He’s got to save his career—and himself

Hitting rock bottom has landed country star Boone Williams in the middle of his worst nightmare: a recording studio on a horse therapy farm hours away from Nashville. He has no interest in dealing with his problems or writing a new album. And he’s definitely not interested in the gorgeous, feisty mom of one of Helping Hooves’s young clients. She doesn’t even know who he is! But his record label is one tabloid story from cutting him loose, and Boone can’t seem to turn around without bumping into Ruby and her daughter, Violet. Clearly, Boone’s not going to get what he wants. Could Ruby be just what he needs?

Her hand landed solidly on Boone’s chest.

That was the moment he realized she knew exactly who he was. Clearly, she was a fan. His female admirers always wanted to touch.

“Aren’t you cute,” Boone said. “If you think it would help, I’ll sign something for you and your daughter. Maybe this little encounter will turn the whole day around.”

People used to tell him that all the time. They would profess their love for him and swear that meeting him was life altering. Boone Williams had that effect on people.

This little redhead cocked her head and seemed confused, however. Boone figured she was still trying to play like she didn’t recognize him. It was a common ploy.

He gave her his trademark grin and lowered his voice, which had literally made women swoon. “You want me to sign something for you, pretty lady?”

The line between her eyebrows deepened. “Unless you’re signing your name on a check, I’m not sure your signature is going to do me and my daughter much good, mister.”

“Are you famous or something?” the daughter asked.

Dear Reader,

I am thrilled to be bringing you the second book in the Grace Note Records series. Boone Williams was a character introduced in the first book, who I was a little worried I wasn’t going to be able to make very likable. As I began to write Catch a Fallen Star, he started to grow on me until he became one of my favorite heroes yet!

Everyone has good and bad moments in their lives, and we meet Boone when he’s decided to try pulling himself out of the hole he’s dug. It’s never easy to accept when we’re wrong, and for someone like Boone, who has had his head blown up thanks to his fame, it’s even harder. Enter Ruby and her daughter, Violet. Sometimes people come into our lives whom we never expect to have much of an impact, but they surprise us. Ruby and Violet do that for Boone.

I hope you enjoy this story and open your heart to Boone, who isn’t perfect by any means. But he’s working on it!

Visit me on Facebook and Twitter (@vastine7) or on my website, www.amyvastine.com.

xoxo,

Amy Vastine

Catch a Fallen Star

Amy Vastine

www.millsandboon.co.uk

AMY VASTINE has been plotting stories in her head for as long as she can remember. An eternal optimist, she studied social work, hoping to teach others how to find their silver lining. Now she enjoys creating happily-ever-afters for all to read. Amy lives outside Chicago with her high school sweetheart turned husband, three fun-loving children and their sweet but mischievous puppy dog. Visit her at www.amyvastine.com.

To my darling teenage daughter, Alyssa. I hope you read this someday and can laugh at the bits of you I may have written into Violet. I hope you know I love you dearly even though your eye-rolling is now documented for all to see.

Acknowledgments

To my book-club friends who helped me name many of the characters of this book.

You guys are the best!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER THIRTY

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

“WHAT IN THE name of all that is holy is this?” Boone Williams stood in front of the shiny silver Airstream trailer with his hands on his hips. He’d slept in a lot of strange places while touring the country, but this had to be a joke.

“This is your new home away from home,” Dean said, flashing the used-car-salesman grin he thought worked on everyone.

Dean Presley was the head of Boone’s record label, Grace Note Records, and the one who had convinced Boone to come down here to small-town Grass Lake. He had promised the perfect Tennessee retreat. A place with all the comforts of home and none of the stress. It was supposed to be top-notch, somewhere the rich and famous like Boone could reconnect with the music.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Boone grumbled. This was a trailer in the middle of a horse farm. The pungent smell of manure did battle with the overwhelming scent of hay that made his nose itch. This was no vacation home. This was a nightmare.

“Don’t judge until you see the inside. It’s not the Four Seasons, but you’d be amazed at what we fit into this little space.”

“I knew there wasn’t a Four Seasons in this Podunk town, but I’m sure there have to be accommodations a little more fitting for someone like me.”

“Boone—”

“I have twenty-five number-one singles, I’ve won three Grammys and ten Country Artist Awards, and I was named America’s favorite male country music artist at the People’s Choice Awards...four times. I’m pretty sure I deserve better than this.”

Dean sighed, mimicking Boone’s stance. He closed his eyes for a moment and his smile faded. “I hate to remind you that you also haven’t had a record out in five years. Instead, you’ve had two DUIs and a few other run-ins with the law that you were fortunate to get out of because of who you are. The last time you attended the CAAs, you were asked not to return because you shoved an assistant producer backstage. And right now, the only thing you’d win if people voted would be favorite tabloid star. I’m pretty sure this place is exactly what you need.”

Every dose of reality was like a hot poker in the gut. Dean was right, but that didn’t mean Boone wanted to hear it. Dean opened the door to the Airstream, and Boone stomped up the stairs and inside.

It wasn’t the worst place he’d ever had to stay, but not at all what he had expected. He had grown accustomed to his life of luxury. The pillow with the words Welcome Home stitched across it mocked him from the beige couch in the front. A basket of cookies and a bottle of sparkling water sat on the little dinette in the kitchen area. In the back was the bedroom, complete with a full-size bed and one tiny nightstand. Boone threw his suitcase on the bed.

“Faith stocked the kitchen with some basics, but I can take you into town to pick up groceries or any incidentals you might have forgotten,” Dean offered. “I can also show you around the barn and introduce you to the horses whenever you’re ready. We can save the studio tour for tomorrow.”

Studio tour? The studio was apparently also on this godforsaken farm. The likelihood that Boone would be impressed was low. Not that he had anything to record. The words still weren’t coming. The music had dried up when he’d dried out.

“How many horses are there?”

“We’ve got three right now.”

“That’s not very many.”

“We lost one back in May,” Dean explained. “Faith’s been taking her time looking for a new one. Therapy horses aren’t easy to come by. They’re special. Not every horse can work as one. Faith drove up to Nashville this morning to check out a filly a friend of hers has for sale. Maybe we’ll have four in a few short days.”

Faith was Dean’s fiancée and the one who ran the farm where Boone was now trapped. It was supposedly a therapeutic horse farm called Helping Hooves. Boone wasn’t sure how horses could help someone like him. Of course, the humans who had tried hadn’t had much success, either.

Maybe he was a hopeless case. The failure his father had always believed he would be.

Suddenly the already tight quarters began to feel even more claustrophobic. The walls closed in, and Boone began to panic. Soon there wouldn’t be enough air for both of them.

“Let’s go meet the horses,” he said, pushing past Dean to get to the door. At least he knew the animals wouldn’t ask him about his divorce or when his next album was coming out. They wouldn’t remind him of how far he had fallen.

* * *

THE AFTERNOON SUN shone bright in a cloudless sky as Dean led Boone to the stables. Boone rubbed the back of his neck, cursing himself for not grabbing a hat.

A red sedan that hadn’t been there when Boone arrived was parked near the barn. An uneasy feeling came over him. He did not want to deal with the public just yet.

“Just to be clear, I’m not signing any autographs or doing any meet and greets while I’m here.”

Dean glanced over his shoulder with what strongly resembled a smirk. “We’re definitely on the same page about that. You aren’t exactly what I’d call fan-friendly at the moment.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Boone nudged him from behind. Dean’s business partner was usually the one who acted like Boone was incapable of being nice. Maybe Dean believed that to be true.

The real truth was that if Boone wanted to, he could charm the pants off anyone. All he was saying was he didn’t want to, not that he couldn’t. There was a big difference.

“I mean you’re here to focus on you and the music, not make new friends.”

The two men stepped into the stables just as a teen girl with dark hair and ripped-up jeans began her tirade.

“I knew you would tell him! This is my time with the horses, and now he’s going to make me talk about things I don’t want to talk about! Why do you hate me so much?”

A man dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt—presumably the “he” who was going to make the girl talk about whatever it was she clearly did not want to talk about—stepped between the angry young lady and whoever had made her so furious.

“No one is going to make you talk about anything you don’t want to talk about, Violet. That’s our deal, remember?”

“You say that, Jesse, but you always get me to spill my guts even when I don’t want to.”

The girl reminded Boone of another indignant teenager who loved horses. His daughter, Emmy, was fourteen and, likely thanks mostly to her mother, hadn’t answered his calls or replied to any of his text messages in months.

“Please give me a break,” an exasperated redhead said as she pushed her way around the man named Jesse. “I can’t take this drama. Jesse is your social worker. He should know when things happen so you two can process through it. Lord knows you don’t want to talk to me about it.”

“Why would I talk to you? You don’t want to hear about my drama. I bet you wish you could ditch me just like Dad did.”

The mother’s head fell back as she let out a growl of frustration. Boone took a step toward the door. They were obviously intruding on a very personal conversation.

Jesse noticed them then. “Dean.” He made his way over while mother and daughter glared in their direction—another all too familiar sight.

“Sorry, Jesse.” Dean also began to backpedal. “We’ll come back. I didn’t realize you had a session scheduled.”

“No, I’m going to go,” the redhead said. “Violet’s right. This is her time with the horses, not our time to fight. We should save that for home.”

“Ruby...” Jesse spun back around. “We should use this as an opportunity to work on your communication.”

“I am pretty sure you could spend the rest of your life helping us with our communication. I can afford only an hour of your time, so I am going to leave.” She gave Dean an apologetic grimace. “Sorry for the...whatever this was, Dean.”

“Don’t be sorry. We really can come back. Maybe you should stay and talk this out with Jesse and Violet.”

“And keep your friend here from getting the grand tour? No way.” Her hand landed solidly on Boone’s chest. That was the moment he realized she knew exactly who he was. Clearly she was a fan. For some reason, his female admirers always wanted to touch.

“Aren’t you cute,” Boone said, ready to prove to Dean that he could be nice. “If you think it would help, I’ll sign something for you and your daughter. Maybe this little encounter will turn the whole day around.”

People used to tell him that all the time. They would profess their love for him and swear that meeting him was life altering. Fans often told him that getting his autograph or their picture taken with him was the best moment of their lives, even better than the day they got married or gave birth to their children. Boone Williams had that effect on people.

This little redhead cocked her head and seemed confused, however. Boone figured she was still trying to play like she didn’t recognize him. It was a common ploy. Fans sometimes tried acting unaware of who he was at first in the hope it would put him more at ease around them.

