Page 32 of A Montana Rodeo Star

Faith didn’t know how she knew, but that was a lie. Hallie knew more than she was letting on. She just didn’t want to say it out loud. And why would she? They weren’t family. But it did make Faith wonder if Brent was aware of whatever it was Hallie was keeping a secret. If so, then Brent might be doing this knowing full-well the real reasons. And knowing that made Faith a little sick to her stomach.

Brent wanted nothing more than to be the best son he could be. The risks he was taking right now for his own happiness were important to him, but if he knew there was a good reason then maybe he’d change his mind.

Faith itched to ask for more details. Whatever Hallie was holding back might actually help Brent with his parents.

Unfortunately, it was clear that Hallie planned on keeping it to herself.

Irritation bloomed inside Faith. She’d inadvertently given Brent up to his cousin, his future sister-in-law, and the woman who was married to another of his cousins. They could go back home and tell on him. But Hallie couldn’t bring herself to give more than a cryptic statement about his parents?

Faith crossed her arms. “You’re not going to say anything are you?”

Hallie shot her a sharp look. “What?”

“You know something you’re not telling me and that’s fine. But you’re keeping it from Brent.”

“How would you know that?” Hallie demanded, her tone sharper.

Faith lifted a shoulder. She wasn’t usually this assertive. It felt strange and yet at the same time exhilarating. “Just a hunch. You’re not telling him something that would help him, but at the same time, you have information that could ruin his plans.”

Hallie huffed out a frustrated breath. “He shouldn’t even have those plans. If something goes down between him and his parents, it will have nothing to do with me.”

“Yeah, as long as you don’t say anything.”

They were scowling at each other when the door to the building opened and Serenity exited with Wendy at her side. They were all bright smiles until they noticed the standoff.

“What… going on?” Serenity asked.

Wendy didn’t speak, but her focus shifted between Faith and Hallie with worry.

Faith could tell Hallie wasn’t about to fill them in. It had been hard enough to get her to admit to something so vague. Faith could tell them that Hallie was holding out on them, but she chose to take this moment and prove that she could keep her own secrets.

So she turned to the group and smoothed her expression. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you guys about Brent. I’m sorry to ask this of you, but could you… keep it to yourselves until Brent is ready to tell people?”

Wendy and Serenity were the ones to look the most stricken. “I’m not sure I can lie to my husband.” Serenity’s voice was tight.

Then Wendy shook her head. “Tripp trusts me…”

“Please. I know it’s a lot to ask,” Faith begged. “I’m not asking you to outright lie. It’s not like this topic would come up in regular conversation or anything. Just… don’t bring it up.” She hated begging. She also hated that she was, in a way, asking them to lie by omission. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands and fought the instinct to cry. “If it comes up, do with it what you will. Just don’t throw him under the bus unnecessarily.”

Before Serenity and Wendy could argue, Hallie cut in. “They can do that.” She gave them each a hard look. “It’s none of our business anyway. This is between Brent and his parents. I think we can all agree on that.”

For a moment, Faith thought that the others would argue. But then they nodded. Faith released a breath of relief. She couldn’t bring herself to meet Hallie’s eyes not even to give her a look of gratitude. All she could do was follow Serenity inside when she’d insisted they needed to dance out the tension they’d all just experienced.

For the rest of the evening, Faith opted to spend her time at Serenity’s side rather than the others. The guilt she felt was easier to deal with than the animosity she was feeling toward Hallie. Their friendship had already turned rocky and Faith wasn’t sure there would be a way to come back from it. Maybe they just weren’t all that compatible.

Now, all Faith had to figure out was whether or not she should tell Brent of her slipup. It was probably not worth the headache or the stress he’d experience knowing his secret was spreading. Nor would it be worth risking the friendship she was starting to count on between herself and the man in question.

Faith had made a mess of things, but there was no going back. All she could do was move forward and hope that everything would turn out okay for the man she couldn’t help but start to fall for.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Brent skipped down the steps from his house and headed for his truck. Today he was helping Tate with the kids, and he couldn’t say he wasn’t a little excited. He’d been brushing up on some techniques that he thought the boys could practice.

Some small part of him wondered if this rodeo thing didn’t work out, maybe he could volunteer with the younger levels and help them out.

A warm, happy feeling lit him up from the inside out and he whistled as he got to his truck. Brent reached for the handle and just as he released it to pull the door open, a hand shot out and shut the door with a loud thwack.

“Hey!” He barked, whirling around.