Page 23 of Worth the Trouble

“Yeah. Rylee.”

Jason smiled. “He deserves the win, Brent.”

“Yeah. He does.” His friend shoved his hands into his pockets and took another few steps toward him. “But what about you?”

“What about me?”

“Your happiness. You can’t keep putting your brother first.”

“I’m not.” Jason moved the saddle to his other arm and met Brent’s eyes straight on. “Tate’s spent years running this place while I stood behind him. He’s earned a few months of being distracted. Doesn’t mean I plan on standing there forever.”

Brent’s brows lifted. “Meaning?”

“Meaning I’ve got plans of my own.” Jason started for the door. “Just haven’t gotten around to telling him how far along they are.”

“Well, I’ll be.” Brent fell into step beside him, grinning. “There he is.”

“Come on. Jonny will be here soon. We need to get a few more things out before he gets here.” Jason put the saddle onto an A-frame they set up for riders who needed to work on their technique.

They set to work. Brent gifted Jason with that companionable silence that Jason appreciated more than anything else. There were very few people in town who could stand the silence, but thankfully most of them had grown to appreciate Jason’s view. When he had anything important to say, he spoke his mind. There was no need to fill the void with useless chatter.

Maybe that was why Brent froze when Jason turned to him and asked, “How did you know that Faith was the one?” He didn’t normally ask Brent about his relationship with his sister. There were certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

Yet his sister’s relationship had developed in front of him, as Tate’s had. It had looked so easy for each of them to find love with someone who accepted them exactly as they were.

Brent blinked, coming back to himself. “I don’t know. I think it just sort of happened.”

Jason’s brows furrowed. “There had to be something that made you realize you wanted to pursue her. You two weren’t exactly friends before you started dating.”

“No, I suppose we weren’t.” A faint smile tugged at Brent’s lips. “But I’ll admit, there was something that drew me to her. It was like her soul spoke to mine.”

Jason coiled another loop. “Her soul spoke to yours.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Does my sister know you talk like this?”

Brent barked out a laugh and shoved his shoulder. “Give me a hard time all you want. Doesn’t make it less true.”

“Didn’t say it wasn’t true.” Jason went back to coiling the lead rope. “Said it sounded like the inside of a greeting card.”

“Fair enough.” Brent leaned against the rail. “But you believe in God. Don’t you?”

“Course I do.”

“Then it’s not that big a leap. If He knows what’s in a man, He knows who’d be right for him despite the flaws and blind spots. Someone who can tell what you need before you can. Heck, it goes both ways.” Brent shrugged. “That’s all love is. Faith that you found her.”

Jason coiled the rope slower.

Brent went quiet for a moment, then a smile stole over his face. “Why? Is there someone you’ve got your eye on?”

Jason went stony real quick.

Cece’s was the face that filled his head and the last thing he’d say out loud. He had no idea how Brent would take the news that the woman he wanted was, as far as this town was concerned, the enemy. And Tate would have a field day with it, which was the whole reason Jason hadn’t gone to his twin. Not once in his life had he kept something from his brother.

That was the hardest part. Not the sneaking around. That.

From the second he’d learned why Cece was in Rocky Ridge, he’d known he’d have to protect her.