by Amy Vastine
Boone was a pro at pushing people away. He’d managed to do it to everyone he cared about.
Violet apparently felt the same. “But I’m so good at pushing. You always tell me to focus on my strengths.”
“Just because you’re good at it doesn’t make it one of your strengths,” Jesse corrected her.
“I’ll try if you try,” Boone offered. Maybe if they did it together, they’d be more successful. The buddy system was a thing, wasn’t it?
Violet bit her lip while she thought about it. “Fine. But when I do it better than you, don’t cry.”
“Oh, I am going to be so in touch with my feelings, I’ll be crying only when it’s appropriate. Like when I’m watching movies where the dog dies at the end or one of those videos of soldiers returning home and surprising their family members.”
“What’s up with those videos?” Violet asked. “Are they trying to wreck all of us? Did you see the one where the guy comes home and the dog is so happy to see him, it actually starts crying? The dog hugged him for, like, ten minutes.”
“How about the one where the guy surprises his sister on her wedding day? That one got me choked up,” Jesse chimed in.
Violet disagreed. “That one wasn’t really that sad.”
“That’s because you don’t have a brother. If you did, you would have gotten super emotional.”
“One of my friends back in Nashville has a brother, and she hates him.”
Boone shook his head. This child could win an argument about anything. Poor Ruby.
Just as he thought her name, she appeared outside the arena. The sundress she wore fluttered in the late-summer breeze. She was a petite thing and pretty enough that men could write songs about her.
He handed Jesse the lead rope and went over to say hi.
“How’d it go today?” she asked. Her lips were glossy, and he liked it when she wore her hair down so it fell past her shoulders. It looked soft to the touch, and he imagined it would smell sweet if he dipped his head near the crook of her neck and inhaled.
“I think Violet and I got more out of it than Willow did, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
Her smile reached those sparkling eyes. “You mean I’m getting some free therapy out of this?”
“Heck yeah, but don’t tell Violet.”
“Don’t tell Violet what?” the surly teenager asked.
Boone turned to the side, inviting her into their conversation. “How bad you smell. I know you’re sensitive about these things.”
“Be careful. If I start getting in touch with my feelings, mean words like that could hurt them.”
“Did you ask him yet?” Ruby asked Violet.
“Oh my gosh, Mom. No. And thanks for bringing it up right in front of him.”
Boone furrowed his brow. “Why are you always so tough on your mom? You know it’s not a big deal to ask me something.”
“It’s nothing,” Violet said, kicking up some of the dirt. “I just thought maybe you’d help me prepare for my next horse show instead of Jesse. The next one I’m signed up for is bigger than the last one, and I probably need to practice more than once a week.”
The feelings her request sent bursting forth were difficult to avoid. He was both touched and scared out of his mind. “I don’t know what to say. You sure you want my help and not someone else’s?”
Violet’s eyes cast down. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine. I can skip it or see if Faith will do it.”
“Hey.” He set his hand on her shoulder and waited for her to look up. “If you want me to help train you, I would be honored.”
“You don’t have to do that much, really. A couple of extra lessons should be enough. And then you could come to the show, if you wanted. Help me with Sassy’s tack.”
“I can handle all that.”
“Since you’re being so amenable...” Ruby said, reaching into her purse and pulling out a few folded sheets of paper. “Holly emailed me these questions to ask you for the interview. I figured it would probably be simplest if you just write your answers down, and I’ll give it back to her. Super easy.”
Boone had been looking forward to spending some time with Ruby, answering her questions, and now she was trying to get out of it? “No way. You write down the answers, not me. And it’s your interview, not Holly’s. If I wanted to answer Holly’s questions, I would have let Holly interview me.”
Ruby’s face fell. “Oh, come on. This is ridiculous. I don’t know what questions to ask. Look at these.” She tried to hand the papers to him again. “They’re harmless. You don’t have to give away any personal information.”
“Then I guess there won’t be an interview.”
“Holly will never forgive me.” Ruby seemed to think about it for a couple seconds. “When can you meet to be interviewed?”
“How about tomorrow?” Boone suggested. “We aren’t working with Willow, so my morning is wide-open.” Jesse was the one who said having a purpose helped fight the depression. Spending some time with Ruby was a good reason to get out of bed.
“Fine. I’ll be here at ten,” Ruby said. Boone could have sworn he saw her fighting a smile. Maybe she wasn’t so upset about doing this interview. “Let’s go, Violet. I have to see a patient at the office after lunch.” She turned back to Boone and said, “Until tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow.”
* * *
AS HE STEPPED into his trailer, Boone realized there was no way he could have Ruby in here without doing some deep cleaning. He hadn’t picked up after himself very well over the past couple of weeks.
He had a stack of dirty dishes and trash that needed to be tossed. Clothes needed to be washed and put away. Everything needed a good wipe-down. More purpose. That was a good thing. Supposedly.
He picked up a T-shirt that had been on the ground and gave it a sniff. The stench almost knocked him out.
“Boone, are you in there?” Dean shouted from outside.
