| Happy Lowman x OC - completed |
When Happy came back to Tacoma for a quick visit, he didn't expect to run into Hallie. He intentionally avoided the neighborhood where she lived with her family- until Lee, the president of Tacoma Charter, asked him...
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Lee walked up to the hotel that belonged to his best friend and his wife. He kept smiling as the huge building got closer. Back then, almost thirty years ago, Patrick and Mia O'Connell's dream was to buy the empty building and turn it into a hotel.
Patrick, Mia, Lee and Kendra sat together at a table for days and nights and thought about how they could convince the landlord of renting the building to the then young couple, who were just in their early twenties and had just enough money for themselves and the then two-year-old Serena while Mia was pregnant with Hallie.
Since Lee was known in town, mainly through his club, and most of the neighbors knew how trustworthy he was, he had offered to vouch for Patrick and Mia in case that the two of them wouldn't be able to pay the monthly rentᅳ although Lee was sure that that would never happen.
If Patrick and Mia were one thing, they were fighters. And apart from Lee's help, they built everything else on their own and three years later, despite having two small children, they built a successful business. The hotel was perfectly located. In the summer you had the perfect landscape to hike, and in the winter you could think it was straight out of a Christmas painting.
The fact was that the hotel brought the couple millions and yes, people could see it. However, their personalities had never changed and the two married couples were still best friends and met regularly to this day. Of course, Lee also watched Serena and Hallie grow up. The two young women were like nieces to Kendra and him.
And that's exactly why he wanted to make sure that Hallie was in good hands. Serena already was. And who would the younger O'Connell be the safest with?
"Hey, you need help?" Lee patted Patrick on the shoulder as he was shoveling some snow from the hotel driveway.
As mentioned, despite having millions in the account, his friend was still down to earth and had no problem using his hands to work.
"Lee, hey!" Patrick stuck the shovel into a high pile of snow and rubbed his nose, which was already red from the cold. "Yeah..I'm having problems with one of the devices inside. Can you take a look at it?"
"Sure, show me and I'll take a look at it", nodded Lee, who shoved his hands back into his jacket pockets. "Happy is back. I just wanted you to know. Do you think you'll be able to stay peaceful towards him at Kendra's party?"
One by one, Patrick pulled the grey fabric from his fingers until he had it all and let his damp gloves disappear into the pockets of his coat. Nodding, he sucked on his teeth, the news not really news to him.
"I know, I heard", he said finally, narrowing his eyes slightly against the winter sun so he could look at Lee properly. "I don't have a problem with him, Lee. As long as he doesn't get Hallie's hopes up, there won't be any trouble."
