Roxy shifted in bed feeling the warmth of the sun hit the sheets through the window. She was exhausted. She couldn't remember at what time she had finally fallen asleep between the cries and passing in review everything that had happened the night before.
She looked at the empty spot next to her. She had somewhat hoped that Ryan would have come home, realizing how he had overreacted, but there was no indication that he had joined her in bed.
She heard her phone vibrate, turned over and grabbed it from the nightstand.
She had multiple missed calls, most from numbers she didn't even know and text messages from press services wanting a comment from her.
She unlocked the phone and went to her online news app. Most of the articles were about her father's press conference from the night before. She let her finger hover over one of the articles before tapping on the link. It surely couldn't be that bad, she thought to herself as she sat up in bed while the video loaded.
"A bomb went off last night at Governor Dutton's press conference when a reporter asked him about his views on abortion. The Governor was put on the spot when challenged on his opinions which didn't coincide with his private life. As to the matter of fact, John Dutton's youngest son Kayce got his girlfriend pregnant and apparently disobeyed his father when requested to bring her to an abortion clinic. Even though we know today that Kayce Dutton is married and has fathered the child, a grimmer ending hit Dutton's eldest daughter, Doctor Roxanne Dutton. The young woman than aged 20 fled the ranch because she was pregnant and feared her father would force her into having an abortion. It is alleged that at the time, the father of the child was none other than young ranch hand Rip Wheeler, currently still working on the Dutton ranch and married to Beth Dutton. Our investigation has brought forward that Roxanne Dutton, miscarried when she was 5 months pregnant with a boy."
Roxy frowned as the reporter continued.
"Even though this appears to be a family issue and of private content, there is a lot of noise this morning coming from partisans, politicians, and other Governors that this could have an impact on Governor Dutton's career, especially if the hype continues to bring attention. It appears some fear that Governor Dutton may not be as honest, transparent, and trustworthy as he sets himself out to be. At this time, we have not received any comment from any of those involved but we will let you know how things develop. This is Kelsey Foxwood from MBN."
Roxy shut her phone and tossed it on the bed next to her as she rubbed her eyes. She rose from bed and dressed before heading downstairs where things seemed to be quiet.
When she reached the living room, she froze upon seeing her father leaning against the kitchen counter, cup of coffee in hand, his eyes on her.
She bit her lower lip as she walked toward the kitchen, having no idea what state of mind he was in.
She grabbed a cup from the cabinet and served herself coffee from the pot, hating the silence. She had learned over time that silence could be worse than yelling and she would have rather her father yell at her than show signs of indifference.
"I'd wish you good morning, but I'm not sure it's the case," she said.
"I don't see how it can be, when your indiscretions have tarnished this family's reputation and my position as Governor."
She swallowed. Maybe silence was better off.
"My indiscretions?"
He stared her down. "You fucked up, Roxanne, you got pregnant! What were you even thinking?"
"I fucked up? Whoa, since when is getting pregnant a fuck up? You and mom sure fucked up plenty then. Is that what we are? Indiscretions?"
"Your mother and I were married and in love."
"Who says we weren't in love?"
He sneered. "A one-night stand doesn't qualify as love."
It was her turn to sneer. "A one-night stand? You can be so blind when you want to be. It was more than that and it lasted way longer than you think, but you were so hung up on the ranch you could have cared less about what we were doing."
"You should have come to me!"
"You were non-existent after mom died, leaving me to run the house and you would have wanted me to come talk to you? You dug yourself in work dismissing all your parental obligations. There was no one I could go to, so I did what I thought was right."
"And you were wrong!"
"I was wrong because it didn't fit what you would have wanted me to do. After what you did to Kayce, you truly think you would have done differently with me?! Don't be a hypocrite."
John stared her down but remained quiet.
"I wasn't a child. I was twenty years old, so stop sermoning me as if I had been a kid that did this out of spite!"
"You had twenty years to come out with the truth and the fact that you didn't, you blindsided me at the press conference," said John as he narrowed his eyes.
"Ever since last night, everyone has been thinking about everybody else but me! What about me, God damn it!? This is my life that is being spread out on the news. I don't see anyone in this family asking me how I feel, how I felt when I miscarried your grandson."
She threw her hands up in the air in frustration.
"You know what? Forget it. I truly don't see what the hell I was expecting from you when I came back here. The only apparent indiscretion I made was to set back foot on this ranch and this family!"
John put his cup down and stared at her. "No one is holding you back."
"This is how you want to fix this?"
"I'm not fixing it; I'm preventing it from getting worse. We've only just gotten out of all this mess with Rainwater and then Market Equities. I won't let you ruin everything we've worked so hard to keep!"
"Wow… and here I thought you wanted to keep this family together."
She in turn put her cup down, grabbed her purse and keys and headed for the front door. She turned around and looked at her father with sadness in her eyes.
"Let me tell you something, you keep going on like this and there will be no one left for you to pass on this legacy to. And everything you've done to fight to keep it will have been worth nothing."
She opened the door and let herself out and walking toward the lodge when she bumped into Ryan with a few carton boxes heading in the direction of the cabin.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Moving my stuff out, I'm going back to the bunkhouse."
She wanted to stop him, to sit him down and make him come to his senses but she was tired of needing to justify herself to others for something that had happened 20 years ago and that didn't concern them one bit.
"Don't bother," she answered making him turn around puzzled. "My stuff will be emptied out by the end of the day."
She took a few steps in his direction, removed her engagement ring, and placed it inside one of the carton boxes.
"You don't need to leave," he said, "this is your place."
"Yeah well, it appears as though I've outstayed my welcome."
She started to head back toward the lodge as he watched her a tug to the heart.
"I'm surprised you're still here," said Beth as Roxy reached her car that was parked alongside the lodge.
"Don't worry Blondie, I'll be out of everyone's life before you know it and you can all keep going on with your lives as if I had never come back."
"If my marriage fails, it'll be your fault."
Roxy opened the door to the car and smiled finding Beth's accusations hilarious.
"No, that'll be on you because of how you react to something that happened ages ago. Stop blaming others for your problems Beth, it's honestly getting pathetic. Your drinking problems are mom's fault, your inability to have feelings is dad's fault, problems you have with Rip are my fault, your anger issues are Jamie's fault and you always managed to blame someone for your work issues… for once in your life accept that you are the common denominator in all these problems and take the fucking blame!"
"Fuck you, Roxy!"
"The truth hurts don't it, Beth, like a slap to the face, especially when you've been denying it all your life. But you know what, that's the harsh reality of life. You can hate me all you want, but deep down inside you hate yourself even more."
Beth grabbed the bottle of whisky she had in hand and threw it in Roxy's direction. Roxy just had time to duck before it crashed on the pebbled ground right behind her.
Roxy stood up straight. "Well, at least that is one bottle you won't drown yourself in."
Roxy got in the car, turned on the ignition and drove off.