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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Spencer awoke to the feeling of something soft fluttering up her shoulder, working its way up her neck. As her eyes opened, they landed on a smiling Rip, his own eyes shining with happiness. She had come to cherish that smile, the big wide grin that took over his whole face, crinkling his eyes just a touch. She couldn't help herself from reaching up and running her finger across his lips, as if she could commit Rip's smile to memory until the next time she saw it.
"I'm a free man, Baby," he whispered as he leaned back down, his breath sending a shiver down Spencer's back. She pulled him toward her, appreciating his warmth as she leaned up to meet him in a kiss. "I'd love to stay, Spence, but I gotta get down to the hold. It's ropin' day."
Spencer shook her head in disapproval. "Ryan can run it, stay with me."
She could feel Rip tense over her, unsure of what to do. Hell, she could almost see the fight to stay swirling in his eyes. So she leaned forward, a whisper of filthy promises on her lips, pulling her cowboy further into the tangled sheets.
It was a while later before the couple untangled from Spencer's sheets. The sight of a pissed off Beth that greeted Spencer at the bottom of the stairs was the cherry on top for the redhead as Rip stepped around her.
"Don't cause too much trouble now," Rip whispered to Spencer, although she could hear the laughter threatening to bubble over in his voice as he smacked a kiss to her cheek and went out the door.
"Once a whore always a whore," Beth smirked as she lifted her coffee cup in fake congratulations at her younger sister. Spencer ripped the cup from her hand, not surprised to see it practically empty, the strong smell of whiskey permeating from the cup.
"Once a drunk always a drunk Beth," Spencer called out as she down the whiskey, putting the cup into the sink. She was about to head to the barn, but stopped as Beth's assistant scurried into the room, her father's voice joining Beth's.
"I want you to put the ranch into a trust," Spencer heard her father instruct Beth. She realized now how bad her father's condition was getting if he was taking care of loose ends like this. She needed so much more time with him.
"Who's the beneficiary?"
A pause filled the air, Spencer could almost hear her father's thinking with how quiet the house had become.
"Put them both down, make yourself the executor. You and him, you're not allowed to sell this place out from under her, you understand?"
The lapsing silence made it clear to Spencer her sister was nodding rather than responding, but she didn't care at that moment. Sure, it wasn't the whole thing, but shit if she wasn't happy to hear her father give her something- anything- involving the ranch. It was a step in the right direction, now she just needed to walk the mile.
