Chapter 1
SEPTEMBER
Hollywood
I ran the clippers over Ed Munson’s neck. The man was hairy. He’d come in looking more like a mountain man than a small-town grandfather. I’d given him a cut, trimmed around the ears—as well as the hairs growing out of his ears—and was just about done.
“Well, look at that,” my boss, Clint, said. “You’ve tamed the wildebeest. Wasn’t sure you could do it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ed grumbled. “Went too long without a visit.”
I turned off the clippers and brushed the stray hairs from the back of his neck. “Didn’t you miss me?” I teased. “I’m hurt.”
Ed chuckled. “As if you don’t got better friends than an old coot like me.”
I unfastened the Velcro holding the cape in place around his neck. “You’d be wrong,” I said. “You’ve got the best fishing stories of anyone I know.”
Ed grinned. “Well, you know, I did get out to Tuttle Creek with my grandson recently.” He barked a laugh. “You won’t believe what the fool kid did. Somehow, he managed to cast the line so badly he hooked his own ear!”
“Oh no!” I drew off the cape and shook the hair out of it. “Poor kid.”
He clucked. “He may not be the outdoors type.”
My insides tensed as I waited for his inevitable words of disappointment. It would be all too familiar to me.
Not that my parents ever wanted me to fish—or even play sports—but they’d sure wanted more than they’d gotten out of me. When I went to prison, they’d pretty much washed their hands of me.
“You made this mess on your own,” Mom had said. “You’ll have to clean it up that way too.”
She hadn’t pointed out that I’d left the cush job at her firm to go work for Infinity Capital Corp—which had turned out to be a soulless empire sucking the life out of their employees.
Not just the life, but the retirement funds, too, which had prompted me to strike back.
I’d written a computer program that would siphon from their profits and divert the funds to the employees they’d been ripping off.
Sure, I’d taken a little bit off the top too. Infinity was stealing, so why not? I deserved a little something for my efforts.
Only, the government hadn’t agreed. I’d been charged with embezzlement and gone to prison for two years, and Infinity? They got off with a few fines.
“Not everyone is meant to be an outdoorsman,” Clint spoke up. “Hell, in this day and age, it might be for the best, huh? Maybe your kid will be a computer whiz.”
“Don’t wish that on him,” I said lightly. “We want him to have some friends.”
The men laughed, as intended. My tension eased. They were old-fashioned, but everything I’d seen of Clint showed me a man with a big heart and a solid moral foundation. When he’d agreed to hire me through the Redemption Road work transition program for ex-cons, he’d given me some straight talk.
“Folks deserve a second chance, but I’m trusting you with my business,” he’d said. “Stay honest and out of trouble, and I’ll always treat you with respect. But you break my trust or you break the law again, and I won’t hesitate to fire you.”
It was the only time he brought up my status as an ex-con. He’d treated me as an equal ever since. I’d stay at River Town Barbershop until the day Clint kicked me out.
My graduation from the Redemption Road program would come in a few months. Clint might decide he couldn’t keep me on. But I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
For now, I counted myself lucky.
A hell of a lot luckier than some of the ex-cons in the program.
Joyride was going through jobs like they were soda pop.
And Tex never could find a good employer.
The last one, Sauced Pizza Parlor, had fired him because a customer didn’t like a felon working there.
Maybe if they hadn’t, he’d have stayed in Riverton.
But no, there was no point going there. He’d left, just as he’d said he would.
Run away from me.
His sister needed him. He went to help her.
That was the story he’d given the other guys in Redemption Road, anyway. Knight, Ghost, and Joyride had gone over to see him in Hayworth, a college town about an hour’s drive from here. They’d said his sister’s ex was giving her trouble and Tex had gone to handle it.
I didn’t know what to believe.
That night behind his apartment, with the heat of his mouth lingering on mine, I’d been certain he was running from me—not toward something else. Could I really have been so self-centered to have missed the truth, or was helping his sister just a convenient excuse to get the hell away from me?
I’d probably never know. I’d seen Tex a couple of times since then—only as part of a larger group—and we hadn’t talked. Mostly, I’d glared while he did his best to avoid my gaze.
He’d been gone three months. He was clearly never moving back, so there was no point dwelling on it.
I drew a breath and returned my focus to Ed, who was standing up and rubbing a hand over the jaw I’d shaved for him.
“Well, now, you did a real nice job, Hendrix,” he said. “Best shave I’ve had in a while. I feel like a new man.”
