Page 51 of Hollywood

I raised my head a fraction. “You think she’ll ever forgive me?”

“I don’t know.”

I sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I figured.”

“But I think she’ll give you a second chance to be part of her life,” Kelly said. “You’re Ruby’s father in more than name now. She’s building a relationship with you. Carrie won’t take that away.”

“Good. I couldn’t go back to the way things were. I love Ruby.”

“I know,” she said. “Besides, as soon as Tex gets his head out of his ass, you’re going to have a new boyfriend, right? You won’t need Carrie to take you back.”

I jerked my head up, face heating. “Oh, I don’t want her to take me back now. I just want to make up for my mistakes. To somehow…make amends.”

“You’re doing it already. Right now, with that little girl.” Kelly smirked. “But I notice you didn’t deny that Tex is boyfriend material.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. What would I even say? She was right. Whether Tex ever wanted me, my heart was already his.

“Let’s go check on the kids.”

Kelly laughed, eyes sparkling. “Fine. I’ll stop harassing you.”

“I better get a good report with Ruby’s grandma after this,” I grumbled.

“Don’t complain or I’ll give heryournumber.”

I threw a horrified look over my shoulder. “No complaints here! Check in as often as you like.”

Kelly threw her head back, laughing, and I relaxed a fraction. She had warmed up toward me considerably since the night I took Ruby, and I was pretty sure I had an ally in my corner.

It was nice to have another adult here for a while, to watch Ruby play with her cousins, and just relax. But that didn’t stop me from wondering how Tex’s day was going. If he was thinking about me at all while he was gone.

And most importantly, what he’d meant when he said we should talk. Was it a good talk or a bad talk? Did he want to take our friendship to another level—or warn me that it would never happen?

I wish I knew. But I couldn’t trust my instincts when it came to this man.

I’d been wrong before. I was too afraid to make the same mistake again.

CHAPTER 12

Tex

I knelt in the dirt,back aching and arms stinging from scratches. These Belinda’s Blush shrub roses were pretty—but a bitch to put in when already in full bloom. The client was paying for picture-perfect landscaping—a job that was really too big for the two of us. But that was something that had never stopped Dad. He was a “go big or go home” kind of guy. Nice in theory, but in reality…not fun.

“Is this all the further you’ve gotten?” Dad exclaimed as he came around the corner of the house. “Jesus, Tex, we’re going to be working until sundown tomorrow if you don’t pick up the pace.”

I pushed to my feet and headed for the trailer, where more plants awaited their turn in the sun. “I’m going as fast as I can. It’d be easier if you’d help me with these and then we tackled the back patio together.”

“Divide and conquer, Tex. We’ll get more done this way. But you’ve got to hustle!”

I clenched my jaw to keep from yelling. Dad’s idea ofhustling had been to check up on me and waste time lecturing me about what had to be done. Then he’d disappear around the house—into the shade, I might add—to work on the back patio, which was mostly prepping the ground for the concrete guys and creating a paver path through the yard.

I’d definitely been given the most labor-intensive part of the job. Not that I minded. If I could just do it without all the harassment.

“Maybe you should call in someone to help us,” I suggested as I reached for the next rose bush. I had gloves to protect my hands and long sleeves, but a few prickly thorns still got caught in the fabric and jabbed into my flesh.

“That would eat too much into the profit,” Dad said. “You leave the thinking to me. Just work fast, Jed, or we’ll have to expand the job into Monday. I don’t think Ned Weiss will appreciate that.”

Ned Weiss was a real estate broker in town—and Dad was convinced he could lead to a lot of future jobs. Of course, I wouldn’t be here to take those jobs with him, but I hadn’t broken the news yet.