Catch A Fallen Star

“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 (#ulink_d79d0d94-017c-5682-a89f-66884e17c3d7)

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.”