I smiled. “Good. Maybe you won’t keep me waiting so long for your awesome company next time, huh?”
He ducked his head. “I’ll try to get back in sooner.”
“Good man.”
I retrieved the broom while he settled up with Clint. The man shouldn’t even be here today, but he could never stay away. He worked Saturdays, and I covered the shop Mondays—but he always showed up eventually and hung around shooting the shit with customers.
“Here.” Ed slapped a five into my hand. “A tip for all the extra cleanup you had to do.”
“Thanks, Ed.”
I pocketed the tip and swept up the loose hair on the floor. It was near closing time. The sooner I got the station cleaned up, the sooner I could head over to the Clover Leaf Mobile Home Park to meet the guys for a beer.
“Good work today,” Clint said as the door closed behind Ed. “You handled a lot of walk-in business.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
“Yeah, about that…”
My stomach tightened with dread, and I looked up.
“Well hell, son, don’t look so worried. This is good news. I’m trying to give you a compliment. I’m real glad you’re here.”
I expelled a breath. “Me too. I really like this job.”
“You’re a natural.” He took a seat in the second barber chair, grunting as he lowered himself.
He was well into his seventies. “I know you went through barber schooling, but there’s more to it than knowing how to use scissors and clippers.
It’s about listening to folks. Giving them a sympathetic ear. Not so different from a bartender.”
“Guess not,” I agreed.
We were a captive audience, and some people didn’t have anyone else to talk to about their promotion at work, their kid’s art project, or the shitty deal they were handed when their company downsized.
“Ed’s been down in the dumps for a while,” Clint said.
That surprised me. “Really?”
“You wouldn’t know it today,” Clint said. “That’s because of you. You drew him out and got him talking about fishing, his grandson, all the good things in his life.”
“Is there something bad?”
“He lost his wife last year,” Clint said. “I was starting to worry he might give up on his own, you know? He’s been depressed off and on ever since.”
“Oh, damn. I had no idea.”
He nodded. “It was before your time here.”
I finished sweeping up and put the broom away, then returned some of my hair products to a semblance of order.
Clint continued to rest in the chair while I worked.
I moved on to straightening his station.
He made a half-hearted attempt to get up, and I waved him back.
“I got it. This is supposed to be your day off.”
“You’re right.” He chuckled. “Old habits die hard, but I’m getting too old. Gonna have to slow down soon.”
My gut clenched. “You’re not that old.”
He chuckled. “You’re just flattering me now. I’m ancient. But don’t worry, I’ve got a few miles left on the odometer.” He finally pushed out of the chair. “Let’s get out of here. Go have a cold one for me.”
“Will do.” I grabbed my wallet and keys and headed for the door.
“And Hendrix?”
I turned back. “Yeah?”
“When my motor does give out, you’ll still have a place here if you want it.”
I blinked, thrown for a minute. “You mean…”
“Well, hell, I’ve got no one else to pass it on to. I’ll just let you keep running the place, like you practically are now,” he said with a rusty laugh. “Maybe we’ll work out something, huh? Long-term, I mean.”
I nodded, throat tight. “I’d like that.”
“All right. Go on and get out of here, then.”
I pushed out the door and headed for my car, mind spinning. Being a barber wasn’t what I’d ever imagined for myself. I’d been a straight-A student, top of my class in business school. I’d gone into finance, like my mother, though I’d have preferred to work in computer science.
I’d always had a knack for computer programs, writing code, hacking into shit I should leave well enough alone.
Going to prison put an end to all that. And I wasn’t even really sad about it. I liked the relaxed pace of cutting hair and making small talk, of listening to people’s stories, of getting home before 10 p.m. and having time for beers with friends.
My nights had gotten a little lonelier when Tex left—and thanks to my ex’s bitterness, I still had no time with my daughter—but the guys of Redemption Road were there week after week.
The trailer park was just outside town, so it took fifteen minutes to drive there.
I pulled in behind Joyride’s ugly-ass Hummer and crossed the empty lot next to Ghost’s toaster-sized trailer we’d claimed as our go-to spot.
Lawn chairs sat around a firepit flickering with orange flames.
Ghost worked the grill, probably so he could talk less, and Joyride dug in the cooler for a beer.
Knight sat staring into the flames, long legs extended and crossed at the ankles, a bottle loosely dangling from two fingers.
Joyride turned as I walked up. “Hey! Want a beer?”
