Page 130 of Hollywood

“All right. I’ll see you soon. Have a good time.”

Kit turned to me. “Nice to see you again. Joyride didn’t come with you?” He rolled his eyes with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I can’t believe I still don’t know his real name.”

Oh god. In all of Joyride’s freaking out, it hadn’t occurred to me that Kit still didn’tknow.Joy’s accident had put Dakota into that wheelchair, had changed her life forever, but Kit was asking after him like…well, like a guy smitten.

“Uh, yeah, he didn’t come along this time.”

Should I tell him who Joyride really was? I couldn’t. That had to be Joyride’s decision, surely.

“Well, tell him I said hi.”

“Uh, sure.”

Kit turned to Carrie and Kelly to go through his care instructions, and I crouched down to catch Ruby’s attention. It was better Kit didn’t know the truth, wasn’t it? It would only cause a lot of heartache.

Ruby was talking at ninety miles an hour with her cousin, both of them sharing rambling stories that I couldn’t follow.

“Hey, Ruby,” I cut in. “You’re going to go to a birthday party. How does that sound?”

“I get presents?”

“Not your birthday. Cee-Cee’s birthday. She gets the presents.”

“Oh.” She looked a little disappointed.

“You can play with them too!” her cousin declared.

Ruby brightened. “Yay! I play too!”

“Yeah, so I’m going to leave you with your cousins, okay? You have fun and eat cake, and then I’ll pick you up later.”

“Okay.” Ruby threw herself at me, giving me a hug and a big slobbery kiss on the cheek. “Bye, Da!”

I smiled. “Bye-bye, Roo.”

It still caught me off guard when Ruby expressed her affection for me. I’d worked so hard to learn how to be a father. To do right by her. And then my mom’s call had sent all my insecurities into high gear. What if I wasn’t enough? What if I needed to do more? To be worthier?

Carrie’s words had reassured me. But Ruby’s kiss, her love, did the rest. I had made a lot of bad choices in my life, but building a life in Riverton to be closer to my daughter was right.

And going home to the man I loved, a man who was the perfect fit for me, was a reward I probably didn’t deserve. But one I wouldn’t take for granted, either.

This time, love would last.

This time, it was meant to be.

Every moment with Tex, every laugh, every kiss, every touch told me that.

It wasn’t selfish to hold on to my life in Riverton—to hold tight to the love I’d found here.

I could have it all.

CHAPTER 28

Hollywood

The trailer wasquiet when I got home from the rehab center.

There was still no sign of Tex. He must have been exhausted to sleep so late. I wavered on the edge of considerate before giving in to temptation.