Okay how about a Kacey fic based off the song When She Comes Home Tonight by Riley Green
When She Comes Home Tonight
Shutting the truck door I sighed heavily resting my body against the driver door taking a moment to rest from my long hour day. I had taken on the position of working for my father’s department at the sheriff’s office. Meaning that I had to hide some things from my boyfriend’s family. Walking up the stairs I opened the door, shutting it behind me and sitting on the floor until I heard footsteps creaking on the wooden floor. “Hey there, darling. How was your day?”
“Would prefer not to talk about it, Kayce.” I mumbled, staring at the staircase in front of me instead of him.
Kayce lowered himself down to sit in front of me. “What do you want to talk about then? Hey, hey, look at me. Y/n, you okay?” He lifted my chin up so I’d look him in the eye seeing some tears welling in my eyes.
“Just the job being tough on me today is all. Debating on why I didn’t just take your father up on his offer to give me a job here. My father certainly wouldn’t be as worried with my stress level.” I sniffed through some tears wiping them away with my sleeve.
John Dutton and my father have been friends for years. Kayce and I were close and I knew everything he knew about training horses on a ranch. Yet I knew the other side that involved the law. I believed I could help both sides. “Well we don’t have to worry about that now. I’ve got something to show you anyhow. Here, let me..” He got to his feet offering his hands out to me.
“What have you done now, Dutton?” Placing my hands in his he tugged me up to stand.
He only gave me a simple response coming behind me and covering my eyes with one hand and leading me through his family home. “You’ll see in a second, baby.”
“Kayce…what is all this for?” He made us stop walking until he lowered his hand and I gasped at what he had set up on the table in front of the fireplace. He had two beers open with a steak cuff in half for us to share for dinner.
Kayce smiled down at me. “It’s been awhile since it’s just been the two of us here. So I thought we should do something special.”
“Awe. Aren’t you a romantic cowboy?” I smiled sitting down with him on the couch.
Kayce picked up his beer, sending me a wink. “I would hope so for what I was thinkin’ of doing later tonight.”
Raising my beer bottle to my mouth I take a long drink. The bitter taste is not burning my throat as much as it normally did, given the fact that I've had a really long day. Kayce and I sat in comfortable silence between the two of us while we ate our pieces of steak. Placing the second to last bite of food in my mouth I felt his eyes focused on me and nothing else. “Dutton, you're staring. You know some would consider this very rude-” I gasped before his hands cupped my face and he pressed his lips down onto mine causing me to drop my fork on the floor.
It wasn't a foreign concept to kiss the youngest Dutton son. We had certainly had a connection from the first day we met. Anyone in our families or friend groups could see the attraction from a mile away. Moving my hands up his chest I leaned into it. He held my face for a few more seconds until I climbed up into his lap. Kayce then switched his position, snacking his arms around my waist holding me close to his chest.
“Kayce..” I moaned into the kiss threading my fingers into his dirty brown locks that were naturally messy but were going to be even worse if we kept going.
He gently pushed me back on the couch and I didn’t make a move to fight his intentions. “Y/n…”
We didn't care about the food in front of us anymore. Our hands were just moving over the other in every way possible. I’m not sure how we managed to not break any furniture by the point of Kayce getting to his feet and me wrapping my arms and legs around his body. We never broke the heated kiss and made our way up the stairs to his bedroom.
“Kayce, I wasn’t expecting this.” I giggled before we collapsed down onto the mattress of the bed behind us.
Kayce leans down, capturing my lips with his in a deep hungry kiss. I kissed him back gently before he started moving kisses down my face. “You’ve had a long day and I’ve missed you so much. Let me take care of you.” He kissed down, nuzzling his nose into my neck as he went.
“Ohh Kayce!” I moaned, throwing my head back against the pillows. One hand was bawling the fabric of his shirt in my fingers.
He moaned, crashing his lips onto mine again where I wrapped my arms around his neck. “That’s my girl.”
“Don’t be a tease tonight, Dutton.” I warned the cowboy.
Kayce sat up on his knees shrugging his shirt over his head tossing it somewhere across the room. He moved his hands down to my shirt. “I’ll definitely tease you later, darling.” He threw my torn shirt off the edge of the bed.
