Read Online Hope Against Hope: The Hope Brothers Series by Honey Palomino - Free Book Online

☼ ☼

    THREE DAYS LATER
    Crit hit the railing twice with his hand and his coach’s assistant hurriedly pulled the gate open as Crit and the bull exploded from the stall. I always felt queasy during those eight seconds of the ride, holding my breath and saying a little prayer no matter who was on the back of the bull. I’d grown up watching first my dad, and then all my brothers, and the Haggard boys too, on the backs of bucking bulls, falling off, breaking limbs and collarbones and noses and whatever other body part fell victim to the bull’s wrath that day.
    There weren’t too many days that went by where someone wasn’t shedding blood. You’d think I’d be used to it, but it never failed to make me shudder in fear every time I watched, even after all these years.
    After eight seconds of Crit’s body being flung every direction as the enormous bull did its damnedest to get him off, the buzzer sounded and I exhaled as Crit let go of his grip on the rope and he flew off, landing on his ass, the dirt flying around him in the air, as the bull trotted to the end of the arena.
    “You gotta stay focused, Crit,” Dustin Elliot, Crit and Beau’s coach, said as he gave Crit a hand up. “He almost lost you there at the end.”
    “Yeah, my grip was a little loose,” Crit replied.
    “Hey Crit, we’re going home now,” I yelled over to him. Ruby was sitting next to me and she had insisted on stopping by the arena to watch the boys practice before we headed home. “Gotta feed the herd.”
    “Alrighty, sis, I reckon I’ll see ya back home,” he said. He tipped his hat at Ruby and I could have sworn I saw her blush. “Howdy, Ms. Ruby.”
    “Howdy, Crit!” she drawled, twirling her long red hair around her finger as she smiled at him. “That was a real nice run there.”
    “Thank you, kindly, Ms. Ruby,” Crit said, winking before turning away from us and heading towards the exit with Dustin.
    Ruby sighed, and I nudged her as I laughed.
    “Cut it out,” I said. Ruby had been carrying a torch for Crit since we were little kids. Once we had grown up, she had continued her pursuit of him, but he always said she was too young for him. I think his resistance only made him that much more attractive to her.
    “Yeah, yeah,” she said.
    “Come on, Cherokee’ll throw me out of the saddle tomorrow if I’m late with his dinner.”
    We walked down the bleachers we were sitting on, and made our way to the back of the arena. By the time we reached the door that led to the stables and parking lot, Crit was standing just inside the door talking to Seth and Dustin.
    Between the three of them, they practically lived at the arena.
    “Have a good night, ladies,” Dustin said. Dustin had been our family’s coach for decades, and he had taken my father’s death real hard. I hadn’t seen his usual jovial smile grace his face in six weeks. I gave him one of my own as he reached to open the door for us.
    Just as the sunlight streamed in, Beau appeared around the corner.
    His eyes met mine, and I stopped in my tracks and to my horror, gasped out loud.
    “Oh!” I said, as all eyes turned to me. “Beau!”
    “Howdy, George,” he said, his usual black Stetson sitting on his head, as he grinned at me, cool as a cucumber. My heart began racing as I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. He stared back, ignoring the other four people standing within five feet of him.
    “Beau,” Crit said, his voice lower than usual, his greeting more of a warning than a hello. My eyes darted over to him, and his mouth was set in a firm grimace.
    “Crit,” he said, dipping his hat. “Seth, Coach, Ruby…howdy y’all.” His eyes swept across them, and then landed right back on me.
    “How you doing today, George?” he asked.
    “I - I - um, I’m good,” I replied, my voice sounding anything but good. I was stuttering like a damned silly schoolgirl. I don’t what the hell had gotten into me, but after all these years, Beau Haggard’s