Jack and Ginger (Sacred Heart Coven Book 3)

by Starr, Felicia

  "Oh that reminds me, I have something for you. I will be right back." Jasinda disappeared into the kitchen. When she flashed back, Ginger was still wiping down the bar. Jasinda admired that she had an eye for detail, most of the girls wiped it and went on about their business not really checking to make sure things were as tidy as they should be.

  "Stop that for a minute." Jasinda put her hand on her arm. She pulled the mug out from behind her back and presented Ginger with it.

  "Oh. Cool. Wait what is that?" She nervously giggled a little. "I see it is a Chicago Bears mug, and you know I am a diehard Bears fan, but what is that in it?"

  "I had a get-together tonight with my sisters. We kind of worked together to make you this. It is a salt scrub. One of the girls is a massage and aromatherapy specialist, she picked out the essential oils. It is made with Himalayan Sea Salt."

  "I don't know if you know about Himalayan Sea Salt, but it is special because the salt was covered by lava over two hundred million years ago. That is why they say it is richest, purest and most healing salt on the planet."

  Ginger unscrewed the jar and sniffed at the contents. Jasinda could smell the sweet floral notes from where she stood. Ginger smiled and sniffed at it again.

  "I was going to put it in the mug, but I didn't want it to spill. When you get home you can pour it into the mug and leave it in your shower or on the edge of the tub. You can use it on most of your body. I don't know if you have used salt or sugar scrubs before. A lot of people like to use a gentle loofa and others swear the only way is with your hands. I don't think it really matters.

  "But it will help you to relax and help to cleanse away any toxins that your body is releasing. I know you have been going through some things. I wanted to offer you a little bit of peace, even if it is for five minutes in the shower. Your skin will be soft and smooth all day long, not to mention you will smell good too." Jasinda tilted her head trying to see what was going on with Ginger who seemed like she pushed the pause button on her.

  Ginger's eyes had stayed on the jar. She didn't look up at Jasinda, and she wasn't usually one to not make eye content. She put her hand on Ginger's shoulder. "Hey..."

  "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. This is so unbelievably thoughtful." Ginger grabbed a cocktail napkin. Jasinda could tell she was holding back, but the reddening was starting to show on the whites of her eyes.

  "I finished college and moved here with Roger. Things were so great in the beginning that it never really occurred to me that I wasn't making time for myself. Any free time I got I spent with my father. I was so grateful that he moved out here to be closer to us. He was hoping for grandbabies. Roger told me that I didn't need to work, he made plenty of money and he didn't think that it looked good for his wife to be working.

  "I bought into all of it. Look at me, I am rambling on now. What I am trying to say is that you have always been so kind and this just goes above and beyond. I don't have any friends here, and you took the time out of your function to make me something." The tears started to stream down her cheeks. Ginger pressed the rough little napkin at the corners of her eyes. She was clearly still holding back.

  Jasinda took the mug from her and stepped forward to embrace her. Ginger practically collapsed into her arms. The tears instantly started to soak through the shoulder of Jasinda's white shirt. Steve made eyes with Jasinda and she gave him the eyes with a little nudge of the head for him to leave. He nodded at her and grabbed the empty dish rack and went back into the kitchen.

  Jasinda reached over and grabbed a handful of napkins and held on to them for when Ginger was ready. She didn't want to interrupt Ginger's cry. She clearly needed to let it all go. Jasinda's heart was aching for her and she couldn't imagine the utter loneliness that she must have been experiencing.

  "I am so sorry..." Ginger started sniveling between her ragged attempts to catch her breath. "I'm so embarrassed."

  "It's ok, let it out, honey. It's not healthy for you to hold it in. You don't want that sadness to fester into anger. A broken heart left unattended can turn black and wither away."

  "I was stupid..." Ginger's chest heaved up and down. "I thought Roger was the one, I thought he was my everything."

  Jasinda handed her the napkins and used her arm to help Ginger around to the outside of the bar. She pulled down two of the stools while Ginger wiped at her wet cheeks.

  "I messed up. I was lucky to spend the time I did with my dad, but it should have been more. There should have been more of everything. I wasted so many years. I lost so much believing in so little. How could I be so blind?"

  Jasinda rubbed Ginger's back as she held her head between her hands. She reached over and pulled the bar caddy closer so Ginger could access the freshly stocked stack of napkins, what she grabbed may not have been enough.

  "Ginger, I don't know your whole story, but don't play the victim. I know you are stronger than that. You can't blame yourself. You made the best choices that you could at the time.

  "It is a new day and you have a lifetime ahead of you to craft the life you want to live. You can't change the past, sweetie. All you can do is learn from your experiences to make a better future." Jasinda stood back up. "Don't worry about the rest of the cleaning. Steve can come finish mopping the floors, we are going to have a drink."

  "I can help finish cleaning," Ginger said while she was still trying to catch her breath. "And you are totally right about everything. I am ready for some big changes."

  "That a girl. I have something special for us to toast with. I will be right back. I have to get it from the kitchen and I need to get Steve out here to finish cleaning for us." Jasinda ran into the kitchen and was back before Ginger could get up to go anywhere.