I began to move against him and leaned up pressing my lips down upon his. He embraced me back instantly when my fingers dug into back. He ran his body over every inch of my body he could reach, both of us slick with sweat as he moved against one another, our pants and moans filling the room.
We shortly reached our heights in only a matter of minutes where he drew his head back flipping onto his back while I laid beside him. We both attempted to catch our breaths where I scooted over laying my head on his bare chest. “Kayce?”
“Hmm.” He made a noise as a response.
Lifting my head up to meet his deep brown eyes. “Thank you for tonight. I really appreciate it and love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll always want you to have a good evening when you come home tonight and every night.” Kayce rolls over to face me, cupping the side of my face with one hand. He draws me in for another kiss and I smile into it.
Trailing my hands up his chest I broke it mumbling into the kiss. “How would you feel about a round two?”
“I’m definitely down for that, my darling.” He smirked and I squealed when he rolled onto his back. I kept my hands around his neck and I stared down at him from above…Kayce always made me feel so good every time I came home and he never broke that promise.
28 notes
·
View notes
Steady Heart
Chapter 30: The Warning
* Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels
* Rating: M
* Warnings: language
* Word count: 4,965ish
I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot and @deanscroissant for being sounding boards for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, being cheerleaders, and allowing me to screech at them about things that have happened during the writing process. I seriously couldn't have gotten this far without y'all.
Author's note: Oh shit y’all, things are getting serious. It really feels like we’re seeing Stella unfold a little bit and step into a new role. At least I feel like she’s grown quite a bit! I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I hope you love this chapter as well!
Stella woke up to the sound of quiet movements in the bunkhouse. She turned over from facing the wall to see who moseyed about. She glanced at her phone to see that it was about 5:30. She reached over and snatched her glasses off the little table she had next to her bunk. The lights were off, except for the little one over top of the sink. She could see from the silhouette that it was Kayce.
She took a few moments to really observe him. He came across lighter, but still weighed down. It would take time for everything to ease. It was heavy, and definitely couldn't be painless to carry. Stella wished with every fiber of her being that she could take that away from Kayce. It hurt her to see him more withdrawn than usual. Even with everything that had happened between them. Silently she got up and padded her way over to the kitchen. She would pretend everything was normal, even if it was just in this moment.
“Mornin’, cowboy.” She murmured. She came up behind him and placed her hand in between his shoulders and rubbed softly. He turned to look at her, both stuck in their sleepy daze. She wished they could get past the avoidance stage and stay in this fuzzy warm feeling. She peered up at him with sleepy doe eyes and asked softly. “Make me a cup of coffee, please?” It was her offer of putting things aside for the time being. She leaned her head against his shoulder for a second before she wandered off. She didn’t want to be awake yet, especially after yesterday’s shenanigans.
He acknowledged her and got started on the coffee. Stella walked off and went to the bathroom. She wanted to grab a quick shower and brush her teeth before all the other men decided to take over the communal space.
Kayce kept track of her movement as she weaved her way through the house to the bathroom. There was an easy smile on his face the longer he looked at her. There was just something comforting about the exchange. Almost like someone was saying everything was going to be okay. Lloyd cleared his throat as he stepped into the spot Stella had been and gave Kayce a sharp look of warning. He had watched the entire interaction. He fixed his gaze back on the coffee, as Lloyd walked over to grab a mug.
“The man who wins her heart will be one lucky son of a bitch.” Lloyd prompted.
Kayce looked over at him and chuckled. “Yeah, he sure will, Lloyd. He sure will.” He peeked out the window to watch the sun slowly lighting up the ranch. His eyebrows furrowed at the thought of someone else gaining her affection and how it made him feel. It was like that one time Charlie Samuels had asked her out. Charlie and Kayce were seniors and she was a sophomore.
“He what?!” Kayce jumped up off the couch in his dad’s living room.
“Yeah, he asked me out! Can you believe it? Someone actually asked me out!” Stella practically jumped up and down with excitement.
Kayce paced back and forth. He tried to think of some way he could stop this from happening. “No no no. You are not going out with Charlie Samuels, Stella. Never in a million years!”
“What? Why?” Stella watched him pace.
“Because he’s not a good guy. I can promise you that.”
Stella hopped up. “Oh come on! You’ve said that about every dude who’s barely breathed in my direction Kayce!”
“If I find out you do go out with him?”
“What? What are you gonna do?”