He gave her his trademark grin and lowered his voice, which had literally made women swoon. “You want me to sign something for you, pretty lady?”

See? He could be nice.

The line between the woman’s eyebrows deepened. “Unless you’re signing your name on a check that’s going to pay for about a hundred more sessions with Jesse, I’m not sure your signature is going to do me and my daughter much good, mister.”

With that, she was gone.

“Are you famous or something?” the girl asked, arms crossed tightly in front of her.

He thought he was. He sure used to be. Lately, however, he’d been famous for all the wrong reasons.

“Violet Wynn, this is Boone Williams.” Dean paused for her to react. She didn’t, so he continued, “He’s a very famous singer at my record label. He’s going to be staying here for a few weeks to work with the horses and maybe write some new music.”

That was a big maybe.

“Welcome to the farm, Boone. I’m Jesse Keyes.” He held out his hand to shake. “We’re happy to have you here.”

“Jesse says that to everyone,” Violet said behind him.

Jesse took a deep breath. Turning, he suggested to the girl, “Why don’t you go in the tack room and get things ready while I grab Sassy?”

“It’s true. You do say that to everybody. You’re one of those nice people who goes around saying nice things to everyone you meet. I just thought he should know so he doesn’t start offering to sign things for you, too.”

Dean coughed a laugh into his fist. Jesse seemed to be fighting a smile as Violet took off in the other direction. “Not surprising she gets along best with the horse named Sassy, is it?” he asked Boone.

“Not surprising in the least.” Boone glanced around at the stables. How had his life come to this—hiding on a horse farm in the middle of small-town Tennessee where people didn’t even know who he was? This was not the way things were supposed to be.

He had to get his career back, and fast, or fame would be nothing but a faded memory. And if he wasn’t famous, what was the point of all those years of hard work and sacrifice? Boone had given everything he had to his career. Without it, he was nothing.

CHAPTER TWO

IF RUBY HAD her way, she would eradicate the world of men. Maybe not all men, just the ones who didn’t give a damn about their children and the ones who thought they could fix the world’s problems by smiling and offering...their signatures.

Okay, the signature part was still weird. Why anyone would think writing his name on something could make this horrible day better, she’d never understand.

With an hour to kill and an ex-husband she’d also like to kill, Ruby figured the safest place for her was under the watchful eye of her best friend.

Holly Davis was editor of the Grass Lake Gazette. The Gazette was published on Thursdays and had a distribution of a whopping 2,600 people. Holly certainly didn’t need to work on a Saturday, but she often put in more hours on the weekend when her husband could be home to watch their three kids.

The small-town newspaper was housed on the top floor of the tallest building along Main Street. Ruby decided walking up the six flights of stairs would help her burn off some of the adrenaline that seemed still to be coursing through her veins.

Sure enough, the door to the Gazette was unlocked when she reached the top. Holly sat at her desk with a pen in her mouth.

“I know you come here for peace and quiet, but I need to spend some time with someone who likes me,” Ruby said, slightly out of breath.

Holly removed the pen and stuck it in the bun on top of her head. Her round face and large blue eyes gave her a childlike appearance, such a stark contrast to the streaks of gray in her dark brown hair. “I love you,” she corrected Ruby. “Who doesn’t love you?”

“I’ll give you a hint. She’s about this tall and is a professional eye roller.”

“How is my favorite thirteen-year-old?”

“She’s a pain in my butt.” Violet had a way of perfectly pushing Ruby’s buttons. She somehow managed to make her mom feel bad for her and infuriated by her at the same time. And whatever the problem was, it was always Ruby’s fault.

Never mind the fact that what had sparked the whole meltdown today was that Levi had once again canceled his visit with his daughter. Never mind that he’d spent months promising to take Violet to California for a long weekend. They were supposed to go to Disneyland and see the Hollywood sign. Only, Levi called last night with yet another lame excuse for why he couldn’t follow through.

“She loves you,” Holly said. “She’s starting puberty. It’s natural for her to clash with her mother. It’s her destiny to fight you on everything until she’s grown and on her own. Then she’ll think you’re the wisest person in the world.”

Ruby dropped into an empty office chair. “Ha! I hope I live that long.”

Jesse had once explained that it was safer for Violet to be angry with Ruby because she could trust that her mother would always be there. If she were to lash out at her dad, he might cut and run for good. Even the occasional phone call was better than nothing, so Violet couldn’t express her frustration to the real cause of all her angst.

Sometimes being the responsible and reliable parent really stank.

“When I was Violet’s age, I used to tell people I was adopted because I didn’t want them to think I was related to anyone in my family.”

“Holly!” Ruby leaned back and put her feet up on the desk. “That’s terrible. Your family could not have been that bad.”

“Oh, that’s nothing compared to what my younger sister did. My parents deserved a medal for surviving our teens.”

Ruby knew all about pushing parents to their limits. Her own mother could have written a book about the things Ruby had done at Violet’s age. What was happening now was most definitely karma.

“I don’t need a medal. I’d be happy simply to get one day without her sighing or telling me I don’t understand. Don’t worry. I won’t hold my breath, I promise.”

“Good, because that could take a very long time.”

Even though Holly had three boys who still let their mom tuck them in at night and asked for extra kisses before they could fall asleep, her opinion still fed Ruby’s fear that she and Violet would never find common ground. Especially when Violet’s father constantly played games with her emotions.

“Tell me something good. What amazing things are happening in Grass Lake this week?”

Holly rubbed her hands together and giggled like she had when they were roommates in college and had a secret to tell. She leaned forward, putting her elbows on her cluttered desk. “Grass Lake is about to be put on the map.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

Holly’s blue eyes somehow got bigger. “We have a celebrity in town. A megastar.”

“What kind of celebrity? A movie star?”

“Not someone from Hollywood. Someone from Nashville.”

Ruby’s interest diminished significantly with that revelation. Country music wasn’t her thing. Never had been, even though Levi loved it. She was more of a progressive rock kind of girl.

“Nashville stars are not mega.”

“Oh, I know a whole lot of people who would disagree. Boone Williams is easily one of the biggest names in country music. He’s right up there with the likes of Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.”

Boone Williams. Ruby knew the name. She’d have to live under a rock to not have heard of him. He’d been married to some other country singer and made a mess of his life a few years back. Ruby couldn’t picture him, though. A quick Google search would remedy that.

As she typed his name into her phone, Holly added, “In fact, he’s staying over at the Stratton farm. You have a decent shot of laying eyes on him when you’re there with Violet.”

Oh, Ruby had laid eyes on him. In the images on her screen, he resembled more of a rugged cowboy than the average Joe he’d seemed to be in the barn. Not that he was average-looking by any means. His piercing blue eyes had caught her attention, as had his rock-hard chest. Of course, then he had opened his mouth.

“I definitely saw him there.”

Holly nearly fell out of her chair. “You met Boone Williams? Did you talk to him? Did he talk to you? Did you ask him for an autograph?”

Ruby wanted to laugh out loud at the last question. He had been offering her an autograph because he thought he was as famous as Holly did. His ego was incredible, but perhaps a bit more understandable now that she knew who he was.

“Had I known you were such a fan, I would have taken him up on his offer to sign something to make up for the horrendous argument I was having with my dear daughter when he stumbled upon us.”

“He what?”

“I guess that’s how he rolls. Whenever he sees pain and suffering, he offers to sign his name on a piece of paper so all the troubles will be forgotten.” Ruby placed a hand over her heart. “He’s such a giver, a true hero. Just think if he used his amazing powers of peacekeeping in the Middle East or North Korea.”

Boone, ego and all, was similar to the other men Ruby had known in her life. They thought they could charm their way out of anything and women should simply be grateful for their existence. They certainly didn’t have to be responsible or deal with the messy parts of life. They never truly cared about anyone’s feelings but their own.

“Are you telling me you didn’t get his autograph?”

Ruby found her friend’s disappointment a tad disturbing. “Holly, are you not hearing me? Perhaps the sarcasm distracted you from what I said. The guy thought giving me his autograph would make up for the fact that my daughter thinks I hate her. That it would make that little girl forget her father is a lying deadbeat. His delusions of grandeur are ridiculous.”

“Cut the guy some slack. He’s used to people knocking each other over to get a look at him,” Holly said in his defense. “Maybe we can get him to agree to do an interview for the paper.”

“We? I have nothing to do with this. I deliver babies, not the news.” Ruby had moved to Grass Lake because Sadie Greenville decided that after sixty years as a midwife it was time to retire. She had offered Ruby her office space and her handful of patients.

Refusing to give up, Holly reminded her, “You do a great job with the column.”

Ruby had also inherited Sadie’s monthly advice column at the Gazette. Ruby was now responsible for enlightening the town on how to be a good parent. She was waiting for someone to call her out as a fraud.

“Not the same thing,” Ruby argued.

Holly folded her hands together and started with those puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeeease. You have a reason to go to the farm. I only need you to see if he’d be willing to sit down with me. You wouldn’t have to do the interview.”

“I go to the farm because my kid is falling apart thanks to the fact that her dad doesn’t care about her.”

“Oh, man.” Sympathy quickly replaced the pleading look in Holly’s eye. “I know things haven’t been easy, but I thought they were getting better since you moved here.”

That was true, but as long as Levi was still in the picture, things would never be okay. His constant indifference was the reason Ruby had agreed to take over for Sadie. She had an excellent reputation, and that meant a viable business for her successor. Once Ruby made enough money to hire a lawyer, she planned to file for full custody and take off to Seattle to be near her older sister.

“Coming here was the best decision I’ve made in a long time.” Ruby tried to smile for her friend’s sake. She didn’t want Holly’s pity.

“Jon and I knew this community was exactly what you needed. And I, selfishly, love having you so close.”

It had been Holly who had convinced her to come to Grass Lake. Sadie had delivered Holly’s boys and wrote the parenting column for the Gazette, so when Holly found out she wanted to turn everything over to another midwife, she suggested Ruby. Holly even rented her mother-in-law’s house to Ruby dirt cheap.

Friends like Holly came along once in a lifetime.

“I don’t know about an interview, but I bet I can get Boone Williams’s autograph when I go back to pick up Violet.”

Holly grinned from ear to ear. “I’ll take it. But maybe slip in that I’d love to do an interview. My sister will be absolutely Wicked-Witch-green with envy if I tell her I’m going to sit down with Boone Williams.”

