Hannah - Part One by Barbara M.

Hannah



“Damn, Jake, you can send in your column from anywhere. This is my chance. It might not happen again.” Hannah turned, glared through the rain-splotched window and across the endless expanse of gray sea broken up only by the wind-whipped white caps.
“You should have talked to me before you accepted it,” Jake said.
“I didn’t think there’d be a problem. We’ve been talking about moving to San Francisco for months.”
“No, Hannah, you’ve been talking. I’ve been your audience.”
“It’s a new boutique. I’ll be the manager. It’s what I’ve been working toward.”
“It’s in San Francisco.”
She turned to face him. “That’s a plus as far as I’m concerned.”
“Why do you hate Cayucos?”
Hannah sighed. “I don’t hate it. I just want to see some place different.”
“We both grew up here. Our families live close by.”
“San Francisco isn’t on the other side of the world. It’s less than three hundred miles away.”
“And what about Crystal? I only have every other weekend with my daughter…”
“There are flights out of San Luis Obispo. You can be here, or she can be there in a couple of hours.”
“She’s too young to fly by herself. She’s….”
“Thirteen Jake. She’s not a baby anymore.” Hannah took a deep breath. “Just think, Crystal can come and spend time with us in San Francisco. She’d love it.” She walked to him and touched his arm. “Please, let’s give it a try. We can always come back if it doesn’t work out. God knows Cayucos will still be here, just like it is. Nothing ever changes.”
He stepped back from her. “I’ll think about it.”
“Jake….”
“I said I’d think about it, Hannah.” He turned and walked away.
“Where are you going?”
“For a walk on the beach.”
“It’s storming out there.”
He looked over his shoulder. “I don’t care if it is. I love the ocean. You just don’t get that, do you?”
Hannah heard the door open and close. “No, I don’t get it.” The beach was nice in sunny weather. She enjoyed letting the rays warm her and it was okay to walk and look for sea glass and shells, once in awhile, but Jake could spend an hour or more just staring out across the waves, and he didn’t care what kind of weather he did it in.
She glanced at the large wall calendar. February thirteenth. She had to be there at the new store by March first. Maybe she had been wrong about accepting the promotion without talking to Jake first. But I didn’t think he’d give it a second thought. He knows this is what I’ve dreamed about.
With a frown Hannah picked up the pile of valentines she hadn’t addressed or mailed yet. “Well, I can always deliver them in person.” The phone rang. “Hello.”
“Hannah, is daddy there?”
“He’s out walking, Crystal. Can I take a message?” Take a message? Jeez, she sounded like someone’s secretary, but it wasn’t any secret that she and Jake’s daughter had a civil relationship at best.
“Have him call me, okay? I saw something cool I wanta talk to him about.”
“I’ll tell him. How’s your mom?” Daria had a flu bug that didn’t want to go away.
“She’s fine. Resting right now.”
“Give her my best.” Hannah cringed at those words too.
“Yeah, sure.” And Crystal hung up.
Daria, Hannah and Jake had all gone to high school together. Daria and Jake had been the super couple, the super couple that got married right out of high school, with Crystal arriving seven months later. The marriage had lasted three years.
Hannah and Jake had connected when he’d come into the boutique where she worked to buy something for his mom; he’d asked her out, they’d been married a year later. Hannah smiled. Ten years ago tomorrow, on Valentines Day. Where had the time gone?
They weren’t easy years. At times her paycheck was the only money coming in. But she’d never let him give up on his dream, and when he did start selling his pieces, he sold every one. Now he wrote a syndicated column that came out in newspapers all over the United States. “And he can send them in from anywhere. It doesn’t have to be Cayucos, California.”
“Hannah.” Jake said from behind her. She hadn’t heard him come in. Her body tensed as she turned around. He stared at her for a long moment before saying. “I’ve got to go to Paso Robles to do an interview. I’ll stay the night. I’ve already booked the room.”
“An interview? You haven’t done interviews in years.”
“I want to do this one.”
“Why all night?”
He looked away from her. “I need time to think.”
“Jake,” at his sharp look she changed her words. “Crystal called. She wanted you to call her back.”
“I’ll swing by on my way out of town.” He moved toward the doorway. “I’ll call when I get there.”
“I’m going out for awhile. “
“I’ll call your cell phone.”
She flushed. “The battery’s dead.”
“Hannah, what good is a cell phone if you don’t keep it charged?”
“I’ll charge it right now. I just won’t have it with me, okay?” Her voice sounded sullen, and she didn’t care. Just who was the one taking off? “Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day.”
“I’ll be back by one.” He walked from the room.
Hannah stood where she was as he packed and then walked out the door without another word. Tears filled her eyes as she heard the car start and back from the driveway. She blinked them away. “Does he even remember that tomorrow’s our anniversary?”
She walked to the fireplace mantle and stared at the photographs lining it. Her parents. His parents. Crystal at different ages, and their wedding photo. “And all taken at the damn beach.” Well, except their wedding photo. They’d been married inside a white pagoda high on a bluff, but even then the ocean spread below them. “I just need something different. Why can’t he see that?” She’d lied about going out and her cell phone. Childish? Maybe? But it had felt good at the time.
Hannah turned, walked to the large window and jerked the drapes closed. She’d just have a glass of wine, maybe two, and watch a couple of those chick flicks that Jake hated. Tomorrow would be better, after he’d had his thinking time. What if he says no? She shook her head. He won’t. He knows how much this means to me.
She walked toward the kitchen to pour a glass of wine.

