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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TW: slight mention of domestic abuse (just that it occurred, nothing specific); also there is mild mention of gore in the italics section, there will be a summary at the bottom!
Sunday
Rip woke in the morning to the other side of the bed being cold, which was something he hadn't felt in a very long time. Spencer hadn't been able to sleep much the night before, despite her exhaustion, feeling the anger of her brother deep in her bones. So when the sun peeked over the mountains, bringing the first light of the day, she got out of bed and headed down to the barn where she knew Kayce would be.
He felt Spencer approaching as he readied the stallion for the day. "What do you want?"
"We should talk."
Kayce scoffed at the idea as he turned to face Spencer. "Talk? No, I think you mean lie to me some more."
It was Spencer's turn to sigh, "This is exactly why I didn't tell you Kayce!"
"That's such a load of shit Spencer!" Kayce's voice started to rise despite the early hour. "God you're really letting the asshole sleep his way into owning the ranch. Between you and fucking Beth-"
Kayce didn't get to finish his sentence, the words being interrupted by a slap from Spencer. She stood there almost as shocked as him, both surprised at the hate and anger they were giving one another. But the summer fling Beth and Rip had all those years ago was something that left an ugly wound on Spencer's heart. One that had never really been able to scab over and heal. And Kayce had just jabbed the bruising around it hard.
"I'm sorry," Spencer whispered, not looking at her brother. "I don't know why I did that."
"You need to get your priorities straight Spencer," Kayce continued to berate. He wasn't even mad that Spencer had slapped him, he knew his statement deserved it. He was just surprised it actually happened.
Spencer locked her eyes on Kayce quickly at his words. "I need to get my priorities straight? Kayce all I ever do is clean up your fucking mistakes! You're not the only member of this family with that brand burned into them. I got that because of your mistakes and the consequences they had on me. I have devoted my entire life, shit my entire fucking existence, to this ranch and you want to talk to me about priorities? Yes, I kept Rip a secret from you. Because for once in my life I wanted something for myself that wasn't ruined by my family. You of all people should realize that."
She huffed, more frustrated than when she had walked into the barn. Her initial plan had been to apologize to Kayce for not telling him, but it seemed he had other plans. Rather than let the argument escalate further, she decided to cut her losses and head back to Rip's house.
It was moments like these where Spence wished she could be just about anyone else. She had given every aspect of her life to the ranch, to her family, and yet it still meant nothing. If her father convinced Kayce and Monica to move to the ranch permanently, there would be no chance of inheriting the land she loved. That was the thing about her father. Despite Kayce's consistent disloyalty, he would always be her father's prodigal son.