  Ginger was wiping her runny eye makeup off with one of the bar napkins. She added the dirty napkin to the pile of wet ones in front of her.

  Jasinda had mixed feelings for Ginger's situation. Looking at her swollen face it touched a place inside that she could relate to and it made her want to console her. On the other hand it sounded like she was moving on to a better place, and Jasinda liked to focus on the positive.

  Jasinda put a dark growler on the bar and pulled out two mason jars from the rack. She poured out the contents filling each glass halfway.

  "What is that?" Ginger's sadness was now replaced by a look of trepidation.

  "This, my darling, is my passion. I make homemade mead, and this is my favorite recipe, Pumpkin Spice." She pushed one glass in front of the pile of dirty tear rags and raised her glass in the air.

  "This is to life with an open heart, may you follow yours to a life full of passion and satisfaction." Jasinda smiled at her hoping that it would be contagious.

  Ginger lifted her glass to her nose and cautiously smelled the brew. Her eyebrows went up and she nodded her head. A little smile broke through her somber face.

  "I will drink to that." Ginger clinked her glass against Jasinda's and took a small sip, followed by another lager one.

  "Oh, Jasinda... I have never had mead before and this is like a little taste of heavenly fall. I can taste your passion. You should be bottling this and distributing it."

  Jasinda laughed, she laughed really loud. She was worried that the spiced cocktail was going to fire out of one of her nostrils.

  "What? What is so funny?" Ginger asked.

  "I don't know. It can't be that good. I mean I love it, but I know its not everyone's cup of tea."

  "I don't know booze as much as I know food, even though I did work more years behind the bar than another position at any of the restaurant jobs I have had, but it is really delicious and unique.

  "I don't know what the legal rules are, but can you sell this here? Do you? You could be doing food pairings. So you make other flavors?" Ginger's mood flipped the switch.

  "I can serve it here as long as I make it on premises. I never thought to serve it to customers. I usually only make it for family or friend gatherings. And if you didn't notice we don't serve f
ood here."

  "Yet." Jasinda didn't even hear Steve come out of the kitchen.

  "Yet, it is on our list of things we want to work on. We are not great in the kitchen so we have been hesitant to make that leap. Things are going well right now. We don't want to make any uneducated decisions just because they seem like the right thing to do."

  "I think that is very smart. A lot of people let their ego get in the way of making smart choices. They think they know what they are doing and then six months later, wonder why they need to close their doors.

  "I am no expert, but I love to cook and did spend some time on the line at one of the restaurants I worked at in college. If I can help in any way please let me know. I love research and food." Ginger took another sip of her mead.

  "I could drink this all night, but I still have to drive home. I am going to need to take a rain check on finding another night for us to share drinks again."

  "I would love that, and earlier in the evening. We can call a cab or have Steve drive you home if you need it. We are very serious about not driving while intoxicated."

  "Same here. I have seen the damage that kind of indiscretion can make on a person and a community." Ginger yawned, "I am exhausted. I honestly don't remember the last time I was awake at this hour."

  Jasinda grabbed the two glasses. And dumped the remainder of their drinks in the sink and rinsed them out. She was hoping she could get them in the dishwasher.

  "So listen, I want you to get yourself a nice red candle tomorrow. Take a nice long hot bath or shower, burn the candle and use the salt scrub. It should only be used a few times a week. This one is all natural, so it should be pretty mild, but you don't want to damage you skin.

  "I am going to call you tomorrow. Not in the morning, I might even give you a day before I call. I want to make sure you are ok," Jasinda told her.

  "I am ok, I am actually better than ok. I am still a little embarrassed at my uncontrollable outburst, but it felt good to get it out. I am going to keep in touch and I am going to help you get this kitchen up and running. Even if I have to come in here and do it myself." Ginger laughed.

  "Hmmm, now you have my wheels spinning, we will talk more." Jasinda walked around to the other side of the bar.

  "Steve, come say goodnight. Did you pay the lady?" Jasinda asked him while she and Ginger walked toward the front entryway.

  "Of course, we squared up when you were putzing around in the kitchen." Steve leaned forward on one foot and extended his arm. "It was a real pleasure working with you tonight."

  "Thank you. It was great; I had fun and got to make a little extra cash. How could I go wrong?" Ginger shook his hand and then turned back to Jasinda and gave her a big hug. She whispered in her ear, "Thank you again for everything tonight."

  Chapter Five

  GINGER WAS GLAD THAT THE ride home was not far. She only had a few sips of the mead so that wasn't going to affect her capacity to drive. She knew she was tired, but until she got in the car, she didn't know how much so.

  She pulled up and parked the car in her numbered spot. It was a little bit weird living in a development after so many years in a single-family house with a nice white fence and a professionally landscaped yard. She sighed.

  She knew in some way the universe had its plan. She missed her father so much, but it seemed like in some ways his passing was his last gift to her. Had he not passed when he did she might still be living her life as a lie in an unhappy marriage.

  Roger didn't waste any time serving her with the divorce papers. They were barely filling her dad's gravesite when she found out. Lucky for Ginger, her father's condo was paid off and he left it to her. Of course her father's doors would have been wide open to her, but knowing she had her own space to transition to at least made the blow from the divorce a little easier to bear.