***
Hannah glanced at the clock again. Two p.m. She’d expected Jake home a hour ago. She groaned and rubbed her forehead. One glass of wine had become two, and ended up being the whole bottle. “Stupid. Stupid, Stupid,” she muttered as she walked to the television and turned it on. The local news was broadcasting from Morro Bay, an interview with the captain of a boat getting ready to take a group on a special Valentine’s cruise.
Her eyes filled and she turned away. “Well, happy anniversary to me.” This time she let the tears fall as she walked toward the bedroom. What she needed was a nap. Maybe by then her wandering hubby would make it home.
It was five o’clock when she woke. Hannah lay there and listened. The house was too quiet. Jake still wasn’t home, but at least her headache was gone. She kicked the blankets off and stood. Just where was he? Her anger rising, she checked the phone. No message. She went to her cell phone, and frowned. It had been turned off. I don’t remember doing that. Did I do it last night? She turned it on. Checked it. No message from Jake there either. Did I talk to him last night? Did he tell me he was going to be late? She checked her outgoing messages. The screen was blank. When had she deleted them? “That’s it. No more wine for me.”
She heard muffled voices from the living room and relief flooded through her. He is home. But who is he talking to? “Jake, I’m sorry….” Her words cut off as her heart sank. It was just the television; she’d forgotten to turn it off. They were still broadcasting from Morro Bay, but this was different. Oh my God. The boat taking the Valentine’s cruise had been turned over by a rogue wave. Nineteen people had drowned. “Those poor people.”
The doorbell rang. Backing away, her gaze still on the screen, she moved to the door.
Mike Reynolds and Talia Clark stood there in their police uniforms. Hannah’s heart went into overdrive. It was about Jake. She knew it in an instant.
“Hannah,” Talia said.
She gripped her hands together in front of her. “Hey guys. Nice weather for February, huh? Jake’s not here. Would you like some coffee or something?”
“Hannah,” Mike repeated. “It’s about Jake….”
“Yes, he’s late getting home. But he’ll be here any minute.”
“No, he won’t,” Mike said.
Hannah backed two steps into the house. “Yes he will, Mike. Don’t you tell me differently. He’s….” She swallowed, unable to go on.
“Let’s go inside. I’ll give your mom and dad a call,” Talia said.
Hannah held up her hands, keeping them from entering the house, as she shook her head. “I don’t need my parents. Why would I?”
Mike grabbed her hands. “Jake’s dead, Hannah. He was on the Valentine Cruise at Morro Bay. He drowned.”
The world receded from around her. “That’s silly, Mike. Why would Jake be on a Valentine’s cruise without me? “ The words sounded hollow and seemed to come from someone else.
“Let’s go in and sit down.” He guided her into the house.
Hannah began to shiver. “No, it wasn’t him. You’re mistaken.” Behind her, she heard Talia talking on the phone.
“I saw him, Hannah. It’s Jake.”
A moan came from her. “No. No. No.” She jerked away, whirled to face the picture window. The sun flooded the ocean with a gold shimmer. “You took him from me. You jealous bitch,” she screamed. Her vision grayed and she fell into blackness.