Page 72 of Knockout (Whiskey Dolls 2)

I looked up to find Marcus standing a few yards away, his expression leery as he watched me. I’d come to Hope House every day this week once I finished with my paying jobs. I wanted to get this garden done for the kids as soon as possible so they’d have something beautiful to tend and cultivate, but of course, I was also hoping to catch a glimpse of Layla. So far I hadn’t had any luck. All I could figure was that our schedules had prevented us from crossing paths, because I knew there was nothing that would keep her away from her kids. “Sorry, what?”

“I asked if you’re good. That looked like it hurt, man. You didn’t like, slice your toes off or anything, did you? I’m not real good around blood. Makes me sick, you know?”

I was hit with a wave of nostalga that made me smile. Layla was the same damn way. That woman was tough as nails...except when blood was involved.

“Naw, man. I’m good. Got on steel-toed boots. Just hurt like a mother—” I snapped my mouth shut before the rest of that word could escape. “You know.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said with a grin.

We lapsed into silence, so I went back to work on that root while he stood by watching. A minute later he spoke.

“So...did something happen with you and Ms. Layla?”

I braced the end of the shovel in the dirt and propped my forearms on the handle so I could study the kid. “What makes you ask that?”

“Well, she’s kinda been in a mood this week. Like, she’s trying to act like everything’s all good, but she’s sad, you know? We can see it on her face. And you... well, you just look like crap. No offense.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “None taken,” I assured him. After all, he was only saying what I already knew to be true. I looked like shit. I hadn’t bothered to shave in a week. I wasn’t getting any sleep, and I was weeks past due for a haircut. What could I say? My looks reflected my mood.

“We’re kind of...in a holding pattern at the moment,” I told him, not quite sure what was an appropriate amount of information. I didn’t want to dig the hole I was currently living in any deeper.

“I gotcha. Me and my girl, Elle. We were in one of those too. Then I took Ms. Layla’s advice and stopped acting like an idiot.”

“I heard the advice she gave you, and none of it included the wordidiot.”

“I know,” he said grinning with the type of arrogance only a teenager could pull off without looking like an asshole. “I added that part myself because that’s what I was acting like. And seeing as you’re a guy too, and we tend to be not all that smart, I figured you’re probably being an idiot too.”

Again, I couldn’t really take offense to the truth. “You maybe correct.”

“Figured as much. So I guess the question is, what are you going to do about it?”

What was I going to do about it? I blinked at him as I played that question over in my head. WhatwasI going to do about it?

Marcus was staring at me like he was expecting an actual answer, so I opened my mouth and said, “I guess I’ll...get her back?”

He nodded like I’d just gotten the right answer on a final exam or something. “Okay, so go do it then. Call her. This big dirt hole you’re making will still be here tomorrow, right?”

“It won’t be a dirt hole for much longer,” I defended. “It’s going to blow your mind,” I called after him as he turned and started to walk away. And why the hell was I defending myself to a teenage kid?

“I’ll take your word for it, man. Now stop talking to me and callher.”

With that, he was gone, like an annoying half-grown Yoda, and I’d be damned if I didn’t find myself pulling my phone from my pocket to call Layla.

“Goddamn kid genius,” I muttered to myself as I scrolled through to her number, but before I had a chance to tap the screen to make the call, my phone began to ring with a number I didn’t recognize.

“Hello?”

“Is this Jude Kingsley?” a man asked through the line.

“It is. Who’s this?”

“Mr. Kingsley, I’m calling from Mercy Hospital. Your grandmother was just admitted with what appears to have been a heart attack—”

And just like that, the bottom fell out of my world.

* * *

Layla

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