“You know it.”
He dug through the ice and came up empty. “Sorry, man, we don’t have any of that fancy yuppie shit you like to drink.”
I flipped him off. “Just give me a cold one, punk.”
He pulled out a bottle that matched Knight’s and handed it to me. I used the bottom corner of my button-down to twist off the lid. I glimpsed the label. Miller Lite. And they gave me shit about my taste in beer? This was barely a step above piss.
The smell of sizzling meat made my mouth water. “What’s on the grill?”
“Chicken,” Ghost said. “The kid brought it.”
Joyride had become our meat supplier, regularly raiding his parents’ freezer. Knight kept asking if he was sure it was okay, and he’d just shrug and say his parents wouldn’t miss it. I sure hoped not, because the last thing any of us needed was trouble with a rich prick like his father.
I collapsed into the chair next to Knight. “Where’s Angel?”
“He’s Aiden to you,” he said firmly.
I smirked. It was easy to get under his skin when it came to his pretty boyfriend. “Sorry. Where’s Dr. Donovan?” I said in a pretentious tone.
Knight rolled his eyes as Joyride snickered. “He’s working late tonight. He wanted to go check on some rural patients, so he’s got to put in a few extra hours at his official job.”
“Still researching depressing medical shit?” Joyride asked.
“That’s the one,” Knight said. “But it’s just as important to him. He cares so damn much about people.”
“Uh-oh,” I teased. “I forgot my box of tissues.”
“For what?” he asked blankly.
“To wipe away your sappy tears.”
Joyride and Ghost busted into laughter, while Knight scowled. “Fuck you. You’re all just jealous.”
I tried not to think about just how true that was. Knight falling for Aiden—and Aiden returning his love—had pressed on my bruised ego, reminding me of the void Tex left in my life.
I was happy for them. Just a little sad for me.
Knight’s phone rang and he tugged it out, checking the screen. His grin widened as he accepted the call. “Hey, Angel, we were just talking about—oh. Um, yeah, Hollywood just got here. Why?”
His features shifted, mouth going tight, forehead creasing with worry. Without another word, he held out his phone. “He needs to talk to you.”
“What is it?” I asked, uneasy.
He shook his head. “He wouldn’t say anything except it’s urgent.”
I took the phone, raising it to my ear as my mind raced. I couldn’t think of what Aiden could be calling me about. My parents lived out of state. I had no one here except—
My heart stuttered.
“Is it Ruby?” I asked, voice gone hoarse.
“Ruby’s okay,” Aiden said immediately, and my chest loosened a fraction. “But she is here, and Carrie’s…not okay.”
My hand tightened around the phone. I had no love left for my ex, but I’d once planned to marry her. She was the mother of my child. “What happened?”
“Car accident. Paramedics said it was out on the highway between here and Granville. I don’t know all the details, but it sounds like she lost control and rolled the car.”
“Jesus.”
“She’s in emergency surgery. I saw her come through and recognized her.”
Aiden had met her at a clinic visit a few months ago. He’d told me how sweet and adorable Ruby was. He’d been trying to cheer me up, but it’d only brought home just how much of my daughter’s life I was missing. I’d met with a lawyer, but I couldn’t afford the legal fees to fight for custody.
I wasn’t even sure I should. Because Carrie was right. I’d ruined our family, not her.
“She’s going to be okay, right?” I asked. “Carrie, I mean. The surgery will fix her?”
“I don’t know,” he said, his voice so gentle it set off alarms. “It’s serious. I went down to the ER and found Ruby. She’s only got a few scratches on her arm.”
“Oh god,” I said, nausea churning. “She was in the car?”
“Yes, but the child seat protected her. She’s too young to really understand what happened. That’s a blessing, okay?”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah.”
“I stepped in before they could call child services, but you need to get here.”
“I will.” I handed the phone back to Knight. Everyone was staring at me. “Carrie’s been in an accident. Ruby needs me. I have to go.”
Knight stood up. “I’ll go with you.”
“Yeah,” Joyride added. “Me too.”
“I’ll put out the fires and be right behind you,” Ghost said. “Go. Your little girl needs you.”
I nodded and ran for the car.
Dozens of awful what-if scenarios spun through my mind. What if Carrie died? What if she was so badly injured she could never take care of Ruby again? As much as I wanted to know my daughter, I didn’t want that.
My heart pushed into my throat. What the hell did I know about being a father, anyway?