Boone contemplated whether he should acknowledge the question or not. If he got dragged into the studio today, he’d never get this place in tip-top shape.
Dean rapped on the door. “Boone, I know you’re in there.”
Boone pushed open the door. “Do you have a cleaning lady I could borrow for a couple of hours? I also need someone to wash some clothes.”
“I’ll help you figure that out. I’ve got a surprise for you. Come on.”
Something about this surprise made Boone’s shoulders tense. “Tell me what it is or I’m not coming.”
“Just come on,” Dean said, grabbing Boone’s forearm and tugging him out of the Airstream.
“This had better be good.” Boone tossed the smelly shirt he’d been holding back inside.
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you working with Sawyer and offering some advice. You really helped him get over that last hurdle.”
Boone didn’t feel like he had done that much. Sawyer was talented; he simply needed a push in the right direction.
As they rounded the side of the farmhouse, a black Navigator came into view. “You got me a car? Finally!”
“Oh, no.” Dean stopped, causing Boone to bump into him. “That’s not the surprise. It brought the surprise. Come on.”
Boone had a sinking feeling. Two people stood on the porch. One was an older man and the other was a young blonde woman. As soon as the woman spotted Boone, she covered her mouth with her hands like she had just been told she’d won a hundred million dollars. Was she crying?
Boone didn’t follow Dean up the steps.
“Boone Williams, meet Piper Starling, your biggest fan and Grace Note’s other double-platinum-selling recording artist. Piper, meet the guy who’s going to teach you how to write your own songs.”
He had to be kiddin
g.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
RUBY SMOOSHED HER lips together to make sure her lipstick was evenly applied. Leaning forward, she took a closer look in the mirror. She frowned. This was what women did when they were going on a date, not meeting someone to ask them stupid questions for an even more ridiculous newspaper article that she didn’t want to write in the first place.
She grabbed a tissue and wiped the lipstick off. This was not a date. Ruby didn’t date. She definitely didn’t date men like Boone Williams. Who dated men like Boone? Rich and famous women. Country music stars, supermodels, Hollywood actresses. Midwives from small towns with sassy teenage daughters did not.
“Can I go to the lake with some friends? Whoa...” Violet leaned against the doorjamb. “Did you do something to your hair? And are you wearing mascara? Oh my gosh, you are! You’re wearing mascara and eye shadow.”
Ruby pulled a couple more tissues from the box and tried to rub off the eye shadow, too. This was humiliating.
“Stop!” Violet grabbed her arm. “It looks good. Don’t mess it up. I’m just surprised to see you with makeup on. You only get fancied up for special occasions. Is interviewing Boone a special occasion?”
“No. That’s why I should take it off.” Ruby needed facial cleanser. She was not going to get all this gunk off without some soap.
“Mom, seriously. Don’t. I think you should leave it.”
Ruby checked her reflection in the mirror again. Maybe it wasn’t too much. “Are you sure I don’t look like a clown?”
“You look really pretty, Mom.”
“Really?” Ruby couldn’t remember the last time Violet had paid her a compliment. She usually had a snarky comment about something she wore or how she did her hair. According to Violet, her mother was a complete embarrassment.
“Really. You need a little color on your lips, though.”
Ruby reapplied the lipstick and faced Violet for final inspection. “How’s that?”
“Perfect. Boone’s going to freak out.”
That sounded like a bad thing. Ruby turned on the water. She needed to wash this off. “Are you tricking me into making a fool out of myself in front of him?”
Violet reached around her to shut the water off. “No, I mean he’s going to freak out because you’re so pretty. He’s going to think you look beautiful.”
“It’s dumb to try to look good for a guy. The only person you need to look good for is yourself.”
“Oh my gosh, Mom. This does not need to be an empowerment lesson. I’m not judging you. Plus, it doesn’t even matter. He already thinks you look good.”
“What? Did he say that to you?”
Violet rolled her eyes as she adjusted one of the straps on Ruby’s dress. “If he’d said that, I would have died. I’d literally be dead right now instead of standing in this bathroom with you.”
“Then why would you say that?”
“Because he stares at you. Sometimes he gets this weird look on his face when he’s doing it.” Violet mimicked some moony face Ruby had never seen Boone make.
She laughed and shook her head. “You are such a bad liar.”
“I am not.” Violet fluffed Ruby’s hair and moved some of it over her shoulder on one side. “I am a great liar. But I’m not lying about this.”
“I’ll probably be back in an hour. I’m going to ask him the questions Holly sent me, write down his answers and leave.”
“Whatever. Can I go to the lake with Stacy and Peyton?”
“Stacy the smoker? I don’t know about that.”
“She isn’t a smoker. She wanted to try it, not do it all the time. I promise we won’t do anything illegal. I’ll be on my best behavior, I swear.”
“I don’t know. You just admitted you’re a great liar.”
“Mom! Please. I am not lying. Trust me this one time. If I screw up, you can take the horse show away from me. You know how important that is. Please.”
