Spencer Hope Dutton. Tiny. The youngest of the Dutton household, if only by a few minutes. She swore those few minutes after Kayce popped out were the only moments of peace she had in life...
Now Spencer's family is being pushed to the brink and her...
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Thursday
Spencer had barely been able to pull herself from bed the days after Lee's death. But that morning she knew she had to get herself together, seeing as she was expected at Paradise Valley that afternoon. Sawyer had called and texted, telling Spencer she could take the rest of the week off. But Spencer just wanted something she could have control over at that point, even if it was singing.
Hiding in her room also made it easier to stay away from Rip and Beth. Mostly Rip. After what he had said the other morning, Spencer didn't know what to believe anymore. She groaned at the growing headache life was giving her as she pulled herself from her bed to start her day.
Deciding coffee was the first part of the to-do list, the redhead worked her way downstairs, internally groaning as she caught sight of her sister.
"She's alive," Beth smirked over her coffee cup. The blonde chuckled at the middle finger Spencer sent her way.
"That's low even for you," Spencer grumbled as she poured a mug for herself and went back upstairs, not wanting to deal with her sister's antics.
Back upstairs, Spencer saw a text from Sawyer, saying she would be there in an hour to help get ready. After responding, Spencer took her coffee into the shower, better to multitask, she thought. She stood under the spray, trying to force her sadness down the drain with the water. It didn't seem to be working all that well, though. But still Spencer stayed, letting the tension between her shoulders slowly dwindle away with each sip of coffee and increase in water temperature.
At some point the water began to grow cold, forcing the redhead from the shower to dry off. With her hair dryer on, Spencer had missed the three calls from Sawyer, jumping when she heard the door to her room open.
"Sorry, you weren't answering," Sawyer chuckled, "Ryan showed me up. Which is weird that he knows how to get to your room?"
The pointed look from the blonde made Spencer roll her eyes. "Not the guy I was telling you about. Ryan's brought me back a few too many times drunk. All yours."
"Duly noted."
Spencer looked at Sawyer with a surprised look on her face. Sawyer only shrugged her shoulders, dumping her bag onto Spencer's bed.
Sawyer had been able to work her magic on Spencer, hiding the bags under her eyes from crying and minimal sleep. Plus she brought some life back into the redhead's cheeks, no one would know she spent most of the week in her bed. Which was all that mattered to Spencer. No one at Paradise Valley could tie her to Yellowstone, at least not yet.
The girls were heading down the road just a little later, guitars and sound gear packed up in the back of Sawyer's old Mustang. Spencer had laughed when she had seen the cherry red car parked outside, unsure how Sawyer got any use out of the car on the backroads of Montana. The blonde had only flipped her off, saying it worked just fine before driving off down the road.
"So two songs together, and then just split after that?" Sawyer asked as the girls dragged their gear inside.
"I don't see why not," Spencer huffed, "We need a better lay of the land anyway so it wouldn't hurt."
Sawyer nodded, pulling cords out for microphones. Spencer took the time to look at a request list from the guests, laughing at the insane amount of Billy Joel on the list. And the apparent lack of any country music.
"You girls will be ready to go in, fifteen?" Roseanne asked, walking up to the pair as she checked her clipboard. The girls both nodded, sending a smile Roseanne's way. "Great! Everyone has been looking forward to tonight so good luck!"
Sawyer and Spencer shared a look as Roseanne walked away, trying to stifle a laugh until she was out of ear shot. The girls were sure everyone was in for quite the treat.
Everything was set, and the girls were finishing with their guitars as Dan Jenkins walked up to introduce them, leading to a wave of applause from the guests before mingling continued.
"Evening everyone, it's a pleasure to be here," Spencer started, "I'm Spencer Hope." "And I'm Sawyer Grace," Sawyer continued, "and we hope you enjoy."
"And this last one this evening, well, it was my brother's favorite song," Spencer laughed as she reminisced on Lee dancing around to the song when they were younger. "Although I'm sure he would be mad I shared that, so let's keep it our little secret, alright?"
The crowd laughed as Spencer began to strum her guitar for the last time for the evening.
~ Kerosene, Miranda Lambert~
Spencer and Sawyer hit the last note of the song, a round of applause coming from the guests in the lounge which seemed to grow with each song the girls had played that night. They bowed briefly, setting their guitars down so they could start packing up. Guests made their way up, thanking the girls and applauding them, leaving money in a tip jar Sawyer had put out.
Roseanne walked up, a beaming smile on her face. "That was excellent ladies. Dan said he would love to have you both back tomorrow starting at four instead of six, would that work for you?" "I have, uhm, I've got somewhere to be until four," Spencer shifted her guitar on her arm.
"We could be here at five, if that works?" Sawyer offered.
Roseanne nodded, "Let's shoot for four next week then. We'll see you tomorrow."
The girls waved, lugging their stuff back out to the car in silence. Sawyer sent Spencer an apologetic glance as they sat in the car and she turned it on.
"I'm sorry."
Spencer waved her off, "It's fine, I'm glad she was cool with an hour later."
Lee's funeral was tomorrow, and Spencer knew it was going to take a lot out of her to be there and then go try and perform. Sawyer smiled at the girl, putting her hand on Spencer's shoulder.
"Sleep over?"
Spencer laughed, nodding as Sawyer sped out of the country club driveway. Neither talked much, voices and heads sore from all the noise at the club that evening. Plus they were incredibly tired, sleep pulling on them as they drove past the Yellowstone gates. Sawyer looked once at their gear, which Spencer only shook her head at. No need to take it out to put it back, she had told the blonde as they stumbled inside.
They worked quickly getting ready for bed, knowing the morning would be long but their current night too short to prepare.
