A Case for Forgiveness

Hannah snickered. “Lipstick pattern, huh? I don’t even want to think about how that came to be.”

“Hannah, this is serious.”

“I know.” Hannah nodded, her face now a solemn mask. “I do know, so in my ongoing quest to constantly improve my customer service skills, I am going to assure Mr. Takagi that I will win him as many goldfish as he wants at the next carnival to come through Glacier City. You can get six Ping-Pong balls for a five-spot, and as you’re well aware, my accuracy at the fish frenzy is renowned. And, as a special bonus—for Mr. Takagi only—I can arrange for these fish to all have Hannah James’s personalized Ping-Pong pattern.”

Shay sighed, dipped her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. Then she looked back at her sister and met gold-brown eyes that were a close match to her own, except Hannah’s were now filled with laughter.

“In spite of your lame attempts at fish humor here, you are going to follow all of these instructions, right?”

“Of course,” Hannah said. “But remind me again why we’re going to have the giant goldfish trough out back.”

“We have to keep these fish alive until Mrs. Milner gets her pond and atrium finished. There was a delay in the construction, but Mr. Takagi could only transport the fish now—and he insists on transporting all the rare koi himself. If she didn’t get them now then she would have to wait months for another opportunity, which would add the complication of the winter weather. Mrs. Milner asked if we could keep them here because she doesn’t want them at her house with all the noise and mess of the construction going on.”

Hannah stared back at her and Shay could tell she was trying not to crack a smile.

“Go ahead and say it,” Shay said.

“Okay, I’m thinking about how Bud and Cindy—our goldfish? The ones I won at the school carnival in fourth grade? We had them for nine years in a glass bowl in the middle of the coffee table. Mom and Dad raised six kids in that house. Mittens drank out of the bowl daily and I wasn’t exactly religious about changing the water.” She chuckled. “Remember that time Seth knocked the bowl over and Bud and Cindy were flopping around on the floor? Mittens swatted Bud around a couple times like he was a cat toy and I was sure he was a goner. But I scooped them both up and dropped them in Tag’s glass of water.” She laughed for a few long seconds.

Shay stared back at her blandly, brows arched—prompting her to get to the point.

“I’m thinking the goldfish will be fine, Shay.”

“Hannah, listen to me, if you are going to operate your own place someday—like you tell me you might like to do—then you have to go above and beyond for your guests.” Owning her own hotel had been Hannah’s latest idea in a long list that she’d been compiling during the months of her recovery.

Shay reminded herself to have patience. Hannah was still trying to deal with having her life’s work—her identity—snatched away from her. It had been just over a year since the accident—and the end of her professional skiing career. Her body had healed for the most part, but Shay knew it would be a while before the rest of her completely caught up.

“It’s part of—”

Hannah interrupted. “Shay, I’m kidding. I’m ready for the fish. What is wrong with you, today? You always—well, almost always, think I’m funny.”

Shay stared at her sister, anxiety fluttering in her stomach. Maybe it would help to talk about it. “Don’t say anything to anyone else, okay? I’m waiting for Jonah to call. Caleb—”

“Jonah!” Her voice shot up in tone and volume. “Jonah is here? He’s in town? In Rankins?”

“Yes, to all three of the exact same creatively crafted questions,” Shay answered drily.

Hannah flashed a knowing smile with an exaggerated nod. “I get it.”

“Get what?”

“Why you’re all testy and irritable.”

“Hannah, no, I’m not. Jonah doesn’t have anything—”

Hannah held up a finger. “Hold on just a sec.” She grabbed her phone and tapped out a text. Then she looked back at Shay. “Continue.”

“I’m worried about Caleb. He had an appointment with Doc this morning.”

“Doc? Well, of course you’re worried about Caleb, too, then. But that’s not what’s going on right now. Because when you’re worried you look like this—” Hannah made a ridiculous tight-lipped face that Shay was almost certain she had never made in her life.

