Chapter 2
CHAPTER TWO
“Eww. What are you reading?”
Startled, Faith glanced up to find her younger sister bent at the waist and looking at the book in her lap. The textbook was one Faith had pulled from the sale bin at the library and the page she had it open to showed a picture of a nasty contusion a football player suffered during practice.
Wren placed her hands on her hips and gave her sister a disbelieving look. “Is that a medical textbook?”
Faith brought the book to her chest and hugged it, embarrassed.
No one in her family knew about her fascination with medicine.
Sure, her brothers might have their suspicions seeing as they always went to her when they had a question about one of their injuries, but she’d never had official education in the field. “Does it matter?” Faith asked.
Wren rolled her eyes and settled down beside her. She was nineteen and her whole world revolved around the sexy cowboys she liked to ogle whenever she tagged along to the rodeos their brothers competed in. “How was the competition on Saturday?”
“Fine, I guess.”
“Any new hotties?”
Faith closed the book with a thump and settled back against the tree where she sat.
Several yards away, their brothers were practicing for their next event.
They usually got in a few hours after all their chores were done for the day.
Their parents had a small property compared to others in Rocky Ridge.
It wasn’t their main source of income, though.
Their father worked in the rodeo field like their brothers and their mother had a cottage kitchen business running out of their home. Lydia liked to help with their mother’s business but Wren had yet to decide what she wanted to do with her life.
At this rate, she might not make her plans for years.
“I didn’t notice,” Faith admitted. If she were honest with her sister, she’d confess that the only cowboy she thought was worth watching was Brent.
Yeah, she might have a little crush on the guy, but that was because he noticed people. He was sweet and funny. He valued his family and he was raised right.
Wren sighed. “I guess I didn’t miss out much then. I can’t believe mom made me help with canning her homemade jams.”
“Didn’t Lydia help, too?”
“Yeah.” Wren shot her a frown. “Why didn’t she make you help?”
Faith shrugged. She had a feeling it had more to do with her brothers asking her to come with them than anything else. They didn’t really notice her until someone was hurt, though. Those were the only moments she felt seen in this family.
“Tate says that Brent Gilley is coming over today.”
Faith perked up then immediately regretted it when her sister grinned. That was the one major drawback to having a younger sister who was still more or less boy crazy. She thought any amount of interest in someone of the opposite sex meant romance was in the air.
“Yup,” she popped the ‘p’. “Apparently, it’s official. They’re going to help him go as far as he wants to take this.”
“What about his parents?” Faith frowned.
Brent was the epitome of the golden child in his home.
He made sure to do everything his parents asked of him.
And it wasn’t a secret that they had something against the rodeo world.
It was strange to say the least and Faith couldn’t help but be surprised Brent would do something so reckless.
She’d known Saturday hadn’t been a one-time-thing, but to continue past the end of the season? He must want it real bad.
“I don’t know,” Wren sighed. “Either they gave their blessing or he’s planning on sneaking around behind their back as long as he can. And honestly? Maybe he should.”
Faith cut her sister a sharp look.
“What?” Wren laughed. “He’s an adult. If he wants to do something that makes him happy, shouldn’t he?”
That was the million-dollar question right there. Faith loved that Brent cared deeply about his family. But she could understand why he’d want to venture into something more. She should have been able to read between the lines when he’d said it felt like a calling.
And maybe he’d be able to make it work. She’d seen him on that horse. Brent might not know it yet, but he was a natural if she’d ever witnessed one.
“How long do you think Tate and Jason will train him?”
“Who knows? At least until the end of the summer. Maybe more. From what I can tell, Brent wants it all.”
Wants it all.
Faith pursed her lips. What would that mean with his parents? Would they actually make Brent choose between his dream or his family? She blew out a breath. This wasn’t her problem. Brent was a friend who she cared about and right now he could probably use every friend he had.
At that moment, a familiar truck pulled onto the property.
“Speak of the devil,” Wren murmured. “Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of him, huh?”
“Yeah, probably.”
Wren grinned. “You think you can handle it?”
Faith rolled her eyes. “I know what you’re thinking and you’re wrong. We’re friends. He’s a good guy.”
