A chill had fallen over the Yellowstone Ranch. And no amount of heat, no fire, no warmth, could pull the cold from the air.
Everyone had watched Spencer walk away from the pasture the night before, but no one had understood the gravity of the situation until that morning.
"What's the plan with the pasture?" Kayce asked, looking at Spencer from across the kitchen island. He had never seen his sister so still in his life. It was like she was a ghost.
Spencer shook from her daydreaming, feeling the tiredness weighing on her. She hadn't been able to sleep last night. "Burn it."
Kayce nodded, mentioning something about prepping for it and then walking out the back door. He, along with the rest of the Dutton family, realized it was probably in their best interest to stay as far away from Spencer as possible. Whoever was arguing outside, however, didn't share the same genius.
Spencer barged through the front door, more than content with screaming at whoever was on the other side of it. She stopped though, when she looked at the situation in front of her. Two older men she had never met before were standing directly on the porch. Her porch, she reminded herself, while Rip fought with some other men. Most likely bodyguards. She didn't let her gaze linger on him for long, the feelings of betrayal and anger still simmering just below the surface of her heart.
"Who the fuck are you?" She asked, gaining the attention of the men. They merely smiled before turning back to the fight. "You are standing on my fucking porch, assholes. So I would speak up because-"
Spencer pulled the gun that was kept by the door for instances like this, the resounding click of a bullet entering the chamber.
"I won't be asking again."
This time the one in the black hat turned, a condescending smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Teal Beck, this is my brother Malcolm. And you are?"
Spencer scoffed as Teal reached out his hand for her to shake. "Spencer Dutton."
That caught Malcolm's attention, pulling him from the fighting to look at the red head. He hadn't expected the savior of the Greenview ranch to be so young. Malcolm looked to Teal, shaking his head back once to send him to break up the fighting. Rip backed off, keeping a distance but watching over the situation.
"Is your father home Spencer?"
"I'm not a fucking child, you'd do well to remember that. And this is my ranch, so whatever you want to speak to him about you can tell me. I'll be sure to pass the message along."
The smile she gave Malcolm made it clear she had no intention of speaking to anyone about his message. But he didn't care, he was more excited about this new development.
"Very well," Malcolm agreed, surprising his brother. "We have a proposition for you. News broke about that new casino being put up in your backyard. As individuals with mutual disinterest in that, we want to work together."
Spencer's eyebrows hit her hairline. "Who says I need your help?"
Malcolm only smiled, as if he knew something she didn't. Spencer felt a shiver run down her spine, remembering she had seen that look before. But she couldn't quite place it.
"No one said that Spencer, we just want to ensure benefits for us both, while getting rid of hassles in your way. Ranches will cease to exist if this casino goes through. Yours included. We can work together, outside the regulations of Montana."
"Does this apply to my cattle you killed?"
Malcolm's smirk fell, making Rip stand up from the tree he was leaning on. Spencer shot him a look that would send any man to their knees, and Rip stopped his movement, nodding slightly. Even now, he would do anything she needed, or didn't need, as it seemed.
"I beg your pardon?" Teal asked, looking between his brother and Spencer.
Spencer smiled, "Keep begging, maybe I'll consider your offer. But whatever I do, I will do it to protect this ranch and my family. From whoever gets in my way. Are we in agreement?"
Malcolm could see he was getting nowhere with the girl, and only nodded as he politely excused himself and his brother.
"We'll be seeing you soon Ms. Dutton," he spoke before closing his car door. He waited until they were halfway down the drive, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialing his son.
"She's going to be a problem," he said in place of a greeting.
"I told you she would be," his son laughed as he answered. "I can handle her."
"Get it done, no expense is too small. Break them all if you have too."
"Understood."
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"Are you out of your mind Daddy?"
John looked up to see Beth racing into his office, Sawyer hot on her tail, an apologetic look on the blonde's face. Beth, however, Beth looked ready to fight a mountain lion with the full head of steam she had behind her. John had been used to the antics of both his daughters, and seemed highly unfazed as he tipped his glasses down his nose.
"I'm gonna need you to be a little more specific than that sweetheart."
Beth eyed her father, her anger growing. "You made him break up with her?"
Oh, that.
John shook his head, waving a hand to the seats at the front of his desk. "I told Rip that Spencer needed to handle this on her own. How he chose to handle that is on him."
"Bullshit!" Beth yelled, startling Sawyer next to her. The blonde had really only come in because she had been trying to stop this from happening. Her results were proving dismal at best.
"Beth," John started, running a hand over his face as he took off his glasses. "Rip is a grown man, I am not responsible for his decisions."
That earned John an incredulous look from both women sitting in front of him.
"That grown man has looked to you as a father figure for twenty years. Whatever decision he made has been, and always will be for your approval. He would lay down his life for you if you asked him, and he'd do the same for Spencer. Why can't you see that?"
Beth had never been one to defend her siblings, mostly because she had a dislike for just about every person that walked the face of the Earth. So for her to defend any of her siblings, especially Spencer, took a lot of wrongdoing on someone's part. And John was starting to realize he may have been too quick to act, but he knew what had to be done. And that was something none of his children would understand.
"That's the problem Beth, she needs to do this on her own."
"Right, because you made the rest of your children work on their own." Sawyer seemed just as surprised at the words that left her mouth as the two Duttons sitting around her. She was sick and tired of the supposed adults in her life constantly swinging the rules in favor of one child or the other. Hell that was half the reason she took Spencer up on moving to Yellowstone in the first place.
John had half a mind to kick Sawyer off the ranch for her mouth, but he knew that would do nothing but cause him more headaches. Beth looked beside herself with joy, happy to see the blonde stand up for something.
"I will say this once, and then that will be the end of this discussion. Spencer has become too reliant on Rip and his ways. She needs to learn to abide by the law if she is going to run this ranch or I will hand the rights over to Kayce. I don't give a damn what either of you think about that. Rip can make his own choices, but I told him he needed to walk away. He understood, as you both will, got it?"
John looked up to see Spencer standing outside the door, every emotion possible rolling across her face. She could have dealt with Rip leaving her, one day, many years down the road. But to know that his betrayal was only at the request of her father? Whatever stitching that was holding her heart together snapped, the floodgates opening. John stumbled to try and explain, but it was too late. He had let down the only child he swore he would protect.