Page 136 of Heart & Hope

Now Starr snaps her hands to her hips and harrumphs. “Fine, what is it?”

“I have a proposition for you.”

Starr’s eyes go wide. “We are not hookers, bitch.”

Good Lord.

Okay, let’s try a rephrase. “I have a deal for you. I want to help you.”

“In exchange for what?” Skye tilts her head.

“So, here’s the stats, I can help you to make headway in your careers, or help you find something better than this waitressing gig. Something that pays better, something you love. Name it, I’ll help you get there.”

“Why would we want that, and what does that have to do with Rawlins?”

“You want to be waitressing the rest of your lives?”

I study their faces. I’ve seen enough of small towns and low socioeconomic families to know how this will play out for them both. Work as a waitress, get married, get knocked up. Back to waitressing, a tiring job with shit pay. Having to pick up a second job to make ends meet.

Nope, it doesn’t have to be this way.

“So like, any job we want?” Starr says.

“Probably nothing with NASA, but you never know. My connections are pretty vast.”

Their faces don’t change.Okay, no more jokes, Ruby.

“What about nursing? I always wanted to be a nurse. Mama wouldn’t pay for the studies.”

“Sure, we can do that.”

Starr’s face lights up. “Are you for real?”

“I am.” I beam at her, arms wide. She pulls out her phone and taps on the screen for a moment before turning it to show me a site from her favorites tab. A nursing college one town over sits on the screen. “That looks amazing, we can do that.”

Skye chews her bottom lip between her teeth. “And what do you want in return?”

“I need you to leave Reed be—his business, his family. He has worked so hard to bring the holiday ranch to where it is, he can’t lose it. Please, anything to help the ranch prosper and grow would be amazing.”

“So, you will give us tuition and stuff and we just have to not troll his business?” Skye’s brows lower.

“That sums it up, yes.”

“Why are you doing that for him? Your fake marriage was busted and shit.” Skye tilts her head, as if trying to comprehend.

“Look, all I know is that sometimes it’s hard to do the right thing. And sometimes instead of fighting, we should all make the best of what we have.”

“Sounds alright to me. I can take down the review. And the lawsuit, I’ll ring the lawyer and drop it,” Starr says. A smile peaks over her face.

“Wonderful. Skye?”

Her gaze drops to the sidewalk, and it takes a moment before she returns it to me. “I want to leave this place. I wanna write, you know. Not like a journalist or anything. Stories or whatever.”

“How about a literary degree?” I prompt.

“Really?” Her face turns stunned.

“Sure.” I grin, and her mouth gapes. “I know a fantastic online degree. You can keep working while you study, and when you’re done, you can submit some work to publishers.”

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