Hannah couldn’t help but laugh. Apology? She’d gone out of her way not to apologize. This guy really was an out-and-out contrarian and reminded her so much of her granddad. A former Irish army man who brooked no nonsense and, now that she thought about it, was probably the one who’d primed her expertise in dealing with … difficult personalities. Tucking into her breakfast of oatmeal and blueberries, she pushed the note to the side and turned her attention to her phone, the screen listing a slew of incoming alerts; one of them a message from none other than Ward McKenzie.

Aha.

She was curious to know if he had spent the previous evening stewing over her insinuation that he was vapid and fake, or if he had come to his senses and realized he might indeed have a conundrum on his hands – one she could play a key role in solving if he would only play nice.

Yeah, I’m a comic book. But I take your point that I’ve been parading around as a graphic novel for a while, OK?

Then a follow-up message: You pick a place this time and I’ll be there.

Hannah smiled. Quietly confident that the hockey player would come around, she’d spent some time last night reading up on the game and its fun but mystifying lingo, readying herself for checkmate.

Or as Ward would surely say, slap shot.

Chapter 23

WARD

A week or so later, Hannah looked around McKenzie’s place in Lower Manhattan with some surprise. She wasn’t sure what she’d been anticipating, but it hadn’t been a cramped one-bed furnished with stuff that looked like it came from the local Goodwill.

‘Not what you expected, I take it?’ he asked.

She shook her head. ‘I came here expecting to see some shiny interior-designed bachelor pad aimed at proving that you were a man of taste and means. Instead, I just see what looks like any other ordinary city shoebox.’

‘Spoils the narrative already?’ he teased, unable to keep some of the sarcasm out of his voice. ‘Relax, this is my old place, the only apartment I could afford when I first moved here and signed for the Panthers. I’ve got a couple of other rentals in the city too. Believe it or not, I’m pretty decent at real estate investment.’

He hardly ever came back here though – it was more of a crash pad for whenever he was out with Johnny, or somewhere for his mom to stay the few times she’d come to visit. There were some good memories here – but there were some bad ones, too.

In this space, he reverted to the hopeful rookie he was – before success came along and everything changed so fast it was as if he was caught up in a dream.