As a young man, Jack had heard whispers around town: People hoped the curse was true, that John would get his comeuppance. Knowing how the town felt about his family and the big house on the hill, Jack had made up his mind to leave as soon as possible. He’d been working up the courage to squirm out from under his father’s thumb when the war broke out. And then when he’d arrived back home, in May 1919, and the town had put on that big parade for him, he’d been furious: that big banner strung over First Street in front of the bank, proclaiming WELCOME HOME, JACK, people lining the route all the way from the depot to his parents’ house, waving flags, congratulating him, not even mentioning the brother who hadn’t made it back home. He’d wanted to leave town for good then, and not look back. It wasn’t until years later that he realized the parade had been the only thing they knew how to do for him; that they had forgiven him, for the moment, for being his father’s son.

Because soon after that parade, it was summer, and he’d gone to the family summer home in Stone Harbor, his mother insisting that he have some time before going back to the bank as his father wanted. Jack was not saying much about anything at that point, but he went to Stone Harbor, and then he noticed that the girl in the cottage next door, Mary, had grown into a beautiful woman while he was gone. By the end of the summer, he was determined to marry her. But when he found out she had been secretly engaged to Chase, he was so angry, and his pride was so wounded, that he’d almost let her get away. Fortunately, he’d finally garnered the sense to go after her, following her to Chicago to beg her forgiveness, promising he would provide for her if she would only have him. She was the only peace he could find, then; still was now, for the most part.

But marrying Mary meant taking the one job he knew he could have, and coming back to the bank and Pine Rapids. Oh, he could have done something else, he supposed, but he was so tired from the war, and his father had told him it would be best for everyone if Jack carried on the family legacy. John had said it would upset Wilma if Jack went away again, and she was already so upset about Chase.