‘Well, for starters, it seems that you’ve changed,’ she pointed out. ‘I’ve been keeping up with all the stuff about you lately, seeing the pictures. I don’t know what got into you, but I gotta admit that I approve.’

He shrugged. ‘Bernie had a PR firm handle things for me and I guess they’ve gone a little bit overboard trying to change my image.’

‘I don’t think you can say “trying” anymore, Ward. They’ve done it. When I left, I was pretty certain that you’d just go back to your boozing and partying days and revert to the guy you were before we got together. And for a while, seems like that’s what happened. Yet somehow you managed to get your act straightened out.’

‘Yeah, well – a lot of the credit for that needs to go to my ballbreaker publicist.’ Melanie laughed and Ward found himself smiling at that achingly familiar sound.

‘So was she the one who took that picture of you grinning like a fool with those kittens?’

‘Yep, that was Hannah.’

There was a pause. ‘Hannah?’

‘Yeah, that’s the name of my publicist,’ he said, a little defensively.

‘Interesting …’

‘What’s so interesting about that?’

‘Nothing – it’s just I don’t think you’ve ever really shown that side of yourself to anyone, not even me. You’ve always kept the walls up. Looks like Hannah’s managed to work miracles.’

Ward snorted. ‘I’ve been working on myself, too. If I want to get back on the team I need to have this squeaky clean image, and that’s what I’ve been doing.’

‘Of course. Is she cute, by the way?’

This was where he had to be careful, he knew. It could very easily turn into a minefield he didn’t want to navigate. ‘Doesn’t matter,’ he replied his tone glib.

‘So she is important to you then,’ Melanie stated quietly.

‘What makes you say that?’

‘When I asked you if she was cute, you didn’t answer the question.’

Now Ward felt annoyed for some reason. ‘Mel, is there a purpose to this conversation or did you just decide to call and give me the third degree for no good reason?’

She exhaled. ‘Well, I suppose the purpose is that I’ll be in town next week. And I was wondering if we should maybe get together. For old times’ sake.’

Chapter 41

HANNAH

Dear P-1,

So like I said before, I’m dealing with more of a personal dilemma this time, and since you are older, wiser and more experienced at this stuff, I figured you might have some insight.