Holly’s sister wouldn’t envy her at all if they both knew what Boone was really like, but Ruby would try to give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he wasn’t good with first impressions.

* * *

JESSE AND VIOLET were leading one of the horses around the paddock when Ruby returned to Helping Hooves. She noticed the content smile on her daughter’s face as she spoke with her social worker.

Ruby’s heart ached the way it always did when she thought about how Violet would feel if she had a father who actually participated in his daughter’s life. It was so depressing; she couldn’t dwell in that thought for too long.

Slamming the car door shut garnered the attention of both of them. Violet’s smile quickly disappeared, and Ruby’s heart took another stomping.

Someday she’ll like me.

Teenagers weren’t supposed to like their parents, and parents weren’t supposed to be their teens’ friends. In a few years, her daughter would thank her for being a parent and not a friend. Ruby had been given all that advice and then some as Violet approached this wretched age. It didn’t always ease the pain of her daughter’s constant rejection, though.

“Why do you always have to show up so early?” Violet complained. “I still have to clean Sassy up before I can go.”

Ruby took a deep breath and reminded herself not to be offended by her daughter’s tone. “I can wait. No worries.”

“Why don’t you let your mom know what you accomplished today?” Jesse prompted.

There was a small glimmer of pride in Violet’s eyes. “I got Sassy to perform a flying lead change.”

“Really?” Ruby tried to show the right amount of enthusiasm. Violet hated too much and resented too little. “That’s awesome.”

“Do you even know what that means, Mom?”

Ruby had no idea, since she had little to no experience with horses, but she wasn’t about to admit it. “Yeah, of course.”

Violet seemed unconvinced. Jesse saved the day. “Violet’s doing a great job of getting Sassy to change her lead legs. I think the two of them are going to do really well at the horse show in a couple of weeks. Do you want to join us in the tack room, Ruby?”

The look on Violet’s face made it clear she did not want her mother to come with them. The last thing Ruby needed was to agitate her bear of a daughter.

“I need to touch base with Dean about something,” Ruby said, throwing a thumb over her shoulder. “But I’ll meet you in there in a few minutes.”

Violet’s visible relief was yet another punch in the stomach.

“All right, we’ll chat when you get back,” Jesse said.

Ruby headed toward the main house. She’d probably have to go through Dean to land Holly an interview with Boone Williams. He ran his record company from somewhere on the property.

As she climbed the porch steps, the sound of someone screaming bloody murder made her pause. Someone was not happy and was letting the heavens know about it. Fearing someone was hurt, she followed the porch around to see what was wrong.

Boone stood in the yard and was doing his best impression of a woman in the throes of childbirth. He puffed his chest out and let his head fall back as he roared at the sky. He took a deep breath and relaxed his shoulders. When he opened his eyes, his gaze fell squarely on Ruby.

Feeling as if she had been caught snooping instead of doing a welfare check, she took a step back and tripped over a rocking chair that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Ruby fell on her behind and felt a sharp pain in her wrist as she attempted to break her fall.

Those stormy blue eyes that had blown her over were now glaring at her through the slats of the porch railing. He somehow managed to look angrier than he had a moment ago.

“Unbelievable,” he growled.

CHAPTER THREE

BOONE WAS NEVER truly alone. Lonely, yes. Alone, never. There were always plenty of people around. Some of them had a job to do. Most wanted something from him. He hadn’t figured out where this redheaded mystery fit in.

“Did you hurt yourself?” he asked even though the grimace on her face told him she had.

She inspected her wrist, wincing as she rolled it around. “Yes.”

“Good.” Boone headed back toward his trailer. That was what she got for spying on him.

“Good?” she shouted from the porch.

This was exactly the kind of thing Boone was trying to avoid by coming to this place. He hated all the prying eyes and straining ears back in Nashville. Everyone wanted in his business.

“You’ve got a lot of nerve, you know that?” The nosy redhead wasn’t finished interrupting his scream therapy.

Boone stopped and turned as she came barreling after him. He really shouldn’t have been mad. It wasn’t like the therapy he was testing out helped ease any of the frustration he felt. He was beginning to think every doctor/psychologist/psychiatrist/social worker he’d seen in the past few years was a quack.

That didn’t mean he’d cut this intruder any slack, though. “I have a lot of nerve? You’re the one snooping around,” he accused her.

Her face was flushed as she held her injured wrist against her chest. “Snooping? You sounded like you were being murdered! Excuse me for caring enough to make sure you weren’t dying.”

“Nobody’s dying. Even you and your poor little wrist will live.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You should really get those issues checked out. Whatever your problem is, it’s bad.”

This woman sure was something. “The only problem I have is that you seem to think I owe you something because you tripped over your own two feet.”

“I tripped over a rocking chair, thank you very much.” She smoothed her hair and tugged on the hem of her shirt. There was a bit of insecurity under all that tough talk. “Next time I hear you screaming, I’ll be sure to let whatever’s eating you have at it.”

“Perfect,” he replied, hating himself for noticing the cute way her eyebrow was cocked. Fine, she was attractive, but he was not interested.

She stared hard at him before spinning on her heel and taking off. Boone sighed with relief, but she stopped and came back at him. She apparently was never going to leave him alone.

“You know, I have a friend who works for the Grass Lake Gazette, and I almost feel like it’s my duty to tell her to warn the good people of this town to steer clear of Helping Hooves so they don’t find out the almighty Boone Williams is an enormous jerk.”

“So you do recognize me.” He knew it. She had almost fooled him earlier in the barn. Then the rest of what she’d said settled in. “Wait, who works for the paper?” It figured she was also in cahoots with one of his least favorite groups of people—the press.

Instead of answering, she stormed off. He followed her for no good reason other than that she had made him lose his mind.

“I’m here to get away from the media,” he said, trying his best to catch her. “I don’t need anyone publishing anything about me.”

She was not only irritating but also incredibly fast. She made it to the barn before he could reach her.

“Did you hear me?” When he touched her arm, she whipped around and swatted at him.

“We have this thing called freedom of the press here in this country. Journalists can write about anything they want.”

“I know they can. I got people writing baloney about me every day.”

“Well, maybe you should think before you act and people wouldn’t have so many salacious things to write.”

Boone felt his temperature rise. “You know nothing about me.”

“Oh my gosh, Mom! Stop making a scene.” The woman’s daughter stood outside one of the stalls with her hands on her hips, staring them both down.

“Stay out of this, Violet.”

“Stay out of this, kid,” Boone said at the same time.

“Don’t tell my daughter what to do,” the woman snapped.

She confounded him. “We said the exact same thing.”

Thankfully she looked a bit chagrined. “Just don’t talk to her.”

“I don’t want to talk to either of you. I want you to leave me alone. Is that really too much to ask?”

She softened for a moment. Maybe it was because her daughter was watching. Maybe she’d finally realized she was being completely unreasonable. “No, it’s not. I’ll leave you alone and you leave me and my daughter alone and I think we’ll both be happy.”

“Absolutely.” Boone could not agree more. Alone. That was all he wanted to be.

* * *

AFTER THE DISASTER of day one on the farm, Boone hid out in his trailer most of the next two days. This seemed to bug Dean, who was determined to get Boone out and about. It had started with a simple dinner invitation that Boone had quickly refused. Next up, Dean had encouraged some time with the horses...and Jesse, the resident shrink. That wasn’t happening.

Boone knew what Dean was up to. He thought that if Boone talked to this Jesse guy, he’d step into the studio and record a platinum single. Music didn’t work like that. At least not good music.

By Tuesday afternoon, Boone was sick of the trailer and annoyed with himself for being curious if and when the spunky redhead might return with her daughter. It wasn’t like him to be preoccupied with anything other than when he was getting his next drink. Maybe it was his sobriety that had changed things, but it sure felt like the fire in that woman’s eyes had consumed him.

Maybe his problem was starvation. When Dean had said his fiancée had stocked the kitchen with some basics, he’d meant the bare minimum to keep a person alive: some bread, peanut butter and jelly, a half gallon of milk, a box of macaroni and cheese, gummy bears and a bag of barbecue potato chips. Dean had obviously shared a list of Boone’s tour hospitality requests with Faith. These might have been all his favorite comfort foods, but Boone needed something a bit more substantial.

“I want to go to town and buy some groceries,” he said when Dean stopped by to extend another dinner invitation.

“Great!” Dean’s eyes lit up. “Let’s go. I can show you around and we can check out Main Street.”

“I don’t need a tour guide. I need a car.”

“We can take Faith’s truck.”

“You’re not understanding me. If I go into town with you, I can’t get in and out unnoticed. I want to get groceries, not do a meet and greet with everyone on Main Street.”

Dean didn’t seem too keen on this plan, but Boone wasn’t going to do this any other way. Dean mulled it over for a minute and then offered to go get the keys.

Luckily there weren’t enough streets in this small town for Boone to get lost. He found the local grocery store and filled his cart with all the things that made his stomach growl. With the bill of his baseball cap pulled down, he managed to avoid eye contact with the other shoppers until a familiar voice caught his attention.

“Oh my gosh, you are so annoying.”

“You’re trying to chicken out. I knew you would.”

“I’m not chickening out of anything.”

Boone lifted his head and his gaze fell directly on the queen of teenage angst. He glanced around to make sure the girl’s mother wasn’t nearby. Ruby was the last person he wanted to bump into during this little excursion. He made a quick detour down the last aisle before Violet spotted him.

He hoped the kid was here with only her friend and not her mother. Just the thought of Ruby made his blood boil. It bugged him that this woman had so easily gotten under his skin. It shouldn’t matter that she was pretty and petite, just his type. Or that she had the face of an angel. She was the devil in disguise, threatening to send the press after him. He began to contemplate the idea of taking Dean’s truck and driving home to Nashville.

“Could you help me?” a dark-haired woman asked him. She immediately reminded Boone of his nana. She was well put-together and small in stature. Her bright red lipstick was meticulously applied. “For some reason they put my husband’s favorite bottle of wine on the highest shelf.”

Boone realized in that moment that he had landed himself in the aisle with nothing but beer and wine. His stomach growled louder than it had the entire shopping trip, and his mouth felt drier than a desert. There was only one thing that could quench this particular thirst.

