6.Guys like me oftentimes get lumped into that category especially. That we are focused only on ourselves and selfish. I suppose this can be true at times, but I believe in helping other people – and I’ve slowly come to the realization that maybe you do too.
Well, that’s a lot of words, I know. But I wanted to thank you for being so considerate lately and letting me know you care. And to tell you that the same applies in return. If you happen to need advice on anything else, let me know and I’ll try my best to help.
P-1
PS There’s a board meeting at the end of the month and I’m gonna ask them to pull back on the legal stuff. Try to persuade them that maybe you’re exactly the kind of person this place needs, after all.
Oh wow.
Hannah’s eyes filled with tears once she’d finished reading Ed’s latest note, found beneath the door when she got home from work. Given the week she’d had, it truly couldn’t have come at a better moment.
She’d heard nothing from Rob since. The golf tournament was this weekend though, so maybe he’d decided to wait until he was in town before reaching out to her again.
Or not at all.
As it was, she’d had little choice but to set aside her monumental embarrassment, which Hannah was almost certain had been predicated by that errant wandering stray. She’d kept all windows closed in the apartment since then.
Her client list was growing larger by the day, as were the number of alerts on her phone and the size of her workload. While yes, she was keen to impress at the new office, she was now starting to regret her earlier enthusiasm and agreement to tackle such a time-sucking client list.
In short, the pressure was starting to get to her.
So to know that Ed next door had finally come around, and she had one less thing to consider and was safe in the knowledge that she could remain in Courtney’s apartment without worrying about further neighbourly missteps, was a huge relief. She was sure the influencer in turn would be over the moon that Hannah’s little overtures had essentially smoothed the way for her problematic lawsuit to disappear too.
Finally, something was looking up.
She read back through the note (though this one was more of a letter), touched and intrigued too by Ed’s list of truths about men.
Six classic truths, mirroring the Classic Six in which they both resided. She chuckled, wondering if that was intentional; she’d already got the sense that he was a wry and witty old soul, and a lot smarter than he pretended to be.
Regardless, she fully intended to use some of these intergenerational nuggets of wisdom when it came to the men in her life, her ex too. Maybe some straight-talking to Rob had been long overdue and the cat had done her a favour after all?
One male in particular for whom the majority of Ed’s advice resonated though, was of course, Ward McKenzie. A bit of a relic himself by all accounts, though Hannah truly was getting a much better handle on the hockey player these days.
Perhaps too much, she mused, blushing afresh, as she once again replayed in her mind their heated encounter outside the podcastplace that morning, when at one point during their bickering she was almost certain (hopeful?) that Ward was going to kiss her.
But that was crazy, wasn’t it? She barely knew the guy. To say nothing of the fact that he was off-limits. No, her stupid imagination was working overtime, as was Ward McKenzie’s more down-to-earth appeal, much the same way it had that day she’d bumped into him at the coffee place.
The tough-guy macho facade she could handle. It was the softer, vulnerable, more human side – the real him – that made her feel so discomfited. And since this very side was the one Hannah was actively working to bring to the forefront, she knew she’d better snap out of it, fast.
She’d worked hard enough to disentangle herself from the disaster she’d been central to on the other side of the country.
So what she needed to do now was focus her efforts on getting Ward McKenzie’s image in shape and further down her list of priorities.
And try her damnedest to ensure that she didn’t get caught up in any similar messes this side too.
Chapter 37
WARD
When Ward saw Johnny enter the diner, he waved him over, standing up and giving his friend a solid hug as soon as he arrived.
‘How’s it going, Mr Sensitive?’ Johnny asked, grinning.
‘Wow. Just jumped right in on that, huh?’
His friend’s laughter boomed as he clapped Ward on the back, slid into the booth, and sat down. ‘Hey, you wouldn’t respect me if I didn’t give you a little hell now and then, right? Shelley says that you’re doing really well with the rehab.’
‘I haven’t had a pill in weeks and I’ve even cut back on the beer. That girl is determined to break my body, Johnny. She’s a tyrant.’
