Page 101 of Hollywood

“I don’t understand why you stay in that piddly town. You could get a better job somewhere else.”

“You told me to clean up my own mess, remember?” Hollywood said. “That’s what I’m doing.”

“Yes, sweetie, and you’ve worked hard at it. I see that now. If you want some help…”

“No. I’m really okay, Mom.” He sighed. “I should get going, though. I’m taking Ruby to the park.”

“All right. I’ve got a conference call starting soon, anyway. Take care.”

She clicked off the call. Hollywood remained where he was, a frown creasing his forehead.

“You okay?”

“Yeah.” His smile was small. “Since prison, things are just a little awkward between us. Our careers were mostly all we had in common, and now that’s gone.”

“Yeah, family is tricky,” I said, thinking of my father’s sudden appearance at the greenhouse. “We hate to disappoint them.”

“Yeah.”

“So you, uh, mentioned me to her. That I was here helping with Ruby. Does she know you’re bi?”

“Yeah, it’s old news with my parents, but don’t worry. I’ll make sure she thinks you’re only a friend.”

“Okay,” I said uncertainly.

He stood abruptly. “Let’s go. I need some air. Ruby, ready to hit the park?”

Ruby tore her eyes from the television. “Park! Yay!”

She wiggled down off the sofa and ran toward the door. Hollywood wrangled her into a jacket, and I grabbed a bag that had a few things she might need: sippy cup of apple juice, some Goldfish crackers, and a spare pullup and outfit. Ruby had been doing really well with potty training. She wore the pullups mostly as a precaution at this point. But she got her clothes filthy on the regular, so we had to be prepared.

We swung by Zacos to pick up some lunch—then Wendy’s to grab Ruby some chicken nuggets—and headed for a nearby park. Ruby had been to the Clover Leaf playground many times. Today, she could explore new ground.

When we got her out of the car, she took off at a run. She immediately fell. Hollywood made a wounded sound and hurried forward, but she popped right up and started running again.

We parked ourselves on a bench where we could keep an eye on her. She made a beeline for the play set in the center of the park. It included two plastic yellow slides, a little house with a window on the bottom, and a tunnel to crawl through.

I unloaded the Zacos bag.

“Should we make her come eat?” Hollywood asked.

“She’s too excited. Let her explore a little. We can call her over in a few minutes.”

He nodded. “Yeah, it would probably be mean to bring her to the park and make her wait to play.”

I handed him the veggie Zaco he’d chosen, and he unwrapped it. He took a big bite, eyes crinkling at the corners when he caught me watching him. “What? Do I have sauce on my mouth?” He brushed at the corner of his lips.

“Nah. If you did, I’d just lick it off.”

His eyes widened, and he glanced around, but there was no one nearby to overhear me. I’d clocked a couple of moms on benches on the other side of the swing set, and a bored-looking dad leaning against a tree while texting on his phone.

“It’s hard to believe you can make a veggie Zaco look so good,” I teased as I unwrapped my sausage-and-peppers one.

He rolled his eyes. “Because meat is so sexy?”

“You seem to like mine.”

He gave an embarrassed laugh. “Okay, apparently I can’t take you anywhere.”