He could smell it now—the hoppy beer and the fruity notes in the merlots. He could almost feel the bubbles of the champagne on his tongue. Given his physical reaction, it was amazing his body hadn’t led him to this aisle the second he set foot in the store. It was either fate testing his sobriety or the devil begging him to give it up.

“Are you all right?” the woman asked, giving him a peculiar look.

Boone snapped out of his daze. Embarrassed, he shook his head. “Which one?” His voice was rough, like he hadn’t spoken in years.

“That one right there.” She pointed.

With shaky hands, Boone reached up and grabbed the bottle that had eluded the poor woman. He knew how it felt to have what you wanted most just out of reach.

“Thank you,” the woman said, waiting patiently for him to hand it over.

Boone couldn’t turn it over just yet. He wanted to feel the glass in his hands, take in the weight of the liquid held inside. What he wouldn’t give to open it up and take one tiny sip. He could handle one sip. That wouldn’t really be cheating. One sip wouldn’t get him drunk.

“My husband swears he needs one drink a night to fall asleep. I think that’s just an excuse to have one drink a night.”

Boone would never stop at a sip. He wouldn’t stop at one drink. He’d finish the whole bottle and start on another before he knew what hit him. He handed the wine to the woman and, without a word, pushed his cart out of the aisle and as far away from temptation as possible.

He was still trying to control his thoughts while he waited in the checkout line. The young woman in front of him had a handful of coupons and was taking her sweet time sorting through them to find the ones she could apply to her purchase.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Violet and her friend hanging around the display of lighters near one of the empty checkout lanes. They seemed quite interested in what the employees were doing and where they were looking. Violet put a lighter in her pocket and started for the door. Boone noticed that the guy by customer service who was almost certainly the store manager saw the same thing. He could only imagine how much trouble the kid would get into with a mother like Ruby. He deserted his cart and got to Violet right before the manager confronted her.

He threw an arm over her shoulders and turned her back toward the checkout. “There you are, kiddo. I thought I lost you.”

Violet turned white as a ghost. “What are you doing?”

“Saving your butt,” he whispered. “Wanna hand over that lighter you were trying to lift so that Mr. Manager over there doesn’t call the police or, worse, your mom?”

Violet glanced over her shoulder at the man who was glaring in their direction.

“He didn’t see anything,” she argued weakly.

“You want to risk it?” Boone lifted his arm and motioned for her to head back toward the exit.

Violet thought about it for less than a second and dug the lighter out of her pocket. She set it in Boone’s waiting palm. “Whatever,” she mumbled.

“What was that?” He cupped his ear with his hand. “Thank you? Is that what I heard? Thank you for saving me?”

“Thank you for embarrassing me in front of my friend. How about that?”

The other girl was long gone. She must have figured Violet was caught and didn’t want to go down with a sinking ship. “You need better friends, kid.”

“Maybe you can come to school with me and offer to sign things for everybody. I bet that will make me super popular.”

“Why am I helping you again?”

“Beats me,” Violet said with a shrug.

Coupon Lady finally finished checking out, and the clerk welcomed Boone to Valu-Save. Her wide-rimmed glasses looked like they were straight out of the 1980s.

“We decided we don’t need this,” he said, handing the clerk the lighter.

“Oh, wow. Thanks for nothing,” Violet grumbled.

“I can’t think of one thing you’d need that for that doesn’t end with you getting in even more trouble. You’ll definitely thank me for that later.”

“Oh my gosh, you sound exactly like my mother.”

There was little chance that was a good thing. Not to mention he had absolutely nothing in common with that woman other than their mutual desire to have nothing to do with one another. “Speaking of your mother, let’s keep this little rescue mission to ourselves, okay?”

Violet covered her heart with her hand and gasped like a world-class actress. “You want me to lie to my mother?”

The clerk glanced up at them, causing her to ring one item up twice. She looked away and corrected her error.

“I would never ask you to lie to your mother,” Boone said through gritted teeth. “All I’m saying is that not telling her every detail of your day is probably pretty normal for you. This should perhaps be one of those things you keep to yourself.”

“Boy, you really better start talking to Jesse. You are in worse shape than I am.”

She had no idea.

CHAPTER FOUR

“I THOUGHT YOU were hanging out with Stacy,” Ruby said from her spot at the dining room table as Violet charged through the front door and took the stairs two at a time. There was no reply except the slamming of her bedroom door.

“One of these days I am going to take that door off its hinges!” She meant it this time. Ruby didn’t care what Jesse had said about Violet needing privacy. If she couldn’t treat their house with respect, then she would have to suffer the consequences.

Ruby stood and stretched her arms above her head. She’d spent the past hour organizing her schedule for the coming weeks. There were two women in Wilcox County due to give birth in the next month with Ruby’s assistance. She had to make sure she was ready when those calls came in.

The sound of angry girl music filtered downstairs. Jesse’s voice in Ruby’s head told her to go check on Violet, to offer an ear and not a lecture. She took a deep breath and headed upstairs. She knocked on the door but got no answer.

“Vi, can I come in?” She tried turning the knob before getting the okay, but the door was locked. “What did I say about locking the door? Open it. Now.”

An increase in the music’s volume was Violet’s only response. Ruby inhaled deeply, trying to rein in her emotions. Jesse had once reminded her that when she lost her cool, it gave Violet an excuse to lose hers.

“I will leave you alone, but I need you to unlock the door and respect my rules.”

Ruby waited until she heard the soft click of the lock releasing. She resisted the temptation to push the door open, pressing her ear to the door instead. She hoped for an invitation to come in, imagined sitting on Violet’s bed and hearing all about what had happened to make her so upset.

“You can go away now,” Violet said from the other side.

Ruby straightened and bit her lip. It didn’t matter if there was a door or not. Violet wasn’t going to let her in.

“I’m going to start dinner. And you will be eating,” she said before Violet could protest that she wasn’t hungry.

Their dinner options were limited. Ruby had neglected certain chores this week, like grocery shopping. Cooking had never been one of her strengths, and living in Nashville had given her plenty of good reasons to eat out. There were several restaurants in the city Ruby missed like dear friends.

She scavenged some ham that still smelled edible and some cheese from the deli drawer. With any luck there would be four slices left of the bread she bought a week ago. If Violet gave her any grief, Ruby would serve her the heel.

While the frying pan heated up, Ruby found one apple in the refrigerator and half a can of Pringles in the pantry. Ruby’s mother had always been a stickler about serving a proper dinner, which consisted of a meat/protein, a starch, a vegetable and a fruit. Everyone was expected to eat everything, no exceptions. It didn’t matter that Ruby hated brussels sprouts or that her sister gagged whenever a banana was near.

Violet had never known such horror. Too bad she didn’t appreciate how cool her mom was.

Ruby grilled up two sandwiches and cut up the apple. Before she could call Violet down to eat, there was a knock on the front door.

“Hey, Ruby.” Mary Ellen Kingston lived next door and had twin daughters who were almost two. Ruby envied how put-together she always was. Her blond hair never failed to look like she’d just left the salon. She always wore some cute little sundress and strappy leather sandals that required buckling.

When Violet was two, Ruby had been lucky to get out of the house wearing clothes that weren’t covered in something Violet had wiped on or thrown at her. And if her shoes didn’t slip on, she went barefoot.

“How are you tonight, Mary Ellen?”

“Good. We’re on our way home from gymnastics. The girls and I have had a busy day. In fact, we were shopping at Valu-Save earlier and—” her voice dropped lower “—I don’t want to come off like I’m minding your business, but I feel like I need to tell you what I saw there.”

The uneasy feeling in Ruby’s stomach told her Mary Ellen wasn’t here to share information about a sale on orange juice. “What did you see?

“Well, Violet was there with her friend, but I noticed her later in the checkout lane with a man I didn’t recognize. I think he might have bought her something. She walked out of the store with him. I think he was trying to get her to go in his truck, but she kept on walking. Not that I would have let her go with him, of course,” she added.

Mary Ellen glanced back at her minivan parked in Ruby’s driveway. Her angelic twins were probably strapped inside, waiting patiently for their mother to return. They would never talk to strangers when they were older, or break any rules. Or shut their mom out of their lives.

“I swear I would have stopped her if she had made a different decision. I just thought you should know. We gotta look out for one another, being neighbors and all, right?”

“Right.” Ruby didn’t know what else to say as her heart beat out of control. She thanked Mary Ellen for her concern and shut the door.

For about a year after deciding to leave Levi, every communication Ruby had with her mother contained some reminder of the damage divorce did to children. Children raised by their mothers were ten times more likely to be physically hurt or murdered. Seventy percent of long-term prison inmates were from broken homes. Children from two-parent homes were happier, healthier and better-adjusted.

Ruby hadn’t needed scientific studies to tell her what divorce did to children. Her father had walked out of her life when she was seven years old. He hadn’t even tried to pretend he cared like Levi did with Violet. Ruby knew better than anyone the cost of a failed marriage and how the children paid the price.

Given Violet’s tendency to make trouble, Ruby always figured she needed to be more worried about her daughter ending up in jail than becoming someone’s victim. But the thought of Violet almost getting into some strange man’s truck caused tears to prick at the corners of her eyes.

This time she raced upstairs and didn’t bother knocking. Violet was on her bed and sat up when Ruby burst in.

“Mom! Seriously, leave.”

“Who was the man you were talking to at Valu-Save?”

“What?”

“Don’t play games with me, Violet.” Ruby clenched her fists to keep her hands from shaking. “Mrs. Kingston saw you and someone who isn’t from around here standing in line together. She said he bought you something and tried to get you to come into his truck. What happened?”

Violet rolled her eyes, and she flopped back on her bed, phone in hand. “Oh my gosh,” she said with an exasperated sigh. “People need to mind their own business.”

Ruby sat on the bed and blinked back her tears. “Honey, there are dangerous people in the world, even in small towns like this one.”

“I know, Mom. I don’t need you to lecture me about stranger danger. I got it. You can leave now,” she said, going back to her phone.

“Vi.” Ruby snatched the smartphone from Violet’s hands. She would not be dismissed. “Do you have any idea what I would do if something happened to you? You are all I have in this world.”

For a moment, Ruby thought she saw a flicker of remorse in her daughter’s eyes. It was quickly replaced with familiar annoyance.

“Nothing is going to happen to me. Stacy dared me to steal a lighter so she could smoke these cigarettes she snagged from her mom’s purse, but that guy from Helping Hooves who thinks he’s famous caught me and made me stand in line with him because he said the manager saw me, too. He wouldn’t even buy me the lighter. He’s so lame.”

