"Do you know you don't have a ladder?"

"I don't?"

"No."

Chloe paused, turning her head to regard Jack as he contemplated the many types of ladders available for purchase at Lowes. Slowly she said, "But you fixed the roof."

"Yes."

She stared at him for another long moment. "You scaled the side of my house bare handed, didn't you?"

Jack's eyes slid over and he gave her a small shrug. "Maybe."

Sighing, Chloe said, "That's not what I call taking it easy on your hip. In fact, that's pretty much the opposite of resting and relaxing, which is what you're supposed to be doing."

Clearly amused. Jack raised a brow at her and she sighed. "Just promise me you're not going to do anything too strenuous, like put an addition on the house or something."

"No," he assured her with an amused smile. "Though an addition wouldn't be a bad idea, for the baby. Just something small like another bedroom, maybe a second bathroom."

She stared at him. Jack had a sort of dry sense of humor that too few people appreciated but she was pretty sure he was standing there, in all seriousness, discussing adding a couple of rooms to her house. While the idea of more room was somewhat appealing, she didn't think it was the sort of undertaking that someone who, in all honesty, should have still been a PTSD wreck.

But instead of sitting in a corner and quietly weeping while a team of psychiatrists observed, Jack was using home improvements as therapy. And Chloe's house was reaping the benefits of this odd form of healing.

"Maybe," she said, then brightened as inspiration struck. "You can look into it after we get back."

This pulled Jack from his serious comparison of the pros and cons of two ladders. "We're going somewhere?"

"Yes," she said, voice confidant as though she weren't pulling the whole idea out of thin air. "We need a vacation. A real one. With maids that clean up after us and leave little mints on the pillows."

Jack raised his brow at her. "And where is this pillow mint vacation destination?"

"Banff National Park," she said quickly. Then she tried to reign in the impulse to attempt to stare at herself, wondering where the hell she had found that name.

"Banff? Canada?"

Shit. She'd probably seen something about Banff on the Travel Channel. Oh well, she could make it work…even if she had to work a little computer magic to rush to get Jack a passport. "Yup. We just need to get you a suitcase and some more clothes and we leave on Friday."

If she was anyone else, she was sure Jack simply would have grumbled and ignored her, but he simply nodded at her, taking her for her word. "Okay," he said easily. "I guess a vacation wouldn't be such a bad idea."

"It's a brilliant idea," she said, mentally making a list of preparations she'd have to finagle. At least she knew Karen and Bill would let them go with their blessings. She'd gotten the computer systems functional again and they knew Jack needed a break, but wouldn't leave…unless she dragged him away.

Yes, a nice hotel. Some piece and quiet. Real rest. Just what the doctor ordered….or rather, would have ordered if such an order would not have resulted in an angry death glower from Jack.

The world was just funny that was.

TBC…..