Page 48 of Hollywood

He drew back, lips brushing my temple. I held my breath as he lingered there, cheek to cheek. The tension snapped into place, thick and humming. It wasn’t my imagination at all, was it?

“Tex,” I started hoarsely.

Ruby tugged at my hand, using me as a swing as she jumped and hung from my wrist, but I hardly noticed.

Tex pulled away. “I’ll be back in time for the Redemption Road meeting. Once I’ve got a job locked down and everything’s a little more settled, let’s talk.”

“Talk about what?”

He shrugged a shoulder, lips quirked into the cocky smirk that used to make me want to smack him. “Oh, you know. Whatever moves us.” He tousled Ruby’s hair. “Be good for your daddy, Roo. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He turned and went out the door. Ruby ran after him with a startled noise.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I scooped her up and jiggled her, dipping my nose into her hair and breathing in the clean scent of baby shampoo. “Let’s wave bye-bye to Tex. We’ll see him soon.”

I waved through the screen door. “Bye-bye, Tex.”

“Bye-bye, Teck,” she echoed, sounding a little sad.

I hadn’t really thought about it, but Ruby had spent more time with him than me. He’d been there every night since thevery first one—and he’d stayed with her when I had to return to work.

How much would it break her heart if he didn’t come back tomorrow as planned? How much would it break mine?

No matter how many times I told myself that he could only be a friend, I wanted more. I couldn’t shut down the thought that he wanted more, too. He hadn’t pushed me away in revulsion back in June. He’d kissed me back before he ran.

That made it harder for me. My brain knew he didn’t want me, but my heart and my body? They were convinced that he did.

Ruby and I had a leisurely breakfast in front of some cartoons, then we went to the hospital. Carrie would soon transfer to rehab, and her visits would be more restricted, so I wanted Ruby to get some face time while she could.

She was ecstatic to see her mom, and each visit got a little easier. She seemed to understand now that she would see Mommy later, which helped.

When we got home, Kelly stood on my doorstep, her youngest girl perched on her hip while her three other kids waited on the porch with her.

“Hey, I was just about to leave a note on your door.”

“What’s up?” I asked as Ruby half-walked, half-crawled up the steps, eager to greet her cousins. A girl, about three years old, gave her a big hug, while two boys, who looked to be about six and eight, were busy watching a trail of ants cross the porch railing.

“Cee-Cee!” Ruby crowed.

“Ruby! I missed you!”

Kelly watched them reunite like two long-lost sisters for a moment before shaking her head with a smile and turning to answer me.

“I heard you moved. I wanted to check out Ruby’s new home.”

I snorted as I pulled my keys from my pocket. “Wanted to check up on me, you mean.”

“That too.”

I was surprised she’d waited this long, although we’d crossed paths at the hospital several times, so she could see that Ruby was alive and kicking.

“Your mom want a report or something?” I joked.

Kelly grimaced. “Actually, yes. If she had her way, I’d be over here every day. No, that’s not true. If she got her way, I’d just take Ruby home.” She sighed. “Maybe I should have. Maybe itisselfish to not want to disrupt my kids’ routines.”

Now that I was looking, Kelly looked tired, dark shadows under her eyes. Raising four kids couldn’t be easy. I was discovering that one was a handful. How would I feel if I had three others needing me while I tried to keep up with Ruby?

“You look like you could use a cup of coffee.” I pushed open the door. “Come on in.”