CHAPTER ONE,
bad luck
WINNIE EDEN KNEW THE karma gods were coming to get her.After finding out about her producer Patrick's betrayal, she packed up her small apartment, left a voicemail for her landlord, and was on the road.
She had no idea where she was going until she called her friend Ruby, who immediately offered her a place to stay in her tiny New York apartment, and with nowhere else to go, Winnie Eden accepted.
So, she found herself on a long drive from Los Angeles, California to Brooklyn, New York. How she ended up in Montana was a question she had for herself. With nothing better to do, she wanted to do some sightseeing and touristy things.
Instead of finding herself looking at a beautiful mountain or a nice canyon, she was stuck on the side of the road in the middle of Montana with a dead phone and no any way of getting help to fix her smoking car.
She subconsciously gripped the little keychain of pepper spray in her pocket when she saw a big black truck drive down the road. The car slowed to a stop and the window opened and a man wearing a cowboy hat offered her a smile.
"Ma'am." He nodded, tipping his hat in her direction. She nodded, crossing her arms but staying in place, "Car troubles?" He asked.
"Yep." Winnie nodded.
The man smiled, "Do you need help?"
"Are you a serial killer?" She blurted out, her panic easing a bit when he laughed, but she kept her grip on the pepper spray digging into her side through her jacket.
"No, ma'am." He shook his head.
"How can I be sure?" Winnie asked, cautiously. Instead of responding, he started to get out of the car and walk over to her side, "I have pepper spray, and I am not afraid to use it!" She shouted, whipping it out of her pocket and aiming it at him.
"Calm down, I ain't gonna kill ya." He cracked a smile.
"I'm sure that's what you say to all your victims." Winnie raised a brow.
"Promise, I'll take a look at your car and if I can help you, I will. If not, you can freeze out here tonight all by yourself, how does that sound?" He offered, raising his hands in surrender.
Winnie stared at him, weighing her options, "Fine, but if you start to look murder-y, I'll spray you in the eyes and run." She threatened.
"All right then." He nodded. She popped open her hood and lingered behind him as he took a look at her car. She watched him work for all of two minutes before he turned around to her with a look that she didn't like.
"What?" She asked.
"You're gonna need some new parts." He informed her.
"How long will that take?" She asked, wringing her hands nervously.
"Could be a couple weeks, could be a couple months." He shrugged.
"A couple months?" She gaped, running a hand through her hair, "Geez."
"Here's what we can do for now, I can call my boss and see if we have any space at the ranch, and if we have space and he says yes, you can stay and we'll go from there."
"Ranch?" Winnie raised a brow, before following his thumb back to where he was pointing to the logo on the side of his truck, "Huh." She hummed.
He stepped aside, leaving Winnie to ponder with her thoughts. The call lasted no longer than a couple minutes before the man turned around to her, "Good news, he gave the all clear."
"I don't even know your name. How can I trust that you aren't taking me to my death?" She asked.
"You and death." He chuckled, shaking his head, "I can assure you no killing will happen. As for my name, Rip Wheeler, ma'am." He held out his hand for her to shake.
She looked at it cautiously before taking it, "Winnie Eden." She shook his hand.
"Well, Winnie, I can hook up your car to the truck and we can get moving." He told her, "You can wait in the truck, turn on the heater if you want." As he said that, a gust of wind blew through the air, sending a chill down Winnie's spine.
"Thank you." Winnie finally managed to say before heading for the passenger side of the truck, leaving Rip alone to deal with hooking up her car.
Within the hour, Rip was driving down the dirt road and under a sign that read "Yellowstone, Dutton Ranch" and parking the truck in front of a big house, next to an arena meant for some kind of animal.
"You must be Winnie." An older man came out of the large house, a cowboy hat on his own head as he held out his hand for her, "John Dutton."
"Nice to meet you." She nodded, shaking his hand, "I appreciate everything you're doing."
"It's really no problem. Rip can show you to your room, well, it's more of a cabin." He explained, pointing off into the distance where a little cabin stood.
"Thank you." She repeated.
"Let us know if you need anything else." The man smiled, patting her on the back before making his way back inside, leaving Rip and Winnie alone.
"So, I can help with your bags." He offered.
"Oh, thanks." Winnie popped the trunk, revealing her many bags, "Ah, I'm in the process of moving." She admitted, a little embarrassed by the mess.
"It's all good." He shrugged it off, pulling out the bags Winnie had pointed out she wanted. He led her over to the cabin and once inside, he set her bags down, "You should have everything you need in here. I'm pretty sure the fridge is stocked, running water, all of that." He nodded.
"Thanks for today with my car and for not murdering me." She joked, smiling when he smiled.
"Well, ya never know, I could surprise you." He winked. Winnie couldn't help but smile as she tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she watched him leave.
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note.hello! welcome to saints among sinners! sorry this chapter was a little short, but i was originally going to include the first episode in this chapter, but it would be a little chaotic, so i'm splitting them up, but we already have winnie and rip and i'm so excited to write for them!! i hope you're excited to read about them because i'm already in love. there will be tilly content coming in the next chapter, but until then, i hope you enjoyed and i will see you soon my loves 💕💕
SHOW: yellowstone, bonus
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saints among sinners , yellowstone
Fanfictioni keep thinking maybe if you let me back in we could make it better, breaking every habit yellowstone, season one - tbd rip w/fem!oc, kayce d/fem!oc © graciesbestie, 2023