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"Hey, honey, Fish and Wildlife are gonna be here in the morning. Can you get a hold of Jamie? I've been trying him all day, and that fucker won't answer his phone." Rip asked. I was on Kayce detail and had been since that Native girl was kidnapped, and those bodies turned up in the desert. While dealing with Fish and Wildlife would be a cakewalk, John explicitly said he wanted Jamie on it to deal with how ornery the sheriff was being about all of this.
"If he isn't answering it for you, what makes you think he'll answer it for me?" I scoffed, holding my mug of tea to my chest, relishing in the warmth as the cool Montana air blew about. "He's been dodging my calls since this campaign started." Rip shook his head as profanities poured from his mouth. "I don't know why he won't just let me go out there with you tomorrow," I complained as the creak of the screendoor halted our conversation.
I had never seen John so tired.
"They're sending out another ranger tomorrow morning," I called as he approached us, hands on his hips and shaking his weary head.
"Good...that's good..." He nodded, giving my shoulder a short squeeze. "Rip, see if you can keep this one on a horse this time." It was sad as Shit, and it wasn't funny, but damn it if Rip didn't chuckle a little at John's words.
"Yes, sir." The sound of gravel being kicked up caught my attention as another black sedan pulled into the drive, and by the looks of it, it was too big to be Beth and Lord knows it wasn't Kayce. "Wow, I can't wait to see which disappointment this is," John grumbled as a freshly pressed Jamie jumped out of the SUV, a grin on his face as big as the Yellowstone until he heard his father's booming voice.
"Where you been? - I needed you!"
"I was campaigning." Jamie stuttered out.
"You been gone two fuckin' days, Jamie. You can't make one phone call? God knows I've been calling you. God knows she's been calling you." John pointed back to me and Rip on the porch, and I hung my head. There was no way I was getting in the middle of any of this. Especially when Jamie started babbling out 'sorrys.'
"I'm sorry. Christina has my phone."
"Christina has your phone. God damn it, Jamie. When Rip takes Fish and Wildlife out tomorrow, I need you with them." John commanded, making me roll my eyes. Why his stubborn ass wouldn't let me ride up was beyond me.
"I have campaign stops in Helena and Great Falls..." Jamie's face said it all. This was all he was waiting for. All he ever wanted, and his father was threatening to take it away with one glance. "No, you don't, because the first thing you're doing tomorrow is withdrawing from the race."
It was inevitable, really. I knew it would happen, and honestly, it was better for everyone. What that meant for my employment and my current...situation was a whole other deal, but by the looks of Jamie's expression, he wasn't about to drop this.
"What?!" He screamed. "I'm doing this for you. My entire career is based around this. I've earned it." Sure, he was passionate about it, but his father was having none of it. "It's not your place to decide what you've earned."
"Do we intervene?" I muttered to Rip, who looked at me amused with an eyebrow cocked. "Who's we?" He was almost offended I asked and it made me frown. As much as I hated it, he was right. "Fine, should you intervene? Happy?" Before Rip could answer, Jamie's voice cut through the air like a knife.
"Don't take this away from me. I've earned this! After everything I've done for you, after everything I said..."
"What have you done for me, Jamie? What have you done for me besides help me build the empire that you stand to inherit? Sorry, son, I just don't see the sacrifice." I wasn't worried until Jamie charged his own father, making me stand, the mug in my hands clattering to the ground and Rip springing to get between them.
"After everything I have done for you? I have earned this!" Jamie's hand connected with his father's face, pushing John into one of the porch pillars for a split second before John reeled back and landed a hard punch to his jaw, making his son stumble back into the grass.
"All you earned today is that."
"Mr. Dutton!" Rip protested, getting between the two, trying to make the hotheads simmer down while all I could do was pad down the steps a few feet away and wait for this scuffle to settle down enough to pull John back. "I swear to God, I never met a man more in need of a beating. Jamie, you touch me again, and I'll give you one."
" John ," I muttered, tugging at his hand only to have him smack me away.
