From Ranchhands To Soulmates (A Yellowstone Fanfic)

Chapter 10 (Edited)

Chapter 10

Kayce's POV

Today is my first day as Livestock Commissioner and to say I'm nervous is an understatement. I'm not worried about the job itself, but more about how much time it will take me away from Care and Teeter. Tate's been homeschooling for the past couple of weeks of his being at the ranch and with the help of Caroline he's been excelling further than I could have imagined, hell even Teeter has been reading him books at night and the three of them have grown close. Jamie has been working wonders on my custody case and having the governor's full weight behind me. It looks like it'll be an easy case, especially since Jamie suggested to her that she should just forfeit her rights to Tate altogether. I wish she would, but it doesn't seem likely that she would make it that easy. The faster we can build our house, the better it would look to the courts versus what life for Tate would look like with him living with Monica at her grandparents' house. He has everything he needs right here at the ranch and as for his mother; she hasn't called to check in on Tate at all. I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head, and relaxed before reaching the office. Once I got upstairs to my office, my secretary informed me that Sheriff Donnie Haskell was waiting for me in my office. I thanked her and smiled politely before walking into my office. "Mornin', Sheriff, please have a seat. How can I help you?" I asked, taking a seat in my office chair. "I have a young boy who's been asking about your new vet at the ranch," Donnie said, sitting across from me. "What do you mean?" I asked, giving him my full attention. "He had her business card. He claims she gave it to him at the hospital," the Sheriff said, scratching his forehead. "Huh... well, where is the kid?" I asked curiously. "He's down at the station. I told him to stay there until I came back," Sheriff Donnie said matter-of-factly, looking at me. "Did he say what he wanted?" I asked, cocking my head curiously. Sheriff shook his head and sighed, "No, he was just asking where he could find her," Sheriff concluded. I nodded and thought about it. "Would you give me a moment? I should call Caroline and see what she says," I say, grabbing my cell phone from my back pocket. "Sure, I'll just go grab a coffee and wait outside," Donnie says standing and walking out of my office door. I scrolled through my contacts, clicked on Caroline's contact, and patiently waited for her answer. "Hello?" Caroline's sweet voice greeted me. "Hey beautiful, I just got to the office, and the sheriff was here. He says some boy was in town lookin' for you," I inform her. "Where is he? He's okay right?" Caroline asked her voice in a panic. "Yes sweetheart he's okay, he's down at the police station. Who is he, darlin'?" I ask her curiously. "He's a sweet boy who just lost the last parent he had, it was so hard for me not to bring him home..." Caroline says softly. "Do you want me to bring him home with me sweetheart?" I ask her gently. "I don't want him out in the streets, baby. He's 14," Caroline says sadly. "I know baby girl, I'll do whatever I can but have Rip call me please, I'll see his perspective on it," I say reassuringly. "I will Daddy, thank you," Caroline says quickly. "Of course baby, always. I love you, have Rip call me as soon as you can please," I say once again. "I will I love you too," Caroline says sweetly. "Alright, sweetheart I'll see you when I come home, okay? I Love you, bye." I say with a smile before hanging up the phone. A few moments later, my phone rings Rip's name pops up notifying me he's calling. "Hey man," I say answering the call. "Hey Kace, is everything okay? Care told me to call you ASAP." Rip says to me urgency laced in his voice. "No, no, everything is fine, I'm sorry man, I just wanted to ask your opinion on somethin' before I give the sheriff the go-ahead," I said quickly. "Okay good, What is it?" Rip asked me. "Well when I got here this morning, Sheriff Donnie Haskell was waiting for me in my office and said a boy was looking for Caroline," I started slowly. "A boy? Like a kid?" Rip asks quickly. "Yeah, He's 14, Donnie made him wait at the station while he came to talk to me," I said to him. "I see... What does Care want?" Rip asked me curiously. "She's such a caring person, of course, she wants me to bring him home," I say with a chuckle. "I can get him a bunk set up in the bunkhouse or I can set him up with a bedroom here?" Rip suggests to me. "I doubt Caroline would ever have him in the bunkhouse, can you set him up in the room down by Tate's room?" I ask with a chuckle. "Of course, man," Rip says with a rare laugh. "Alright, I doubt that this kid has anything so I'll grab him clothes on the way home so he at least has somethin to wear," I say, pondering this thought. "Okay, sounds good, I'll have the