bite, her teeth crunching through the lettuce, onion, and tomato on the one-of-a-kind burger patty and thick soft bun. She grabbed her drink and washed it down.
"Oh man! You weren't kidding! It's still tastes like a cheeseburger, but there are so many other flavors going on!"
"I told you."
We took our time enjoying our meals and staring out the window as the sun went down. I have never seen someone enjoy a meal so much. I knew that if I got in trouble with Claire again, at least I had something to try and bribe her with. I paid, we drained the last of our soda, and then we shuffled toward the door with our stomachs full and our minds on that jungle of a yard waiting for us in the morning.