Page 74 of Dating a Cowgirl

“You did the right thing,” Eloise murmured as she rested her head on Faye’s shoulder. “If Adam is going to go against what he said, that’s not a good sign.” She glanced up at Brielle. “Right? Faye doesn’t want to be with someone who won’t stick with what they said.”

“True…” Brielle drawled. “But…”

Faye snapped her gaze over to her sister. “But what?”

Brielle lifted a shoulder. “You can’t really blame him, can you? I mean, you guys haven’t been dating for very long. He promised something when he was under duress.”

“He wasn’t under duress,” Faye spit out. “He promised to make me happy.”

“If you say so.”

Faye shot to her feet. “What are you not saying? He didn’thaveto make that promise.”

“Well, when he made that promise, it was right after everyone told him it was a bad idea, right?”

“Yeah, so?”

“When you went on the walk, who brought it up first?”

“He—” Faye cut herself off. “I don’t remember.”

“Well, if it was you, then you only further pushed him to do something he wasn’t comfortable with. What if the tables were turned? What if he pushed you to do something you didn’t want to do?”

Slowly, Faye settled back on the bed. “I don’t know.”

Eloise patted her on the back. “It’s fine, Faye. You have to go with your gut on this one. If breaking up with him felt right—”

“That’s just it, though. It doesn’t feel right.” She set sad eyes on Eloise. “I miss him. More than that, I knew he had an interest in the rodeo when we met. I just didn’t realize how deep it was. Is his interest in the rodeo really something worth breaking up over?”

Brielle crossed her arms. “We can’t answer that for you. But if you want my opinion?”

Faye nodded.

“I’ve lost someone before. The ache never goes away.” Her eyes were more serious than Faye had ever seen before. “Never, Faye. Yes, you’ll move on. You’ll fall in love again. It’s like grief. You’ll carry that weight with you every single day of your life. People we fall in love with take a piece of us. It doesn’t matter how long you loved them. They will still hold a part of you.”

Chills coursed through Faye’s body. She wasn’t sure if it was due to her own crumbling heart or the knowledge that Brielle was struggling with something similar, and she’d not even noticed.

Her thoughts shifted to what her father had said about Brielle’s escapades. Was he aware of the broken heart Brielle was nursing?

“Besides,” Brielle continued, “cowboys are like wild horses. They can’t be tamed. They’re not meant to be controlled. We can break them to a degree, but their heart is always going to go where it wants to go the most. If that’s you? He’ll be back. Just do yourself a favor and don’t make him choose.”

Eloise snickered. “Adam is hardly a cowboy, Brielle. Have you seen him ride? I saw him get bucked right off his horse one day. I hope he isn’t trying out for something that requires him to stay in the saddle.” The humor on her face faded when Faye shot her a dark look. “Oh. Well… then I bet he’ll be fine. He’s probably been practicing.” She got to her feet. “How about I get you something to eat? I’ll be right back.”

The second Eloise was out of the room, Brielle settled beside Faye. She didn’t say anything right away, causing the air between them to grow more uncomfortable by the second. “You can ask me if you want, you know.”

“Ask you what?” Faye glanced at Brielle out of the corner of her eye. She wasn’t going to assume a thing when it came to Brielle. She was the sister that all of them didn’t quite understand. She’d gone against the grain at every turn.

“About the guys.”

Her head whipped around, and she stared at Brielle. “Guys? You’ve fallen in love more than once?”

Brielle laughed. “Ouch.”

Faye grimaced. “Sorry. I just didn’t realize that you—”

“Be careful with what you say next,” Brielle cautioned.

Clearing her throat, Faye looked away. “Who did you fall in love with?”

---