There was a huge birthday cake sitting there. I frowned at it, confused.
Asha smiled. “Many of the girls have been on the streets since they were little, so they don’t know their real birthday or they’ve never celebrated it. Here at Angel House, we like to make the opening day of the orphanage their birthday and celebrate every year with cake. So today is all of their birthdays and they areveryeager for their first bite of cake.”
I couldn’t help the little gasp of shock that came from me at that. My eyes welled with tears, and beside me, I saw that Hannah was struggling to keep her emotions in check as well. They didn’t even know the day they were born? They had neverhad a birthday? Or cake? It didn’t seem real. Or fair. A child never having tasted cake at this age.
Hannah stepped forward and slipped her hand into mine for a brief moment, squeezing. It was her way of saying she felt exactly what I felt. I squeezed back and cleared my throat, grateful for the support.
“Well, let’s dig in!” I announced.
We then sang happy birthday, and I watched as the cake was cut into twenty of the smallest pieces I’d ever seen and given to the girls. Even though the pieces were tiny, the girls grinned when they got them and shoved the whole thing into their mouths. Some of the girls got icing on their noses, which started all of them laughing.
It felt like this house, in the middle of rural India, was filled with more joy than I’d ever felt in my whole life. These girls had come from hard pasts. Some of them had really dark backgrounds. Yet they laughed and smiled and were grateful for a tiny sliver of cake. It made me want to never complain about anything in my life again.
Hannah leaned into me, and I smelled the coconut shampoo she must have used in the hotel.
“I’ll never look at cake the same again,” she whispered.
“Me either,” I muttered. I’d be grateful for every piece of cake or pie that ever came into my mouth from this day forward.
Next, we were given a tour of the five bedrooms the girls slept in. They had four bunk beds each. The linens were fresh and clean with colored patterns, and each girl had a backpack and a Bible on their pillow.
Hannah turned to me with surprise. “Is this a Christian organization you donated to?”
I chuckled. “You don’t find many atheists building houses for orphans,” I told her, and she grinned.
Angel House was a Christian organization, yes, and I didn’t have anything against the religion. It just wasn’t for me. If they wanted to give each kid a Bible with my money, it didn’t bother me. I just wanted these girls off the streets.
Over the next hour, Asha translated as Priya, the house mom, showed us the kitchen where she made meals for everyone. She seemed really proud of the space and her work here, which was nice to see. Happy people made me happy.
By the time the afternoon rolled around, I felt the jet lag hit again and I could tell Hannah did too. She was talking less and her eyelids looked droopy.
When we said goodbye to the girls, they all got one last touch of Hannah’s blonde hair, and then we got back into the van. As we drove away, the girls ran after the van, waving and screaming. “Bye, Shack and Anna!”
Hannah giggled, waving back at them as I just watched her. I’d dated some really beautiful women, but their beauty paled in comparison to Hannah’s and I was just now realizing that it was because Hannah’s beauty leaked from the inside out. There was a light inside her that lured me towards it, like a moth to a flame, hoping I could capture a fraction of it for myself.
When we were back on the road to the hotel, Hannah peered over at me. Our gazes connected and she sighed. “Jack, that was…so special. Thank you for bringing me. I’ll never forget that.” She took my fingers into hers and held them.
Her delicate skin brushed against mine and my heartbeat wildly.
“I’ll never forgetyou,” I said to her. Because the reality was that she lived in Willow Harbor, I was in Seattle, and we were both about to go back to our lives. And I only visited Willow Harbor on Christmas.
She yawned, letting go of my fingers to cover her mouth, and then laughed. “Sorry. I’ll never forget you, either, Jack. You bought me a restaurant, remember?”
I grinned. “I remember.”
She leaned her head on my shoulder, and then a few minutes later, her soft snoring filled the car.
What I wouldn’t have given to have a woman like this own my heart. She was too good for me, though. I’d ruin her sunshine by bringing my clouds and rain.
No.
Best to just enjoy this trip for what it was and not look too much into it. Besides, once she found out I was a convicted felon who had done time for murder, she’d run far, far away from me. As she should.
Chapter Eleven
HANNAH
It had been a week since India, and Jack and I were talking every day. My mom had a PET scan today to see how everything was going and if the tumor on her kidney had shrunk enough to be surgically removed, which was what we were hoping for.
