Page 20 of A Montana Rodeo Star

“No, but that doesn’t stop her from coming over and raiding my pantry. She eats like growing high school boy who plays tight end for the Varsity Team. I’m not even joking. I’m pretty sure my mom buys extra groceries just so she can make sure Hallie doesn’t clean us out.”

“Your mom sounds amazing.”

Brent’s expression softened and he slid his attention back to Faith. “She is. My mom is the best.” Then something shifted and he looked sadder than anything else. “Most of the time.” He heaved a heavy breath as he brushed the crumbs from his hands. “You ever get the feeling that your family isn’t telling you everything?”

Faith frowned. “No, why?”

“Just wondering.”

“You think that your mom is keeping something from you?”

Brent shrugged. “I don’t know. Sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud.”

Without realizing what she was doing, Faith reached out and touched Brent’s arm. “It’s not ridiculous. Families are supposed to be the people who will do anything for us. They’re supposed to stick up for us, comfort us, and be the first people we can trust with all our secrets. If you feel that something doesn’t sit right, you should probably trust your gut.”

It wasn’t until she realized that Brent wasn’t speaking that she looked down to find that she was still touching his forearm. As if he’d burned her, she ripped her hand away from his arm. Then she turned away and shoved her hands in her back pockets. “Anyway…” she breathed out in a whisper, “How is training going?”

Brent startled. She caught the jerk of his body out of the corner of her eye, but she didn’t bring it up. Instead, she waited patiently for him to tell her whatever he wanted. Something. Nothing. She wasn’t going to pry. There was a new sort of tension between the two of them and she definitely didn’t like it. The easy-going conversation that flowed between them before she’d nearly kissed him was gone. And she could only blame herself.

Just when she was going to give up on him talking at all, he cleared his throat. “It’s going well, I think. Tate has me working with that kid from the other day more often. Turns out I’m really good at explaining things to him. I don’t know if it’s because I’m doing all the same training or if it’s because I’m just good at relating to kids.”

She risked a look in his direction and didn’t miss the small smile that pulled at Brent’s lips. The man’s whole demeanor lit up when he spoke about something he loved. Apparently, Brent had found a new interest in teaching kids. She wanted to ask him if he’d ever done something like that before, but thought better of it. “That’s cool. Elliott is a sweet kid. I’m glad he’s connecting with you.”

Brent peered over at her. “Yeah, me too.” They stood like that, side by side as the party continued. Neither one of them spoke and only after a good five minutes passed without a word from either of them did Faith realize the tension had left.

It was nice having someone to stand by without having the itch to fill the silence.

Really nice.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“You ready for this?”

Brent eyed the horse that stood in the corral with Jason. The man looked possessed. The wide grin made it clear he knew exactly what Brent was going to be up for in the next few minutes. “You really want me to try to get on the back of a horse that hates people riding him?”

“We have to break him in. This was how bronc riding started, you know that, right? Folks made a sport out of what had to be done. Only this time, it’s different. You need to stay on as long as you can if we’re going to get this guy prepared to have a real rider.” Jason patted the horse’s flank and the beast snorted. His hoof stamped into the dirt and he tossed his head. Yeah, he definitely didn’t want someone on his back.

Brent eyed the horse. Of course Jason was right. There were a couple ways to desensitize and train a horse to take a saddle and a rider and this was one of them. Thankfully, his cousin Bo didn’t focus on horse training as much on his ranch. He usually purchased horses at auction who were tried and true. Or he got them straight from a breeder who socialized his horses early on.

Blowing out a breath, Brent nodded. “Yeah, okay. Let’s do this.”

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck lifted. He didn’t have to turn around to know why. It seemed to be happening more and more lately—this ability to sense her whenever she came around. Faith was watching him.

He couldn’t decide if he liked that idea or not. He’d been getting better with his technique and the muscle memory that came with the exercises he did with Elliott and Tate.

But today would be different. He would probably get thrown from the horse and get hurt. He wasn’t afraid by any means. In fact, he was prepared for what would happen. A few bumps and bruises were nothing.

Fighting the temptation to seek out the pretty brown eyes that could glow honey in the sunlight, he stepped toward the horse. The animal sidestepped him and Jason chuckled. “You’re going to have to do better than that.”

Brent shot him a disgruntled look. “To be fair, when I compete I’m going into the chute. I don’t have to run and jump on the horse’s back.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t have a chute.”

“Maybe you should get one.”

Another chuckle.

Brent folded his arms. “I’m serious, man. I’ve seen the kids come through here. They’re learning how to do the rodeo competition just like me. Maybe it would be a good idea to expand the lessons you offer and make a career out of it.”