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On Monday morning, Jason hurried into his office. It was his first official day in Rueben’s old position. He’d been taking over the responsibilities of the role slowly, but now he was on his own.
He’d had the weekend to decompress and think, and he had finally come to terms with what he needed to do with Hannah. It was time he took initiative for his life.
“She’s not here,” Brandy said when he came out of his office and looked around.
“Who?”
She rolled her eyes. “Hannah, of course. She called in sick a few minutes ago.”
His heartbeat thumped in his ears as he nodded. “Right. Thanks for letting me know.”
Brandy took a step toward him. “Is everything all right between you two? She seemed upset.”
Worry trickled through him as he gave a too enthusiastic answer. “Of course, we’re fine.”
Brandy smiled warmly. “Good. It’s been fun cheering you two on. You’ve come so far, Jason, and I know it’s been because of her.”
Forcing a smile, he backed toward his office. That was the exact problem. He had started to lean on Hannah so much that he wasn’t sure what was actual progress and what was because Hannah was by his side. “Thanks. I better get to it.” Then he turned and hurried inside.
First thing, he picked up the office phone and called Hannah. If she wouldn’t answer his phone calls, maybe she’d answer a call from the office. After the third ring, she answered.
“Hello?” Her throat was hoarse, and she really did sound sick.
“Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t feeling good? I could’ve brought you soup... or something.”
“This weekend wore me down, and I couldn’t even get out of bed.”
“Is there anything you need? Can I bring some soup by later, for lunch?”
“No,” she said quickly. “I’m sorry, I’ll be at work tomorrow. I just needed... some extra rest.”
She didn’t sound like her usual chipper self, but after what she’d gone through over the weekend, she had every right to be down. Hopefully, he could positively reassure her everything would be fine. “I understand.” He tapped his fingers on his desk. “I... have something I need to talk to you about, but I think I should wait until we meet face-to-face.”
She sighed. “All right. See you tomorrow.” The phone clicked before he’d even had a chance to say goodbye. Well, at least she was mostly okay. Some rest should help.
He focused on his work the rest of the day, the thought of seeing her the next day pulling him through. But when he passed her house that evening, her car wasn’t there. Could it be she had parked in her garage? There was no chance. Her garage was packed full of stuff. Only a monumental effort to clean it out would have made parking in it possible. So where was her car?
Questions jumbled in his mind, but he ignored them and headed home.
The moment he walked in the door, the air felt different. Stale instead of comforting like it usually did. Sabum had needed to take the night off, and it wasn’t a dog-walking night. Instead of hiding under his covers to decompress, Jason wanted to get out, to walk around. And he wanted Hannah by his side.
He sighed and opened his cupboard. He did make a good chicken noodle soup. If he had extra, he could take some leftovers by Hannah’s house. She hadn’t wanted him to come over, but maybe if he knocked and left the soup on the doorstep, he could walk away slow enough to get a peek of her at the door or to wave. Something.
He hurried through the task of preparing chicken and making the broth, and by the time he’d added noodles, he was positive his impromptu visit was a good idea. If nothing else, she would have dinner for one night that week. He hated cooking when he didn’t feel good.
By the time he had boxed everything up with some daffodils from his yard, he was confident she’d be happy to see him.
Walking over there was another story. There were only a handful of houses between his and hers, and it was a longer walk than he’d imagined. Some neighbors were out watering their lawns, and they gave him looks of surprise as he was out and about.
I know, I know. But I’m not doing this for me. It’s for her.
He hesitated at her door, not sure how to explain why he had gone against her wishes. I felt like chicken soup, and I made too much. And I miss you. No, it was all a bad idea. He laid the soup on the doorstep and knocked softly on the door. Then he started his lonely walk to his house again.
“Wait!”
He spun at the sound of Hannah’s voice. He hadn’t even left her driveway. She didn’t look great as she peeked at him from behind the door.
“I cooked you some of my favorite chicken noodle.”