guys bring in one of the beds from the cabin that we had switched out," Rip says. "That sounds perfect, thanks bro, I'll have Donnie keep an eye on him till I'm done with the paperwork here today," I say gratefully. "Okay man, we'll see you when you both get home, oh John left for Helena this morning he says the contractors will be here later today for Caroline and Teeter to plan the house, so you know," Rip says back to me. "Okay, good, I'll hopefully be back before then but in case I'm not, you be there with them please," I say to him. "Oh don't worry man, no other man is gonna be alone with our ladies," Rip assured me. "Oh, I do not doubt that with you there Brother," I say, with a chuckle. Rip paused for a couple of seconds. "You okay man?" I asked him. "Yeah, I'm sorry, just thinkin'," He says softly. "You're my brother Rip, regardless of everything, We're brothers," I assure him. "You don't know what that means to me man, Thank you," Rip says gratefully. "Of course man, I'm gonna hurry up and finish this paperwork and get the boy and come home as soon as I can," I say, smiling to myself. "Alright man, I'll make sure the girls are taken care of and Lee is about to head to the auctions to get more heifers and steers," Rip chuckles. "One more thing, See if you can snoop out the girls' birthday, they won't spill it to me," I chuckle. "Oh, I can do that," Rip laughs. "Alright man, see you," I say chuckling before ending the call. I buzzed my secretary and let her know to tell the sheriff he could come back in while I started filling out the paperwork while waiting for him to return. There was a knock on the door five minutes later and Donnie walked into my office. "Sorry Kayce, I had to take a call," Donnie says to me. "No problem Sheriff, we're gonna go ahead and take the boy with us," I say smiling at him. Sheriff Donnie smiles and takes a sigh of relief. "That's awesome Kace, who's this new vet by the way?" He asks with a smirk. "The new vet is my soulmate," I say with a cocked eyebrow. Donnie visibly becomes uncomfortable. "Shit, sorry Kayce." He says rubbing the back of his bald head uncomfortably. I laugh and shake my head. "It's fine, mind bringing him here or keeping him there for a little while I gotta finish some paperwork." I ask him while pulling out my agenda for the day. "I would Kayce but I got a rough bunch in holding and a kid doesn't need to be around a bunch like them," he says, shaking his head. "I agree with you there, alright that's fine, could you bring him here?" I ask as I start my paperwork. "Shouldn't be a problem," Donnie says, nodding. "Alright then it's settled, Just bring him by and I'll have him here, he can watch TV or something," I say smiling at Donnie. "I can do that, thank you Kayce," He says, rising to his feet, offering me his hand to shake. I stand and shake his hand, "My pleasure, Sheriff," I say politely as he walks out of my office. I got through the majority of the paperwork that I needed to do before there was a knock on my door. "Come in!" I announced to whoever was on the other side of the door. "Mr. Dutton, the sheriff is back," My secretary informs me. "Thank you, sorry miss what is your name," I say looking up at her. "Sorry sir, it's Sierra." She says smiling at me. "Thank you, Sierra, Please tell him to come in," I say with a courteous smile. "Yes sir," Sierra says before opening the door wider for the sheriff and young boy to walk in. "Hey Kayce, here he is," the Sheriff said to me. "Hi, I'm Kayce," I say to the boy with a smile. "I'm Carter, I'm sorry to bother you," Carter said politely, looking nervously at the floor. "We're good here, Sheriff, thank you for bringing him by," I say, dismissing him. "Of course, good luck," He says before handing me Carter's guardianship paperwork before walking out the door, closing it behind him. "Carter, you're not a bother to anybody," I say softly looking at the young boy. "Caroline told me to call her if I needed anything, I hope it's not too much trouble..." Carter started to panic. "Hey, Carter, it's okay. We're happy to have you at the ranch," I say honestly to him. "Okay..." Carter says with a smile. "Wanna watch TV or something while I finish up this paperwork then we can grab some lunch or we can go have lunch at the ranch with Caroline," I offer him with a smile. He nodded excitedly. "Alright, here's the remote, knock yourself out, kid," I say, handing him the remote with an amused smirk. "Thank you," Carter says, taking the remote from me and sitting down on the couch against the wall clicking on the TV, and flipping through channels I chuckle to myself and go back to doing the paperwork for the day. After 3 hours of paperwork later, I'm finally done for the day. Carter was still lying comfortably on the couch watching cartoons so I decided to check my schedule and get what I could do at home and tuck it securely under my arm, walking over to my office