thanks for the review, follows and favorites! i would love to hear what you think of this chapter, please review!
I just want to say sorry up front if it feels like I skipped over everything with Tate. I don't want this to be a straight rehash of the show and what all happened in that episode I couldn't see writing about with my OC in those scenes, so it just is going to be a quick mention/clear up
John had just kicked Lexi and Beth out of his office to talk to Jamie, Kaycee and Ryan alone. Whatever they were doing, he didn't want his daughters to know about it. It honestly couldn't have come at a better time because Rob was calling now with some information she didn't want to explain leaving for just yet.
If her dad knew about Roarke on top of everything else he might have a stroke.
"Hello?" she answered, stepping into the dining room.
"Hey, I talked to Maggie," he said of his sister who worked at the real estate office. "That guy you were asking about, Morris?"
"Yeah," she nodded, waiting for him to continue.
"He bought a place called Cross Creek Ranch," Rob told her. "That mean anything to you?"
"That's a little close for comfort," Lexi murmured.
"What?" He asked, not having heard her.
"Nothing, just…thanks," she told him, hearing footsteps. She hung up as Kaycee was coming into the room.
"Something wrong?" Kaycee asked, picking up on her energy.
"No," she shrugged. "Just a work consult." Kaycee studied her expression.
"You can tell me later then," he told her; if it was about Tate at all he knew she would say something now. "Stay close to Monica for me, ok?"
"Yeah, of course," she nodded, watching him leave. She left soon after, running into Ryan in the hallway.
"Hey, you ok?" He asked.
"Other than the obvious?" She brushed him off but he gave her a look. "You guys have a lot going on, I don't want you to worry."
"That's gonna make me worry more," he reminded her. She bit her lip as she looked around to make sure no one was there.
"Roarke bought Cross Creek," she told him softly.
"That's only-"
"About five miles that way, yeah," she finished for him. Ryan kissed her forehead.
"We get Tate back, then we'll send him running," he assured her. She nodded, watching him go.
The next day or so was a blur as they worked to get Tate back. When Lexi saw them pulling into the house that morning though, Tate in tow, her heart soared. Kaycee and Tate made a beeline for Monica, settling upstairs in private, while Lexi threw her arms around Ryan, thankful all the men in her life came back in one piece.
"Hey doc," Rip said, getting her attention. "I think I might have ripped a stitch," he joked, being fine; she knew the plan was for Rip to draw the fire so they knew where everyone was at. The way she saw it, he was still supposed to be resting after everything with Beth.
"Yeah, yeah," she brushed him off lightly. "Go get in your new bed," she told him as she knew her father gifted him one of the older cabins on the ranch, a little further behind the bunkhouse. He waved her off as he headed that way. They all had been up for almost 48 hours.
Lexi was laying in bed with Ryan, again thankful that nothing happened to anyone while they were rescuing Tate. The Becks were gone and she was thankful for that.
A gentle knock at the door broke her from her thoughts. She slipped out of bed quietly, careful not to wake Ryan as she went outside to see Kaycee on the porch.
"Everything ok?" She asked, following his lead to sit.
"Tate is out," he said, the terror leaving him exhausted. "Monica's with him."
"You should be too," she assured him, knowing why he was there.
"I can't sit," Kaycee said, still too much adrenaline. "Besides, you have to tell me whatever your call was about yesterday." She sighed heavily, settling back in her seat.
"Did Ryan tell you at all about Roarke?" She asked.
"Who?"
"Matt's older brother," she explained. "We ran into him in town the other day, says he's here for work," she shrugged. "That call was a coworker, his sister is a real estate agent. He bought Cross Creek."
"Right up the river there?" Kaycee asked and she nodded. "How worried should we be?
"I don't even know," she said, running her hands through her hair in exasperation. "It's not like he hit me or anything…but that family…" She trailed off, shaking her head.
"Is Matt with him?" Kaycee asked seriously and she shook her head.
"They work together though," she explained uneasily.
"Did you tell dad?" He asked.
"Right in the middle of all this with the Becks?" She asked back and Kaycee nodded.
"Tomorrow," he said, knowing his sister's tendency to keep secrets about this kind of stuff, to keep people from worrying.
She just nodded in agreement.
…
The next day didn't start out much better for telling John what was going on as he planned to resign as commissioner as a way to keep the state from looking into the incident with Tate further. John wasn't in a good mood about that to begin with, but then he had to take Jamie with him and things there were still icy. He sent Ryan and Kaycee to check the fields for clover since the incident with the Becks while Lexi and Beth both went to work for the day.
The guys were worried about the clover potentially being in those fields still, wanting to wait until later in the summer to let the cattle graze there. They decided to set up camp further into the ranch where they knew it was safe for them to eat, with the ranch hands starting on a barn down that way. Kaycee and Ryan were telling John the plan at dinner that night when Beth came to the table.
