Roxy slowly decomposed in the sofa as she suddenly felt all eyes on her. She felt Ryan remove his hand from her thigh and shifted.
"What is she talking about?" asked Ryan as he stared at her.
Even though she would have wanted her eyes to connect with his, instead, they shot up to look at Rip who was standing by the fireplace.
"Roxy?" said Ryan again, egging her to talk to him.
Rip took a few steps toward the sofa, his eyes buried deep in hers. "You were pregnant!?"
Roxy swallowed and looked down at her hands that were fidgeting.
Ryan stood in turn, making her look up. "Wait? She's telling the truth?" He shot a glance at Rip who was still standing next to him. "Rip was the father?"
Seeing she wasn't responding he started to walk away. "I can't handle this."
Roxy stood and followed him. She reached the porch as he went down the final step.
"Ryan!"
Seeing he wasn't stopping nor turning around, she hastened down the stairs and ran after him. She placed himself in his path, making him stop.
"Ryan, let's talk about this."
"Talk? There is nothing to talk about Roxy. I knew you two had a history and I know he still has feelings for you, regardless of his marriage to Beth and our engagement, and now I'm finally starting to see clear. He'll always be somewhere in our story; you have a bond."
"Rip and I have been over for a long time."
He raised his brow in disbelief. "Really? Another lie, you're telling me and yourself."
"What?!"
"Oh, come on, I never brought it up because I never felt the need to, but that night when the storm hit and he went looking for you, you really want me to believe that you didn't sleep with him? Because that was not a so long ago, Roxy."
"After everything that happened, that was a lifetime ago, he's moved on, I've moved on."
"You were carrying his child!"
Rip walked over quietly toward them.
"Yes! I was carrying his child, but it was twenty years ago, Ryan."
"Yeah, well you should have told me."
"Why? This has nothing to do with you."
"That's obvious," he said as he stared her down.
"Look, I get that you're angry, but it was my life. I know I've made mistakes, I'm not perfect."
"You know what is a mistake?" He pointed his finger at her then at him. "This is a mistake."
She narrowed her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"We're done, the engagement is off, there will be no wedding. If you can't see how keeping this from me is a problem in my being able to trust you, then that is on you!"
He passed her and resumed walking toward the cabin.
"Ryan!" she yelled out to him.
She placed her hands on her head. "Shit. This is not happening."
She turned around hearing a twig snap and found Rip standing a foot away from her. Her heart was beating so fast it resonated in her ears and she wasn't sure how she was still breathing or standing.
"Not now, Rip," she said as she took in a deep breath.
"Oh no," said Rip as he took the step that separated them, "we're having this discussion right here, right now."
"I have bigger problems to handle right now," she said as she turned and started to walk away.
She felt his callous fingers wrap around her arm to stop her.
She whipped her head around and stared him down. "I swear Rip, right about now, I don't have any control of what I'm doing or saying, and I don't want to hurt you."
"Go ahead, hit me, punch me… I don't really give a fuck."
He pointed toward Ryan who was entering the cabin. "Nor do I give a fuck about Ryan. I need to hear you say it."
She wriggled her arm, trying to remove his hold on her, even though she knew the strength he had, and it was useless.
"God damn it, Roxy! Say it!"
She felt the sting of the tears reach the edge of her eyes. That bitch of a reporter had reopened the drawer she had closed 20 years ago. The drawer of self-preservation, and everything was coming back up to the surface like a tidal wave.
She took her hands and made fists as she neared Rip, his own hand still encircling her arm. She pounded on his chest as the wave reached its apex and the dam could no longer contain it.
"I was pregnant! I was carrying our child!" she said as she kept pounding at his chest through the ever-flowing tears.
She felt him loosen his grip and then his arms encircle her, pulling her closer to him. She stopped beating his chest, tired emotionally and placed her forehead on his chest as she sobbed.
Ryan stepped out of the cabin with his duffel bag and saw their embrace. It made him sick to his stomach. He had always said that Rip would be an obstacle and a worthy opponent, but he had come to a point where it hadn't mattered because of what he and Roxy had… now it was coming back to bite him, and it made his blood boil.
Rip removed his arms from Roxy and took a step back as he looked into her eyes.
"I had a right to now."
