For Him, I Would

Chapter Two - Divorce was created by souls wanting freedom.

"Well, it's not surprising really."

"Erin, please," James Dobson, Oakley's father, gave a deep sigh from where he was working on his old tractor.

"I'm just saying," Erin threw both her hands up.

Oakley had gotten back to find her parents out in her dad's old shop, her mother drinking a beer while her father worked on a tractor she was pretty sure he started on her seventh birthday. The whole ride home Oakley had debated telling her parents anything but when she remembered her father had spoken to John earlier, well...she couldn't think quick enough before her mother called her over before she could escape into her small cabin.

"Honey, are you okay?" James asked his daughter.

"I'm fine," Oakley answered quickly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," Erin said, glancing around. "It's a lot to take in."

"Not really," Oakley stood up from where she had been perched for the last twenty minutes. "I haven't seen him since I was eighteen...I don't even know him anymore. I've had a life since then. He's had a life, a family...I'm not part of any of that anymore so why would it matter?"

She didn't catch both her parents sharing a look as she turned around and walked back to her cabin.

A few days later.

"You mean they're one hundred percent clean? I call bullshit." David, Oakley's boss asked her through the Zoom call she was on.

"I didn't find anything out of the ordinary," Oakley was trying hard to be professional. She didn't like David. He got too touchy at functions and meetings and made borderline inappropriate comments about Oakley's appearance and clothes from time to time.

"I just find it weird that the largest ranch in Montana is completely clean," David laughed. "Everyone knows there are tons of skeletons buried there."

Oakley raised her eyebrow, if only he knew.

"I did everything by the book, I spoke to Mr. Dutton afterward and he signed off," Oakley shrugged. "I don't really know what else to say. They're winding down the summer season anyway, if there was something we should probably check it at the beginning of May."

"Go back and check it again," David waved his hand across the screen.

"What?" Oakley frowned.

"Go back and check it again," David repeated. "And this time, how about you find something worth reporting back to the Luitenent Governor?"

"There's nothing there," Oakley defended. "John runs a clean operation."

"John?" David smiled and Oakley knew she had been caught. "I thought it was Mr. Dutton?"

"It is," Oakley mumbled. "Okay, so I've known the family my whole life practically."

"Then you know what everyone else knows," David smirked. "Now find something to put our office back in the good graces."

David's face disappeared from the screen. He had made a fool of himself at some Christmas event last year, got super drunk, and threw up in front of the governor. Ever since their team hadn't been the favorite, let's just say that.

"Fuck."

****

Pulling up to the main house of Yellowstone, Oakley felt like an outsider all over again. There were a few new cars parked this time though, a sleek Mercedes and an old ford pickup to name a few. She turned off her truck and took a few deep breaths. As she made her way up to the door she had to jump back as it swung open.