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“I hope so,” I agreed. “When I say I’m tired of all the back and forth, I mean I am literally exhausted. It’s so hard to stay politically correct when they are paying you not to do the job that they hired you to do.”
She nodded as she gazed at the giant tree next to the gazebo, her head tipped to the sky. “I can only imagine. I’m already frustrated and I haven’t been here for a year twiddling my thumbs. You’re doing all you can by early vetting applicants and everything else you do to put programs in place for when we do finally open. You can’t do much more other than slowly turn up the dial of urgency on the board. Winter is approaching and we need to get people into stable housing.”
“Exactly!” I exclaimed with frustration, and she turned her sweet face back to me. “They all sit in a comfortable home that’s warm and happy. They can’t relate.”
Hazel shot up from the stair as though it had burned her. “That’s it!”
“What’s it?” I asked in confusion.
“Forget the tour. That will not give them the same sense of urgency that experiencing it firsthand will. We’ll host a sleep-out for the housing insecure instead.”
I took a moment to let what she said sink in. “A sleep-out for the housing insecure?”
“Yes! We let them experience for a night what the housing insecure go through every time they can’t find a shelter or room.”
“I like the idea, but how do we convince them to do it?”
Hazel paced in front of me, her finger tapping against her lips. “I haven’t gotten that far.”
“We don’t have much time. The board meeting is in two weeks and if we want to have it planned, we need to move.”
When she turned, she had a brow in the air and her hands on her hips. “Dinner, wine, and plotting at my place tonight?”
A sneaky smile appeared at the thought. “You’re on, Hazel Cane.”
As we walked back toward the parking lot, I couldn’t help but sneak a peek or two her way. I’d worked with a lot of people in my time as a social worker, but none quite like Hazel. If my cards had been dealt differently, I could see myself asking her out. But I was a pair, and she was a full house. The only way to win this hand was to enjoy her friendship while I had it.
Chapter Five
I slid the sandwiches off the panini maker and onto plates. A casual evening was planned, so I’d kept the food casual too. Once I cracked open a bottle of wine, I set it to breathe on the table and opened the apartment door. Irving and Star would be here any minute ready to conspire, and I was here for it. If, in the process, I got to know Irving better, well that was just a bonus. When it came to his personal life, he was quiet and never revealed too much about himself. It was easy to see that was on purpose, practiced, and in a sad kind of way, expected.
That said, I hadn’t missed the looks he sent my way or the quick glances he’d take when he thought I wasn’t looking. There was no doubt we were both crushing on each other a little bit. When we’re together, I’m drawn to him. I want to know more about him, to know everything about him, even though I have to stay hands off. My last relationship had been a disaster. It took me two years to see I was with a frog in prince’s clothing, but once I did, he was relegated to the pond immediately. Was I over him? When the only thing I felt after we broke up was relief, it was evident to me that I never loved him, so losing him didn’t hurt.
Losing Irving would hurt.
Considering my situation, there would come a day when I would lose him, one way or the other. Was it better to lose a friend than a boyfriend when my time in Bells Pass was over? I tried to convince myself that answer was yes, but my heart kept whispering something else. Would I stay in Bells Pass if given half a chance? Absolutely. Was that possible? Not even a crystal ball could tell me that. All I could do was let it play out. If my luck holds, I would be allowed to make a career in Bells Pass, but if my luck runs out and I have to pay the piper, my career ceases to exist.
My gaze flicked to that drawer again. The one that held the phone I kept hidden from Irving. Whatever happened in the park the first day hadn’t been repeated, so I had to hope it was nothing more than a freak accident. A freak accident that might affect me for the rest of my life. The fingers they’d repaired hadn’t healed correctly. They were bent at a ninety-degree angle now, and x-rays showed the bones were fused, so the only way to fix them would be to rebreak them and try again. A shudder skittered through me at the thought. I had no plans of doing that any time soon. Since I didn’t plan to learn the piano or guitar in the near future, and I could still type on a keyboard, I was going to roll the dice rather than sign up for more months of pain and physical therapy.
“Are you coming, Star?” Irving called from the hallway and I put aside thoughts of everything but the man rolling toward me. “Time to go visiting. I bet Hazel even has a sandwich for you!”
A flash of fur came through the door and landed at my feet, belly up and tongue hanging out while he waited for a belly rub. “Well, good evening, Star,” I said while I laughed. Squatting, I rubbed the soft fur on his belly until his eyes went closed and his paws fell in relaxation.
“Aw jeez, you’d think he never got any attention,” Irving said as he wheeled through the door, shaking his head at the giant furball.
“Aw jeez?” I repeated, laughter filling my voice. “Now that’s an accent I haven’t heard from your lips before.”
Irving put his hand to his mouth and sighed. “Sorry, I think my Wisconsin just slipped out.”
“Your Wisconsin?” I asked as I stood and washed my hands so I could serve dinner.
“I grew up in Milwaukee, and worked around the state for several years. We have some colloquialisms that set us apart from others. I’ve done my best to stem them, but occasionally, they slip out.”
“You’re not kidding,” I said, carrying the plates to the table. “For a second there, I thought I was talking to a Canadian.”
His laughter lifted my heart and set it up on a plane it’s never been on before. It was comforting and uncomfortable at the same time. Why did Irving have such an unusual grip on me? It was almost as though the more determined I was to keep him at arm’s length, the closer he got to me. It was disconcerting to say the least. Especially since I didn’t think it was conscious on his part.
“Something Wisconsinites are often compared to. This looks amazing,” he said, pointing at the sandwich on his plate.
