Page 32 of Fragile Heart

Olivia smirks as she nudges his side.

Brielle’s eyes widen. “Really?”

I frown, and Beau echoes my confusion.

“Wait, you’ve been sick?” Ethan asks. “Is everything okay?”

“Getting better,” Olivia says. “Should be mostly back to normal in another couple weeks. That’s what the doctor says, at least. Though apparently some people are sick the entire nine months. That sounds miserable.”

Before I can process what she’s said, Brielle and Melissa squeal in unison, reaching across the space and hugging Olivia at the same time.

“No way,” Emily says, reaching across from the other side of me and grabbing Olivia’s leg. When she nods, her cheeks flushed and her smile wide, it finally clicks.

“Holy shit,” I say. I shove Hudson, giving him one of Mom’s looks. He rolls his eyes before smirking. “You just let us all walk into that one? What the hell, man? Didn’t we make an agreement to tell each other first?”

Hudson tosses his head back and laughs. “Mom’s been losing it all week. Shocked she didn’t spill it when you swung by Thursday, honestly.”

Beau laughs, too. “Congrats, man. When are you due?”

Olivia smiles, but the announcer cuts across the speakers before she can answer. Once he’s finished, she says quickly, “Christmas.”

The excitement settles down as the first bareback rider loads into the chute, the coaches and a couple of the other competitors climbing onto the rails to offer encouragement. After only a few moments, he nods his head, and they open the chute. Eight seconds is extraordinarily short, and the first kid doesn’t quitemake it, dropping from the horse a few moments before. The audience cheers anyway, though, as the pickup men guide the horse out of the arena.

After another minute or so, the chatter builds in the stands again.

“So when does Tristan perform?” Brielle asks, her quiet voice cutting through the low din of voices.

Beau chuckles, and her cheeks flush. I swallow back the growl that wants to rip out of me.

“Oh, bull riding is the last event,” Melissa says.

Olivia nods as she snuggles deeper into Hudson’s side. “Yeah, he’ll compete first,” she says. “According to him, he drew a nasty bull. And we say they compete, not perform.”

Hudson leans forward, letting his elbow rest on his knee. His other arm is still wrapped around Olivia’s hips.

“If they make it the full eight seconds, both the bull and the rider will get a score of up to 50. Best total of 100 wins the night,” Hudson says. “Same with bareback which is what we’re watching now and also saddle bronc. The other events are timed, and the fastest person will win those ones.”

Brielle’s eyebrows climb as she looks back at the arena. Camden settles into her lap, and she wraps her arms around him, like it’s second nature to have a kid sitting with her. Was it?

No one’s mentioned her having any kids. But maybe they were killed in the same accident that killed her husband? The idea of her experiencing even more loss sets my teeth on edge, so I shove it aside.

The next rider tries his luck before I can decide what I want to say. This one makes it the full eight seconds, and Camden shows off where the score is posted on the screen positioned at the apex of the arena opposite the tunnels.

As the horse is guided into the tunnels, Cam asks, “Bri, do you want some popcorn?”

I can’t help but watch as he holds up a piece from what’s left in his bag. And then I can’t help my body’s heating as Brielle smiles and slips the piece into her mouth, not messing up a single spot of her dark red lipstick.

Fuck, I want to see what it looks like when it’s smudged.

Chapter Fifteen

BRIELLE

The night passes in a raucous blur of laughs and popcorn. Camden proves to be a wonderful tutor in all things rodeo despite only being four. He crawls into Caleb’s lap during the third event—team roping—and when the team he’s declared his favorite due to their obnoxious bright orange matching shirts wins, Melissa brings him an unsalted pretzel. Every so often, I catch the cinnamon scent that belongs to Caleb. The itchy feeling burying into my bones eases a bit each time, but I don’t risk moving closer to him.

By the time the saddle bronc starts—a wild event that’s only difference from bareback seems to be an odd saddle that feels like a hybrid between the western saddles everyone here seems to use and the low profile English saddles used in jumping—Olivia’s sat down beside me, deftly wedging into the careful space separating me from Caleb. Camden’s starting to crash against Caleb, his head pressed into his dad’s chest and his eyes unfocused. Melissa stands as soon as the event finishes,grabbing her small clutch and smoothing her shirt. Olivia glances over and then stands, too.

“I’m tired, babe,” she says, turning toward Hudson where he still lounges behind us. In the time since everything started, Ethan’s joined them, and they’ve held various low-voiced conversations that the noise of the arena have drowned out. My chest aches as my gaze skates over him and I try to stay as unaffected as he clearly is around me. Hudson nods and stands, helping her to her feet as he lets whatever current conversation between him and Ethan drop away.

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