"Work talk?" She asked as she took the seat next to her sister.
"Anything interesting happen to you today Bethy?" Lexi asked lightly.
"Someone was in our river today," Beth shrugged as she helped herself to the food on the table; Kaycee was glad Monica and Tate decided to stay upstairs tonight.
"Alive, I hope?" Ryan asked to which Kaycee snorted a laugh; Lexi elbowed him but she was fighting a smirk.
"Yes," Beth rolled her eyes. "Some asshole that lives at Cross Creek, said he ended up 5 miles downstream."
"Shit," Kaycee said at the mention of Cross Creek. Ryan was looking to Lexi who was pulling out her phone. She scrolled to her never used social media apps and looked for a picture. She hadn't even been on to delete anything; she was supposed to have been missing from California after all.
"Which one of these assholes?" Lexi asked as though it was a police lineup. It was in front of the Morris family Christmas tree, all 6 brothers and the adjoining wives or girlfriends.
"That one," Beth pointed out Roarke.
"So it's still just him," Lexi said.
"Who?" John asked, taking the phone from Beth.
"I was going to tell you," Lexi sighed; she felt Ryan's hand on her knee. "We ran into Matt's brother Roarke in town the other day, the one on the far left," she pointed out so her father would know who he was looking at. "He said he was here for work, I don't know," she shook her head as her father gave her phone back, making a mental note of not only the brother but of what Matt looked like with his arm around Lexi's waist.
As she took the phone back, Ryan took note too, though the sight of that guy with his hand on her made him sick.
"What kind of work does he do?" John asked.
"Kind of like Beth," Lexi explained, looking to her sister. "Market Equities?" She asked if her sister knew them.
Beth made a face as if to say 'uh oh.'
"They work with Providence Hospitality right?" Beth asked and Lexi nodded to confirm. "Bob was telling me they just bought the Jenkins place."
"How bad is all of this?" John asked seriously.
"This group alone?" Beth asked back, giving him his answer. "Not to mention the Matt tie in," she went on. John was silent for a moment.
"Get Jamie to get a restraining order," he started off.
"A restraining order?" Kaycee questioned.
"I want something legitimate on record before shooting on sight," John informed him. "Show that picture to the ranch hands, any one of those brothers show up, they leave in a body bag."
He remembered what Lexi told him about the family, about their connections and how they would dig into things. It was better to make it as legitimate as possible, showing she feared for her safety and they acted in self defense versus the other option, especially now after everything with the Becks.
They were quiet a moment, all on edge as Lexi's phone started ringing.
"It's the hospital," she said before answering. "Hello?" She listened as one of the nurses detailed her on what was going on, how they were going to need another trauma surgeon in that evening because of the number of people injured in an accident.
"On my way," she said, hanging up. "Big accident down by the park, most are getting brought here. All hands on deck," she said as she pushed back from the table, kissing Ryan first. "I'll be back tonight," she said, kissing her dad's cheek on the way out.
"She'll be alright," John assured Ryan as he had been watching her go. Ryan wasn't so sure, especially now that they were heading to camp while Lexi would still be here to work.
Ryan just nodded, excusing himself to go to the bunkhouse to fill everyone in on what was going on and who to watch out for. Without Lexi's phone or picture, he turned to Jamie who he knew had visited. He didn't have anything with all of the brothers, but there was a shot of him, Lexi, Matt, Roarke and who he assumed was Warren as Jamie had said that's who else he had met. The most important ones to look out for, the ones most likely to be in town as well, were in the picture and that's what mattered.
Ryan noticed Lexi's body language in the picture, how she leaned closer to her brother and away from Matt who had a hand on her lower back.
"Where is Lexi?" Colby asked, seeing how tense his friend was.
"She had to run into work," Ryan said and seeing an opportunity his friend handed him a beer.
"You need to blow off some steam," Colby told him as they started playing cards.
One thing led to another and blowing off steam turned into a night of drinking games. It started with poker and now they were playing a game they weren't even sure had a name. They took turns spinning on a brand after chugging a drink before running away while someone else tried to get a lasso around them.
During all of this, Jamie was trying to get to sleep; Ryan had just gotten done with his turn, laughing as he was going to sit down.
"You hear from your girlfriend?" Jamie asked Ryan, trying to hint that they should be calling it a night.
"Ah," Ryan said, checking his phone. "She got pulled for another surgery, some tourist had a run in with a bison at the park."
"Yikes," someone said.
"Ten bucks says they were trying to take a selfie," Colby chimed in.
"People can't be that stupid," Jimmy said, taking the bet.
"You're up Jamie," Ryan told him.
"I'm good," Jamie told him.
"You're good?" Ryan asked, looking over to him now. Lloyd was saying Jamie didn't have to, but the others were egging him on. Jamie eventually caved, going to play. As he was running, Ryan took him down hard, far harder than he meant to. And, of course, this was when Lexi was coming into the bunkhouse to investigate as she found the cabin empty.
