Page 83 of Hollywood

I sighed. Apparently, she hadn’t loved Ken’s speech about how much she could learn from me. I couldn’t really blame her. This was only my third shift. Still, it wasn’t like she was trying to impress Ken. She’d put more effort into flirting with me. When that didn’t go anywhere, she’d lost interest in talking to me at all.

Which was fine by me. I’d rather keep my head down and get my work done,anyway.

The night went by pretty quickly. I finished potting the seedlings and packaged the produce orders for shipment. Just as I was wrapping up for the night, my phone rang.

To my surprise, it was Dad. I hadn’t heard from him since our argument in Riverton.

Concern flashed through me. It was awfully late for a chat.

“Hey, Dad. Is everything okay?”

“No, dammit.” His words slurred, telling me he’d been drinking. The noise of the bar in the background confirmed my suspicion. “Jus’ heard you’re stabbin’ me in the back a’gin.”

“What? No, I’m?—”

“A greenhouse, Jed?Really?You sure know how to shove it to your ol’ man.”

“It was the job Redemption Road found for me, and I’m good at it. I’ve always liked growing things.”

That was the wrong choice of words. Dad broke into a caustic laugh.

“You sure have. You grew yourself right into prison. Are you doing that shit again?”

“No! You know why I did that. I was trying to create another revenue stream for our business.”

Dad laughed some more. “Rev’nue stream. Tha’s good!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. I didn’t want to retread old ground.

“Did you need something, Dad, or did you just call to bust my balls?”

“Bustin’ your balls is fun!” He guffawed. “But no. I called ’cause you can do me a favor.”

Uh-oh. That never boded well.

I checked the control gauges by the door, turned out the lights, and punched in the security code. When I stepped outside, the brisk air was disorienting after the humid,controlled climate of the greenhouse. A single security light shone over my pickup in the parking lot. I started toward it.

“What’s the favor?”

“You must get an employee discount over there, right? I need the friends and family rate.”

“I don’t know if I do. It didn’t come up in the job interview.”

“Well, you oughta! Ask that boss of yours. I’ve got some big jobs, and I could use a cost break. I’m not a big enough operation to get bulk discounts. I can’t afford to expand without a business partner.”

I opened my truck door and climbed in, a heavy weight in my chest. “How bad is it, Dad?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is the business struggling? Chasity said you were still picking up landscaping jobs.”

This was the same pattern our greenhouse had taken. It wasn’t profitable enough, but Dad kept pushing on, anyway. He’d put on the front that everything was great, made promises to customers he couldn’t deliver, and then took shortcuts trying to save face.

“Naw, business is great! Business is so great that the only problem is I have too much business for one man. You should be here, Jed, but you’re not.”

Hollywood and Ruby were asleep at home, waiting for me. I’d promised to stay.

“I can’t be there. I’m sorry.”