"Everything is packed by the door Beth." Rip told her the next morning for what felt like the tenth time. "We'll put it in the truck, Lloyd said he will drive it there and we can ride."
"I can drive it there, if you tell me where." Beth said.
"Darlin' you'll be fine ridin'" Rip told her putting Katie and the last of the bags in the truck.
"Can we have breakfast with Grandpa?" Katie asked from the backseat.
"Only a quick one darlin'" Rip told her. Lloyd met them at the lodge bringing over two saddled horses. "Feel free to tie them up Lloyd, we'll be ready in half an hour."
"Who are you? Beth heard Katie ask inside. Inside Beth saw a woman she didn't knw dressed in her Dad's shirt.
"Who the fuck are you?" Beth spat.
"Who the fuck are you?" The woman spat back.
"I'm the bitch about to stab you in the stomach." Beth grabbed a knife. Rip was leaning against the door frame, Katie next to him.
"Mama is mad." Katie whispered.
"I dIdn't know he was married." John walked in and put his cup of coffee down.
"Now here is something I couldn't have dreamt of. This is my daughter, her fiancé and their child."
"Dad, if you're gonna hire a hooker, at least let me get you a good one."
"What's a hooker Mama?" Katie asked.
"Ask your Grandpa baby."
"It is seven in the god damn morning. I do not have the energy for this shit. What are you even doin' here?"
"Your granddaughter wanted to have breakfast with you." John rubbed his forehead.
"Can you drive me in to town please?" The woman asked.
"Can everyone just calm the fuck down. Let's just have a nice breakfast and then I'll take you."
"I'll get dressed." She said kissing John on the lips.
"Does Grandpa have a girlfriend?" Katie asked.
"I'm too old for this shit."
"Not all of it." Beth told him.
"Maybe it's best you guys aren't here for breakfast." John said.
"Oh Daddy, we wouldn't miss this breakfast for the fucking world." Beth picked up her handbag and stuck out her hand for Katie to hold.
Beth, John, Katie and Rip sat in their normal seats, Summer, their guest across from Beth. The table was abnormally quiet except for Katie chatting away.
"Is there anything that didn't have a heartbeat last week?" Summer asked Gator who looked confused.
"Can I please have bacon, eggs and pancakes?" Katie asked Beth.
"Bacon and eggs but no pancakes this morning." Beth told her smirking at Summer.
"Orange juice doesn't have a heartbeat." Katie told Summer, Rip nearly spat his coffee out.
"Is it non-GMO?" Summer asked Gator.
"Who even are you?" Beth asked. "Hey Gator maybe go and get her some wheat grass out back and blend it up. She'll love it."
"You grow wheat grass?"
"We grow wheat. It's a grass and then when it heads out it's a grain, silly." Katie told her matter-of-factly.
"It's different kid." Summer told her.
"No. She's right actually." Rip said.
"Right, don't you three have somewhere to be?" John said stopping the conversation.
"Let's go Katie." Beth told her standing up.
"This breakfast sucked." Katie said standing up.
"You let your kid talk like that?" Summer said.
"She's not wrong is she. Came here to see her Grandpa, but instead you disappointed us."
"I hope you find a therapist who can help you." Summer hissed.
"I hope you die of ass cancer." John sighed watching the three of them leave.
"What was that about Beth?" Rip asked.
"Nothin' honey, she pissed me off. Hey Katie, no talkin' like that either." Beth told Katie who shrugged her shoulders.
"I saw that Katie. Listen to your Mama." Rip tossed Lloyd the keys to the truck, he put Katie on the horse before helping Beth on to her own horse.
"You owe me for this Rip." Beth told him.
"I wanna go with Mama."
"Ride with Daddy for a bit first Katie." Rip got on his horse and the three of them started riding. Lloyd had set up camp for them and left before they arrived. There was a bigger tent with a smaller one next to it by the gentle section of the river. Lloyd had started a small fire for them.
"Here we are. That's your own tent cowgirl." Rip lifted her off as she went to look inside. "And this is our tent darlin'." Rip took Beth's hand and pulled her into their tent landing on the bed.
"Mmm I could get use to camping like this." Beth said deepening the kiss. They were able to spend some quality time together before Katie started calling for them.
"We should probably see what damage she has done." Rip said getting up. Beth sighed before getting herself up too. They found Katie lying near the fire looking up at the clouds. "What you doin' cowgirl?" Rip said lying down next to her.
"Just watchin'."
"You sound just like your Mama." Katie had taken on more and more of Beth's mannerisms and Rip loved every single one of them.
"Beth Dutton." Rip turned hearing Beth answer the phone. "No. You will need to handle it. I'm out of town for the next three days." She hung up the phone shaking her head.
"Marshmallows'?" Katie said, pointing at the fire.
"Go and find some sticks with Mama." Katie ran to the nearest stick picking it up.
"See if you can find one a bit bigger baby." Beth told her picking up a larger stick with a fork in it. "Like this." Katie came back with a bundle of sticks picking out the best ones. Rip stuck a marshmallow on for her before watching her burn it over the fire. He stuck some more on and cooked them himself, sharing them with Katie and Beth.
The sugar kicked in a while later resulting in Katie running around the small camp. Rip pulled out an old football that he had brought along, "catch this Katie." He gently threw the ball to Katie's outstretched arms. She missed, instead it hit her in the chest. Beth hadn't seen Rip with the football since they were teenagers, he use to throw it around constantly when he had the chance.