"So, we could both be miserable and grieve the son we never had because I miscarried at 5 months? You didn't need that."
She saw his jaw twitch. "Stop making decisions for others and thinking you know what's best for them."
She stood watching him turn and walk away.
"What would you have done, huh, Rip? What would you have done if I had told you I was pregnant?"
Rip pivoted on his foot and stormed in her direction.
"I would have done right by you!"
"My father would never have let that happen, and you know it."
Roxy pointed toward the lodge. "That reporter was telling the truth. He told Kayce to bring Monica to a clinic to get an abortion. You think he would have done differently with me, even if it was years before Kayce?"
"I would have handled it."
She shook her head. "You say that now because you're a grown man and have earned my father's respect, but back then, he wouldn't have given you or me a choice."
"Then instead of you leaving, we would have left together! I would have married you. I loved you and we would have had a family together."
She bit her lip. "And you would have come to resent me for it."
He shook his head. "No. You would have given me the most amazing gift; I would have been a father. But you decided all on your own what you thought was best for me, for us. I had a freaking right, to decide!"
"Oh, this is just grand," they heard Beth's voice coming from behind them. "Let's make this a threesome conversation."
Rip turned his head and saw Beth behind them.
"This does not concern you, Beth," replied Rip.
"Seriously?" said Beth. "You just told her that you would have married her, and she would have given you the most amazing gift of being a father and yet when I told you I couldn't have kids, you said you didn't want kids. Now, I'm curious, it is you don't want kids, or you just don't want them with me?"
"For heaven's sake, Beth, it was twenty years ago," retorted Rip.
"So, if Roxy ended up pregnant today with your child, you'd tell her you don't want to be a father?"
Rip stood flabbergasted by her question.
Seeing he was unable to respond, Beth sneered. "I guess things are clear."
Beth shot Roxy a murderous look. "Way to go, Doc, not only have you fucked up your marriage, I'm sure, but also mine and dad's political career as Governor."
Roxy stared her down. "You all have got some nerve. This has nothing to do with you or with Dad, this is about me!"
"You're smart, you should know that anything that happens in your life ends up being a Dutton family thing. Tonight, because of you, you have brought shame and dishonor to this family. Dad is pissed off as hell and wants to talk to you."
"I'm not a child anymore, I'm not accountable to him," replied Roxy. "You know what? Let him be the one to feel the shame that I had to run away from him to make sure I could keep my baby!"
Roxy turned and headed down toward the arena and disappeared in the stables.
Rip looked at Beth. "You've outdone yourself this time."
"Me?! I'm sorry, I'm not the one who kept this from you and lied to you all this time. Why are you letting her off the hook?"
"And why can't you cut her some slack? In all of the things that went through your mind, you never stopped to ask yourself where that baby is?"
"She probably gave it up for adoption, unable to care for it on her own. Hopefully, she didn't put your name on the birth certificate, because who knows when it'll show up on our doorstep asking for a roof and money!"
"That's low. I know you enjoy hurting people, but that is evil. She miscarried, Beth!"
"And I can't have kids!"
"Why do you always have to bring everything back to you?"
She put her hands out flat on his chest and pushed him. "Because with you, it's always about Roxy!"
The heard a horse neigh in the background and Rip turned his head toward the stables. He started to walk away and, in that direction, leaving Beth standing on her own.
Rip rushed inside the stables, just as Roxy settled unto Tequila's saddle.
"Where are you going?"
"Anywhere but here."
"It's night. At least let me go with you."
She shook her head. "Rip, I've just fucked up my future marriage, don't do the same. Go home to Beth and fix this."
"No. You know it's dangerous out there at this time of night. You want me to go save my marriage, then get the fuck off that horse, and go home! I can't worry about Beth and you at the same time!"
Roxy eyed him for a few seconds, sighed then dismounted Tequila, taking him back to his box and removing his gear.
When she was done, she exited the box and walked toward Rip. When she was at his height, she stopped.
"Now, you know why I kept this from you."
He stood there as she walked away, feeling a deep ache in his gut. He didn't know if he was angry with her or not and that was the hardest thing in the world. He wanted to be angry at her and hate her, it would make things so much easier for him, it would mean he didn't have feelings for her anymore. It would mean he didn't still love her… and that would be a lie.