“And you get quiet—not snippy. I know. It’s Jonah.”

Shay narrowed her eyes at her little sister.

Hannah met her look and added a one-shoulder shrug daring Shay to dispute her claim.

“Really?” Shay said. “You know, huh? Can you tell what I’m thinking now?”

Hannah winced. “I can actually, and I don’t think it’s very nice to mind-talk to me like that. I would never mind-say something like that to you.”

Hannah reached down and picked up her phone, which had let out a buzz. She looked at the display and grinned. Her fingers flew over the screen again.

“You know I hate it when you text and talk to me. And what are you smiling about?” Shay realized then that her voice did have an edge to it—best to work on that, she told herself, before she inadvertently unleashed on a guest.

“Oh, I’m just excited that I was able to scoop Piper. What do you think is wrong with Caleb? I thought he was getting over that bug. Did he have a relapse or something?”

Shay looked at her quizzically. “Piper?” Piper Davidson was a friend of Hannah’s and the younger sister of Shay’s friend, Laurel. Laurel owned the Rankins Press, the town’s newspaper. Piper wrote the “Happenings” column in addition to being the biggest gossip in town.

Hannah seemed pleased with herself. “I texted Piper asking if she knew that Jonah was back in town, and she texted back saying that she hadn’t heard that yet. So, yay—scoop.”

“And this is news, why?”

“Come on, Shay. Jonah coming home is kind of a big deal. Small-town boy goes off to the big city, has tons of success and makes piles of money. He’s good-looking, he’s a bachelor, he owns a ’69 Boss 429. I can guarantee you that everyone will be talking about this.”

“You know what kind of car he drives?” Shay heard Hannah’s phone buzz again, no doubt Piper with a follow-up question. She hoped it didn’t involve her. After all, it’d been ten years since she and Jonah had broken up, Sometimes though it felt as if it was only yesterday. She and Jonah had been friends throughout their childhood, and it had seemed inevitable when they’d started dating during their senior year of high school. They’d gone away together to the University of Alaska and earned their undergraduate degrees. Jonah proposed soon after he’d found out that he’d been accepted to Yale Law. They’d come home to Rankins to enjoy one more carefree summer with plans to elope in the fall before they moved to Connecticut. Life was as perfect for Shay as it had ever been—before or since.

But then, as that summer was drawing to a close, her world began to unravel.

Shay’s Grandpa Gus died and left her the inn. Shay had spent much of her childhood working at the inn with her grandfather and while it was her dream to have her own hotel one day she hadn’t expected it to be the Faraway Inn.

Shay had been touched and honored and hadn’t felt like she had any choice but to stay in Rankins and take over the business. Grandpa Gus had taught her so much, showered so much love and attention on her. She owed it to her grandfather—to her family, to continue the inn’s success.

Jonah and Shay had been left with two different dreams—two different lives—that couldn’t possibly merge. Hannah asked, “Do you have any idea what’s wrong with Caleb?”

“No, I...no idea...”

“I really hope he’s all right, Shay. You know I love him, too.”

“I do know that, Hannah.” The entire James family adored Caleb.

“So, how did it go when you saw Jonah? Was there weirdness? Or was it like old times?”

“Okay, Hannah, you’re my sister and I love you, but can we not talk about this? About Jonah? I’m anxious for Jonah to call, but it’s only because I’m waiting for some news about Caleb—”

Hannah interrupted, “I can help you there.” Hannah held up her phone so Shay could see the display. “Jonah is at the Cozy Caribou having breakfast right now with Bering and some of the guys. So, I’m guessing that Caleb must be fine or else Jonah wouldn’t be...”

Every vein in Shay’s body seemed to throb at once. Jonah had said that he would call her after Caleb met with Doc, but he was hanging out at the Cozy Caribou instead? Having breakfast? No doubt chowing down on a pile of biscuits and gravy. How was she supposed to help him if he didn’t keep her informed? Why had she been so foolish as to think that he had changed even one bit in this selfish regard?