Chapter 5

Friday Lori called. The seller of the building agreed to go down five thousand dollars, and Wendy agreed to the counteroffer. They agreed on a short thirty-day escrow. Wendy couldn’t wait to begin work on her nursery.

Wendy knew Cindy wasn’t going to Hoffman’s Friday night as out of town family were visiting her. Wendy went back and forth about going anyway. ‘I want to go so why not?’ She wanted to get to know Brad. If nothing else she wanted to be his friend, such a different kind of man she’d ever known. She wanted to be around him and listen to how he talked to people. Maybe he’d mention what he did during his down time. There wasn’t a big crowd when she arrived, and she could sit at the piano bar. Brad smiled at her…she returned the smile. The waitress came over, took her order and returned with a glass of Chablis. While Brad sang, Wendy took the cocktail napkin from under her drink and wrote, “You have a wonderful voice,” and requested the song, “Solitary Man,” a great song by Neil Diamond. She signed it in case he forgot her name. As he finished his song, she handed him the napkin and put a dollar into his tip jar.

He nodded at the note, “Good song choice.” He changed the music on his stand in front of him and began the song.

He put her in an ecstatic mood. When he finished singing Wendy mouthed, “Thank you.”

Wendy drove home thrilled about her time with Brad and how he made her feel so welcome. She liked fitting in. She never thought she’d like the bar scene, but at Hoffman’s she did.