Chapter 13
Hollywood
Joyride sat on my sofa, jiggling Ruby on his knee while she fussed, as cranky on the outside as I was on the inside. The Redemption Road meeting would start in fifteen minutes, and Tex wasn’t back from Hayworth yet.
Joyride came over just after lunch to see if I needed a break. He’d taken Ruby to the playground so I could relax awhile. I really thought Tex would call before he hit the road, but it had been radio silence.
I pulled out my phone to check for missed texts.
“Dude, you just looked two minutes ago,” Joyride pointed out. “Why don’t you call him?”
Okay, so apparently, I wasn’t hiding my crankiness as well as I’d thought.
“He’s probably driving,” I said with more confidence than I felt. “Otherwise…”
Otherwise, he wasn’t coming back.
But I didn’t say that. Couldn’t. My throat closed up too tight. I’d just begun letting him in again. What if history repeated itself? What if he’d decided whatever talk we should have would be easier if we just…didn’t?
“Stop it,” Joyride said, smacking my stomach with the back of his hand.
I flinched. “Stop what?”
“Stop thinking the worst.” He stood up, taking Ruby with him. “Let’s just head over to the Redemption Road meeting. Tex can meet you there.”
I wanted to protest, but if we didn’t leave soon, we’d be late. “Okay. Roo, are you ready to go bye-bye?”
She perked up a little, eyes growing curious. “Go?”
“Yep. Let’s go for a car ride. We’ll see some friends.”
She squirmed until Joyride put her down, then ran over to grab her bunny from the corner of the sofa. She sank her teeth into a raggedy ear and chewed.
I grimaced. The thing was getting a little worse for wear. That couldn’t be sanitary. But she was finally happy, so I let her have it. Maybe I could sneak it into the washer while she slept tonight.
We went outside and Joyride climbed into his eye-glaringly yellow Hummer. I buckled Ruby into my Toyota Corolla, which was a much more sedate shade of blue.
I let Joyride pull out first, then followed him out of the trailer park and onto the highway. Lucky Strike was a ten-minute drive. It was a little weird to meet at a bowling alley, but Redemption Road was funded by grants and there wasn’t enough money for a formal meeting space.
Matteo bought us pizza and soda every week, probably out of his own pocket, and we sat in plastic booths in the bowling alley cafe.
I liked it. I’d always loved bowling, so I could get my fix while we waited for the meeting to start.
I pulled into a parking space beside Joyride. Knight’s motorcycle was out front. Matteo’s sedan. Ghost’s rough-running Jaguar. There was no sign of Tex’s pickup.
It wasn’t surprising. If he’d gotten back already, he would have come to the house instead—or called. I hoped.
I unbuckled Ruby and followed Joyride into the dimly lit building.
There was the echo of pins crashing to the floor.
At least one bowler was using Lucky Strike for its intended purpose.
Sunday afternoons were pretty slow, though.
The bowling alley was deteriorating, and there was a much nicer Fun Zone that included bowling, an escape room, and some arcades.
Lucky Strike didn’t stand a chance against competition like that.
Ghost had already parked his butt in one of the plastic booths. He never mingled much. Knight was chatting with Matteo as they set out pizzas.
“Want to bowl a couple of frames?” Joyride asked.
I grinned. “Hell—o. Of course I do.”
I’d almost said hell yeah, but I was working on not cursing in front of Ruby. Joyride laughed as if he knew exactly what I’d intended to say.
While he went to get shoes, I showed Ruby the bowling balls and the pins, explaining the game to her even though she probably wouldn’t understand everything.
When we were ready to play, I found my favorite ball, swirled with blue and weighing fifteen pounds with large finger holes.
I handed Ruby to Joyride, then lifted it, testing its weight, and approached the lacquered floor.
I’d bowled on a league in high school, and muscle memory kicked in.
I drew my arm back, dropped a hip, and let the ball fly down the lane.
It hit the pins dead center with a satisfying crash. They scattered. One pesky pin wobbled theatrically before staying upright. Damn it.
Ruby squealed and clapped her hands, eyes bright.
I waited for my ball to return and took my second shot, getting the spare. Then we switched, me taking Ruby, holding her at an angle that gave her a good view of the lane.
