It certainly did sound like he was indeed lonely, and a bit stuck too, she surmised, as she considered his small admissions. Which automatically made her think of Ward McKenzie and the problem-solving Hannah was literally being paid to do on his behalf. Another man heading toward the end of his career – much to his chagrin. Ward was precariously close to being fired from the team and set adrift from the game he loved. Unlike her neighbour, the player wasn’t stuck per se, but he was indeed walking a tightrope of sorts and he too needed to regain his purpose.

Hannah vowed to write back to Ed later once she’d gathered her thoughts and perhaps make him another batch of Rice Krispie buns to help cheer him up a little.

Given his latest correspondence and the olive branch offered within, it also felt like the time was right for the two of them to meet in person.

Chapter 30

WARD

When Bernie’s name showed up on Ward’s Caller ID later that evening, he fully expected his agent was about to congratulate him on a job well done on the training video. Which had since truly blown up far beyond even his own limited expectations. Shelley was right. People were interested in watching him work out – who knew?

Or watching him suffer, more like.

Regardless, it could only be a good thing to have people talk about him in a positive way for a change, instead of laughing at him falling down drunk in the park. So maybe there was something to this PR stuff, after all.

‘Hey, Bernie,’ he greeted, a smile in his voice. ‘What’s up?’

‘Even the fact that you asked tells me that you haven’t heard about Sport Starz?’

‘Yeah, I know the site, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘I’m talking about Ward McKenzie’s newfound … softer side,’ his agent stated then chuckled. ‘You haven’t seen it then.’

An all-too-familiar feeling of dread formed in the pit of his stomach. What now?

‘How bad is it?’ he asked gruffly. He held the phone away from his ear and stared at it as if willing the offending article to jump out. He had no clue if it was possible to check for what Bernie was talking about without hanging up.

When his agent spoke again, there was a more thoughtful tone to his voice. ‘Well, on the one hand, it puts you in a good light, so that’s a good thing, right?’

‘Tell me what’s on the other,’ Ward grunted, striding across the room to dig out his laptop.

There was another pause, this one longer than the first.

‘It also puts you into the “cute and cuddly” category, and I’m not sure if that’s quite the image we were going for.’

He groaned. ‘What? How could you let this happen to me?’