Catch A Fallen Star

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 (#ulink_6baac440-abe4-5ed7-9a4c-e01083ea62bb)

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.