Joyride’s ball went into the gutter. The kid couldn’t bowl to save his life, but he always wanted to try.
“You need to visualize the ball’s path,” I said. “And you’re drawing your arm back at too much of an angle. It’s causing the ball to go wide.”
He huffed an annoyed breath. “I know. I try, but it always seems to happen.”
Knight joined us. “Hey, guys. No Tex yet?”
I shook my head, throat tight.
“Matteo said we’ll wait another five minutes. Then we have to get started.”
“Shit,” Joyride said, then clapped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry, Holly. I mean, shoot. It’s not good if Tex doesn’t show.”
“Understatement,” I muttered.
Tex had just gotten back into the program. Personal reasons aside, he’d burn bridges with Redemption Road for good if he bailed again.
I held out Ruby toward Knight. I was afraid she’d get her fingers smashed in the ball return if we didn’t keep a close eye on her.
“Take Ruby for me? I’ll try to call him.”
Knight stepped back, hands up, with a look of fear I’d never seen on his face. Not even the night he had to take on a big-ass brute in an illegal fight to get out of his biker gang.
“She doesn’t bite.” I paused. “Most of the time.”
“I know,” he said quickly. “I just don’t, uh…know how to…”
Joyride took Ruby with an eye roll at Knight’s reluctance. “I’ve got her.” He walked her over to the balls. “Hey, Ruby, you want a turn? Let’s take a turn together.”
“Careful,” I warned. “Those balls are heavy.”
“That’s what he said,” a voice drawled behind me.
I whirled, heart leaping into my throat. “Tex! You’re back.”
He wore a ball cap, dirt-streaked T-shirt, and jeans with grass stains on the knees. He’d never looked better to me. I wanted to throw my arms around him. Wanted to hold him tight and tell him to never leave again.
I couldn’t do any of that. I’d look like a lovestruck fool. Shit. I was a lovestruck fool. But I couldn’t show it. Not when I didn’t know where he stood. I had to get a handle on these feelings and lock down my heart before it got broken again.
Tex didn’t know the spiral going on in my brain, though. He walked right up to me and yanked me into a sweaty hug. “Sorry I’m late. The job was a big one, and I didn’t want to leave Dad in bad shape, especially—”
“Teck!” Ruby squealed and wrapped herself around his leg, clinging to him the way I wished I could.
He broke off with a laugh. “Hey, darlin’. I missed you!”
Tex picked her up, and she wrinkled her nose. “Stinky Teck. You stinky.”
“Sorry, Ruby. Teck was running late. I should take a bath, huh?”
She giggled. “Bath time for Teck.”
“Soon.” He set her down. “We have to go have pizza first.”
We all headed toward the cafe where Matteo had laid out food and drinks.
“I was just about to call you,” I said in a low voice. “You cut it close.”
“Sorry. I wanted to call and let y’all know I was running late, but I forgot my charger and my phone died. By the time we wrapped up work, I was already running late. I just hightailed it over here as fast as I could.”
“It’s okay. I was just worried you weren’t going to make it.”
He shot me a crooked smile. “Angry dogs couldn’t keep me away.”
There was a warmth in his eyes that lit me up inside. My cheeks heated, and I glanced away. Now was not the time to act like a schoolboy with a crush, but I couldn’t seem to help it.
We lined up to fill our plates with pizza and pour cups of soda. Ruby could probably eat some toppings, even though she couldn’t scarf a whole piece, so I added extra to my plate for her.
Tex followed us to a booth across from Ghost. We slid in. Knight and Joyride took seats just behind him. Matteo perched a hip on an empty table up front.
“You and Joyride have gotten cozy,” Tex said under his breath. “Surprised he didn’t want to sit with you.”
“He’s a good kid,” I said. “He helped out with Ruby while you were gone.”
“Great, I have competition on all fronts.”
I blinked. “Competition?”
He shook his head, not answering. Matteo started speaking, so I couldn’t push him.
Still, with him sweaty and dirty and his thigh pressing mine under the table, I couldn’t really ignore him.
My skin crackled with the desire to feel all that heat pressed right up against me.