door. "Ready to head to the Ranch, bud?" I ask him while shoving my phone into my back pocket. He nods excitedly, grabbing the remote to turn it off before quickly slipping his feet into his worn down converses before walking to the door. "Yes, sir," Carter says with a smile as he grabs his backpack and slings it over his shoulder. I smile and open the door for him to walk through before closing it behind me. "Alright but, before we go, how would you like to stop by one of these department stores and see if we can get you some clothes that are comfortable and some boots to walk on the ranch in?" I offer him as we walk down the hallway. "Thanks," he says genuinely as we reach the front door. "Good, c'mon." I say with a smile as I open the front door, and we walk out on Main Street. "So, how'd you meet Caroline?" I ask him curiously as we walk over to my truck. "I met her at the hospital. I dunno why she was there but my dad was dyin' and she went up with me with the nurse to say fuck you to my dad before he died," Carter said, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Carter. I'm sorry you had to go through that," I said honestly to him as we pulled out of the parking lot. Carter gives me a soft smile before looking out the window. I drive through town and pull up in front of the department store. We hop out and walk inside. "C'mon let's go towards the back and get you some jeans, shirts, a hat, and some boots," I say gesturing to the back of the store with my head. "Okay," Carter says, smiling while following my lead. "What size are you, kid?" I ask looking through some jeans. "I dunno," he said looking down at his old worn-out oversized jeans. "What size are the ones you have on now?" I ask, chuckling. "They're like 34's, I think, that's what my dad was," he says. I nodded and looked for a size 30. "Here go try these and see if they fit you okay," I say handing Carter some 30's and size 28 just in case the 30's are too big. "Okay," he says, taking the jeans into a nearby dressing room. I casually look through some clothes before Carter comes back out. "The 30's were too big, the 28's fit pretty good," he says gesturing to the pants he's currently wearing. "That looks great, Okay go ahead and change back and I'll grab more of those sizes." I say to Carter, smirking at his enthusiasm. He nods and hurries back into the changing room as I grab a few pairs of the 28s before grabbing a few medium shirts I'm sure would work for him by the time he comes back. We grab a few packs of underwear and socks before walking over to the boots, "See any you like?" I ask as we search the boot rack. "I like these!" Carter says holding up a pair of brown Ariat boots. I chuckle and nod, "That's an interesting choice," I say smiling at him. "Why? I think they're badass, they remind me of the guys in the military," Carter says looking at the boots proudly. "I was in the Navy Seals, I think they're pretty badass too," I say, smirking and nudging him softly with my elbow. "Thank you for your service, Sir," Carter says in awe. I smile and set his boots in the buggy. "One more stop here, buddy," I say, walking over to the hats. "I don't really wear hats," He says, glancing at them. "Ballcap maybe? It'll help keep the sun out of your eyes. You're gonna need a hat, well We've got ballcaps at the house so why don't we just try a few hats on just in case you need an actual hat," I say looking down at him with a smirk. "Okay," he says as he crouches and browses the rows of cowboy hats on the wall. He comes back up with a Black Stetson hat, and places it gracefully on his head, "Whaddya think?" Carter asks. "Looks like a born cowboy," I say, smiling proudly at him. "Thanks!" He says proudly smiling. "Alright, anything else?" I ask him. "I don't think so," Carter says, shrugging. "Do you have a jacket, it gets really cold?" I ask him while looking around for the jackets. "I can't fit it anymore and it was ripped." Carter says once again looking at the floor. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, not everybody is as lucky as the rest of these transplants," I say, wrapping my arm around Carter's shoulders. He nods and smiles softly at me, "Go ahead and find you something that fits and you like," I say to Carter. "Are you sure?" Carter asks me, worry etched on his face. "Of course Carter, nobody wants you to be cold, and besides you deserve to be comfortable while you're at it grab some sleep pants or something so you don't have to sleep in jeans," I say, smiling softly at him. He just smiles at me and nods while grabbing a jacket that would surely keep him warm and a pair of blue sleeping pants, "Okay, I'm done," Carter confirms as he places the rest of his stuff into the cart. "Perfect, let's get on home now," I chuckled, pushing the buggy to the checkout area. After we finish checking out we load the bags into the backseat of the truck and head to the ranch.