Page 70 of A Montana Rodeo Star

“What?” he hissed.

“You heard me. This isn’t even about our family anymore. It’s so much bigger than you and frankly, I’m disappointed I have to even bring it up. I can tell you care about Faith. It’s written all over your face. And she cares about you, too. Tell me, Brent, what happens when this all blows up in your face?”

“What if it doesn’t?” he argued. “Just because it’s dangerous doesn’t mean I’m going to be a casualty. It’s a risk but one I’m happy to take.”

“Do you even hear yourself? That’s so selfish,” Hallie snapped at him. “You’d rather go chasing after something when you have something better right in front of you!”

His head reared back. Was she referring to his family life? Faith? Maybe all of it. “Did Faith ask you to do this? To talk me into coming clean?”

It was her turn to be surprised. “She talked to you?”

“So she did—” He could feel his anger rising.

“What are you talking about? No, she didn’t ask me to do anything. I confronted her and asked her to try to reach you. Heaven knows that she’s probably the only one who can understand you when it comes to this.” Hallie let out a disgruntled laugh and pinched the bridge of her nose. She seemed to be struggling with something. Did it have anything to do with the strange feeling he had that people were keeping things from him?

It wasn’t just his parents and Hallie. Hadn’t he gotten the feeling that Faith was keeping something from him? But that didn’t make sense. She wouldn’t have any reason to do that, right?

He was scowling at the ground when Hallie’s quiet voice ripped him from his thoughts.

“I’m sorry Brent, but I’ve made my decision.”

Lifting his head, he set his stare on her. “Don’t pretend this has anything to do with you or our family. I don’t know your angle, but I can tell that you’ve been keeping something from me. Call it a gut instinct. What I don’t get is why you wouldn’t just tell me what’s going on. It’s like everyone in my life is treating me with kid gloves. I’m an adult, Hallie. I deserve to have all the information at my fingertips before I make a decision. And what you and Faith are doing is pushing me up against a wall and expecting me to roll over and just accept it.”

She almost looked like she felt guilty.

Almost.

He knew better. Her reasons weren’t heroic. She was dealing with something. Maybe it was as simple as a crisis of conscience. She’d kept his secret for so long that she couldn’t hack it anymore. He should have known better than to believe that Hallie could handle knowing his darkest secret and not succumb to the pressure.

Brent let out a huff of frustration and ran a hand through his hair a few times until his scalp ached. “I’m an adult. I get to decide what I want out of this life. It’s not reasonable for anyone to make demands of me.”

Hallie shook her head. “That’s just it. As unfair as it is, we have to accept that being part of a family means we owe them our respect and love. We owe them our hearts. If that means we have to make sacrifices so we can put them at ease, then⁠—”

“No,” Brent muttered with a shake of his head. “That doesn’t mean I have to give up everything I’ve worked for.”

“What have you worked for?”

Brent’s blood chilled to ice in his veins. He couldn’t move. His eyes remained locked on Hallie while hers were lifted to a space behind him. At some point the door behind him had opened and his mother had stepped out. But based on the look of anxiety that flooded Hallie’s whole face, Brent knew it was so much worse. There was no telling how much his parents had heard. Slowly he turned to face the intrusion and his stomach bottomed out even more.

Tripp stood there as well. They must have been heading out to finalize something for the wedding tomorrow.

This wasn’t good.

No, this was utterly terrible.

He swallowed hard, scrambling to come up with an excuse he could make but Hallie was faster.

“Brent has been competing in the Rodeo.”

He flinched but didn’t turn to send a glower in his cousin’s direction. Tripp looked disappointed but not really surprised. It was the anger in his mother’s eyes that made him want to shrivel up into a little ball and roll away like a tumbleweed. His father’s expression was impassive, but Brent knew better than to believe he wasn’t feeling something. Beneath the surface Judd Gilley would be furious.

“Is that true?” his mother demanded. When he didn’t respond, she shifted her attention to Hallie. “And you knew?”

He could sense Hallie getting defensive and his suspicions were confirmed when he heard the sound of her voice. “I was trying to give him the chance to come to you on his own.”

Brent watched his mother struggle with that information. But then the blood drained from her face at Hallie’s next words.

“Heaven knows it’s taken you long enough to come clean with him.”