To slide against him, our sweat mingling.
I bit down on my lower lip and focused on giving Ruby bites of sausage while Matteo checked in with each of us.
“Hendrix, I trust things are going well at the barbershop?”
I nodded. “Clint was great about me missing a couple of days to get Ruby settled. Everything’s good.”
“Great. You and Knight are both nearing your graduation from the program. I want you to check in with your employers and let me know if there are any concerns about keeping you on. If they don’t want to commit, it’s better to know now so we can restart the clock with a new boss.”
Redemption Road was loosely set up for an eighteen-month transition period.
Sometimes it was shorter—sometimes longer—depending on how stable our employment was.
I’d been with the barbershop since day one, so I could graduate soon.
Tex, who was in and out of jobs, would remain eligible longer, so long as he made a good-faith effort to stay employed.
“I’m not worried,” I said.
“Me either,” Knight put in. “Although I don’t feel ready to leave these guys.”
“You’re not getting rid of us that easy,” Tex said. “We’re neighbors now.”
Knight grinned. “Yeah, B&B nights must go on.”
“B&B?” Matteo asked.
“Beers and beef,” Knight said.
“Sometimes the beef is the steak Joyride brings,” I said. “Sometimes it’s just us bitching about our problems.”
“Usually both,” Ghost said.
Matteo smiled. “Nice. You’ll all eventually leave the program, but you don’t have to leave each other.”
“I just got back,” Tex said. “Can we stop talking about leaving?”
Matteo chuckled. “Fair enough. Tex, I’ve got a job lead for you. Hang back when we’re done. I’ll give you the details.”
“It’s a night job, right? That’s my only requirement.” He reached across me to tousle Ruby’s hair. “Someone’s got to watch over this little lady while Hendrix is at the barbershop.”
“Yep,” Matteo said. “It’s a late shift. We can talk more after the meeting.”
He checked in with Ghost, who was still doing okay in his junkyard job. I was pretty sure he loved it, but Ghost was never one to say a whole lot. Still, it was the longest he’d hung on to a job since he started the program.
Joyride was our only other problem child. He’d had three jobs in the three months he’d been in the program. It wasn’t so much that he was a troublemaker. He was just apathetic about everything, and it showed.
“How’s the print shop job going?” Matteo asked him.
He shrugged. “Okay, I guess.”
“I ran into your boss, Molly, at the grocery store. She said you’d been in calling in sick a lot?”
Joyride grimaced. “I, uh, got a headache one day. I was helping Hollywood with Ruby, too. I just…didn’t think it’d matter if I missed a couple of shifts. There’s never enough to do there, anyway. It’s boring as hell.”
Matteo sighed. “Joey, I know it might not be the most exciting work out there. You haven’t given me a lot to go on.
I’d like to get you a skill set that can last you long-term.
” He paused. “I’d like that for all of you, but I can only work with what you give me.
So, if you have an interest in something, speak up.
I’ll try to find you something you can love. It’ll make going to work a lot easier.”
“I don’t know what I want to do,” Joyride said. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Sometimes these things take time. We’ll keep working until we find the right fit. That’s what we did with Ghost. Right?”
Ghost grunted an affirmative.
“Okay.” Matteo clapped his hands. “Let’s call it a day. Tex, come see me about job stuff.”
Tex slid out of the booth. “Catch up with you soon, okay? I need to chat with Matteo.”
“Yeah.” I slid out of the booth and lifted Ruby into my arms. “We’ll be there.”
He planted a quick kiss on her forehead, then spun away.
Ruby gave a wordless whine as he crossed the room. “Want Teck.”
“I know, sweetie. Me too.”
I carried a disgruntled Ruby toward the door. She was wiggling and reaching her arms out toward Tex, but he didn’t notice, his head tilted down to look at some paperwork Matteo was showing him.
We shouldn’t interrupt. The sooner he got a job, the sooner he’d be tied to Riverton again. I wanted to trust that Ruby and I were reason enough, but the more roots he had, the harder it would be for him to leave again.
Maybe it was selfish, but I needed him to stay. Not for Ruby, but for me. And that thought was scary as hell.