  Having a familiar place to go without having to worry about the what ifs and the how's of where she would go next reduced the anxiety that she assumed most women faced when they found themselves in a separation or divorce. It was a small two bedroom, but it was all she needed for the time being. Not to mention it was nice having the pool to enjoy and exercise in over the hot summer months.

  Ginger took off her shoes and walked up to her second floor unit barefoot. Her feet were starting to throb. They were a bit angry with her for not letting them rest at all though the night. It had been a long time since she'd spent such an extended amount of time on her feet.

  As she opened the door her stomach started to growl. She tossed her shoes in the bin next to the door and her keys into a small glass bowl that had belonged to her grandmother on the small console table by the door.

  She looked around and still expected her dad to stroll down the hallway as if he was just in the bathroom or grabbing something from his room. Ginger knew she was going to need to get rid of a lot of his stuff; she just wasn't quite up for the task yet. She had purchased some cardboard boxes and promised herself she would start sorting things that could be donated versus saved or trashed.

  It was late, but she needed to fill her belly. She flipped on her father's ancient looking PC on her way into the compact galley kitchen. She stuck her head in the fridge and pondered; what does someone eat at three in the morning. She hadn't slept so it didn't feel like it was time for breakfast, but she ate dinner almost eight hours ago. A fried egg sandwich had her taste buds going until she remembered the beefsteak tomato she had on the kitchen counter.

  She grabbed the mayo and a head of lettuce before closing the refrigerator. She turned on the toaster oven and popped in an English muffin. The tomato was perfectly sliced by the time the timer went off. She stacked the tomato and lettuce between the two gooey toasted muffin tops.

  She made a cup of hot tea and parked her caboose in front of the computer. She knew it wasn't her job or her business, but she was interested in looking up how to open a restaurant or kitchen. It had always been a dream of hers that she pushed off to the side for Roger to pursue his hopes and dreams.

  She took a bite of her sandwich and opened a new tab to search for the basics to running a commercial kitchen. Maybe she could put together a business plan for a small food service building. If nothing else it would be a good distraction for her until she found a job.

  As she started to type it was like a giant light bulb went off over her head. Ginger wondered if this was meant to be her path. Why did she have to wait until she retired to have the career she always fantasized about? They always say that things happen for a reason and that you are where you are supposed to be. Maybe her being at the bar that night was the universe opening a door into a new career for her.

  Ginger felt confident that she had the background to set a foundation for the understanding and knowledge of running a small restaurant. She knew she would have a lot to learn, but that was the easy part, implementing what she learns will be another thing.

  Just as she was trying to figure out where the best place to start looking for what she wanted to know, a little icon popped up. It was a notification that someone left her father a message in something called the Bears Den.

  Ginger wasn't sure what social media site it was from. Quite frankly she was surprised that her dad was on social media. He was pretty old-school in most of his ways.

  Jack: Pre-season is almost over are you ready for opening day?

  The message was from a guy named Jack. There was no last name, or first name for that matter. Ginger laughed to herself and wondered if she thought he was too cool to have two names. Maybe he would soon just be the guy formerly known as Jack and go by way of a symbol instead.

  Who knew her old man was so tech savvy? She shook her head and smiled at the thought of him sitting on the computer in a chat room. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have the energy left to try and explain that her father had passed.

  On the flip side she also didn't want to be rude and not answer him. As if he would know that she was sitting in front of the computer reading his message. Then
again maybe it showed that it was read on his end.

  She took a bite of her sandwich and some of the wet seedy mess from the center of the tomato squirted out of the back of the sandwich and landed on the keyboard. "Oh crap!"

  Ginger jumped up and ran to get some paper towels to clean the mess. Not thinking about what would happen when she wiped the tomato bits up she heard the computer make a blip sound at her.

  "Oh, for heaven's sake. What did I do?" Ginger looked at the mess she made, and it had nothing to do with her sandwich. She looked at the computer screen and saw that she responded to the message from Jack with a bunch of gibberish.

  Jack: ??? Art, are you ok man???

  Ginger's stomach dropped She stood there staring at the screen hoping it would disappear, or that he would write back and say he had to go. Too bad the complete opposite was becoming the reality.

  Jack: Dude, this isn't funny. I know you have been having trouble with your heart. I know you don't have a cat walking across that key board. If you don't answer me I will call 911 and have them contact your local emergency services.

  Ginger panicked and sat down and started to type before she even thought about what she would say.

  Art: Sorry about that, I spilled some food on my keyboard. I was cleaning it before it seeped in-between the keys. I'm ok.

  What the heck is wrong with me? I am not my dad, and he is the furthest thing from ok.

  Ginger rested her elbow on the desk and pressed her forehead to her hand rubbing her brow with the pads of her first three fingers. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why she just pretended to be her dad.

  Jack: So the Bills, not the most exciting of season openers.

  Art: Depends on which way you look at it Jack. The first game of the year always sets the tone for the season. The Bills may be the forgotten team, but they did pick up some new potential during the draft.