"This is the kind of shit I'm going to start charging you idiots for," she snapped at them. "Are you ok?"
"Fine," Jamie assured her. "Long night?"
"I swear if it's not drunk drivers it's freaking 'nature influencers,'" she said, using finger quotes. "Taking selfies with freaking bison."
Colby held out his hand where Jimmy gave him his money.
"Don't you geniuses have to be up in," she stopped, looking at the clock. "An hour to start getting ready for camp? It's 3:30 in the morning!" She looked at Ryan, eyes narrow. "You," she said, nodding her head at the door for them to go.
"Ryan's in trouble," Colby joked but stopped dead when he found himself in Lexi's glare now. Ryan wondered how mad she really was as he followed her out the door and towards the hill to the house.
"Baby, I'm sorry, I just wanted him to-" He started but was cut off by her kissing him.
"Thank you for including him," she told him with a smile. She wasn't mad at all. But she didn't want Jamie to know how happy she was Ryan was including him in stuff as she didn't want him to feel pathetic.
"Sure," Ryan shrugged with a smile and she kissed him again. They kept kissing, breaking only to hurry to his cabin. They barely got the door shut before she was pulling his shirt off.
"Hell, I'll make Jamie best man at our wedding if this makes you this happy," he joked, picking her up and she giggled as she wrapped her legs around his waist.
"You think about stuff like that?" She asked between kisses as he carried her to his room.
"Of course," he said, laying her back on the bed before holding himself over her. He knew a lot of guys probably didn't think about stuff like that, but they had been together a long time.
"Who's it actually going to be?" She asked him as he pulled her shirt off now.
"Colby," he answered simply, kissing her again. "I always wanted Lee, but…"
"He'll be there in spirit," she assured him.
"Times like this, I prefer not to think about your brother being with us in spirit," he joked and she laughed, kissing him again.
"Who's my maid of honor?" She asked as he was kissing her neck.
"Trick question," he murmured against her skin. "You have a man of honor, Kaycee. Twin thing," he said, kissing her lips again.
"Wedding's here?" She asked.
"Of course," he nodded. More kissing.
"How many kids are we gonna have?"
"Three."
"Three?!" She laughed.
"Two boys and a girl," he told her, hands running through her hair as he kissed her again.
"Three," she repeated with a laugh. "We better get started then," she pointed out.
"Not till our wedding, your dad might kill me if it's before," he laughed.
"A literal shotgun wedding," she laughed. "Here's to practicing at least," she joked before pulling him down for one more kiss, no longer breaking apart to talk about the future.
…
The guys left early the next day for camp while Lexi and Beth both stayed to work. Rip was going to be staying at the ranch as well while Jamie was moving back into the lodge as John had appointed him as the new commissioner.
About a week passed and Lexi was missing Ryan. She did her best pleading and bribing to get the next few weeks off work so she could spend time out at camp with them. It was more last minute than Keith would have preferred, but he did eventually give her the three weeks she was asking for as long as she agreed to take the new residents off his hands when she got back.
She stopped by his office to get some more supplies to take out to camp, just in case someone got hurt. She called Jamie on the way to tell him she was out of work early and asked if he wanted to get lunch.
Jamie sat in his new office that early afternoon, waiting on her to get there. When he heard a knock he was surprised she even knocked in the first place but saw an older guy through the glass.
"Come in," he called, not sure who this was or what it was about. Just part of the job he figured.
"You're Commissioner Dutton?" The man asked as Jamie stood up, both offering their hands for a shake. He was about John's age and build; he looked like a typical rancher with his jeans, boots and hat.
"I am," Jamie nodded. "You're….?"
"Hoping you can help me," the man said lightly. "I heard my son was a livestock agent and I didn't know if he was around."
"Your son?" Jamie questioned.
"Ryan Parker," he told him and Jamie had to keep his jaw from dropping. "I'm his father, Nick."
"I, ah," Jamie started, a little dumbstruck. Ryan's dad was here? Out of nowhere? "He's not in the office today."
"He works for your father though?" Nick asked to confirm. "Out at the ranch?" He knew the Dutton name and that his son was working for them.
"Ah, yeah," Jamie nodded and they both looked as the door was opening, Lexi coming in with a box of medical supplies.
"I'm sorry," she said when she saw Nick, figuring this was a work meeting. "I can come back."
"No, I'm sorry," he said politely. "Is this your wife?" He asked Jamie.
"Sister," she laughed, shifting the box to one arm so she could shake his hand. "Lexi Dutton."
"Nick Parker," he said back and the box she was barely balancing went toppling to the floor.
"Shit," she muttered, going to pick everything up. Nick knelt down and was helping her too; he seemed super nice.