Kayce stormed off to formulate a plan. Charlie was notorious for the notches in his bed post that he loved and left. Kayce wasn’t about to let Stella become one of them.
Jake hollered from behind him and startled him back to the present. “Hey everyone, Kayce’s makin’ coffee! Time to get up!”
Stella’s yell was muffled from the bathroom, “that first mug is mine! I already called dibs!” She raced out to the kitchen just as Kayce pulled the mug away from the commotion. He safely handed it to her and she smiled at him in thanks. He watched as she wandered away to go back to the bathroom. Everyone tried to get some of the dark liquid energy before they had to wait for another pot.
Kayce wandered outside to head to the barn. He spotted his dad in the aisle getting his horse Red ready. “What’s goin’ on? Is there a problem?”
John sighed at the silence being broken. “Are there problems?” He chuckled. “Everywhere I turn, son.”
“So where are you headed?”
“You know the only time I’m solely focused on the present, is on this horse. Just need a long ride to remind myself of what we’re fightin’ for.”
“Want some company?”
“Well, you have a few problems that need fixing first, I’m afraid.”
“Well ain’t that the thing about problems, dad? No matter how long you’re gone, they’ll be right here when you get back.”
“Grab a horse.”
“Okay, but Monica is dropping Tate off here later to spend some time with us. So I gotta be back for that.”
“You’ll be back. I’ll wait for you out here.”
“You don’t gotta wait on me. I’ll catch up.”
“You think, do ya?”
“Just tell me what direction you’re headed.”
John laughed and rubbed his nose slyly showing his youngest where he was going and walked off. Kayce laughed and knew he’d find his dad easily.
Kayce made his way back to the bunkhouse from the barn with Tank ready to go. Stella walked out the door. “Oh hey.” She took in Tank being ready. “Whatcha doin’?”
“I’m gonna go ride with my dad for a bit.”
Stella smiled at that. It had been a long time since she’d heard him actively trying to bond with his dad. “That’s good, Kace.”
“Before I left, I was actually hoping to run into you.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Oh really? What for?” Still on the outs, she would never have expected to be sought out.
“Yeah, Monica is dropping off Tate in a little while, and I’m gonna try to be back in time, but if I’m not I just need someone to sit with him until I get back.”
Stella crossed her arms and her feet at the ankles. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“I can have Rip look after him,” Kayce suggested.
“No, it’s fine. I don’t have anything to do today.” She gave him a small smile. “You go have fun.”
“Thank you, Stell.” Kayce climbed up into his saddle
The father and son galloped along the pastures. They were transported back to a simpler time. Back to when they didn’t have as many worries as they did now. Kayce was a kid and free to run wild. John was only concerned about what pasture he was moving the herd to this week.
They came to a stop in front of one of the many fences the property had. They slowly dismounted and went to lean and gaze out over the pasture in front of them. John looked around and chuckled.
Kayce joked, “come here often?”
“Every chance I get.” John sobered at the thought of his wife. “It’s been 20 years,” he frowned, “no. 21. 21 years and it feels like yesterday. I still feel her, smell her. Been half a man without her. It's not an excuse. I was just a better father when she was with me. I hope you never know what that feels like, son.”
“I already know what that feels like.”
“How did getting Stella’s stuff go? Were you followed?”
Kayce sighed and looked down. “It went fine, but we were followed by a silver sedan. She also thought someone had been in her house.”
“You don’t think there was?”
“If she says there was, I believe her. Out of all of us, she’s probably the most scary observant.”
“Sounds like someone else I know.” John smirked at him amused. If there was anyone he knew would notice the little things, it was his son or his best friend. He looked at Kayce, who appeared to be holding something back. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
Kayce felt the note in his pocket. The thought of what it said made his stomach turn. “I found this on her porch.” He held out the note for his dad.
John reached out to take the note. “Sweetheart, you weren’t home when we stopped by. Shame we missed you. You and your employer will remember exactly who the fuck I am by the time we’re done, Miss Daniels.” He read out loud.
Kayce cleared his throat. “Now that she’s told us about Malcolm stopping by and pissing him off, I’m almost certain it was him. Or his brother.”
“Well she’s safe here. So we’ll get this fixed. Soon.”
Through the kitchen window of the bunkhouse, Stella spotted Monica’s Nissan pull up. The woman and her son climbed out of the car. Stella took a deep breath to prepare for seeing Monica since everything happened.
