Two: Truth Be Told

"Well Beth, I am saying never. He had his shot and he never took it." Spencer returned as she picked up her robe and towel, "he respects Kayce too much." Beth's eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she dropped down on the chair that had been pulled out from the vanity. "What do you mean he had his shot?" There was silence as Spencer went into the bathroom and turned on the water for the shower.

"Just that, he had his chance and didn't do anything." She went to shut the door to have some sort of privacy but was stopped just as quickly by Beth, this was all news to her.

"Whoa, whoa, you can't just drop a bomb like that on me and then not say anything else."

"Remember that weekend that Kayce and I broke up?"

"Yeah."

She remembered it all too well, Kayce and their father had gotten into a fight, and Kayce decided that he was done with everything. He had snuck out in the middle of the night and went to the Abbott Ranch and talked Spencer into leaving with him. They were at the gas station when Rip and Lee found them and Spencer had her choice and she had gotten into the truck with Lee and Rip. And three days later Kayce showed up with Monica and shattered whatever was left of their relationship. Spencer had stormed out of the house and Lee had followed her but not after throwing a couple of punches at his brother.

"And how he followed me to the barn?" Seeing her friends nod, Spencer carried on, "We had sex and then the next day, it was just business as normal. I don't know what hurt worse. Kayce marrying Monica or Lee doing that. And honestly, Beth, if Lee would have said the word, I would have stayed no questions asked." Without waiting for a reaction from her best friend, the girl turned to shut the door to shower in semi-peace.

Beth waited until the shower was on fully and she could hear Spencer singing along to the Elvis song that was playing on the Bluetooth speaker before she picked up the phone to call her brother with every intention of cussing him out. If he had manned up and done something about it, then Spencer wouldn't have had to run to the East Coast and stayed away longer than Beth herself had.

Not doing anything right or about their feelings seemed about right with her brothers. Lee threw himself into his work at the ranch. Kayce joined the military and Jamie, well he was a whole different sort that she really tried not to figure out.

She dialed her oldest brother's phone number, her anger getting the best of her.

It rang once, twice, and then Lee's voice filtered the room. "What Beth?"

"You fucked Spencer then left her?!"

"She is here?"

"Of course she is idiot! Her dad is getting married! She is the maid of Honor." She had seen the series of pictures from Spencer's Instagram of Spencer, Leighla, and several others going shopping in New York for the bridal fittings and knew that she was taking part in the wedding as the maid of honor, and for once she was happy that her friend was in the same time zone, it was going to make their weekly facetime calls so much easier.

"You need to make this right Lee, her boyfriend is here and he is." The unspoken words about Spencer's relationship hung in the air. The whole Dutton family knew about the man who was with Spencer and how much her father and stepmother hated him. On more than one occasion John had encouraged Lee to go out to Yale and get Spencer.

But for whatever reason Lee refused. Now, though, there was silent hope that he would do something about this. "You need to man up and do something before that son of a bitch kills her." The water shut off and Beth quickly disconnected the call and popped the cork on the bottle. She quickly filled two glasses and was ready to hand one over when she came into the room.

Lee was uncomfortable wearing the fancy clothes that his brother Jamie made him put on and even more so when he was surrounded by other people like his younger brother.

"Stop fidgeting.' John ordered in his ear, he had just come back in from the barn with Spencer's father and uncle, "We don't have to stay long."

"But I hope you stay long enough to visit with me Uncle John," Spencer's voice came from the stairs behind them and Lee felt his heart leap to his throat, she was even prettier than in his memories or in the pictures that he saw on Jamie's Instagram feed.

"Spence." His father greeted her as she came down the rest of the steps and into his arms for a hug. He lifted her off the ground and pressed a kiss to a cheek.

"The North looks good on you," Jamie added as he pressed his own kiss on her other cheek.

"Sure also raging asshole does too." She returned before letting Rip greet her.

"Don't start with that Rip." She started as if she knew what the enforcer was going with before he even started. She wasn't in the mood to deal with it and she wasn't in the mood to deal with her boyfriend pouting that he got his ass handed to him by her family.

"Not until after the weddin'." 5 hours back in Montana and she had already slipped back into the old Spencer, she wondered if this was how Ryder felt when she went back to Charming.

Lee could feel almost how she steeled herself as she turned to look at him. "Hey, Lee."

"Hey, angel." He returned, his feet carrying him over to her and to do the same greeting that his father and brother did but her head turned at the last second and their lips met in a brief kiss.

"I am sorry.' She started but he waved her complaints away before looking over her head at the man who was coming down the stairs behind her. "Release her."

"Who the hell are you to demand anything?" Rip asked, from what he gathered from Beth and from what he heard from Spencer herself, he knew who it was and to him, the Abbotts as well as the Duttons were his family now and he would go to any lengths to protect his family.

"I am Lewis. Her boyfriend." Lee's hand tightened on Spencer's hip and he pulled her closer to him and Rip took a step forward standing in front of them.

"Oh come on Grace," Lewis complained, he wasn't smart enough to go towards her in the middle of a group of protectors.

Especially ones that looked ready to kill him at second notice.

"Why don't you and I go and have a talk." John demanded, "And let Spencer and the boys catch up." "Who the hell are you?" The smaller man asked, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Lewis, this is John, he's my father's best friend and my godfather," Spencer answered, all too familiar Spencer Abbott's smirk was starting to form.

"This is Rip Wheeler." She went on, still firmly being held by Lee and Jamie who shifted ready to defend them if need be, "He works for Uncle John and is basically the right hand for him and Lee."

Lee's fingers dug into the shiny black material of her dress, in an effort not to fully lose his temper. "This is Jamie, he is the reason why I went to Yale and became a lawyer." Her hand that wasn't holding onto Lee's wrist squeezed Jamie's free one.

"And this is Lee.'

There was a realization of who Lee was dawning on Lewis' face and that barely held-on temper snapped he took massive steps forward only to be pushed back by Rip who was furious. As far he was concerned, Spencer was family and he was going to do anything and everything he could to protect her.

"Do not touch her!" He spat as Lee slowly moved away from the group, he wanted to defend her and handle Lewis but his first and only concern was Spencer and her safety. "Lee, take her into the dining room." Frank commented, "Leighla and the girls are waiting for her."

"Yes sir." Lee returned as he turned them around and steered her towards the rapidly filling dining room, casting angry looks at anyone who dared to get too close to them

"How bad is it Spence?" He asked as he pulled her chair out for her, he was already sitting at the table but he was going to take Lewis' seat to sit next to her. And the man could deal with it if he even came in from the barn.

"Bad. Rhett almost gutted him like a fish." She answered. The older Dutton son undid the button on his jacket and sat down next to her, his arm settling on the back of her chair. "He came out to the ranch in Wyoming to get me after my visit and lost his shit on me." She shifted so she was sitting closer to him, 'Rhett and Perry talked me into doing a barrel race. And I went down hard. Bruised my hip and thigh." Lee met his sister's eyes and saw the furious way that the muscle in her jaw was working, of course, Beth knew more than what she was letting on.

She normally did and now like always it was going to be up to him to get to the bottom of it and save Spencer. Like he should have years ago.