“Boone Williams was the man in the store?”

“I don’t remember his name because he’s old. And not cool. Can I have my phone back now?”

Ruby felt relieved and enraged at the same time. Thankfully some creepy pedophile hadn’t attempted to lure Violet into his car. However, Boone had interjected himself into Violet’s life without any thought to how his actions might affect Ruby’s ability to parent her troubled teen.

“I will be holding on to this until I can think of a more appropriate consequence for attempted shoplifting,” she replied, standing up and slipping the phone into the back pocket of her jeans. “And tonight at dinner, we will be discussing all the reasons someone your age shouldn’t take up smoking.”

“Oh my gosh! Are you serious? I didn’t say I was going to smoke.”

Ruby paid her no mind as she headed for the door. “Dinner’s ready, by the way.”

“I shouldn’t have told you anything. Boone was right. I should have kept the whole thing between him and me.”

That, on the other hand, got Ruby’s attention. She spun back around. “He told you not to tell me?”

Violet rolled over and curled into a ball. “I’m never telling you anything ever again.”

The heat of her anger crept up Ruby’s neck and burned her cheeks. Violet didn’t have to tell her anything. Ruby would confront the supposed adult in this scenario. Of course, that was if she didn’t knock him out instead.

CHAPTER FIVE

STARING AT EMMY’S number on his phone, Boone contemplated what he could say on her voice mail today that might make her finally call him back. He paced the inside of the Airstream and fought the anxiety that made his palms sweat.

He pressed the button to call. Four rings and there she was.

“Hi, this is Emmy.” She giggled, and Boone’s heart swelled, then dropped. “Leave me a message or text me and I’ll get back to you.”

Boone cleared his throat and waited for the beep. “Hey, Em. It’s Dad. I, ah, I’m trying to remember the name of that horse you used to ride when you took lessons at Tressman’s. You know, the all-black one? They’ve got a beautiful black gelding here named Renegade. Cool name, huh?” This had to work. Nothing he’d said in the past few months had earned him a response. He hoped her love of horses might convince her to reply this time. “Well, if you remember that horse’s name, give me a call back. I miss you, honey. I hope we can talk soon.”

He hung up and slid his phone into his back pocket. The knot in his stomach stayed tied tight. Boone could perform in front of thousands without an ounce of fear, but his daughter made him more anxious than a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

His nerves eased and gave way to his anger. He was a grown man groveling for a minute of his child’s attention. It was pathetic. There was no way he could keep this up. What was the point of leaving message after message if she wanted nothing to do with him? This was all her mother’s fault.

Maybe the best thing to do was to give Emmy what she wanted. Maybe he should leave her alone. That would sure make his ex happy. But that was as good a reason as any not to give up. He wouldn’t decide today.

The lack of space inside the trailer was giving him a headache. Boone pushed the door open, and it almost knocked Faith over. The woman jumped back.

“Sorry about that,” he said, stepping out and taking a deep gulp of fresh air.

Faith ran a hand through her thick brown hair. “Getting out of the way is one of my many talents, thanks to years of working with horses. You only have to get kicked once to know you don’t want it to happen again.”

“What can I do for you, Miss Faith?”

“I’m here to invite you to dinner again. My fiancé hasn’t had much success getting you to accept, so I’m here to personally invite you.”

“That’s mighty kind of you, but I just got back from the grocery store with plenty of food.”

The sun sat low in the sky, hovering over the Airstream like a giant egg yolk. Faith squinted up at him. “You’ve been staying on my property for four days. I understand you’re a private man, but when someone graciously opens their doors for you and you make excuses not to come in, it feels a bit like a personal rebuff.”

Boone’s mother would have slapped the back of his head for being so rude. It had been so easy to say no to Dean, he hadn’t thought about the message he had sent to the actual hostess.

“I never intended to offend you. I’m not very good company, that’s all. I was trying to spare you the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble,” she said surely. “We’ll see you in an hour for dinner.”

He watched her walk away, not giving him any chance to decline her invitation this time. He appreciated her straightforwardness, though. Sharing one meal couldn’t be that bad, as long as Dean didn’t bring up getting in the recording studio. Boone would need to set clear ground rules, and number one was no business talk at the dinner table.

* * *

BOONE TUGGED THE collar of his button-down shirt. Dinner attire wasn’t specified, so he went with a dress shirt and jeans—the best of both worlds. Knocking on the door, he prayed this get-together wasn’t a bad idea.

“Come on in,” Dean said, pushing open the screen door for his guest. “Whatever Faith is cooking smells so good, you’ll regret not taking us up on this offer earlier.”

“Your fiancée’s definitely more persuasive than you are. You might want to consider hiring her to make all your deals from now on.”

Dean laughed as he led Boone inside. “No one knows how hard it is to say no to that woman more than I do.”

Faith came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the pink apron tied around her waist. “Glad you could make it, Boone. Can I get you something to drink?”

A whiskey on the rocks would be nice. It had been hard not to think about how a drink would taste since he held the wine bottle in his hands. He could feel the burn and missed the way it would make his head fuzzy. It muted the feelings that often felt too big to carry around sober.

“Thank you, but I’m fine.”

“We have sweet tea,” she offered with a smile.

Not exactly what he needed to quench this thirst. “Maybe with dinner.”

A chocolate Lab flew down the stairs, followed by a young man whistling like today was nothing but a good day. “Well, I’ll be,” he said as he hit the last step. “I can’t believe Boone Williams is standing in my living room.”

“Our living room,” Faith corrected him. “Boone, this is my brother, Sawyer.”

“Sawyer’s new to the label,” Dean said. “He’s got a hit single out right now, so we had him start recording his debut album this week, which is why you haven’t seen him around. You remember what those days were like.”

The two men shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. Dean’s future brother-in-law reminded Boone of a younger version of himself—cool, confident and completely unaware of how the business wouldn’t think twice about chewing him up and spitting him out.

“If you wanted to drop in and take a listen one of these days, I’m sure Sawyer wouldn’t mind.” Boone hadn’t even been in the house five minutes and Dean had set another trap to get him in the studio.

“Mind?” Sawyer echoed. “I’d be honored.”

“We’ll see,” Boone replied halfheartedly.

“What did I say about no Grace Note talk during dinner?” Faith asked Dean.

Dean wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her temple. “I’m not eating dinner yet, so this doesn’t count. But I promise to be good the rest of the evening.”

Their display of affection, although small, still caused Boone’s chest to tighten. There had been a time in his marriage when he’d held Sara like that, when they had actually cared about one another. Sometimes it seemed unbelievable that what they’d had could have unraveled so thoroughly.

“Well, I was about to tell you dinner’s ready,” Faith said. “Why don’t you show our guest to the dining room?”

Just as they started to move, there was a knock at the front door. Sawyer hung back to answer it. Boone was pulling his chair out when he heard a familiar voice. Ruby wanted to know where she could find Boone, and it was clear her daughter wasn’t as good at keeping secrets as he had hoped. Ruby didn’t sound like she was there to thank him for keeping Violet out of jail.

“Is that Ruby?” Dean asked.

“You guys have a back door I can use?” Boone asked, pushing his chair back in.

“What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything. That woman’s got problems. Problems I don’t need.”

Dean didn’t look convinced. “Faith’s clients are like family. I wouldn’t say anything like that in front of her.”

“You wouldn’t say what in front of me?” Faith asked, carrying in a steaming casserole dish.

Dean and Boone exchanged a look, but they were saved by Sawyer.

“Ruby Wynn is outside. She says she needs a minute with Boone.”

“Ruby wants to talk to Boone?” Faith set the food on the table and wiped her bangs from her face. “Do you need a midwife for something?”

The only thing Boone needed was a way out of this, but there was no way to avoid this confrontation. He could run back to his trailer and call it a night, but now that he not only smelled dinner but also could see it, there was no way he was missing out on this meal.

“I’m kidding,” Faith said. “You probably don’t even know what she does for a living. She’s not a fan, is she?”

“They met the other day when Violet was here,” Dean explained. “I don’t think she knew who Boone was.”

Boone shot Dean a look. He didn’t need to be reminded. “I’ll be right back.”

Ruby had her back to the door as she leaned over the porch railing. She righted herself and spun around at the sound of the creaky screen door.

“Porch spying again?” he asked, knowing it would get a rise out of her.

He could certainly see that fire in her eyes. “I thought we had an agreement.”

“Yet here you are keeping me from the delicious dinner that’s waiting for me inside.”

She took a step toward him. Her proximity was unsettling, mainly because there was something about it that he liked. “Maybe I wasn’t clear, but staying away from me includes staying away from my daughter. She told me what you did today, and I don’t appreciate your meddling.”

“If by meddling you mean keeping your daughter from getting arrested for shoplifting...” Boone barked a laugh.

“You’re not funny.”

He wasn’t trying to be funny. He was just as annoyed as she was. “I have no idea what you’re so hot about—I did her a favor. But I’ll be happy to let the police deal with your kid next time.”

“It’s obvious you don’t know what it takes to parent a teenager.”

Boone bristled at her assumption. “You don’t know anything about me and my parenting.”

She seemed to take pause. “You’re right. We don’t know anything about one another, and I thought we wanted to keep it that way.”

“I do.” Like Boone had told Dean, he didn’t need or want Ruby’s problems. Her kid was entertaining, but not enough to put up with this kind of nonsense.

“Then I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t do Violet any more favors. She’s going through some tough stuff.” She bit her bottom lip and wrung her hands. “Her dad isn’t really involved in her life. I am doing my best, but sometimes my best isn’t enough. We come here to work with Jesse, and some days I think it’s helping, and then days like today make me think no matter what I do, I can’t make things right for her...”

Boone stood silent as Ruby dumped all of her parenting fears like a pile of dirty laundry right at his feet. Her worry and insecurity were palpable. The empathy he felt in return was unexpected, but her emotions were so similar to the ones he wrestled with every day. Parenting was a lot tougher than he’d ever imagined, and it was nice to know other people struggled to get it right.

Ruby leaned against the railing. Her vulnerability was so much more attractive than her anger. “I’m sorry. None of this matters to you.”

“Don’t apologize.” He stepped closer. He wouldn’t touch her no matter how much his fingers were itching to. “I get it. I have a teenager, too. You might not believe me, but I know how it feels to wonder if you’re doing this parenting thing right or not. And I’m sorry for making things harder for you today. I really thought stopping her from stealing was doing the right thing.”