Cautiously, Stella exited the house and made her way closer to Kayce’s wife. “Hey Monica,” Stella greeted.
The dark haired woman whipped her head to look at who called out to her. Monica hadn’t been ready for this. She sighed. “Tate, why don’t you go find Rip?”
“Okay!” The little boy ran off.
“Hey Stella.”
“How are you?” Stella asked timidly.
“Fine. Day by day. Where’s Kayce?”
“He went out riding with his dad earlier. He asked me to watch after Tate until he got back if he wasn’t back on time.” Stella put her hands in her back pockets. “Is that okay? If not, I’m sure Rip will do just fine.”
“It’s fine.” Monica watched Stella’s shoulders drop back in shock. “Just as long as you understand I’m always going to be around because of our son.”
“I wouldn't expect any less.” Stella frowned. “Wait, what’re you getting at?”
“I’m sure you and Kayce are moving on together.” Monica assumed.
Stella scoffed. “Actually quite the opposite. The last few days have been the most I’ve talked to him at one time in a few weeks. But regardless I understand your point, and again I wouldn’t expect any less.”
“Do you know about when they’ll be back?”
Stella shrugged. “Not really. He didn’t say and I didn’t ask.”
“Okay well let Kayce know I’ll talk to him about pick up and everything later on then. Please?”
“Of course.”
“And keep my boy safe.”
“If he’s in my presence? Always.”
Monica smiled sorrowfully at her. “Text me or call if you guys need anything.” She went to find her son to give him a hug. Stella turned on her heel to go inside and grab some water bottles. It would give Monica time to leave and herself time to calm her nerves.
She walked back from the bunkhouse with water for Tate, Rip and herself. When she came up behind them, she watched Rip gently explain colt breaking to Kayce’s son. A gentle smile appeared on her face. It was sweet to see the other side of Rip that most people never saw. “You tryin’ to teach him how to put me out of a job?”
Rip chuckled and answered Tate’s question first. “Well, I want to get all the shit out of his system, so I can get on him.” He glanced at Stella with a smile. “And no, just teaching him tricks of the trade.”
“Hey! You owe me a dollar!”
“I ain't paying you a fuckin' dollar.” Rip laughed.
“Rip!” Stella scolded him. She held out his water bottle for him.
Tate took his water from her and asked Rip, “so you don't go ass over teakettle?”
“Tate Dutton!” Her maternal voice came out.
Rip snorted. “Yeah, that's right. Here, here, here, here, here... Here. See that, Tate? That's him submitting.”
Stella rolled her eyes at the way Rip explained the horse’s body language to Tate. “It’s not submission, it’s trust. Now I see why you don’t train them.” She laughed at Rip’s playful glare. She looked at Tate. “No matter how much we train them, they can still overpower us if something pushes them to. We train to hopefully avoid having that happen so we can get work done, but animal instinct will win every time.”
“What does that mean?” Tate asked.
“Well that means he's ready to go to work. Hold on. Go nice and easy.” Rip held the horse still. “You can pet his face now.” Rip gave Tate permission. “There you go. Right up... there you go. That's a good job. All right, what do you say? Should we get another one?”
“Yeah!”
“Go get the gate for me.” Rip requested and Tate’s little legs flew to go to the gate. Stella smiled fondly at Rip and Kayce’s son bonding. Her face dropped as Kayce and John trotted up along the fence as Rip walked through the gate.
Rip joked to John and Kayce, “you can add babysitting to my list of talents.”
“Gotta say,” Kayce dismounted, “I didn't see that one coming.”
“Me neither.” They shared a chuckle.
Tate stepped forward, but John spoke, interrupting the 9 year old’s stride. “We need to talk.” That sounded important.
Rip nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“Do you need me too, sir?” John didn’t have a chance to answer Stella because Tate made his presence front and center.
“I need to talk to you first, Grandpa. It's very serious.” His little face scrunched in a frown.
“All right.” John replied.
“Do I need to be part of this conversation?” Kayce asked.
Tate roasted his father like a marshmallow over a campfire. “You ain't got any money. Gotta be him.” All the adults laughed at the youngster’s brutal honesty.
“This should be good. Come on.” John grabbed his grandson’s shoulder and led him off away from everyone.
