Gracie Dutton

1

Gracie felt her world come to a halt. "What did you just say?" She asked Jamie. Jamie looked at her in the eye. "You mean to tell me after almost 21 years of living, you don't see the resemblance between you and Beth? Or wonder why you were adopted by John?" Jamie asked condescendingly. Gracie felt like her head was spinning. "You are Beth and Rip's daughter," he said. It felt like the final nail in a coffin. Gracie was sure she was going to be sick. Growing up she always thought it strange that her father adopted her years after his wife died, took the time to raise her. But, Gracie had a good life. She occasionally thought about her real parents, but honestly didn't care enough to find them. Hearing that they have been apart of her life this whole time was unreal. She always heard people comment on Gracie having John's blue eyes or looking like Beth, but she always brushed it off. Gracie held onto the kitchen counter in fear that she may pass out. She looked at Jamie and could only see the truth in his eyes. She couldn't find words to say. She just stared at her now uncle in disbelief. The back door opened and closed as her father, now grandfather, walked into the kitchen. He took in the tension in the room. He looked at Jamie then his eyes went to Gracie. He noticed her pale demeanor and the way she held onto the countertop. "What's going on?" John asked sternly and looked back at Jamie. "I told her the truth," Jamie said and instantly started backing up as John started stalking him down. "You what?!" He growled. Jamie became fearful. "She needed to know!" He tried to reason. "Oh and you thought you were the one to tell her?! Without talking with any of us first?!" John was livid. Kayce heard the commotion and came running in. "Hey! What's going on?" He grabbed his dad's arm, halting him from going after Jamie. "He told. He told Gracie." Kayce was in shock. He whipped his head around to find Gracie frozen like a statue and white as a ghost. "Get out of my sight before I do something I'll regret," John told Jamie. Jamie quickly did as told, knowing once Beth and Rip found out, he was a dead man. Kayce walked over to his little sister. "G," he whispered and gently placed his hand on her arm. She snapped out of it and pulled her arm away. She couldn't do this right now. She felt like her head was going to explode from it reeling with this new information. Gracie walked out the backdoor needing fresh air. As soon as she walked down the porch steps, she felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her whole life her parents had been there. Why on earth would they want her to be raised by someone else? Beth was her big sister, the one she always looked up to. That was her mother. Gracie leaned over and threw up. John grabbed his phone and called Beth. "You need to come home right now. Gracie knows the truth." That was all John had to say for Beth to practically run out of her office and get back to the ranch as fast as she could. Beth didn't know how Gracie found out or how she was taking it and that terrified Beth. It took her an hour to get to the ranch. She went down to the barn to find Rip. "What are you doing back so early?" He asked as he peeked his head out of a stall and saw his wife. "She knows," she told him. Rip froze. "What? How?" He asked and walked over to her. Beth shrugged. "I don't know. My dad called me and told me to get back here and that she knew the truth." Rip took his hat off and ran a hand through his dark curls, the same hair color and curl Gracie had. "You have to come with me. I need you there." Rip nodded. "Alright. Let's go." They went back up to the house, both nervous on what would be awaiting them. As they walked inside they saw Gracie sitting on the couch, staring into the fire, while John was in his chair, nursing a glass of whiskey. At the sound of the door opening, John whipped his head around. He seemed relieved when he saw it was them. He stood and walked over to them. "She won't talk to me. Just keeps staring off." John sighed. Beth looked at her daughter nervously. Rip could feel the nerves radiating off of Beth. He placed a comforting hand on her lower back. "Here," John said and held his glass out for his daughter. She gladly took it and threw the contents back. She gave her father the empty glass back and walked over to Gracie. Gracie had heard the commotion and had her eyes trained on Beth. She didn't say anything when Beth sat down beside her. "How did you find out?" She asked. Gracie scoffed at the question. "Jamie," she answered. Beth felt anger brewing within her at finding out that her least favorite sibling was the one that told her secret. "Figures," was all Beth said. Rip and John watched the pair in silence. Gracie looked back at the fire. Beth watched her carefully, taking in just how much she looked like her and Rip. She swallowed hard and fought the urge to run her fingers through Gracie's thick hair. "Grace," she said gently. At hearing her real name, Gracie turned back to face her mother. "I'm sorry you found out the way you did." Gracie looked at her and shrugged. "Why? At this rate, I was never going to find out at all. I'm glad the big mouth told me. No one else was." Beth felt the venom in Gracie's words and sighed, knowing they were true. At hearing that, Rip stepped forward. "Gracie, we wanted to protect you," Rip chimed in. Gracie looked at him. "From what exactly? I'm still on this ranch. Last I checked this is one big battlefield." Rip sighed as he felt irritation from the attitude Gracie inherited from her mother. "Not the ranch. From us. We were young. Rip was still new here. We were in no position to be parents, but we wanted to still be in your lives. That's how my father brought up adopting you. I'm sorry you found out the way you did. If you were going to find out, I would want the three of us to have broken it to you. But, you're right. I never wanted you to find out. I didn't want you to hate me. I haven't exactly been a good role model. I just wanted what was best for you." Beth looked at her daughter teary-eyed. Gracie looked at Beth then Rip. "I understand but I don't think it's fair that you never wanted to tell me. You really didn't ever think I'd find out?" Beth shrugged in response. "No. Especially when I knew you weren't particularly wanting to come look for us." Gracie nodded. "Fair point." Beth sighed and reached for her hand. "Are you mad?" She asked. Gracie looked at them. "I don't know." She stood up. "I don't want to talk about it anymore." She grabbed her jacket, slipped her shoes on, and went out the front door. "That went a lot better than I expected," John said. Gracie went down to the bunkhouse and snuck inside. The guys looked at the door. Ryan got up from the table and walked over to her. "Hey, what are you doing down here?" He smiled at her. "I need to talk to you," she said quietly. He looked at her worried. "Alright," he grabbed his jacket and followed her outside. "Rip is my father," she blurted out. Ryan just stared at her dumbfounded. "Wait what?" He asked confused. Gracie sat him down and explained the story. "Holy shit," Ryan gaped. Gracie nodded slowly. "Yeah," she whispered. Ryan looked at her worried. "Are you okay?" He asked. "I genuinely don't know." He pulled her into his side. "Everything will be alright, honey." He kissed her head. Gracie laid her head on his shoulder. Her and Ryan had been together for about 3 months. They were keeping it to themselves for now, wanting to feel it out before making it public. Beth and Rip went up to their room at the lodge. "What are we going to do?" Beth asked and felt the tears pooling. "Did we make a mistake?" Rip pulled her into his arms. "We are going to follow her lead. Let her decide what she wants. We ain't going to pressure her into anything. But, we'll love her just like we have been. We didn't make a mistake. Look at the life she's had! We wouldn't have been able to be what she needed." He rubbed her back soothingly. "I love you, Beth. Everything will be okay."