Johnny laughed. ‘Shelley’s like a sister to me. We were neighbours back in the day, and if she still hasn’t ratted me out for some of the shit I pulled growing up … trust me – you’re in the right hands.’
Chapter 9
HANNAH
‘Any idea when your guy’s going to get here? Or should I say,if.’
Hank, the animal shelter manager, wore a dubious expression as he ran a hand through the thick thatch of hair exploding from his head.
‘I’m sure he’s just running a little late,’ Hannah apologized, feeling her face heat up as she and the accompanying photographer waited inside the foyer of Fur Parents.
She’d told McKenzie’s agent what time he needed to be here and was assured he’d make it. But the guy was now over an hour late and she was getting anxious. Not to mention embarrassed. She’d set this up on behalf of the agency, and it made her look bad.
At that moment, she saw her errant client come into the building. The hockey player wore jeans and a t-shirt that were designed to look casual, but she suspected cost quite a bit of money, and showed off his athletic body to the best possible effect. Biceps in particular,whew.
Hannah swallowed hard. Quickly recollecting herself, she also noticed his pronounced limp as he shuffled towards them. Despite his protests in the bar, there seemed little sign of improvement with the knee injury given he was still on crutches. And she couldn’t help but again feel guilty about that …
Lifting his sunglasses, he gave them both a brief nod.
‘Sorry, I’m a little late.’
‘You were due here an hour ago,’ she pointed out.
‘Right – that’s why I just apologized. So, what’s the game plan? Am I supposed to look at all the cute little doggies and kitties and make appropriate “awwwwww” sounds and all that baby-talk bullshit?’
The shelter guy shook his head and Hannah glared at Ward, her initial softness at his vulnerability very quickly disintegrating.
‘Hey, I’m here now, right? So how about you just do whatever it is you need to do to make people think that I’m more than just some moron jock, yada yada.’
Hank shot a look at her that seemed to suggest,Good luck with that.
‘OK, so here’s what we’ve got planned,’ she told him. ‘As you say, the idea is to shoot a couple of photos with some of the animals. Since you don’t do any of that “baby-talk bullshit”, we’re just going to go with some still photography. I’ll distribute the shots to some key media outlets and work from there. How’s that sound?’
‘Like torture,’ he grunted, rolling his eyes. ‘Come on then, let’s get it over with.’
The photographer kept trying to get Ward to make a reasonable attempt at showing some emotion as he held some kittens, but it was no use. The same sour expression persisted for the most part, and when Hannah tried to get him to lighten up a little by playing with them he dug in his heels even further.
‘Just so we’re on the same page, I hate this crap, OK? This isn’t what I do. Sure, I like puppies and kittens, who wouldn’t? But I’m not the kind of guy who spends time in an animal shelter being all cuddly with the inmates.’
Hannah rubbed the back of her neck. ‘Just maybe give me something –anything –to work with here?’
But still, he behaved like an automaton. Exasperated, she suggested they give up on the cattery and head to the dog section, which she hoped might appeal more to his macho instincts, when she noticed him pause next to one of the cages.
‘What’s that?’ Ward asked Hank, indicating an adult cat that had seen much better days. Missing much of its brown and orange body fur, one of its ears was matted with blood and a portion of its face had fluff growing back in patches.
‘Stray we caught the other night. She’s a real scrapper, that one. Took three of us to pin her down for a vaccination shot.’
While Hank was talking, Hannah watched with interest as Ward went over to stand in front of the cage. The cat’s ears were flat against its head and a suspicious growl emanated from its throat.
He turned back to the shelter worker. ‘What’s going to happen to her? Is she going to be put up for adoption too?’
Hank shook his head. ‘Nah. She’s too wild for that.’
Ward looked at him. ‘In other words, because it isn’t all cute and cuddly like the others you’re just going to put it down? That how it works?’
‘I know it’s not ideal but the shelter is at full capacity,’ the rescue manager sighed. ‘It’s a shame but she’s just not adoptable. And as you can see, there are lots of others out there who are, as long as we have the room to keep them.’ He shrugged. ‘That’s just how it works. Law of the jungle.’
Chapter 10