Kayce glanced at Stella, still unsure of how lightly he should tread. She stared back at him not knowing what to say. Kayce said to both her and Rip, “thanks for watching him.”
“It’s no problem, Kace.” She gave him a small smile.
“He's a smart kid. You can see it in his eyes.” Rip encouraged her best friend.
“Got that from his mother.”
“Yeah, kind of figured.” Rip laughed.
Stella sobered when she remembered Monica’s message to Kayce. “Speaking of his mother,” Stella cleared her throat, “she said she wanted to talk to you when you got back about the details for pick up and stuff. Might wanna talk to her soon.”
“I’m going to see her for a little bit after here anyhow.” Both men gauged Stella’s demeanor at the mention of the sensitive subject.
“Whatever floats your goat,” she said dismissively. She would rather avoid the topic all together.
From behind them, they heard Tate yelling for his dad. “Daddy! Daddy! You gotta train my horse!”
“I’m gonna go get started on chores Rip.” Stella turned on her boot heel and made herself scarce.
Both men watched her walk away. When she was far enough out of hearing distance, Rip turned to Kayce. “Still bumpy, huh?”
“Even after I talked to her about it.”
“You hurt her, Kayce. I’m surprised she’s talking to you at all.” Rip headed further into the barn.
Kayce got Tate settled in his truck. He looked back to his son. “Hang on tight for a minute. I gotta go find Aunt Stella.” He shut the door to go hunt for her.
Stella led another gelding out of the barn. He was another bay gelding named Kodiak. Kodi for short. He fought against her over the lip of the doorway. “It’s okay, buddy.” She stepped over the lip of the door and looked back at him. “C’mon Kodi, it’s not scary I promise.” The gelding took a moment to contemplate how he was going to go about getting through the doorway. He watched Stella and carefully lifted his front hoof and set it down when he realized it wasn’t anything dangerous. He bunny hopped the rest of the way and evened his gait out when he was away from the offensive doorway.
She huffed out a laugh at his antics. She clicked her tongue at him to walk on. “C’mom Kodi, let’s get to work.” Kodi and Stella trailed slowly to the pen. Walking around the corner, they almost ran Kayce over. Kodi chuffed in annoyance. Stella’s brows pulled together. “What’s up? I would have thought you left by now.”
“Is everything okay?” He asked. Stella felt the shyness in his question.
Her frown deepened. “You mean from yesterday? I’m still skeeved out, but I’ll be fine. Why?”
Kayce shook his head. “No, not that.” He was walking on eggshells and that irked her.
“Then what do you mean?” Kodi touched her elbow with his nose. She wrapped her arm under his jaw and pet the side of his face softly. The silence between them hung in the air.
“You know what I mean.”
Stella’s fingers pressed into Kodi’s large cheek and her lips pulled into a thin line. It was partially his refusal to say the words out loud that annoyed her the most. “Oh. That.” She sighed. “No, Kayce. I’m not. That shit really fuckin’ hurt. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. I could have stopped it, should have stopped it, before it got that far. But neither of us did those things. So here we are.”
“Stella, I’m—,” he tried to apologize again, but she interrupted him.
“I get it, you’re sorry. I’m sorry too.” Kodi bumped her toward him. She sideyed the horse. “I’m thankful you helped me and my brother out yesterday, but I still need time. Okay?”
Kayce crossed his arms and stared at the ground. “Yeah.” He breathed in and finally looked back at her. “I got Tate waitin’ in the truck.”
“Yeah you go. I’ll be fine workin’ with Kodi here.” She watched as he backtracked to his truck.
Stella had been in the training pen for a good while now, running another one of the new horses since she finished up with Kodi. She spotted John as he sprinted down the hill toward the barn. He yelled out for Rip waving his jacket through the air.
“Sir, what’s wrong?” She called out.
“Jamie!” John shot past her. In the corner of her eye she detected a shape that looked like Rip. He dropped the wheelbarrow of hay he had, ready to take off.
Stella gauged the new mare. Her disposition had been very peaceful the whole time. Stella knew she was taking a chance, but she had a hunch she would be just fine. “Alright Ember girl, time to show me whatcha got.” Stella placed her foot in the stirrup and eyed the mare carefully. She stepped up, placing her full weight on the saddle. Ember moved forward slightly, but steadied herself with a huff.
