Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
The ride went by in a flash of stars and colors.
When Brent had caught sight of Faith, everything around him went hazy. There was no explaining the phenomenon. He wanted to abandon his post, run up those stairs, and pull her into his arms.
He wanted to tell her that he’d been wrong to accuse her of anything and that he’d do better next time. He wanted to thank her for supporting him when he could tell no one else did.
Not even Tate and Jason had shown up.
It was at that thought he realized Faith wasn’t alone.
Hallie and Serenity were there beside her but he knew better than to believe that they were there for him.
His extended family had made it perfectly clear they were steering clear of the drama unfolding around him and his parents.
He didn’t know if Tripp had already demonstrated his own forgiveness for the situation, but Brent couldn’t see a time in the near future when that would happen for him.
Someone clapped him on the shoulder and pulled him in for a side hug of sorts. He looked up at Jacob and choked out a laugh. “Hey, man!”
“Hey! You ready for this? I hear there are some big names out there in the audience tonight. Tate said you were vying for a sponsor?”
Brent nodded. “That’s the way to go, right?”
Jacob squeezed both of his shoulders in a sign of support. “Yeah, that’s the way to do it. There’s nothing like having your meals paid for and a personal trainer on your team. That’s if you get one of the good ones.” He winked.
The guy was as rugged as they came but that didn’t mean he was any less sought after. He had a fan club bigger than all of Rocky Ridge. With naturally wavy brown hair and large brown eyes, Jacob was the sort of guy girls threw themselves at. Hallie being one of them.
Though Brent couldn’t tell if Jacob even noticed. Last he’d heard the two were just friends.
They turned their attention to the cowboy currently holding on for dear life. “It’s not an easy life,” Jacob mused, “but if it’s the life you want, it’s worth it.” There was an undertone to his voice that Brent couldn’t place.
Regret?
Loneliness?
Being on the road all the time couldn’t be easy. Brent didn’t know where Jacob’s family was. Maybe he didn’t have one and that meant he could roam all he wanted without feeling stuck anywhere.
Inadvertently, Brent’s eyes slipped over to where he knew Faith sat. The last few months had been better than he could have imagined. Between fighting for his dream career and getting the girl, he didn’t have any complaints. At least not until he’d found out the truth of his parentage.
Now he wasn’t sure where he wanted his life to go.
He could stay the course and travel the world. Leave his family behind after everything they kept from him. It wasn’t like he couldn’t come home to visit Tripp and maintain his relationship there.
But Faith? He knew better than to believe he could ask her to come with. Even though he’d been hurt by what she’d kept secret, he still wanted her in his life. Maybe he was crazy. Maybe his feelings went deeper than he’d planned.
“You ever wish you could put up the spurs and be done?” he asked.
Jacob turned to him, eyes searching. A muscle in his jaw worked and he turned to scan the arena.
Brent didn’t know what he’d expected when he’d voiced his question, but it wasn’t this.
It was as if Jacob didn’t have an answer for him.
Maybe he loved the life so much that he couldn’t walk away.
Even if a small part of him wanted to put down roots.
His friend sighed. “I don’t know what I would do with myself.”
That was absolutely not the answer Brent expected. “You don’t think you could find joy doing something else? Running a ranch or coaching kids?”
Jacob paused his perusal and his eyes slid to connect with Brent. “Coaching kids? Like with how to compete?”
Brent could feel his body heating beneath Jacob’s penetrating gaze. The only people who knew he had a knack for that sort of thing weren’t exactly speaking to him. But they’d made it clear he was a natural. That was the only reason he’d brought it up.
Right?
He hadn’t voiced the option because it was something he would ever consider after making it this far, was it?
Jacob scrubbed his jaw, taking Brent’s silence as answer enough. “I don’t think so. I mean, I think kids are great and all, but I don’t know that I’d be any good with them.”
Brent almost asked him what he meant by that statement, but he was cut off when a man with a clipboard approached.
“Brent Gilley. You’re up.”
Jacob smiled wide. “You’ve got this, man. Go out there and set their boots on fire.”
Brent chuckled.
“Oh, and Brent?”
He paused and faced Jacob.
“To answer your question? I don’t think there’s anything worth sticking around in one place for.”
“That’s a little… depressing, don’t you think?”
He spread out his arms wide. “After you get a taste for this, there’s no going back. You’ll see.”
Why did that statement fill him with more unease than before?
He wanted to compete. He’d dreamed of being a star for longer than he could remember.
But suddenly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to make a lifetime career out of it.
Did Jacob have a point? Would Brent become addicted to the high he got every time he climbed into the chute?
Once more, his eyes sought out Faith in the stands. But this time, she gave him a small smile.
