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Zeke shot the young man a sharp look then turned to Adam. “Folks out here work the land. We raise cattle and animals. We don’t have time to showboat.” His gaze flitted to Faye then back to Adam. “There is a time and a place for the events hosted at the rodeo. It brings in money for the town and some ranchers hire cowboys for that purpose. But not me. I won’t risk the lives of my men in the arena.”
Adam could feel Faye squirm beside him. This was where those comments had come from. She had been okay with teaching him the ropes when they weren’t involved. But now they were. He couldn’t help but feel that it was a little backward. Not once had she mentioned she was against him competing—at least not in the beginning.
Zeke pointed his fork at Adam. “You have a fine career, son. Don’t squander the gifts the good Lord has given you.”
He let out a strained chuckle. “With all due respect, sir. I’ve read the Bible. It also says not to hide your light under a bushel. We ought to explore our talents. Every single one of them.”
Faye stared at him with wide eyes as if he’d told everyone he’d planned on joining the circus to become a lion tamer. When he glanced around the table again, he found everyone else had similar expressions.
Except for Zeke.
The man was as stone-like as a gargoyle.
The temptation to hunch down in his chair and disappear was one of the strongest he’d felt in a long time. He hadn’t felt this judged since he’d moved out to the city after being raised as a country boy.
No one voiced their agreement which probably meant they were either too scared to do so or they simply didn’t. Zeke didn’t say a word. He simply reached for his glass of water and took a deep sip of it.
The conversation shifted as Grace brought up Riley’s work with the equine therapy services. Adam didn’t even know that was a thing. Apparently, everyone in this room was in favor of using horses in any way other than in the arena.
His frustration turned into embarrassment for once again not fitting in with the crowd around him. Then his embarrassment edged into bitterness. He’d been set up. Faye should have told him about these feelings a long time ago. She’d had so much time to do so; why hadn’t she said something?
He kept his eyes trained on his plate the whole excruciating meal.
It took everything in him not to just get up and leave. He had to remind himself that Faye wasn’t the type of person to sandbag him like this. She probably had a reasonable explanation.
Adam prayed she had one. Otherwise, she was proving to be just like others he’d met in the city. So many people who were only interested in serving themselves rather than the ones they should have cared about most.
21
Faye
Faye’s horse plodded beside Adam’s as they made their way along the trail. She should have known something was up when everyone showed up for dinner. She just didn’t think that her father was going to attack Adam that way.
She should have never told her father that Adam was considering the rodeo. Trusting her father with stuff related to relationships wasn’t a smart thing. Faye had seen first-hand how her father could get into the heads of her sisters.
The strange thing was that a part of her rationalized that Adam needed to hear every single thing they’d told him tonight. He needed a reality check, and he wasn’t willing to get that from her.
Faye glanced at him out of the corner of her eye then let out a sigh. He was still visibly upset. Did that mean that he was going to follow her father’s advice? Hopefully, he would see the logic in what her family had said.
The longer they rode, the more restless she became. She’d never been one to just let things fester. Taking in a deep breath, she prayed she could express herself in a way that he’d understand. Faye blew her breath through her pursed lips and faced him. “Hey.”
His gaze cut to hers but didn’t linger.
“I’m sorry about dinner.”
“Yeah, you should be.”
She blinked. That wasn’t where she thought this would start. “Excuse me?”
“You totally threw me under the bus.”
“I—what?”
Adam shifted in the saddle and faced her. “Yeah. You didn’t tell me about dinner, and then when I showed up, I was thrown into this big family event without warning.”
“I didn’t—”
“And to make it worse, you let your family totally rip apart my dream.”