“Uh huh. Sure. Don’t blame me if you catch feelings and Tate or Jason beat him up for looking at you funny. Last time I tried flirting with one of their friends, they convinced mom and dad to keep me home and away from the rodeos for almost a month.”
“You were just out of high school,” Faith pointed out.
“So? The guy I liked was, too.” She got to her feet. “It doesn’t matter anymore. He runs the other way whenever he sees me now. I don’t know what Tate and Jason said to him, but it scared him enough to keep his distance.”
“Yeah, well, that won’t happen with me. Brent is a friend. End of story.”
“Like I said. Sure.” Wren turned on her heel and headed toward the practice corral.
Faith watched her go then glanced down at the book in her lap. She was tempted to head over to the corral with her sister if only to say hi to Brent, but then she’d be proving her sister right. She wasn’t interested in Brent. Not that way.
Even if he was sweet.
Even if he could make her laugh harder than anyone else could.
Even if he was the most goodlooking guy this side of the Rocky Mountains.
She sighed and flipped her book open to the chapter she’d been reading. Faith was good at remaining invisible, and Brent needed to focus on his training.
Two hours later, a shadow fell over the pages of her book. Faith lifted her gaze to find a sweaty and smiling Brent standing before her. He plopped down beside her in the grass and nodded to her book. “What are you reading?”
She smiled back and lifted the book to reveal the cover.
Brent cocked his head and read aloud, “Netter’s Sports Medicine.” His eyes lifted to hers. “Huh. Not… what I was expecting.”
“And what were you expecting?” She dipped her head and returned her gaze to the page before her. Of course she wasn’t reading. With Brent sitting right there and asking questions about her book, there was no way she could focus.
“I don’t know. Some romance novel? My mom likes those.”
She snickered but didn’t meet his gaze.
“What’s wrong with romance novels?” Brent asked, humor in his voice.
Faith shrugged. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” This time she peeked at him. He looked a little flushed, but it could be the workout her brothers put him through.
“Nothing’s wrong with romance,” he said firmly. “Read whatever you want.”
Laughing to herself, she lifted the book again. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
He looked chagrined at that, but his smile remained easy. “So, this is why you’re so good at fixing up scrapes and scratches, huh?”
“Something like that,” she mused, repeating her answer from the other day.
Brent reached toward her and grasped the book from her hands. She watched with curiosity as he squinted and read some of the current chapter she had open. Then he gave her a dumbfounded look. “I knew you were smart, but this takes the cake. Are you studying to go into sports medicine?”
“Not in school, no.” Faith held out her hand to get the book back and he obliged. “It would take anywhere from twelve to fifteen years to get a degree in something like that. But it’s fun to read about it. I’ve learned a lot.”
“I believe it.” Brent was still staring at the book in her lap, a frown marring his features. “You’re what, twenty-one?”
“Twenty-two.”
“If you started now and bulked up on your credits, you could get trained in closer to ten years. That wouldn’t be bad.”
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.”
Before he had a chance to say more, her brother’s voice rang through the air.
“Hey, Brent, let’s do a couple more rounds,” Jason called from the corral.
They both turned to see Tate and Jason waiting with their forearms resting atop the fencing. Faith nodded toward them. “Don’t want to keep the masters waiting.”
“Yeah, probably not.” Brent groaned as he got to his feet.
“Going to feel it in the morning.” Then he motioned to her book.
“You should look into it, you know. See if there are any programs you can do or people you can shadow. Even if you don’t want to do the whole official certification, you clearly love it. Maybe be an RN or a paramedic.”
“Yeah, maybe.” The truth was, his ideas weren’t bad.
Though working toward a nursing gig or getting paramedic training felt like she’d be settling for second best. She loved the idea of treating the guys who worked in the rodeo.
They put their blood, sweat and tears into a career they loved—one that put them in harm’s way more often than not.
It was exhilarating. And she wanted to help them get back on the horse literally and figuratively.
“See you later, Faith,” Brent called over his shoulder. “Think about what I said. I mean it.”
She waved him off with a nod.
It would definitely be worth looking into.
Faith couldn’t focus after her conversation with Brent. Instead, she kept her eyes trained on him as he worked with her brothers. They knew what they were doing. He’d picked well when he’d asked for help. And she couldn’t wait to see what he would make of himself.