Chapter 4
Chapter Four
JACK
I stared at the email with trepidation. It was from Hannah, with the subject line Thank you , and I knew that it was going to be filled with praise for what a nice person I was and how grateful she was. I didn’t want to read it. I didn’t deserve it. If she had any idea what I’d done, she wouldn’t have sent it.
Hannah Phillips had captivated my heart from the moment she burst into Vinnie’s restaurant, late for her shift. Her jerk of a boss firing her like that had touched a nerve, and even though I had to pay twice what the place was worth, I was happy to put that guy out of business.
“Knock knock.” Chloe rapped on the door to my office in downtown Seattle.
I didn’t know why I was still working. I could have quit and just joined the board when our app design company went public, but I liked being busy. Then I didn’t have to be alone with my thoughts.
“Hannah answered. Her mom is doing better but having a hard time keeping weight on and eating,” Chloe said.
I sat up straighter. “What kind of cancer hospitals do they have in Willow Harbor?” I asked. Was her mom getting the best care money could buy? Or were they just doing what they could afford? Did she even have insurance?
Chloe tapped away on her phone and then winced. “One chemo center two towns over, then a cancer hospital three hours away with a low rating.”
I shook my head. “That won’t do. Offer to fly her mom out to Seattle for the rest of treatment. We can get them a rental unit. If she says no, send the best doctor you can find for whatever cancer her mom has out to Willow Harbor to consult with the staff at her local chemo center.”
Chloe raised one eyebrow. “I have gotten used to your…quirky philanthropy, but this is a little extra even for you, no?”
“No,” I countered. “I have billions of dollars sitting in the bank, and her mom is dying. If money can help save her life, why would I just keep it there?”
The thought of anything bad happening to Hannah made my chest tighten. She was so sweet and innocent. I could tell by the way she’d begged for her job in front of everyone that her boss was a class A jerk. But I didn’t worry she’d get taken advantage of after watching her dump my spaghetti on his head.
She could be tough when she needed to, and that was a good trait to have or life would walk all over you. I wanted to help her. It didn’t hurt that she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever laid eyes on. I’d buy her the entire state of Idaho if she asked me to.
Chloe’s head reeled back, and I knew that my words had been too harsh.
“I’m sorry. I can do it.” I waved her off. “I shouldn’t be getting you involved in this stuff anyway if you don’t like it.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Of course I’ll do it, and I do love it. You change lives. But Jack…Don’t you think you’ve done enough for people? It’s time to let the guilt go.”
Anger rolled through me. How could she say that? How could she even look at me, knowing what I’d done? She was one of the few people who knew about my past because she was my assistant. She had to remind me when to schedule visits with my probation officer.
“It will never be enough,” I growled at her.
She frowned. “Okay. I’ll make the calls. Anything else?”
“No, thank you,” I told her, and she shut my door.
I leaned my head into my hands and rubbed my temples.
Guilt washed over me for being angry with Chloe, and I immediately texted her.
Jack: Sorry I was short tempered with you. You just poked my wound.
Chloe: You call that short tempered?! You should see Roberto when I try to cook pasta. You’re forgiven.
I laughed. Chloe was engaged to an Italian in marketing. He was very serious about how pasta should be cooked.
I stared again at the subject line of Hannah’s email.
Thank you.
I didn’t deserve whatever was in this. But it would be rude not to at least respond with a quick you’re welcome , so I opened the email. The first few lines had my heart dropping into my stomach.
Dear Jack,
This is my nightly prayer for you. “May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.” Psalm 20:4
I have rewritten this letter a million times. But the essence of what I wanted to say is this.
What you did changed not only my life, but my mother’s. When you gave me this restaurant, you gave me a future, you gave me hope, and you gave my mother life. I’m no longer worried about how to feed her. I’m not afraid of losing the house. I’m not scared of never amounting to anything and being sixty years old with no retirement in sight. I’m…no longer afraid.
Jack, you took the fear from my life and gave me a peace that I’ve only known with God. That’s how I know He sent you.
So, thank you. Though no words can ever adequately convey what I want to say, I thank God for you.
Hannah
P.S. I named a dish after you. Well, renamed it would be more accurate.
I smiled at that last line, but the rest of her letter had my stomach in knots. Of course she was a Christian. In small-town Idaho, who wasn’t? But God hadn’t sent me to Hannah. God was probably too ashamed to even look check in me anymore, and I had stopped talking to Him years ago. I hadn’t talked to Him since that fateful night six years ago. Some things were just too shameful to bring before God. The guilt, too heavy. The sin, too great.
I jotted a quick reply so I could stop thinking about this before the lump in my throat grew larger.
Hannah,
You’re welcome. I’m happy the good citizens of Willow Harbor no longer have Vinnie lording over their Italian food.
Jack
P.S. I hope the dish you named after me is really good.
That night when I went to sleep, Hannah’s bright smile and the way she made me laugh more in one afternoon than I had in years played out in my head. I hoped she was happy and would find someone good who deserved her. Because I had a no-falling-in-love rule, and I intended to erase any thoughts of that kind about her from my mind.