Page 6 of A Montana Rodeo Star

She laughed. It was a startled bark of one that had her covering her mouth with mild embarrassment. When he looked at her funny, she apologized. “Sorry, it’s just that I don’t think that’s in the cards for me. With how busy my dad is and how expensive it would be to train for something like that…” She shrugged. “I don’t think it’d work. Besides, I hear it can be competitive.”

“Lots of things are competitive,” he said with all kinds of seriousness. “The question you have to ask yourself is if it’s worth the effort.”

She studied him for a moment. Then asked, “Is that what bronc riding is to you? Worth the effort, I mean?”

He nodded.

“And what about the issues with your family?” She hated bringing it up. It had to be a hard discussion for him. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”

“No, it’s fine.” Brent’s voice lowered to something almost sad. “They don’t know.”

Her brows lifted.

“And they won’t, if I have anything to do with it. At least not until I get a sponsorship.”

Her eyes popped wide. “You want to go that far, huh?”

“Yeah.” His smile returned. “Jacob Hines says that the hardest part about the job is being on the road so much, but I think I could handle it. I’m worried about my folks, but they have my aunts and uncles, you know? I think it’s time that I do something for myself.”

“Of course,” she found herself saying. “There comes a point in life when you have to choose something because it makes you happy.” Even as she said it, there was the niggling thought in the back of her head that asked if she was saying the right thing. Would Brent come to regret his decision to jump into this career? What about his decision to hide the truth from his family?

They stared at each other for several moments. He really was a rugged sort of handsome. All the times she’d seen him in passing and visited with him, he’d usually given her boy-next-door vibes but today with his tousled hair and his muscled arms on display…

Nope. Nope. Nope.

She wasn’t even going to go there.

Brent was her brothers’ friend. He was their friend. And he was training to be a rodeo star who would inevitably find his start and move around too much.

She cleared her throat and motioned to the cut on his forehead. “How did you manage to explain that one?”

He touched the wound with his fingertips then shrugged. “Hit my head on a low hanging shelf in the shed. Done it before.”

Faith snickered. “Picked a fight with it, huh?”

“You should have seen the shelf.”

She laughed again. “I hope it got the medical care it needed.”

“Of course. And it even got a lollypop for being such a good patient.”

“Well, dang, you missed out.”

“How do you figure?” he asked.

“You didn’t get a treat for being a good boy.”

He chuckled. “I’m not really a lollypop kind of guy.”

She tilted her head, curiosity winning over. “What kind of guy are you?”

Brent plucked at the grass between them and tore it into pieces. “I guess I’m a traditional chocolate chip cookie guy, if I’m honest. Can’t go wrong when it’s still warm and the chocolate is gooey.”

“Mmm. You’re not wrong,” she murmured. “My mom has the best recipe.”

“Yeah? Is it like the kind you get off the bag of chocolate chips? Or is it one of those super-secret recipes that no one gets to know until your mom is on her death bed?”

Faith tapped her chin thoughtfully. “Actually, I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask.”