“It probably was,” she relented with a sigh. “The bigger issue was conspiring with her not to tell me. I can’t help her if I don’t know what’s going on. Hearing it from you would have been better than from my neighbor, who thought you were trying to kidnap my daughter, by the way.”

“Kidnapping? Seriously?” People were unbelievable.

“One thing you need to learn about a small town is that someone is always watching.” Ruby smiled, and it sure looked good on her. “Trust me—it’s not my favorite part, either.”

“Maybe we have more in common than we first thought.”

“We should start over.” She held out a hand. “I’m Ruby Wynn—midwife, Worst Mother of the Year according to my daughter, and Tennessee’s biggest Pink Floyd fan. Welcome to Grass Lake.”

“You’re a Pink Floyd fan? No wonder you had no idea who I was.” Boone shook her hand. “Boone Williams—Grammy Award winner, incredibly handsome country music superstar and not exactly the most humble guy in the world.”

“I might have noticed that,” she said with a laugh.

They were still holding hands, but she didn’t seem to mind and, much to Boone’s surprise, neither did he. She had beautiful green eyes and cheeks that looked naturally pink.

“This went a lot better than I thought it would,” he said, letting her go.

Ruby’s gaze dropped to her hand and then went back up to him. “Yeah, well, I should let you get back to your dinner. Have a good night.”

“You, too.” Boone watched her go down the steps and walk to her car. The last thing he expected was to have compassion for the woman who’d made him want to pull his hair out a few days ago. “Hey!” he shouted to get her attention. “You can’t be the worst mom in the world. Your kid might be a pain, but she’s brave and has a sense of humor that makes her interesting.”

“Interesting’s good?”

Boone didn’t have to think twice. Violet wasn’t the only interesting one in the family. “Always.”

CHAPTER SIX

VIOLET DIDN’T TALK to Ruby for two days. The silent treatment finally came to an end when she needed something. So typical.

“One of my flip-flops broke. I need new ones. Can you take me to get another pair?”

“Oh my goodness, she speaks!”

Violet rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “Are you done?”

“Are you?” Ruby looked up from her laptop.

“Forget it. I’ll ask Dad.” Violet turned to go.

Good luck with that, Ruby thought but didn’t say aloud. She hit Print on her laptop so she had the documents she needed for her next patient. “I can take you in about an hour, but you’ll have to come with me to check on one of my mommies-to-be.”

“Fine,” Violet said, climbing the stairs back to her room, where she had been holed up since the attempted shoplifting incident. The child was so stubborn; she could argue with a wall...and win.

“Knock, knock,” Holly said, opening the front door and popping her head in. “Can I come in?”

“You’re my landlord.” Ruby shut her laptop. “Of course you can.”

Holly dropped her purse on the floor and flopped down next to Ruby on the couch. “Jon’s sister took the boys to the lake to go swimming, and I have a whole hour of me time.”

“So you came here for wine or chocolate?”

“Chocolate. My four-year-old patted my belly last night and asked me if there was a baby in there. If I have to endure looking as though I’m eating for two, I might as well enjoy it.”

Ruby couldn’t keep from giggling. “Oh, come on. It was probably just wishful thinking on his part. Zander’s always saying he wants a baby sister.”

“Well, he can keep wishing if he wants to, but my baby-making days are over.”

Ruby went to the kitchen and grabbed two chocolate chip cookies she had made the day before in a failed attempt at luring Violet out of her room. She handed one to Holly and took a bite of the other.

“They weren’t both for me and my pretend baby?” Holly whined as Ruby sat back down.

Ruby elbowed her friend playfully in the side. “At least your children talk to you and ask questions about how you’re doing.”

“Vi’s at it again, huh? What did you do this time?” Holly asked before devouring her cookie and snatching Ruby’s half-eaten one from her hand.

“I grounded her from all electronic devices for one week. You would think it was a fate worse than death.”

“How long could you live without your phone?” Holly challenged her.

“I use my phone for work. It’s a necessary evil.”

It was Holly’s turn to laugh. “Keep telling yourself that. I saw your new high score on Jelly Chains posted to Facebook. Was that for work?”

Ruby gave her another elbow.

“Speaking of work,” Holly continued. “Any chance you asked Boone Williams about that interview?”

Hearing his name sent a strange tingle through Ruby’s body. Ever since they’d made amends on the Strattons’ front porch, she couldn’t stop thinking about the way he had looked at her and tried to make her feel better about her shortcomings as a mother.

“I’m not too sure he’s a big fan of the press.”

“Oh, please. I’m hardly the press. We’re a tiny paper, eager to hear what the other half thinks of our humble hometown.”

Ruby smiled. “Boone and humble definitely don’t mix.”

“So you asked him and he flat out said no?”

“I mentioned I had a friend at the Gazette, and he made it clear he wasn’t interested in being interviewed.” Ruby left out the part where she had threatened to have Holly write a scathing article on his bad behavior.

“Did you at least get him to sign something for me?”

Ruby cringed. “I forgot,” she said, making Holly frown. “But I will the next time I see him. Violet’s got a session over there tomorrow.”

“Maybe I could come with you. If he meets me, he’ll like me and want to do the interview.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” The foundation of Boone and Ruby’s truce wasn’t the strongest. Bringing “the press” would likely cause some strain.

A couple of days ago, Ruby wouldn’t have cared. But Boone had shown her something she absolutely hadn’t been expecting—compassion. He had also made her believe his intentions were to help and not make things harder on her when he intervened with Violet.

“What’s that look?” Holly snapped Ruby out of her thoughts.

“What look?”

“That’s the look you got the first time you saw Levi ride a bull at the rodeo,” Holly accused her.

Ruby shook her head. “No way. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

The first time she had seen Levi, she’d been a naive twenty-year-old with absolutely no idea what she wanted in life. Falling for a cute bull rider had seemed like a perfectly rebellious thing to do. It was a stupid crush that had turned into a horrible marriage that ended in an even worse divorce.

Ruby did not have a crush on Boone Williams. And she certainly wasn’t some naive kid without a clue. Ruby knew exactly what she wanted, and it had nothing to do with getting involved with a man who clearly had more issues than she did.

“You stared into those blue eyes and got Booned, didn’t you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Booned. It’s what happens when Boone Williams makes you fall in love with one look.”

Ruby let out a sarcastic chuckle. “I did not fall in love in Boone Williams. In fact, his first impression was terrible.”

“And then he gazed into your eyes and you were Booned. It’s okay. You can admit it. He’s the hottest guy over thirty-five I have ever seen.”

“Holly, I was not Booned. He was a total jerk that day I stopped by your office. Then he caught Violet shoplifting, and instead of telling me what happened, he told her to keep quiet about it.” Ruby went on to share her embarrassing conversation with Mary Ellen and her confrontation with Boone. “In the end, he apologized for not telling me and we parted on friendly terms. At no time did he Boone me with his eyes. I swear.”

“I can’t believe he cared enough to look out for our little Violet. That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard.”

“That’s your takeaway from this story?” The woman was hopeless. Ruby had always trusted Holly to be a levelheaded, reasonable person, and here she was acting like a love-struck teenager.

“I think the boys and I would like to come with you to the farm tomorrow. They think the horses are cool. And I want to see for myself that you can resist Boone Williams the way you say you can.”

Hopeless and impossible. Holly was almost as stubborn as Violet, and that was saying something. “Fine. I can’t stop you from showing up at Helping Hooves, but I am not hunting down Boone while I’m there.”

“Don’t worry.” Her best friend smiled. “Leave that to me.”

* * *

THE NEXT DAY, Ruby’s stomach was in knots. Holly brought the boys over for lunch and couldn’t be talked out of following Ruby and Violet to Helping Hooves.

She prayed Boone would be nowhere to be seen and there would be no way for Holly to get to him. She didn’t want him to think she’d ignored what he’d said about interviews. His mistrust of the media was clear.

“Did Dad text you to get the information on the horse show yet?” Violet asked.

Ruby’s worries about Boone quickly shifted to the familiar worries regarding Levi. “I haven’t heard from him, but I’ll call him tonight and remind him to check the email I sent him last week.”

“Make sure you don’t start a fight. He won’t show up if you make him mad.”

That was what Violet always believed when Levi ditched out on her. It was always Ruby’s fault. Violet’s defense mechanism was to believe her mother must have said or done something to set her dad off. She refused to see his selfish and manipulative behavior for what it was.

Not that Ruby could blame her. Who would want to believe their father was such a class A jerk? Ruby had never liked to admit her own dad was one.

“You guys aren’t going to stay the whole time, are you?” Violet asked as they pulled into the parking area.

“Probably not. Holly is hoping to meet Boone, but I’m sure he’s—”

She was going to say not around, except there he was, leaning against the paddock fence. Dressed in dark blue jeans and a red plaid button-down, he fit right in. His black cowboy hat shaded those blue eyes, but that didn’t stop them from taking Ruby’s breath away when he turned his gaze on her.

“Oh, he’s going to love having a real fan. Maybe she’ll let him sign something and his life can be complete,” Violet quipped as she opened the door.

Ruby eased out of the car and hoped she didn’t blush when he tipped his hat at her. She could only imagine what Holly would say.

“Boone and I were just talking about you two,” Jesse said. Ruby hadn’t even noticed he had been standing there.

“Whatever he told you happened at Valu-Save is probably a lie,” Violet said.

“He didn’t tell me anything about Valu-Save, but I hope you will, now that I know there’s something to tell,” Jesse said with a grin only he could get away with when dealing with Violet.

Ruby enjoyed the rush of relief. Thankfully Violet had ratted herself out, and she wouldn’t have to be the bearer of bad news to Jesse this time. When she glanced at Boone, he was smiling back at her like he thought she had been smiling at him. She hadn’t been. She wanted to explain she had only been reacting to her good fortune and look away, but she was caught like a rabbit in a snare.

The slamming of car doors finally jarred her loose. Holly lifted Henry, her youngest, out of his car seat. The two-year-old pointed at the black horse in the paddock with an expression of pure joy on his face.

“Boone was just telling me he’s pretty familiar with some of the horse shows and riding competitions around Nashville,” Jesse said. “His daughter rides, so I thought Violet could show him what she can do on Sassy and get some feedback.”