"Throw it here Katie." Beth held out her arms, Katie threw the football with two hands. Beth caught it with ease. Beth would toss the ball up in the air as Rip lifted Katie to catch it, more often it would hit Katie in the face than land in her arms.
As the sun set and Katie's energy began to fade, the three of them sat around the fire relaxing as Rip cooked a meal.
"I like being outside." Katie announced, Rip nodding in agreement.
"There will be wolves around Katie, so no wandering off." Rip told her.
"Will they eat me?" Katie asked worriedly.
"No baby, just don't go near them." Beth told her.
Late that night Beth could hear wolves howling near the tents. Rip had left the fire smoking overnight.
"They won't come too close will they?"
"No darlin'. Remember you were once the person who ran at a pack feeding on a deer."
"I'm not worried about me, Katie is exactly the damn kid who would want to pat one."
"We've told her not to. I don't think she'll push the boundaries too far."
"You're kidding Rip, she loves to do her own thing until she's caught. Plus she'll thing it's a big dog"
"Yeah well she gets that all from you Beth."
Beth laughed and hit him playfully in the chest before cuddling and getting some sleep.
"Hey puppy dog." Katie cooed at the wolf with pups behind. The wolf stared back at her neither advancing or retreating. "Do you wanna play? I have this stick." Katie reached out for a stick throwing it towards the wolves causing the mother wolf to growl.
"Ok we won't play." Katie sat down in front of the wolves and watched them. Beth shook Rip awake who was snoring.
"What wrong?" He asked.
"I can hear a wolf growling and our goddamn daughter talking to it." Beth said frustrated as she put a jumper on.
"Fucks sake" Rip whispered under his breath buckling his jeans up. Beth was out of the tent before he could tell her to stay back. He grabbed his gun that he brought and stepped out of the tent. Rip and Beth both froze when they saw Katie sitting by what was last night's fire with her hand out reaching to pat the mother wolf's head. Rip cocked his gun causing the wolf to look up at them both before back at Katie.
"All right, Mama. How about you just leave with your kids and leave ours alone." Rip said looking the wolf in the eye before stepping towards Katie. The wolf growled showing her teeth before turning and leaving, the pups trailing her. Rip let out a breath before sorting his gun out.
"Katie Dutton-Walker!" Beth said sternly. Katie froze having never heard her name said like that. "Oh yes, kid. You are in big shit now." Rip thought better than to intervene and let the Beth handle it. He knew she would have gotten a shock watching Katie try and pat the wolf and he knew she was probably going to grill him later anyway.
"What did we tell you last night?" Beth asked. Katie tried to get up to avoid the trouble she knew she was about to get in. "Don't even think about going to your Daddy for help kid. Sit your bum down."
"No to go near them." Katie said sullenly with her hands on her chin.
"Uh-huh. And what did you do this morning?" Beth asked
"But they wanted to play Mama! They weren't going to hurt me."
"Katie. They are a wild animal. You do not go near them, understand me. You ignored what we had told you. That is final. You are going to sit there and think about what you did quietly." Beth got up and went back to the tent to collect herself, finding Rip inside.
"Oh and you. You said they wouldn't come close." Beth said pointing the finger at him.
"Hey, I didn't think they would." Rip bit back.
"Well Rip, they did. They could have bitten her." Beth shot back.
"Fuck Beth alright, I know. I know you got a fright, you've just given everyone a serve so you can relax now."
"Like hell Rip. Don't put me in that position again." Beth said with tears threating to fall. She was furious at him for taking them camping and then watching her daughter nearly cuddle a goddamn wolf.
"Darlin' that kid is going to do lots of dangerous things, my job is to make sure I catch her every time ok. Both of you are gonna be the death of me." Rip wiped her tears before leaving the tent.
"Don't you go and try be good cop now with her." Beth yelled after him. Rip chuckled and turned in the other direction deciding it was probably best to do as she said today. Beth wiped her tears before taking a deep breath, she would never let anyone else see her like this except for Rip and Katie. She could hear Katie crying for her where she had left her.
"MAMA. I'M SORRY." Katie cried repetitively. She had watched Rip come out of the tent but he didn't go near her.
"Daddy?" She cried, Rip didn't turn around because he knew he wouldn't be able to not go near her and comfort her.
"Do as Mama said Katie." Rip called back to her causing Katie to cry harder.
Beth came out the tent and one look at Katie made her feel like she had turned in to her own mother. Katie's face was covered in red blotches from crying and her voice slightly horse from yelling out. Beth remembered her own mother punishing them and leaving them to cry until they were sick. She always thought she would never be like that.
Katie stood at the sight of Beth but didn't approach. Beth sat across from Katie on a log.
"Did you have a think Katie?"
"I shouldn't have touched the big dog Mama." Beth nodded at Katie.
"We need you to listen to us Katie. This is not the first time we have gone over this." Tears started to fall again from Katie's eyes.
"I wanna go home! I don't like camping." Katie cried.
"Come here. Just because one bad thing happened is not a reason to not like something." Beth told her wiping Katie's face. "It's all forgiven baby." Katie nodded wiping her snot on Beth's top.
"You are a grot sometimes baby." Beth commented.