Mrs. Dutton (Yellowstone) (Kayce Dutton)

Chapter 3: Mama Told You

He started walking but ended jogging towards me.

"Jesus christ, you scared the shit out of me." He said as he got to me. He hugged me tight and kissed the top of my head.

"I was just out in the barn, I'm fine." I said and kissed his cheek.

"You didn't leave a note or wake me or anything." He replied while grabbing my hands, which were pretty cold.

"I snuck out. Like my good old high school days." I faked a grin. He shook his head.

"Didn't your mama tell you nothing good happens when you sneak out?" He grumbled. He wasn't smiling. 

"I was sneaking out to the barn, not a party." I laughed. He wasn't believing me. One of the ranch hands hollered from the arena and waved Kayce over. He  held up a one and turned back me.

"You're lucky I got work to do. This conversation ain't over." He snapped and walked away. I sighed and walked to the house.

I kicked off my boots at the door and sat down on the couch. Why did I really think I could get away with this? I yawned and put my head in my hands. 

"Morning, princess. You sure gave us a scare." I heard from behind me. Beth was sitting at the kitchen table. It was barely 6 am, and she had a full glass of whiskey pressed to her lips. 

"I was just in the barn." I sighed. She raised her eyebrows while she finished her glass.

"I don't think anybody believes that you were out there petting the horses like a 6 year old at the zoo for shit at 5 o'clock in the morning." She snapped and walked over to the couch. She sat next to me and stared. "C'mon, spit it out. Which barn boy got you whipped?" I gasped.

"You think I would cheat on Kayce? In the barn?!" I yelled back and stood up.

"Well, give me something I'll actually believe." She said and pointed for me to sit down. I rubbed my eyes. Beth was going to hound me until I spit out, so I caved.

"Kayce and I went to do check on one of the far pastures yesterday and found a cow hurt bad. It got it's leg snapped by a bear trap. He had to kill it." I vented. She shook her head.

"Morbid, I love it." I rolled my eyes.

"John and Kayce were fighting about it and I knew it was a bigger deal then they said after dinner. So-" I paused, "I rode out to the cow last night to see if there was something to help me figure out what was going on." I gulped. She sighed.

"Did it help you?" I didn't want to mention the lead, she was already getting too much out of me.

"Not really." I mumbled. She stood up and walked over to the dresser to pour another glass. She walked back over and sat. 

"So you rode a horse a few miles out into the middle of nowhere, in the dead of night, to look at a dead cow?" She scoffed and shook her head. 

"I know it was ridiculous, but I couldn't look when they brought it back, they'd never let me." I defended.

"The lesson I have for you here is to never ask a man for permission. You'll never get anywhere." She said and took a sip. "You probably shouldn't tell anyone else about this though, Kayce'll lock you in your room for a month." I grinned. "These boys live for drama, that's why they're ranchers. This just gives them something to bitch about. One of them probably dropped it and is too much of a pussy to admit it." She chugged another glass, got up, and walked out.

That's how most of my conversations with Beth went. 

I went to go lay down for a bit and ended up sleeping until 3. I rolled out of bed and looked out at the arena. A few boys were riding around but no Kayce. I decided to walk down to the kitchen and get something to eat since my stomach was growling like a grizzly. Afterwards I walked outside and leaned on the arena fence to watch them rope. I sat and watched in silence for a few minutes before Colby noticed I was standing there. He rode over.