Oneshots - Kayce Dutton Book 2

It is beautiful.

Request - Can you do a One shot where Kayce and y/n are on a ride and Y/n sees a really pretty pasture and can't stop talking about how beautiful it is and how she loves it and how it has a great vibe and stuff like that and how they should get married there. But after a while she notices that Kayce wasn't responding and he was just really tense and looked sad but when she asks he just says he's fine, but later that night he explains that that pasture is where his mom died, and he just doesn't like remembering everything that happened that night.

You had had the best morning so far. Kayce had taken you riding throughout part of the Dutton Ranch. It was a warm Spring Saturday, and you knew you both would have to start heading back soon. But the wildflowers were in bloom and Kayce looked so handsome up on his horse, you might have extended the ride a little longer. The two of you rode up along a fence and you slowed your horse to a simple walk before stopping all together.

You breathed in deeply, glancing up at the clear blue sky. Kayce rode up beside you. Glancing at him you noticed a frown on his face as his eyes looked out over the land. You turned more toward him and looked out.

"Wow," You said softly, making Kayce look at you. "It's beautiful."

He didn't respond. Your eyes traveled over the dips and turns, coming to a line of trees with the forest behind them. There were mounds of wildflowers off and on, sprinkling the ground with blues, reds, yellows, and whites.

"I mean really," You sighed. "Why would you ever want to leave here?"

Kayce pushed his horse forward. You watched him ride over a bit to the other end of the fence line. It was strange to you, his actions right now. Kayce had been playful today with you. The two of you laughed and joked the whole time you had been out and now it seemed like something happened. But you had been with Kayce this whole time and nothing was said or done.

Your eyes looked over the pasture one more time before you urged your horse forward. A minute later you where next to Kayce who was drinking from his canteen.

"Kayce..." You said softly.

"You ready?" Kayce asked with some gruff. "We need to get back."

"Alright," You nodded.

Kayce took off and you turned your horse to follow. He didn't talk to you the whole way back and by the time you got to the barn entrance and dismounted you had a horrible feeling in your stomach that you did something wrong. There was no way Kayce just flipped his attitude switch like this with you. Lloyd came up and took you horse from you with a smile as Kayce walked out of the barn.

"You alright, Y/N?: Lloyd asked.

"Um...I don't know honestly," You said with a frown.

"Something wrong?" Lloyd started to take your horse's saddle off.

"No, well...maybe there is but not with me," You sighed. "Something happened to Kayce though. Out there when we were riding."

"What do you mean?" Lloyd started to brush the horse.

"He...it was like something made him mad or upset," You reached out and rubbed your horse's nose. "He was completely fine until we stopped at the last pasture, and it was like he turned angry for some reason. But nothing happened that I could think of."

"What pasture?" Lloyd led your horse into a stall. "Where'd y'all ride to?"

"Pasture eleven?" You said, not quite sure.

Lloyd shut the stall door and gave you a sympathetic smile.

"What?" You asked.

"I'd go talk to Kayce, Y/N," Lloyd said. "But trust me, it ain't you."

"What's not me?" You asked as the two of you walked out of the barn.

"What happened," Lloyd smiled. "It ain't you...but you should talk to Kayce about it."

Lloyd walked off leaving you even more confused. But at least you had some direction. You looked over to the foreman's cabin and saw smoke coming from the chimney meaning Kayce had started a fire. Once the sun goes down it still gets cool up on the mountain. You headed inside and sure enough, Kayce leaned up from the fireplace and looked over at you.

"I'm sorry, Kayce," You said, thinking it was the only way to get him talking to you.

"Sorry?" Kayce looked confused.

"Clearly I did something earlier when we were riding," You shrugged. "I'm not sure what that was, but by your treatment of me and actions, it was clearly bad...so I'm sorry for whatever it was I did."

Kayce sighed, running his hand over his face as he walked over and sat down on the chair. You walked over and took a seat on the coffee table in front of him, crossing your leg and arms. Kayce's eyes didn't look angry now, just sad. You waited patiently though, Lloyd's words playing over in your mind.

"Today ain't got nothing to do with you, Y/N," Kayce cleared his throat.

Part of you was relieved. But the other part was still concerned with the look on Kayce's face right now. You leaned over you knees and looked at Kayce.

"What's wrong, Kayce?" You asked him. "What happened?"

"Uh...that pasture?" Kayce looked at the ground. "The last one we were at?"

You nodded your head even though he was still looking at the ground.

"That was the pasture my mother..." Kayce sighed. "That's where she died."

You felt like the air was sucked out of your lungs. There would be no way you would have known that, but you were sure you gushing over how beautiful it was probably wasn't shared with Kayce. You also remembered saying that you didn't know why anyone would want to be anywhere else.

"Kayce..." You scooted closer to him.

He still didn't look up at you and you noticed his lips pressed into a thin line. You had only been dating him for about eight months, but Kayce only cried when something truly was upsetting to him. You moved to kneel in front of him. Your hands reached up and held the sides of his face and finally Kayce looked up at you. His eyes held so much sorrow as you looked into them.

"Baby, I'm so sorry," You told him, letting your thumbs rub soothingly across his cheeks. "I-I didn't know and had I known-"

"Ain't your fault," Kayce interrupted you. "I should have said something."

"It's alright," You breathed in deeply. "I'm glad I know now. Had I known I wouldn't have...I wouldn't have said what I did, I would have been more respectful."

Kayce sighed and you could see a part of him had relaxed some since you first entered the cabin.

"You weren't wrong," Kayce mumbled, his hands moving to hold your sides. "It is a pretty pasture."

You gave him a sad smile. Slowly, you moved to rise up and turn so you could climb onto Kayce's lap. He leaned back in the chair, his arms wrapping around you as you hugged him close to you. The two of you settled back and you pressed your lips to his temple. For a few minutes you let Kayce have his peace with you just comforting him silently. You could feel him rubbing your side though, making sure you were still there with him.

"I know I never met her," You whispered to him gently. "But I do think I see her in you at times."

Kayce leaned his head back to look up at you in question.

"I know your father," You told him. "So I know when you're...when you're loving me, when your showing kindness to others and when you're being a parent to Tate...I know that must be Evelyn."

You watched Kayce swallow hard as he took in your words.

"So for that I'll always be grateful to her," You smiled. "And thankful you had the time you did with her...even though it wasn't fair."

You knew Kayce wasn't going to respond to that. He nodded his head slowly though and tightened his hold on you. You pressed a kiss to his forehead and leaned back against him.

**

A few days later you woke up late. You weren't sure why Kayce let you sleep in, typically you woke up to him getting a shower in the mornings. Crawling out of bed, you pulled on some clean clothes and walked into the kitchen. There on the counter, was a small, but beautiful bouquet of wildflowers tied with a string. Walking up to them you held the bundle in your hand and saw a note underneath them in Kayce's handwriting.

Y/N –
Thank you for being your understanding self.
You were right about the pasture, it is beautiful.
But only because you were now in it...and in my life to make it that way.
I love you.
Kayce

Smelling the flowers, you smiled as you read the note again. After putting the flowers into a vase, you walked out to the front porch and looked around, spotting Kayce down at the corrals with Tate who was spending the week with you both while hie mother was teaching. You walked down and up to where Kayce was leaning against the fence. He looked over at you.

"Morning," He smiled.

"Good morning," You wrapped your arms around his middle, leaning up on your toes to press a kiss to his lips.

Kayce hooked his arm around you and held you against him.

"Thank you for my flowers," You mumbled to him quietly.

Kayce looked at you and smiled.

"Thank you," He said.