Page 95 of Hollywood

I headed into the back of the greenhouse, passing by the packaging station and hitting the large red button that would open one of the garage bay doors. We’d have trucks picking up paid shipments in the next hour, so I’d have to get Dad out of here before then.

I paced, agitated, trying to figure out how to let him down easy until his pickup—with a six-foot trailer behind it—pulled up. Just how much inventory was he expecting to buy?

The brake lights flashed red, then the enginecut. Dad hopped out of the pickup and strode over. “Hey, son! You ready to do business?”

“Depends,” I said. “What do you need?”

“Oh, the usual. Some boxwoods or camellias, some perennials, some ground cover like liriope. Hydrangeas or Knock Out Roses. I’d like to get a couple of eastern redbuds if you have them, too.”

“So, basically everything you’d need for a landscape project,” I said slowly.

“Well, yeah. I wouldn’t say no to some native grasses too.” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t want to be too presumptuous.”

I barked a laugh. “Right. Well, you really should have called ahead, Dad. I would have told you not to waste your time.”

“Why? You’ve got the inventory, don’t you?”

I did a mental review of the greenhouses. Wilde Roots could provide everything he needed with a couple of small adjustments. “Yeah, I think so. But this isn’t how things should be done.”

“What do you mean?”

“You rolling up here after hours, Dad. What if someone thinks I’m doing something shady?”

He scoffed. “You’re just helping out your old man by getting him a good deal. Your boss isn’t going to complain that you made him some money.”

Dad hauled himself up onto the raised concrete dock with a grunt, a determined gleam in his eye. I took a breath. He wasn’t going to listen to reason, was he?

“Okay, fine. If you want to buy some plants, we can do that. But I couldn’t get you that discount.”

“What?” he squawked. “That’s the whole dang point of this, Tex. I need that cost break.”

“Well, you could go somewhere else.”

“I can’t. This job starts tomorrow morning. Why do you think I’m here like this? I’m begging you, son. Help me out.”

Damn it. Well, I couldn’t discount the purchases, but I could make up the difference if it got Dad out of my hair. “Fine. Fifteen percent off.”

He nodded. “Great. Put it on my bill. Let’s load up.”

“Your bill? Dad, that’s not… I can’t just bill you. You need to pay.”

“Well, I don’t have the cash on menow. Just send a bill to my account. We’ll settle up later.”

“I’m not authorized to do that.”

“Come on, Tex. You know how hard it’s been, keeping this business going alone? I needed you, but you chose all this, so at least use it to help me out. There’s got besomethingwe can work out, right?”

He stared me down, and I didn’t have it within me to refuse.

I sighed. “Fine, I’ll cover the tab, but you’ve got to pay me back as soon as you can.”

“Yes, absolutely. As soon as the job’s done, I’ll have the money.”

I nodded. “Okay, come on in. Let’s get you what you need.”

I grabbed a large flatbed cart, and we strolled through the store, loading up everything Dad wanted. Selling plants out the back of a greenhouse under the cover of darkness made my stomach squirm. It was too close to what had sent me to prison.

These were legal plants. I was paying for them. No crime was happening here.