“That would be nice of you,” Ruby said, her lips still curled up in that stupid smile she really needed to get rid of before Holly noticed. “My friend and her boys are here to watch a little, too. I hope that’s okay, Jesse.”

“As long as it’s okay with Violet.”

“Whatever,” Violet replied with a shrug. “More people means less serious talk.”

Holly sidled up to Ruby. “What beautiful horses! The boys want to know what the black one’s name is.”

“That’s Renegade,” Jesse answered, stepping forward. Boone seemed happy to hide behind him.

Jesse named the other two horses and introduced himself, as well. He did not mention Boone, which meant Ruby would have to. Hopefully Holly wouldn’t do anything embarrassing or lead with a request for an interview. But Ruby didn’t think Boone could Boone her so badly that she’d make a fool of herself.

“Holly is a big country music fan. I hope it’s okay that I brought her by. I promise she won’t throw herself at you or anything, Boone. At least not while she’s holding Henry.”

Boone was hesitant but inched forward. “Well, I’m surprised someone like you is friends with someone who knows who I am. I thought maybe you only hung out with progressive rock types,” he teased.

“I’ll have you know I’m a very open-minded friend. I do not judge based on musical preference. Unless they tell me something crazy, like boy bands are more musically significant than Pink Floyd. Then we can’t be friends.”

The grin on Boone’s face exposed his straight white teeth. “The New Kids got nothing on Roger Waters.”

“I knew you were smarter than you looked,” Ruby replied with a grin of her own.

“Booned,” Holly said in a cough. Ruby felt her cheeks heat up. “Don’t listen to a word this woman has to say about music, Boone. If she gave country music a chance, she’d love it.”

Boone’s attention shifted to Holly. “You sound like a woman who has her head on straight. You’re a big fan of my work?”

“The biggest, but I’m not the only one here in Grass Lake. We have a ton of Boone Williams fans. I’m editor in chief of the Grass Lake Gazette, so I have my finger on the pulse of this town, and I would love to interview you about how you like it here so far.”

Boone’s smile faded. His whole body seemed to tense and his jaw ticked. Holly had done it. With one foolish confession, she had gotten him to put his wall back up.

“Well, that’s mighty interesting,” he said, backing away. “But I’m not doing any press while I’m here. You ladies take care. Jesse, I’m going to have to take a pass on helping out today.”

Ruby chased after him as soon as he took off. She caught him behind the Strattons’ house. “Come on, don’t be like this.”

He stopped and turned around. “Is this all some sort of game to you?”

“No! I swear I didn’t bring her here to start trouble. We cleared the air, remember?”

“I thought so until I realized you brought a reporter here to snoop into my life.”

Ruby blew out a frustrated breath. “She edits the Grass Lake Gazette. It’s a small-town paper, not a gossip magazine. The most scintillating thing they’ve ever written about was when Grace Reilly’s roses beat Joyce Newberry’s in the Grass Lake Garden Contest. Relax.”

“Don’t tell me to relax. Until you’ve had your face on every magazine known to man with headlines that are bald-faced lies, I have no reason to trust your advice on which reporters are safe to talk to or not.”

“I don’t know any reporters other than Holly, but I know Holly like I know my family. She’s a good person with honest intentions. There is not one malicious bone in her body.”

“I’m not doing an interview. I thought I’d made that clear.”

“Well, don’t punish Violet because you’re mad at me. Please.” It wasn’t like Ruby to beg, but she felt like it was the only thing that might change his mind.

“I’d have to care about you to be mad at you,” he said. His words sent a chill through Ruby that she hadn’t felt in a long time. They stared wordlessly at one another for a full thirty seconds before he continued his retreat to wherever he planned to hide from the world he was so sure was out to get him.

CHAPTER SEVEN

BOONE HAD HIS mind made up about Ruby Wynn. The woman was nothing but trouble. She pushed his buttons and flashed him those smiles. He never knew which way was up with her, and he didn’t have the energy to figure it out.

“Boone, I need your help,” Jesse said as he knocked on the door of the Airstream. “I promise the coast is clear.”

Boone was still on the fence about Jesse. He seemed like a nice guy, but he wanted inside Boone’s head for sure. The man could have all the good intentions in the world; it didn’t mean he would be good at actually helping Boone through this struggle.

Boone pushed the door open. “I’m a little busy. You sure you need my help?”

“Busy hiding in the trailer? Come on. We need to get a stall ready for a new horse. Faith went to pick it up, and I told her we’d be ready when she got back.”

“Don’t you have volunteers for this kind of stuff?”

“You are a volunteer. Wasn’t that the point of you coming here? Do some work, clear your head? Nothing clears a head like physical labor. Here...” Jesse tossed him a pair of work gloves. “You’ll need these.”

Boone stepped back inside and grabbed his hat. Jesse didn’t appear to be a man who took no for an answer. As they walked to the barn, Boone noticed Ruby’s car was gone, along with her friend’s. They probably left right away when they didn’t get what they came for. Everyone wanted a piece of him. He didn’t know why he’d thought Ruby was any different.

“Let’s sweep this stall out before we lay down some fresh straw,” Jesse said, handing Boone a broom.

Jesse did all the talking as they got to work. He shared information about the new horse and how excited he was to train it with Faith’s help. Jesse clearly had a passion for the animals.

“How exactly did you become a social-worker-slash-riding-instructor-slash-horse-trainer? I didn’t know there were colleges giving away degrees in that.”

Jesse stopped working and rested both hands on the top of the broom handle. “Well, I grew up with horses. We had a ranch about forty miles from here. I loved it. I think horses are the most amazing animals on the planet.”

Boone kept sweeping as his curiosity got the best of him. “So why get a degree in social work?”

“That story’s a little bit more complicated. Did you notice I said we had a horse ranch? My dad was a good man, but he had a gambling addiction. It cost him and my mother everything they had spent their lives working for. The bank foreclosed on the ranch on my sixteenth birthday. All the money I thought my parents had put away for me to go to college was gone. We had to move in with my grandparents. My parents split about a year later.”

Boone froze. He wasn’t expecting Jesse to share something so personal.

“Ever since then, I’ve been fascinated by the power of addiction,” Jesse explained. “How could a decent man who loved his family let his life fall apart? How did betting on a horse race or a football game become more important than putting food on the table? My father would tell you it wasn’t more important, but he couldn’t stop himself. Losing was painful, but when he won, he claimed there was no feeling like it. He had to chase it. That’s how I fell into social work.”

The weight of his own shame made Boone weak in the knees. He leaned against the wall for support. Somewhere along the line in his life, alcohol had become more important than everything else—his marriage, his career, his daughter. It wasn’t more important, but Boone couldn’t stop. His body literally craved it, even after all these months of sobriety.

Jesse pushed his broom around. “Thanks to scholarships, loans and working any job I could get, I managed to pay my way through college and graduate school. I learned everything I could about addiction and treatment. I believe that people can overcome their addictions with the right tools and a lot of determination. I tried to convince my dad to get help, but he was too stubborn and proud. Three months before I graduated with my master’s degree, he died, carrying more debt than I had at the time.”

“That’s quite a story,” Boone said.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, my mom used to say.”

“It’s like this place was made for you.”

“That’s exactly how I feel.” Jesse smiled, and the wrinkles around his eyes appeared. “I like to imagine my dad had something to do with it. I think he’d be happy to see me doing something I love while helping people like him at the same time.”

“You think you can help someone like me?” Boone asked, unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

“I can help anyone who wants it badly enough and is willing to work hard. There’s no miracle cure for addiction. It’s not easy, and you have to be willing to fight it the rest of your life. Some people have the strength to do that and some don’t.”

This wasn’t a new message. No one ever gave Boone any guarantees. All the doctors and counselors liked to remind him that he was in control of his treatment. Jesse was the first one to make him almost believe it.

“I might be a lost cause.”

Jesse pressed his lips together while he seemed to consider that self-assessment. “If that’s what you truly believe, then what are you doing here mucking stalls with me?”

It was an excellent question. Boone didn’t want to die with a million regrets. He wanted his daughter to answer the phone when he called. He wanted to shake the feeling that everyone was waiting for him to fail. “I don’t want to be one.”

Jesse put a hand on Boone’s shoulder. “Then you don’t have to be.”

* * *

THE TWO MEN had the stall ready to go when Faith returned home with the newest member of the Helping Hooves family. The blue roan filly was a beauty. Her head was dark like her mane and tail, but her body was a bluish gray.

“Isn’t she gorgeous?” Faith asked once she’d backed her out of the trailer. She tried to lead her toward the barn. The horse had other ideas. She wasn’t going anywhere.

Jesse snickered at her struggle. “She’s got a little stubborn streak, huh?”

Faith had the patience of a saint. She stayed calm and encouraged the horse to come along. “We’ve got our work cut out for us, but she’s going to be something special. I know it.”

“What’s her name?” Boone asked.

“They called her Willow.”

Boone stepped closer, and Willow pulled on her lead to back away. “Hey there, sweet Willow,” he said, running a hand down the side of her neck to calm her. “You are a pretty girl, aren’t you?”

“You want to try?” Faith asked, offering him the lead.

Boone took the rope and kept talking to the horse. She seemed to like his attention and took a step forward when he moved toward the barn.

“Well, look at that. I think we have ourselves a horse whisperer,” Jesse said to Faith.

“Or another Boone Williams fan,” Faith joked.

Boone led the horse into the barn. She immediately went to the water and took a drink.

Jesse stood outside the stall. “I may have found the perfect job for you.”

“Dare I ask what?”

“How do you feel about helping us train Willow to do some therapy?”

“I don’t know what that means, but I wouldn’t mind working with this lovely lady.” Boone held some alfalfa hay out for Willow, and she took it without hesitation.

“We need to talk about something first,” Jesse said, making Boone’s stomach turn. He liked the horse-training Jesse better than Jesse the social worker.

Faith took that as her cue to go. “I’m going to clean out the trailer. I’ll check in with you later, Jesse. Good to see you again, Boone.”

Boone could have sworn the stall walls moved inward. His heart beat faster, almost painfully. “What do we need to talk about?”

“I need to know what’s up with you and Ruby Wynn.”

That was not the issue Boone assumed he wanted to discuss. “What does Ruby have to do with me helping you with this horse?”

“Holly threatened your sense of privacy. I get that. What I don’t understand is why that impacted your relationship with Ruby and your willingness to help Violet.”

