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