Mae Dutton sat by her big brother, Lee's, grave. Charlie called her last night sobbing about how supportive her parents and Travis were being. She told Mae how much it made her miss Lee and the two girls spent an hour crying together on the phone. The grief filled Mae all over again, she never imagined life to be so ruthless. Lee meant more than most to Mae but he was Charlie's everything. Mae could see a slight bump starting to form on her best friend and that made everything more real. Lee's child will grow up without a farther and even though it's a norm for most kids these days, Mae knew it wasn't what Lee would have wanted. Mae promised herself that she would step up and be there for Charlie and her baby. That child will know everything about their father, Mae would make sure of that. The longer she sat there, the more the memories of her and Lee flashed through her mind, one in particular.
Mae put on her coat and snuck out of the house, Ryan asked her to join him while he was on perimeter check. They've been spending a lot of time together and Mae was happy. She couldn't say that for a long a time but since this cowboy sauntered onto the ranch, he some how brought back the old Mae. The real Mae Dutton, that wasn't anxious, sad or negative. She didn't know if it was his crappy jokes or his cute smile. Whatever it was, she appreciated it.
"Where are you going this early?" Mae froze as she heard Lee's voice call out to her, he was sitting on the porch with a coffee.
"I um - I'm just going for a ride."
"Uh huh and it was just a coincidence that Ryan already tacked up Autumn?"
Ma stayed silent, she didn't really know what to tell him. She didn't want to admit the truth but Lee would know if she lied, he could always tell.
"Is there something going on between you and the newest livestock agent?"
"I don't - sort of, I - stop smiling at me like that!"
Lee chuckled as he stood up and walked over to his sister and wrapped an arm around her as they started walking to the stables.
"I'm just messing with you, he already talked to me. He came to me as a sign of respect and told me that there wasn't anything official yet but that you two were spending time with each other."
Mae smiled as a blush crept up her cheeks.
"I can see that you're happy and after that asshole, it's all I've ever hoped for."
"Thank you, big brother," Mae hugged him and kissed his cheek, she had a big smile on her face. Lee hasn't seen that smile in a while and he didn't want to see it disappear again.
"If he makes you this happy, sunshine, I'll help you sneak off to meet him any day."
"You're the best big brother ever, you know that?"
"Don't you forget it."
The two siblings laughed with each other and joked all the way to the barn. Lee watched as his baby sister left to meet Ryan on horseback, the wind in her hair and a smile on her face, she was exactly where she belonged.
"You miss him, don't you?"
Mae turned to see Kayce sitting down next to her. She gave him a small smile and nodded.
"You know that he'd be so proud of you."
"Would he really?"
Kayce reached over and tucked her into his side as he kissed her head.
"Out of all of us, he would be the proudest of you. You're the one that keeps on fighting for this family, trying to keep us all together, basically the glue. He knows that Charlie and that baby will be in good hands with you."
Tears pricked Mae's eyes and Kayce hugged her tighter. The two siblings had no idea that they were being watched by their father. He couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he watched his two youngest children, finally get back their relationship. He never wanted their relationship to be strained and felt so much guilt for being the cause of it.
xxx
"You want company?"
Kayce turned to see Ryan standing behind him with a horse already tacked up. Kayce was getting ready to go on the final perimeter check of the day. He didn't really know what this was about, the cowboys usually raced to the bunkhouse in celebration that they didn't have to do the last perimeter check. He just shrugged in response, he didn't mind the company, and he was kind of curious.
The two were at the farthest point of the house when Ryan finally spoke up: "I know you and Mae haven't been as close these last couple of years so it might not have been as obvious to you but we've been spending time together and I want to make it official."
"Why are you talking to me about this?"
"I wanted to get to know Mae so that the day I asked her, I would know what would mean a lot to her. The one thing I know that she loves more than anything is her family. I've already asked Lee, Travis, Rip, Beth and Jamie their approval, I only need yours and your fathers."
"Rip and Travis gave you their approval and you're still breathing?"
"Barely, you're not going to ask why I asked them?"
"You said you got to know Mae and I know that's true since you included them in her family."
Ryan wanted to comment on how Kayce and Mae haven't talked in years, yet he still knew her better than Jamie, but it wasn't his place.
"Do you love her?"
"I do, I really do."
"You have my permission but take it from me, if you find the woman for you, don't fuck up too much. They can only eat up so much crap until you lose them forever."
"I can't promise that I won't fuck up, no relationship exists without fuck ups, but I believe if you're meant to be and work hard enough on yourselves and the relationship then you can survive anything."
Kayce stared at the guy and nodded. Ryan will be a great match for his baby sister. He could see how this could be the soulmate love she's always talked about.
"If you hurt her, Rip and Travis won't even have a chance to put their hands on you."
xxx
"You going out, Sweetheart?"
"Yeah, girls night with Liam and Beth, they're already waiting for me at the bar."
"Sounds dangerous."
Mae laughed as she reached over and kissed her dad's cheek: "I'll call if anything goes wrong."
"You mean when everything goes wrong."
Mae laughed as she greeted her father and walked to her Jeep. She was told that she wasn't going to be designated driver but she knew the two would end-up wasted, beyond belief.
John sat on the porch a bottle of whiskey and two glasses next to him, he was hoping one of his kids would join him for the night but it looked like he was going to be alone.
"Mr. Dutton?"
"What can I help you with Ryan?"
Ryan walked up the porch steps and stood in front of the old man, his hat in his hands: "Can I have a moment of your time?"
"Sit down and have a drink."
"Thank you, sir."
Ryan took the drink and cleared his throat. It was obvious he was extremely nervous, he took a gulp of the drink. John waited patiently for the younger man to start talking.
"Sir, I love your daughter. We've been spending quite sometime together and she's the best person I know. I didn't want to rush into anything with her, I wanted it to be real with her. I took my time to get to know her. I know that she would appreciate heartfelt effort more than expensive gifts. She loves you and the rest of her family more than anything else and I knew that she'd value all of your approval for this relationship. She looks up to you more than anyone and I know that your approval would mean the most to her. I have Lee, Travis, Rip, Jamie, Beth and Kayce's approval. I promise you, sir, that I will try my best to do what's right when it comes to your daughter, please give me your approval."
"Damn, son, when you're nervous you suffer from verbal diarrhoea."
Ryan laughs nervously and scratched the back of his head.
"Ryan, I thought I knew what my daughter looked like happy but after seeing you two together these last couple of months, I now know what true happiness looks like on her. I will only say this once, I am extremely grateful to you. You're the one that's causing that happiness and as long as you make her happy, you have my approval."
"Y-you knew about us?"
"There is nothing that happens on my ranch that I don't know about, especially since you two were being the opposite of fucking discreet. Now, how are you planning to ask her?"