Page 31 of A Montana Rodeo Star

All eyes were on her, even in the darkened cab of the car. Faith closed her eyes and prayed that the women would be willing to keep her secret. Otherwise, she could kiss this friendship she had with Brent goodbye.

“He’s interested in training for the rodeo.” She barely said it above a whisper, but she might as well have screamed it at the top of her lungs for the way the other women in the car flinched.

Well, except Serenity. “Cool,” she mused. “What does he want to specialize in?” She must have noticed the tension in the car mount because her gaze darted from Wendy to Hallie and back. “What’s the matter?”

Wendy blew out a breath as she met Hallie’s eyes. “The problem is that Heather and Judd are very much against rodeo events of any kind.”

Serenity frowned. “But… their whole family are cowboys.” Confusion dripped from her voice.

“Yeah, I don’t really get it either,” Hallie admitted. “But that’s the way my aunt and uncle are.” She shrugged then turned her full attention to Faith. “He’s told you that, right? He doesn’t want them knowing.”

Faith nodded and grimaced at the same time. “Honestly, I wasn’t supposed to let that slip to anyone.”

“I mean, I get it,” Wendy said quietly. “We’ve all been to the rodeo. You’ve seen what those animals are capable of. Sometimes the men can’t walk out of the arena without help. Busted ribs, broken bones, concussions. Thank goodness they made it a new rule for them to wear helmets. But sheesh, it can be dangerous.”

“I think the adrenaline rush makes it worth the risk to most of them,” Hallie offered. “Jacob loves it. He feeds off being in the arena. I’ve heard him talk about it a lot.”

Wendy scrunched up her nose. “But is it really worth it? What happens if something goes wrong? Then they could lose their job. And I’m not just talking about Jacob and his job as a professional. I’m talking about Brent. He’s not trained. He could get seriously hurt and then he wouldn’t be able to help out at Sagebrush. These men are a different breed. Do you think you could see any of them sitting behind a desk?”

They all went quiet in that moment, none of them able to confirm that no, they couldn’t. The men in their lives craved the action. They thrived off it.

Hallie looked more lost in thought than the others and Faith nearly asked her what was bothering her, but then Serenity let out an exaggerated sigh. “Come on ladies. We didn’t drive out this far to sit in a car and talk about the stupidity of the men in our lives. We came out here to have fun.”

About an hour later, Faith’s skin glowed with perspiration and she had to excuse herself. There was a pleasant breeze outside when she stepped through the front doors and out into the open.

The conversation she’d had with the women had her second guessing everything. Brent would be devastated if anything were to stop him from his dream. And yet, the way Wendy had phrased it, Faith had to admit she could understand where Brent’s parents were coming from as well.

But this was Brent’s life. She couldn’t meddle in it just because she didn’t agree with how he wanted to live it. A friend was supportive.

“There you are,” Hallie puffed, walking over to her. She leaned up against the brick building and turned her face skyward as she took in deep breaths. “It’s getting crazy in there.”

Faith choked out a laugh. “What? Can’t handle the line dancing anymore?”

Hallie waved a hand through the air. “You didn’t see the guy who practically swung me around the dance floor when a fast song came on. I swear, he made me feel like I weighed nothing.”

They both smiled and the quiet settled in around them once more. Hallie looked lost in thought and Faith couldn’t help herself. With no one else around, she burned to know what Hallie was thinking.

Was she worried about Jacob? Or did this have to do with Brent? Maybe it had more to do with rodeo stars in general.

“Want to… talk about it?”

Hallie swung her eyes over to Faith. “Huh?”

“You look… a little lost.”

Snorting a laugh, Hallie shook her head. But it did nothing to hide the flicker of something in her eyes that Faith couldn’t quite place.

“You know you can tell me, right?”

Another snort. “Come on, Faith. You don’t exactly have the best track record for keeping secrets. You let Brent’s biggest one out without a second thought.”

“Ouch,” Faith murmured. The statement, while true, stung. She’d never been good at keeping secrets. She’d only claimed to be good at listening. She pushed away from the wall, but Hallie’s arm shot out to stop her from going back inside.

“Wait,” Hallie mumbled. “I’m sorry.” She shook her head and sighed. “Honestly, there’s probably more to this whole hating the rodeo thing that my aunt and uncle have.”

“How do you mean?” Faith hedged.

Hallie glanced up at her but just as quickly, she looked away. “I don’t know.”