He didn’t smile back. He couldn’t. For whatever reason, all he could focus on was getting in that saddle and setting out to accomplish everything he’d worked for.
Brent was getting pummeled.
But it was nothing compared to the beating he’d taken while in the saddle. It had been one of the hardest rides of his life. The horse was notorious. Not one cowboy had managed to stay in the saddle for eight seconds in all of history.
No one but Brent Gilley.
He still couldn’t believe it. The second the buzzer sounded and he leaped from the saddle, he thought he might have been having a heart attack for how rapidly it was beating in his chest. He scrambled over the fence that lined the arena and turned to see his score.
The number updated and put him in first place by a hefty lead.
He’d done it. He’d managed to wow the judges.
A smile broke across his face as several hands of congratulations continued their onslaught. Batting him on the back, the shoulder, and the head. He was shaken a few times by other competitors.
His eyes immediately sought out Faith and then his whole body went cold.
She wasn’t there. Not where she had been sitting for most of the event.
Brent straightened, his eyes narrowing as he searched the surrounding areas. He didn’t see her walking down any stairs. He couldn’t find her in the crowd. She’d… left.
“That was amazing, man!” Someone nearly jumped on his back. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Another guy said something similar and yanked at his hand to shake it.
The chaos that surrounded him roared in his ears but where he should have been reveling in his win, he couldn’t do anything but wish she was here at his side to celebrate with him. He was alone.
There were only a few more competitors and as he’d expected, none of them were able to beat his score. By the end of the night, he’d been named the winner.
So why did it feel like he’d lost everything?
This was what he’d wanted.
He’d left his brother’s wedding, for heaven’s sake. He’d made sacrifice after sacrifice so he could finally find the happiness he’d been searching for his entire life.
Emptiness.
That was all he’d been left with.
In the locker room, he put away all his gear then allowed himself to silently break.
Elbows on his knees, he shoved his head in his hands and stared at the cracked concrete floor.
Deep down he knew why he wasn’t happy. There was no celebrating a win like this without the people that mattered to him.
Originally, he’d planned on bringing his win to his parents and showing them they were wrong. If he could improve so much over such a short amount of time, then surely they could accept that this was a path he needed to explore.
Unfortunately, he knew now why that would never happen. His parents weren’t against the rodeo because it was generally considered unsafe. They were fearful of losing someone close to them for a second time in their lives.
A pair of shiny black loafers came to a stop within his vision, and he lifted his head to peer up at the man before him. He wore a suit, but he’d paired it with a pristine black Stetson hat. The smile he wore was genuine.
“Brent Gilley?”
Brent nodded, getting to his feet. “That’s me.”
“Son, I wanted to discuss having a meeting with you and some of my team. We’d like to discuss your future in the rodeo circuit.”
Stilling, Brent held his breath. The guy was dressed nice. Too nice. Was this the opportunity he’d been waiting for? A sponsorship? Would it be enough to drag him out of the funk he found himself drowning in?
The man chuckled and held out a business card. “Name’s Christian Abernathy. And I represent Lonestar Threads, Inc.”
Brent’s eyes must have nearly bugged out of his head with the way Christian chuckled. “Lonestar Threads? The company that has over three thousand locations country-wide?”
He laughed again. “The very same.”
“But don’t you already sponsor Jacob Hines?”
Christian cocked his head slightly. “Yes, we do. But we’re always on the lookout for new talent and you would not be competing in the same division. At least not for a while yet.”
Brent’s mind was reeling. Lonestar Threads. The company that was quickly becoming a staple in western cities and taking over Wrangler in sales. Brent couldn’t have asked for a better company to notice him.
“I can see that you’re still wrapping your head around the win. Tell you what, take that card and think it over. When you’re ready to chat, give me a call and we can set up a meeting. We’ll be in Montana for the next week. Then we’re on to Wyoming.”
Brent nodded numbly, staring down at the business card. Christian held out his hand and they shook before the man left the locker room.
The first person Brent wanted to tell was Faith but he wasn’t sure he could call her about this.
Not when they were on unsteady footing. Then he’d wanted to call her brothers, but he knew better.
They might congratulate him, but they weren’t exactly thrilled with the way things had gone down.
It would be better to wait until they were better prepared for the news.
Then there was his family.
Boy, he wanted to march into his home and throw this in their faces.
And that’s when it struck him.
This wasn’t something he should want to lord over them.
This was something he wanted to celebrate with them.
He wanted his parents to pull him into a hug and tell him how proud they were of his accomplishments.
He wanted them to promise they’d figure out how to make it work so they could come to some of the competitions nearby.
But most of all, he wanted them to accept him for who he was and who he wanted to be without question.
Brent tapped the card on his palm, not even sure at this point if he truly wanted it anymore. If he couldn’t share his wins with his family, then what was the point?