“You’re under contract, Ruby.”
It was a thinly veiled threat, but I finished the tour and now I’m getting out. My contract with C&L Entertainment is up for renewal, and I have no intention of getting into bed with them ever again.
They locked me down when I was young and naive, coercing me into a predatory deal and dictating damn near every facet of my life, everything from what I wore to what songs made the cut. There were even a few PR relationships when some struggling actor or artist needed to fix their image with the ‘Country Music Darling.’
“They’re just looking out for you,” Stacy says. “Have you finished those new songs they asked for?”
I huff out an irritated breath. The answer is the same as the last ten times she’s asked me in the past week. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“It’s a complete sentence, Stace. No. I haven’t finished the songs. No, I don't have anything else to give them. No, I don't know when they’ll be done. And no, I’mnotsigning the contract.”
Well, I guess that last part is out now. No take-backs. Ruby Lynn Hayes is a free agent. The first thing I’m going to do is hop in my truck, put on ‘Man I Feel Like a Woman’ by Shania Twain, and drive my ass back to Oak Ridge.
Liam
She’s wearing my goddamn shirt.
Chapter 2
Wine Drunk on a Wednesday
? Who I Am - Jessica Andrews
Ruby
With my window rolled down and my favorite playlist on shuffle, I pull through the familiar Whispering Oaks Ranch gate in my old, faded yellow F-150. Dolly’s been parked in the penthouse garage, neglected and unused for the better part of five years, but she still purrs like a kitten. There’s something so right about bringing her back to my family’s ranch after all this time.
Home sweet home… for the foreseeable future, anyway. What happens next is anyone’s guess. I could ride my favorite horse, go for long walks out by the creek. Hell, I could skinny dip again. I’ll have entire days where I can sit down with my guitar and write, only stopping for snacks… or a little self-care, if you know what I mean.
The sky's the limit at Whispering Oaks Ranch. Out here, I’m just Ruby—not the country music darling, not Ruby Lynn Hayes. Just… Ruby, the only daughter of Russell and Evelyn Hayes. The girl who spent most of her childhood on horseback. The girl who ran out of Oak Ridge like the devil was chasing her, coming back a little bit worse for the wear.
This is where I find my peace, with nobody to criticize my lyrics as pedestrian or question the ten pounds I put on during the last leg of my tour. There’s nobody micromanaging what I eat or what I wear. This is where Ruby finds herself again—and maybe stops thinking in the third person, but old habits die hard.
Dad’s bright smile greets me as he pulls up alongside my truck on Buttercup, the palomino mare I named when I was eight. At nearly twenty years old, she’s still as beautiful as ever. Dad usually rides Copper, the chestnut quarter horse, but it’s nice to see Buttercup out and about. I haven’t visited as much as I would’ve liked. I miss her.
“Hey, Princess,” Dad says, using the insufferable nickname from my youth.
When you’re the youngest daughter with three older brothers, the name is almost unavoidable. I was never treated like a pampered princess, though. I was expected to contribute around the ranch like the boys.
My older brother, Wilder, lived in Colorado for a time, but Griffin and Jaxon are Hayes cowboys through and through. They were always meant to take the reins and run the ranch. While the oldest and youngest siblings branched off, they clung to their roots.
I’m still just as adrift as ever. On the outside, I’m Ruby Lynn Hayes—the country music star who has it all together—but I’ve never been her. Not really.
“Hey, Dad. Am I too late for family dinner?”
“Never. Go on up to the big house. I’ll just see to Buttercup and meet you there. Jax and Griff are out back on the grill, and Wilder should be on his way with thegirls.” Before I pull away, he glances back over his shoulder. “It’s good to have you home, Ruby girl.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
I scan the land, noting the recent changes. There’s a new house toward the waterfall. One thing about the Hayes family is that they love big, and they have enough to spare for every stray they can pull into the fold. Ivy Taylor—I suppose she’s a Roberts now—has made a home out here on her own parcel of land with her husband and two girls. Her mom was my mom’s best friend, and Mom promised she’d always take care of Ivy.
We went to the same high school, but I didn’t get to know her like my brothers did. I was too caught up trying to make it as a musician… and then there was Connor. I shudder at the memory of my high school sweetheart and the fallout from our three-year on-again, off-again relationship. It’s best not to go there.
I pull up to the big house and put Dolly in park. Laughter drifts from around back above the faint strumming of an acoustic guitar. My heart sings at the reminders of home, and an overwhelming contentment washes over me.
Griffin fingers the chords to ‘Lean on Me’ as I walk out onto the back patio, and I can’t resist the urge to sing along. My voice drifts on the breeze, and all eyes snap to me.