Stella swung her leg over and leaned her hips forward and Ember started walking. Ryan walked by the pen at the right time. “Ry, open the gate. I'm gonna go with them.” He rolled his eyes at being halted but reached for the latch on the gate.
Stella gave Ember a swift tap with her heels and she took off. As they breezed by her brother she shouted over her shoulder, “thank you!” The horse and rider made it to the end of the barn just as John and Rip shot out of the building.
“What’s going on?” She hollered from behind them.
“Jamie left the house with a gun.” Rip looked at her as she caught up to him. “Did you see him at all? Did he grab a horse?”
Stella’s brows knitted together. She didn’t like the implication of what Rip meant. “No to either of those!” She shouted over the hoof beats. “He can’t be that far on foot! I’ll go high.” She leaned left and Ember responded by heading toward the hill. She thought it would give her a good vantage point to see wide.
When she reached the top, she looked back down to make sure the men were still heading in the same direction. When she saw they matched her stride for stride, she pushed Ember further along the ridgeline. Her eyes darted around for any sign of Jamie. Ember bobbed and weaved in between the trees along the ridge. She spotted orange on the ground. It was Jamie. She came to a stop a good distance away and glanced down at the men that had galloped along down below. She whistled multiple times as loud as she could. It caught John’s ear and his head whipped her way.
He met her at the top of the hill and she pointed to his son about 100 yards from them. “Go down to Rip. Wait with him.”
“Yessir.” She turned the mare around and they made their way down the hill.
Rip adjusted in his saddle while he watched her trot up to him. “New mare good to go?”
“I’d say she’s pretty damn good. Been on her a couple times before now, but this was the first time out of the safety of the pen.” Rip smiled at her briefly. “So was this about to be what I think it was?”
Rip nodded soberly.
“Hellfire.” Stella sighed.
“Speaking of hellfire, you wanna tell me what leaving a man to hang was all about?”
“Is now the time for that?”
“It’s the perfect time. We got nothin’ to do but wait.”
She chewed the inside of her bottom lip thinking back to what she told Jimmy the other week. “You heard John. He wants me to help Kayce. To protect this place. Like you do for him.”
“I don’t think he meant that far, Stella. That’s my job.”
“Yeah and one day it’ll be mine. This place is my home just as much as it is yours. I’m one of the ghosts that’ll haunt this place forever. Just like you.” His ice blue eyes met her red toned brown. They both knew that was the truth. She’d shown up one day with her brother, and eventually her soul decided that she was never going away. In an odd way, Rip was almost proud of her. Even with everything that had happened to her lately, she was still going to grit her teeth and muddle through somehow.
She continued. “That asshat threatened our home. We can’t be soft defending it. Because other dickheads like him and the Beck brothers will come along and try to steam roll us out of here.” She sighed. “And if that’s a sacrifice I have to make, to be barbaric to ensure this place and the people that reside here stay safe? Then so be it.”
John walked Jamie down the hill with his arm locked around his son’s. Both of them looked distraught, but in different ways. “He’s moving to the bunkhouse for a little while.”
The group made it back to the big house and John gave out directions. “Stella, you go with Jamie.” He thought her presence might be more soothing than Rip’s. “Rip you wait down here.” He looked at his son. “You just get a few things. You can come back and get them as needed.”
Stella prodded the lawyer gently. “C’mon Jame.” The nickname from when they were younger slipped out. “Let’s get you packed up.”
On the top floor they came to his bedroom door. Stella leaned her shoulder against it, crossing her arms and ankles. She watched the eldest sibling quietly. Stella had been able to determine that he wasn’t running for office any longer. It appeared he had moved back into his bedroom. It was clear he was in shambles. The rug got pulled out from underneath him, and by the looks of it, it was rather quick.
“I’m sorry Jame. The bunkhouse will set you right. It’ll be a nice change of pace.” Down the stairs behind her she could hear muffled voices talking. It sounded like Beth had gotten home.
“This is silly, Stella.” Jamie shoved clothes into a duffel bag resentfully.
“Is it? It’s a good reminder of what you’re fighting for. What we’re all fighting for.” He looked at her. “And really, are we all that bad?” She smirked at him.
He would have chuckled if he had it in him. “No. I suppose not.”
