Chapter 2
Wine Drunk on a Wednesday
? Who I Am - Jessica Andrews
Ruby
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 the girls.” 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.
He drops the guitar and pulls me in for a bear hug. He’s a good foot taller than me and a little thicker around the middle compared to my other brothers. His long, light brown hair is pulled into a knot at the back of his head, and his scruff tickles my cheek. “Hey, baby sis.”
“I’m not a baby anymore, Griff.” Our seven-year age gap meant I couldn’t relate to Griffin growing up, but he’s always been protective, even when we were at odds.
“My turn.” Jaxon hugs me next. I’m surprised he isn’t wearing his signature black cowboy hat.
His ashy blonde curls are longer than usual, and he has a new neck tattoo to add to the rest of the ink covering most of his body.
Where Griffin is tall and broad with a softness around the middle, Jaxon is all muscle. “Welcome home, sis.”
“Dinner smells good. Where’s Mama?”
“She’s inside with Rylin. Ivy and Luca are having a date night, so they asked us to babysit. You know Mama—they’re in there baking somethin’,” Griffin says. “I swear, between Mama and Olivia, I’ve put on ten pounds.” He pats his tummy and laughs. “Not that I’m complainin’.”
Olivia is a recent addition to the Hayes family, and now that she’s wearing Wilder’s ring on her finger, I can safely consider her my sister.
I smile wistfully.
Some things never change. When I was little, Mama would sit me on the counter to stir cake mixes—or, more likely, to eat chocolate chips by the handful. It’s where I got my sweet tooth.
“So, is it true then?” Jaxon asks. “You getting out?”
I nod and snag a bottle of water from the cooler. “As of this morning, I’m unsigned and free to do whatever the hell I want with my life and my music.”
“What’s the plan now?”
“Spend some time at home, writing and living. I’ve been running for so long, I’ve forgotten what it feels like to stand still.”
Light footsteps pitter-patter against the wooden deck, and a wide smile breaks across my face. “Is that my Emmy Lou?” I spin in time to catch my four-year-old niece as she throws herself into my arms.
“Ruby!” she squeals. Her blonde pigtails bounce as she wiggles to be set free.
“Easy, Angel. Let Auntie Ruby breathe.” Wilder wordlessly wraps me in a tight hug, and I let him linger for a moment. His dark beard is peppered with greys now, but there’s a newfound lightness to his eyes that wasn’t there a year ago.
Wilder and I have always had a special connection, and it only deepened after he lost his wife.
I was playing a show in Colorado when Jess had her accident.
I rushed to his side just as she slipped through his fingers.
I’ll never forget the agonizing sounds when the doctors told him they’d done everything they could.
I clutched a barely six-month-old Emmy to my chest and rocked her back and forth as my brother fell apart against Mama’s shoulder in the waiting room.
I’d never seen so much emotion pour out of my oldest brother until that day.
“Welcome home,” he whispers, tugging on my ponytail in a familiar way that brings me back to our childhood. He’s come a long way this past year, and that has everything to do with the beautiful woman standing behind him with my youngest niece in her arms.
Olivia is a curvy girl, like me, and if you don’t look too closely, we could pass for sisters.
“Hand her over, Livie.” I reach out. “I need Gracie cuddles expeditiously.”
Olivia laughs and passes me what has to be the cutest eight-month-old I’ve ever seen. She’s the perfect mix of Olivia and Wilder, with my brother’s dark hair and Olivia’s piercing blue eyes.
“I guess the band’s all back together.” Dad lifts Emmy into his arms and peppers her face with kisses, provoking a barrage of high-pitched giggles.
More footsteps pad onto the porch as Rylin joins the chaos. She’s followed closely by Mama, who’s holding a tray of fresh-baked cookies and a pitcher of sweet tea.
“Uncle Griff! You gots to try my cookies,” Rylin says.
I meet Griffin’s gaze, and he winks, shoving one into his mouth. “Even better than the last ones, Ry! You ready for dinner?”
Rylin sighs and negotiates a hot dog and a bite of salad before she’s allowed to dig into the cookies, the dough she likely smuggled out of the bowl while no one was looking notwithstanding.
Jaxon finishes up on the grill while Olivia helps Mama set the table, and we all gather around for a good old-fashioned Hayes family dinner.
I reluctantly let Olivia take Gracie, promising to steal her back soon.
Wilder helps Emmy with her cut-up pieces of hot dog, while Jax and Griffin discuss ranch business with Dad.
It’s like every other Hayes family dinner—loud and chaotic, full of meddling family members and so much love. It’s good to be home to experience it again. I missed this more than I realized.
The evening passes in a blur, and before I know it, we’re digging into Mama’s famous cookies. Every now and then, I catch her knowing glances out of the corner of my eye. To her credit, she doesn’t start up the inquisition.
Instead, it’s Griffin who instigates. “How long are you staying?”
“Don't know,” I mumble around a bite. “Long enough to write my next album, I guess.”
“Are you negotiating a new contract?”
I shrug, purposefully keeping my answer vague. “I have options.”
“Give her a break, brother,” Jaxon says. “She just got home. You trying to run her off already?”
“Fuck off, Jaxy,” Griffin says. “I’m lookin’ out for my baby sister, is all.”
Emmy Lou stands from the table and darts into the house. My brow furrows as I look around at my family.
“You’re in trouble now, Griff,” Olivia says as she bounces Gracie on her lap.
Before I can ask what’s going on, Emmy rushes back with an old peanut butter jar in her hand—the vintage kind that’s shaped like a bear. She holds out her hand. “One dollar, please.”
Griffin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ten. “Consider this my down payment for the rest of the night, Emmy girl.”
“Pleasure doing business with you,” she replies, cute as can be.
“Swear jar,” Wilder says in answer to my silent question.