That was important to her. It wasn’t the kind of thing Violet would usually put on the chopping block. “Fine. But there are eyes and ears all over this town. If something gets back to me, no horse show.”
“Thank you! You are the best mom ever.” Violet kissed her on the cheek and skipped out of the room.
Funny how she was only the best mom ever when she was giving Violet exactly what she wanted. Violet had better not mess this up. Ruby did not want to be the bad guy who had to take away the horse show.
She gave herself a final once-over. Maybe she did look good. Not that it mattered. Violet had to be seeing things if she thought Boone was ogling her. Boone was not dating material, anyway. He was too handsome, too rich, too famous, too good with Violet, too everything.
That was what she was going to keep telling herself.
* * *
IT WAS TEN O’CLOCK on the dot when she pulled into the parking lot of Helping Hooves. There was a black SUV parked in front of the main house, and Dean and Faith stood on the porch.
“Hey, Ruby!” Faith called out as Ruby got out of the car.
“Hi, guys. I’m here to meet with Boone. Holly asked me to do this interview for the Gazette. Just what I needed—another job, right?”
“He’s in the studio now. Was he expecting you this morning?” Dean asked, coming down the stairs to meet her.
Ruby’s stomach dropped. She had placed so much importance on this stupid interview, and it really did mean nothing to Boone. “We set it up yesterday. But if he has work to do, we can reschedule for another time. It’s not a big deal.”
“He’s collaborating with Piper Starling on her new album. He didn’t know he’d be doing that until she showed up yesterday as a surprise,” Dean explained. “You want me to walk you back there and we’ll see how they’re doing?”
Piper Starling was the it girl right now. She had skyrocketed into stardom through country music, but she was popular with fans of other music genres, as well. Not only was she a talented young thing, she was gorgeous.
“Are you sure? I can come back.”
Dean wouldn’t hear of it. “If he set something up with you, I sure don’t want to take the heat for sending you away. Let’s go see what they’re up to.”
Ruby followed him to the studio and heard some raised voices coming from inside before Dean even opened the door.
“That’s all well and good, Heath, but I don’t take orders from you. You aren’t my agent or my record producer. You definitely aren’t my father.” Boone had his back to the door. Ruby inferred from his tone that he was not in the pleasant mood she had been hoping for.
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I’m simply making a few suggestions because I know my daughter.”
“Dad, please,” a woman said.
“You might know her better than anyone on this planet, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to hover over me like a gosh darn helicopter!” Boone shouted.
“Hey,” Dean cut in. “Everything all right in here? What’s going on?”
Boone turned around, his face red with anger. He seemed ready to let Dean have it until he noticed Ruby standing behind him.
“Is it ten o’clock already?”
Ruby didn’t know if he was asking her or Dean. Suddenly there were three pairs of eyes on her, and she was too overwhelmed to speak.
“Boone is trying to set some pretty unreasonable ground rules here, Dean,” the other man said. “I thought we had an understanding that I oversee everything in my daughter’s career. If she’s going to be collaborating, I need to be involved.”
“I’m done here for the day. I have to talk to Ruby.” Boone pushed past Dean. “I told you this was a bad idea. If you think I’m going to sit here while her dad puts his two cents in every five seconds, you’re wrong.”
He guided R
uby out of the studio. She almost tripped on her way down the last step, but Boone caught her.
“You okay?” he asked, steadying her on her feet.
Ruby didn’t think she was. She had no idea what she had walked in on back there, only that it had been horribly uncomfortable. “Are you?”
“I am now that you rescued me.”
“What was that all about?”
Boone shook his head. “That is not a question I feel like answering today. I hope you brought some better ones.” He began to walk away. Ruby tried to keep up with his long, angry strides.
“Are you sure you don’t want to reschedule? You seem to have a busier day than you thought you were going to have.”
“Yeah, tell me about it. Dean decided this was a great time to have Piper come to town. He’s been trying to get me to collaborate with her for months. I don’t know why he thought I was ready for this kind of thing.”
“I can come back another time.” Ruby hiked her purse strap, which was falling off her shoulder, and started to back away.
Boone took her hand and pulled her close. Their bodies collided, and Ruby was suddenly on fire. His eyes were the color of the sky after it rained, a bluish gray she could have stared at forever.
“If you leave, they’ll pull me back in there. Stay. Please.”
Ruby worried she was trembling. No one had ever had this effect on her. He made her feel out of control and protected at the same time. His body was strong and she wanted to melt against it, but she also wanted to run, stop herself from being swept away by the emotion he pulled out of her with a simple plea to stay.
“Only if you’re sure,” she managed to squeak out.
“I’m sure.” His voice was low and gravelly. Now she was definitely trembling in his arms. “I want you to stay.”
He released her and stepped back. She followed him to his trailer, taking deep breaths to calm her beating heart.
The Airstream was homier than she’d expected. There was a kitchenette and a couch that acted as a family room. There was probably a bed somewhere, as well. A curtain hung in the doorway between the kitchen and what she assumed was the bedroom.