“That’s the Jamie I remember.” She smiled softly at him. Yes, he annoyed her to high hell, but she never would have wanted him to end his life. “And anyway, you’ll get to hang out with Kayce more. I think that’ll be good for you.” He zipped up the bag when there was no more room to stuff things in it. Stella straightened away from the door. “Alright, buckaroo. Let’s go.”
At the bottom of the stairs, John stood patiently waiting. He and Stella shared a look. “Rip, you take him on down to the bunkhouse. I have to talk to the women for a minute.”
“Yessir.” Rip nodded.
Beth perched herself on the couch in the living room. “How’s it hangin’ homewrecker?”
Stella removed her glasses and set them on a nearby table. She rubbed her face, dragging her hands several times up and down. “Shut the fuck up, Beth. It’s done and over with, okay? So drop it.” She picked her glasses back up and placed them on her face.
Beth could tell Stella wasn’t in the mood. She wanted to see how far she could push her. “Is it really? You’re still here and his wife isn’t.”
Stella glared at John still being present for this, but decided to lay everything out. Beth had left her no choice. “I would still be here regardless, you dickhead. The most I’ve talked to your brother in the last few weeks was yesterday and today. I had no sway in whatever decision they came to. It’s not my business. I did, however, make a promise to him,” she motioned to John, “that I would help Kayce protect this place from the back end. No matter what happened between us. So suck it up buttercup. I’m here to stay. Whether you like it or not.”
John moved to sit on a chair opposite of his daughter. He stared at both women before him. It was time to intervene. “I need you two to put whatever bullshit this is aside and tell me everything about your visits with Malcom Beck and his brother.”
Stella cocked a hip and crossed her arms. “I already told you everything last night, John. He came nosing around, I pissed him off, and I’m sure he had someone tailing me.”
Beth glanced at Stella feeling the anger bubble beneath the surface at her audacity of getting in between her brother’s marriage. Stella disregarded the heated glare from Beth. She knew the woman was furious with her for multiple reasons, but now wasn’t the time. If Malcom wasn’t poking around where he didn’t belong, they wouldn’t even be in the same room right now. Stella cautiously asked her, “he visited you too?”
“He metaphorically whipped it out to compare size.”
“He did that to me the other day.”
“Where?”
“At my house. The morning after one of his guards punched me.” Stella pointed to her face. The cut from the man’s ring had scabbed and evolved into a thin pink scar along the apple of her cheek. The bruise that surrounded it was ugly and yellow, but faded with each passing day.
Beth looked to her father. “He’s digging. What for?”
Stella offered her opinion. She’d had time to think about it. “Weak spots. He’s trying to figure out exactly how to fuck us. How to fuck us right out of this place.”
“I see you’ve pulled your head out of your ass.” Beth chided her. “Now you’re talking like a rancher.”
“Beth,” John warned her. He didn’t need this conversation going south.
“Okay fine.” She huffed. “What’re we gonna do about it?”
“Well Rip and the guys are already looking into it.” John sat back and observed Stella taking charge. The way she stood and the look on her face reminded him of Rip. “If you tell him about your run in, things might get done a little faster though,” Stella suggested.
“I don’t need someone to hold my hand through it, Stella.”
“I know you don’t.” Stella rolled her eyes with a huff. “What I’m saying is Rip would bend the laws of physics or break them entirely to make sure you’re safe. So it would keep the fire lit.”
Beth eyed Stella carefully. There was something different about the woman in front of her. It was unclear what had evolved in her. If Beth wasn’t so pissed at her, she might even be proud.
Stella leaned back against the wall and brought her arms across her chest again. “Listen, you can either tell him or not. I can’t make you do anything. All I know is before I came to stay here for a little while, someone was tailing me, and they’d been in my house when I wasn’t there.” Her eyes looked far away as she relived the moment. As mad as she was at the only Dutton daughter, she wanted to give her a warning. “Just, if you have to go out, be careful please. Guys like Malcolm can be all talk, but sometimes,” her thousand yard stare snapped back to the present, “we’re wrong.”
Beth was taken back by her observation. “Men like Malcolm like to be feared. He’s gonna try.”
“Which is exactly my point. Be careful.” Stella reasserted. The women stared each other down. John wasn’t sure if it was a battle of dominance or some form of quiet acceptance. She looked at John. “Is it okay if I go now sir?”
“Yeah you’ve helped more than you know. See you tomorrow.”
18 notes
·
View notes