"By this time tomorrow, Attorney General Stewart's gonna announce that he's not stepping down. So if you want to run against the candidate I'm supporting, you be my guest. Until you're ready to put this family first, you don't step foot on this ranch, you understand? - You're not welcome here." My heart swelled in my throat as he looked at his son without any remorse for the words he just said, sending him on his way and away from his family home.
"Go walk it off!" Rip commanded, shoving Jamie towards the yard. I quickly shuffled over to him, the gravel pinching the soles of my feet to divide and conquer. "You want the old man, or do you want the weeping willow?" I offered, crossing my arms over my chest as Rip surveyed who he wanted to de-escalate.
"Take the boss. You're a lot prettier than me..."
"Yeah, not sure how much that's in my favor right now...but thanks for the vote of confidence," I mumbled, nudging him with my hip in the direction of the puddle of a man in the grass. I took a deep breath and watched as John kicked one of the rocking chairs on the porch as he paced, profanities falling from his lips.
I took a leap, slowly padding up the stairs to the pillar that just he just had his face in, and gently leaned up against it, observing him silently until he got his anger under some semblance of control.
"You okay?" I tread lightly, "Or do you need someone else to wrestle with?"
"No..No, honey, I don't know that I am okay." He grunted, sitting down in the chair I was curled up in a few moments prior. "Hundred and thirty-two years, this ranch has been in my family, and I'm the one to lose it. To be honest, I don't even know who I'm trying to save it for anymore." I glanced over my shoulder, seeing Rip walk Kayce down the gravel path back to the front of the house and out of sight. Once their forms disappeared from view, I knocked John's knees apart with my legs, propping myself up on his thigh despite his grumblings, and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He relented but eventually relaxed into the gesture, and the hand that gripped the arm of the chair fell delicately around my waist.
"Nothing's lost," I comforted, pressing a soft kiss to his temple. "Not if I have anything to say about it." And I meant that. I would do anything in my power to keep Yellowstone where it needed to be and if it meant teaming up with the forces that be, against my will, then so be it. John sat there for a bit, absorbing my promise before giving my hip a few light pats, indicating he wanted me up.
"I'm gonna head on to bed, sweetheart." He sighed, bringing my hand from around his neck, kissing the palm. "Don't wait up."
"Yes, daddy. " I smiled softly, watching him pause for a moment as the word left my mouth, and he muttered something under his breath with a shake of his head and a fleeting grin. I let out a breath as I was left alone with my thoughts and the sparkling night sky.
And that fucking broken coffee mug .
I grumbled to myself, wrapping the knit cardigan around my body, and I picked up the pieces, putting each on the side table one by one, ensuring I didn't leave any shards. Especially since Kayce's kid was running around more frequently now.
"You okay?" I glanced up from the ground to see Rip, leaning on the pillar with a concerned look. I shrugged, wiping my hands off and standing. "Is anyone around here? How's the man-child?" I asked, nodding in the direction of the front door, making Rip shake his head.
"No better. By the looks of it, you tamed the beast, though." His knowing look made me turn beet red, and my blood ran cold. "Don't tell me you saw that..."
"Darlin', I see what you want me to see and hear what you want me to hear."
"Well, thank God for that..." I breathed, perching on the stone rail. "Last thing I need is you runnin' your mouth and Beth Dutton running after me with a steak knife because I'm fuckin' her daddy." Rip shook his head, biting his tongue before pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
"I'd never dream of it, Bennett." He promised, "Who else is supposed to keep the rest of these fuckers in line if you go missing?"
"Good cop, bad cop never fails." I agreed, nodding in the direction of the bunkhouse. "Now go on and get out of here before daylight breaks, and you're bitchin' and moanin' on the range that you didn't get any sleep and blame me for it."
"Yes, Ma'am." With a tip of his hat, Rip was on his way back to his place without any protest, and I was free to get a whole night's rest while the minds on the Yellowstone fell heavy with thoughts of what would come tomorrow.