“Ruby knew I wasn’t interested in being interviewed, and she still brought that reporter here,” Boone answered. His anger reignited. “That woman is a beautiful disaster, and I’m not going to let her bring me down.”

“It was Ruby’s fault you felt anxious, so as punishment you wouldn’t watch Violet ride. Do I have that right?”

The way Jesse said it made Boone sound like a child. “It’s not that simple. I wasn’t punishing anyone. I needed to walk away because I was frustrated.”

“And when you’re frustrated, escaping is the easiest thing to do?”

Boone’s agitation increased. He could feel his muscles tense and his blood race through his veins. “No, the easiest thing to do is scream and yell, but that’s gotten me in trouble, and I was trying not to make a scene. What does this have to do with Willow?”

“First, this horse is going to frustrate you. Screaming at her isn’t going to help. You already know that. Walking away isn’t going to help me. I need to know that you’re willing to try some other strategies.”

“Sure,” Boone replied gruffly. A stubborn horse wasn’t anything like a stubborn woman. He could manage his frustrations with the horse because it wasn’t going to be personal. He could do this. He wanted to do this. He imagined Emmy answering the phone to hear all about his work with Willow.

“The other issue is, I promised Violet I would let her help with the new horse. You can’t join the team if that’s going to be a problem for you.”

The wind was quickly taken from Boone’s sails. Of course Ruby would ruin this for him...unless he didn’t let her.

“I’ve got no issue with the kid. I don’t have to work with her mother. So what’s the problem?”

“Violet doesn’t need to get caught in the middle of two more people who don’t see eye to eye. She can’t be someone you use to show Ruby you’re frustrated.”

Was that what he had done? Inadvertently, yes. He had needed to get as far away from the reporter as possible. He hadn’t thought about how his refusal to stick around to watch Violet ride would affect her. The only person he wanted to hurt was Ruby.

“The kid won’t be put in the middle. I didn’t mean to do that, and it won’t happen again.”

Jesse clapped his hands. “Then we start tomorrow.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

“ARE YOU SURE you want to spend the rest of your summer at Helping Hooves, volunteering?” Ruby wanted to make sure Violet really understood what she was committing to. She couldn’t admit she didn’t want Violet to do it because it meant Ruby would have to drive her there and pick her up several days a week. Each visit was a potential run-in with Boone, a man she’d had the displeasure of knowing for all of a week.

“Oh my gosh, Mom. Jesse is going to show me how to train a therapy horse. Maybe Faith will let me work with her like the high school girls do.”

Not surprising Violet wanted to be like the high schoolers. She was thirteen going on eighteen. There was no way Ruby was going to convince her daughter this was a bad idea. She was much too excited.

“I guess that means yes, you want to do it. What time did he say you needed to be there?”

“Nine. Eat your breakfast faster. I don’t want to be late.” Violet snatched a blueberry muffin off the table and headed back upstairs to finish getting ready.

Ruby should have known Violet was serious about this when she was up and moving before eleven. All Ruby could do now was accept that there would eventually be some sort of awkward face-to-face with Boone.

Letting Holly come along had been the worst idea ever. Boone had proved to be exactly like Levi. Her ex-husband loved to blow everything out of proportion and didn’t care about anyone except for himself.

“Let’s go, Mom!” Violet shouted from the front door.

Ruby stood up and grabbed her purse. The things she did for this child. Although this time, she hoped Boone was there when she arrived, so she could get the awkwardness out of the way.

Her prayers were answered. Boone and Jesse were standing outside the barn when she drove into the farm. They watched the car pull in, and surprisingly Boone didn’t run off.

“Don’t get out of the car, Mom. Come back at eleven and wait in the car for me.”

Apparently Ruby wasn’t the only one worried about what would happen when she had to confront Boone again. “I’m not going to embarrass you, I promise.”

“Yeah, I totally trust you.” Violet’s sarcasm was not Ruby’s favorite. “Please stay in the car.”

Ruby did as Violet asked. There was no reason for her to start trouble with an angry teenager and an angry country star. She didn’t avert her eyes when Boone stared her down, though. She held his gaze until he was the one to look away. It was a small victory, but a victory all the same.

She drove home, determined to push all thoughts of Boone out of her mind. It was impossible that she could be under some strange spell like Holly claimed. Maybe he was a bit intriguing and quite handsome, but he was also stubborn and mean. His negative traits outweighed the positives.

Ruby’s phone rang just as she pulled into her driveway. Levi’s name appeared on the screen. Given a choice, she would have preferred fighting with Boone to fighting with Levi, but she wasn’t lucky enough to choose.

“Hello?”

“Ruby? I thought I was calling Violet’s phone.”

No, he didn’t. He had pulled this trick a time or two, especially when he had bad news to share with Violet but didn’t want to be the one who had to tell her.

“Violet is at the horse farm. Should I have her call you when she’s done?”

“Oh, I thought she’d be sleeping. Does she have an early-morning lesson?”

Ruby took a deep breath to keep her frustration from spilling over. She got out of her car and headed inside. “She’s volunteering there now. They got a new horse, and she’s learning how to train it to do therapy.”

“Wow. Good for her! What kind of horse is it?”

There was no need for all this small talk. “What do you want, Levi? Do you want me to have her call you when she gets done?”

“No, no, no,” Levi insisted. “I was just calling about that email you sent with the info on Violet’s horse show. Next weekend is kind of a busy one for me—”

Ruby lost what was left of her patience and cut him off. “Don’t you dare back out. You know how important this is to her. She has worked really hard, and she wants you to see what she can do. Your opinion matters to her.”

Violet was dying for her father’s approval. Levi was a bull rider. He wasn’t a huge star but made a decent living doing it. Violet thought riding was the way to prove to him that she was worthy of his attention.

“I didn’t say I wasn’t coming. I just need you to know that there’s a possibility I might only be able to drop by for part of it. I have a life, you know?”

He had a life? Ruby was about to hang up but stopped herself. If she turned this into a fight, he would tell Violet he hadn’t come because of what her mother did or said.

“I know you have a life. You also have a daughter. I trust you’ll do the right thing.”

“Of course you try to make me feel bad,” Levi complained. “I’m doing the best I can, Ruby. Sorry I’m not perfect like you.”

Ruby tried not to laugh. “I’m far from perfect, but I am here. Every day. Trying to do what’s best for her.”

“You’re the one who moved out of Nashville. You’re the one who thought you could do this on your own. That’s not my fault.”

Levi loved to blame that one on her. As if he was such a big help when they were living within the city limits. Even then, Ruby was raising Violet on her own.

“You do what you have to do. I hope you make it to the competition. Vi really wants you to be there.”

Levi wouldn’t let it go. He wanted a fight even if she wasn’t going to give him one. “You act like I said I wasn’t coming. I called to say I was coming but wouldn’t be able to stay the whole time. You love to make me the bad guy, don’t you?”

“I’m not calling you a bad guy. I will let her know that you’ll be there.”

“Well, if you’re going to be like this, I’m not sure if I will. I don’t deserve to be treated this way.”

Ruby sat down at the kitchen table and propped her head on her hand. Classic Levi. He instigated the argument and imagined insults she might have thought but didn’t say aloud. It would be all her fault when he didn’t show up to the competition, and Violet would believe it.

“What if I promise not to say a word? Will you come then?”

“You don’t have to say anything to make me feel judged. You say plenty with one of your dirty looks.”

“I promise not to give you any dirty looks or say anything that could be construed as an insult. Please come,” she begged.

“I’ll think about it. As much as I want to go to support our daughter, I don’t know if I can trust you.”

“I hope you will.” She wanted to tell him to put Violet first for once but figured he’d take it the wrong way. Someone was on the other line. “I have to go, Levi. One of my patients is calling.”

“Right,” he said before hanging up.

Ruby wanted to scream, but there really was a patient calling. Iris Downing was thirty-nine weeks pregnant and had called last night about some back pain. Today her contractions were coming every ten minutes. She’d been timing them for almost an hour.

It was time to go to work. A baby would be born today, and it was Ruby’s job to see to it that the delivery went smoothly. Mrs. Downing would be in charge of smoothing out the bumps for the little boy or girl after that. Hopefully she’d be better at it than Ruby was.

CHAPTER NINE

BOONE AND VIOLET watched Jesse try to get Willow to follow his lead without much success. The horse wasn’t just stubborn. She was completely unmanageable.

“I think she’s laughing at him,” Violet said.

The horse whinnied and pulled Jesse backward. Boone chuckled. “She’s definitely laughing at him.”

“I don’t think she’s going to be a very good therapy horse. I think she needs therapy.”

Boone laughed harder. “You might be right about that, kid.”

Violet’s phone chimed in her back pocket. She pulled it out and started typing a reply to someone at the speed of light. Boone had never seen fingers move that fast. She waited for a reply and sent off another message like lightning. The next reply caused her to growl and type even faster.

“Everything okay over there?”

“My mom seriously hates me.”

Boone wondered why kids always thought that. Why did they think not getting their way meant their parents didn’t care about them? Had he been like that as a kid? He didn’t think so.

“What’s the problem? She tell you she isn’t going to buy you the new Jordan O’Neil record?” Girls Violet’s age all had a thing for the young pop star.

“Um, no. Ew. I don’t listen to Jordan O’Neil. Do I look like that kind of girl? If I do, please kill me now.”

So dramatic. Boone shook his head. “I have no idea what those kinds of girl look like. You seem like you’re the right age to listen to someone like him. Don’t you follow him and all the other cute boys in the teenybopper magazines?”

Violet’s nose scrunched up as she side-eyed him. “Seriously? No one says teenybopper. That’s not even a thing anymore. It’s not 1950, old man.”

Boone held up his hands in defeat. “Sorry, Miss Smarty-Pants. I’m not up-to-date on all the lingo.”

“No one says lingo or smarty-pants. You should stop talking,” she said as she shot off another text message.

If this was what Ruby had to put up with every day, he was beginning to feel bad for her. “Are you going to tell me what your mom’s done that’s got you all upset or not?”

“She says she can’t come get me on time because someone decided to go into labor. And she’s not sure she can find someone to drive me home.”

“Oh yeah, she totally hates you,” Boone said with a roll of his eyes. He could tell her stories about his childhood that would give her some serious perspective on what a mean and nasty parent was like. “And the nerve of that lady to decide to go into labor when you have plans. So rude.”

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