After heading to the grocery aisles, he stopped, realizing he didn’t know all that much about what Hannah liked to eat. Did she have allergies? Was she one of those healthy freaks that didn’t eat X, Y, or Z? On their one dinner date, she’d eaten pasta, but that was over a year ago. Giving up carbs was all the rage now. Maybe she’d jumped on that bandwagon. There was meat on the breakfast sandwich she ate just the other day, so she probably wasn’t a vegetarian, but wheat bread or white? Ham or turkey? Cheddar or pepper jack? Miracle Whip or mayo? He took a deep breath.Chill, MacDonald. It’s not a life-or-death decision. Just find out what she likes and come back.
Knowing she liked coffee, he headed to that section, but was instantly overwhelmed again. Dark roast, light roast, French roast, breakfast blend, caramel, vanilla, organic, decaf. Good Lord, who knew there were so many types of coffee? Rather than buy one of everything, he put a couple of variety K-Cup packs in his cart. Satisfied with that brilliant decision, he moved a little further down the aisle and hit another wall. Shit, what did she putinher coffee? There were only a million types of sugar and milk and creamer combinations. And what about those flavored syrup pumps?
He would never guess what she liked best, so he grabbed some eggs and bread and split. Once she got settled at the farm, he’d ask her what she preferred and come back with a list.
He hauled it all back to his place in Carnation and made sure the spare bedroom was ready. Luckily, the people who came to clean weekly had just been there the day before, so he didn’t have to worry about that chore. Before leaving, he turned up the heat a few degrees. He liked it cold but doubted Hannah would.
On his drive back to the hospital, the doubts started piling up. Had he really thought this through? He wasn’t used to taking care of anyone but himself. The animals on the farm weren’t even really his responsibility. Jake brought them home, but Dirk, the caretaker, was the one that took care of them. Could he really do this properly? And what about his night life activities? He’d be okay giving up the bar scene for a while, but what if she stayed so long that he began to resent her cramping his style? That seemed petty, and he admonished himself for being so selfish. He’d offered to take care of her, and so he would do his best to do just that.
When he returned to the hospital, the off-duty police officer he’d hired to sit at Hannah’s door was right where he was supposed to be. They chatted for a minute before Jake went in.
“Hey,” he whispered. “Feeling better?”
“Much,” she said. “Thanks.”
“Still nothing up top?” he asked.
“No. But I’m beginning to figure out why I’ve blocked it all out.”
Jake sat in the chair next to her bed and raised an eyebrow, encouraging her to elaborate.
“I have no friends, no family, a mediocre job, and someone wants to kill me. What could I possibly want to remember?”
He chuckled. “That does make it sound pretty bad. But you do have friends. All your coworkers are very worried about you and wanted me to tell you they hope you get better soon. I told them it would be a while before you could return to work.” He nodded to her broken arm. “I mean, it’s probably hard to make coffee with only one hand. Do you even remember how to make coffee?”
She smiled, but it died quickly. “How am I going to make ends meet with no income?”
“Don’t worry about that now. We’ll figure out your money situation later. I’ll help out if needed. Right now, just focus on getting better.”
“You said you were a trooper, right? They must pay you pretty well to be so generous.”
He coughed out a laugh and shook his head. “Hardly. My trooper salary pays the bills, but I have a little extra set aside.” When she gave him a quizzical look, he explained. “I made a bit of money in the stock market off my brother’s company, so I’m doing just fine. Don’t worry about money, okay?”
“Your brother owns a company in the stock market?” she asked. “That’s cool.”
“Yeah, he’s all that and a bag of chips.” Jake smiled. His oldest brother, Sam, started a software company several years ago with his buddy. When he needed investors, Jake and his brothers all pitched in, never guessing the returns would be in the millions. Jake didn’t have to work, but he liked it, so he did.
“I’m sure I already know all this, but since I don’t remember, tell me about your family.”
“Oh, it’s really pretty boring.”
“Maybe, but I could use a distraction from my thoughts right now.”
“All right, well, let’s see. I have four brothers and my mom. My dad died when I was eleven.”
“My gosh, how sad. He must have been pretty young.”
“He’d just celebrated his fortieth birthday. It was a brain tumor. No one knew about it, so his death was sudden and unexpected. You can imagine how it affected my mom. She’s never really gotten over him…hasn’t remarried or anything. She still lives in New York along with three of my brothers.”
“Is that where you grew up? New York? How’d you end up in Washington?”
“Yes, I grew up in the city. My brother Sam, he’s the one I was just telling you about, moved here to go to college. The University of Washington, in fact. You guys are both huskies.”
She smiled like it meant something to her, but he could tell it didn’t. “The husky is the UW mascot, and you go to the UW,” Jake explained.
“Oh. That makes sense then.” She nodded with more of an understanding. “Cool.”
“Anyway, the summer after I graduated from high school, I came out to visit and have been here ever since. I went to Washington State University, which is on the other side of the mountains. After I graduated, I moved back here and hired on with the State Patrol. The UW and WSU are big-time rivals. Sam and I usually get together to watch the Apple Cup and talk shit.”