"I heard my boy was dating one of the Dutton sisters," he said lightly, picking up the box for her once everything was cleaned up. "I take it that's you?" He noted, based on her reaction to him; he set the box on Jamie's desk.
"That's me," she nodded, looking at Jamie. They exchanged a what the hell look.
"I was just trying to get in contact with him," Nick was explaining. "He's not in town with you, is he?"
"No, the guys are camping on the ranch for a few weeks," she explained, not sure why she was telling him all this as if he and Ryan had any kind of relationship, like where Ryan was was any of his business.
"Could you give this to him for me then?" He asked, offering her a scrap of paper he brought with his number on it, figuring he would have to leave it.
"Um, sure," she nodded as she took it, not sure what to say. He was so kind, she didn't feel like she could tell him no. Why was he so nice though, after all this time?
"Thank you," he nodded back, going to leave. He stopped at the door. "Is he a good man, my son?" He asked her, seeming to finally acknowledge the elephant in the room that he didn't know Ryan. "He good to you?" He continued.
"Yes sir," she nodded.
"You're the brother," Nick said lightly, looking to Jamie, who's opinion may be less biased.
"He's a good man," Jamie assured him. "Great, actually," he tacked on.
"Good, that's good," Nick nodded, opening the door. "Thank you both," he said as he left.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Lexi asked Jamie in a loud whisper as she figured Nick might still be in the hall.
"I have no idea," Jamie admitted, sitting at his desk now. "He just showed up looking for him."
"I'm going to need you to," she started, knowing Jamie could run background checks.
"Already on it," he said, clicking away as he knew what she would be asking.
"How is someone who abandons their wife and twelve year old so nice?" She asked in disbelief.
"Maybe he's reformed," Jamie tried to say lightly, but it came out a little strained.
"What?" She asked in confusion, going to stand behind his chair.
The screen revealed Ryan's dad had spent twenty of the last twenty five years in prison. Drug smuggling. He had just gotten out on parole.
"Oh come on," she complained, head falling back. Not only did she have to tell Ryan his dad popped up out of nowhere, but also that he spent most of the time he was gone in prison?
"Maybe that's why he missed the funeral," Jamie was saying, as the timeline matched up to when Ryan's mom died. As if being in jail made missing his mother's funeral ok.
"I know you're trying to help," she said, knowing he was trying to have a dark sense of humor that would usually make her laugh. "But, I'm going to be sick."
"Look, it's going to be-" Jamie stopped as she took off running for his bathroom, hearing her heaving and vomiting.
"I didn't think it was that bad," he was saying as he waited for her outside the door, handing her a water as she came out; she took it gratefully.
"I've been sick all morning," she shook her head, though this business with Nick didn't help.
"Hungover?"
"Wrong sister."
"Something you ate?" He asked; she just shrugged. "You're not pregnant, are you?" He joked; Lexi froze.
"…oh hell…."
"How late are you?" Jamie asked, realizing she was piecing something together.
"Ah," she said, pausing. "It's not so much late as it's fully skipped at this point."
"You're literally a doctor Lexi," Jamie sighed at her.
"Well with everything going on I wasn't exactly paying attention to that," she said, really thinking about it now. It all fit. "We have to go to the hospital."
"What, why?"
"To see if I'm pregnant," she continued.
"Lexi," Jamie shook his head. He couldn't know before Ryan. Then all the stuff with not being around for Christina, plus the memories of what happened with Beth all those years ago….
"Jamie, please," she practically begged. "I can't do the ultrasound by myself. I have to know before I go out there."
"Ok," Jamie assured her, grabbing his keys. "Ok, let's go."
…
Jamie followed his sister through as side entrance of the hospital, avoiding the ER. They went down a hallway nearby the emergency room though as that was where the ultrasound suite was. She lead Jamie into the room, closing the door behind them before hopping up on the table.
"Here," she said, motioning for him to push it closer. She leaned over to flip the appropriate switch to turn it on, adjusting the screen before laying back.
"Grab that," she nodded to the small piece that he would use to scan her stomach as she rolled up her shirt, placing some of the ultrasound gel on her abdomen before laying back.
"Right over the gel," she instructed and Jamie did as he was told, both of their eyes glued to the screen.
"You see anything?" He asked.
"Up a little," she told him. "Stop."
There it was.
"Flip that little red switch," she said softly as it turned on the volume.
There was a heartbeat.
"….wow," Lexi said breathlessly. Jamie had noticed the print button next to the volume, hitting it before she could say anything. He grabbed it off the printer for her as she cleaned off the gel, still sitting on the table as he came over to stand next to her.
"Congrats?" He asked as he handed it to her, not sure if she was excited or not. She just nodded as she took it.
"You'll be a great mom," he offered, kissing her head.
Lexi was still in shocked silence as she continued to stare at her and Ryan's baby in the ultrasound image.