“Oh my God.” Her voice was laden with disgust. “What a spectacle that will be. The town harlot marrying the bishop. Talk about a disaster. She’ll ruin him within a week.”
Carolyn’s face burned with shame and her eyes welled up with tears. The sad thing was that she couldn’t even blame Aurelia. She was just saying what everyone else was thinking. She felt the presence at the table shift, but the reason behind it didn’t register until she heard Rosa’s voice coming from behind her.
“You know, Aurelia, you are being incredibly rude and obnoxious. Our family, just like everyone else here is trying to enjoy a nice meal together and celebrate this holiday. But, we, just like everyone else, have not been able to because you’ve been running your mouth all night long about anyone and everyone in the place. Now I’m sorry if you’re so unhappy in your own marriage—”
Carolyn’s head lifted then, her eyes bugging out of her head. She stared helplessly at the empty spots across the table from her but she did not look behind her. Poor Rosa, jumping to her aide like that. It wouldn’t help. If anything, Rosa would end up in a ton of trouble and Carolyn would feel even worse than she already did.
“That’s enough, Rosa.” Carolyn breathed a deep sigh of relief when Lucas had the sense to cut her off before her rant got out of control. Then he continued. “Troy. My wife speaks the truth. We are all just trying to have a nice dinner with our loved ones and we have not been able to do that. I heard you trying to stand up for me, and I appreciate it, but quite frankly, it’s not enough. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, and unless something changes between the two of you, I’m sure it won’t be the last.” His voice up until this point had been quiet and full of compassion for his friend. Suddenly it turned loud and authoritative as he turned to walk away. “You need to get your wife under control, Troy, and I think you know exactly what I mean. Why don’t the two of you come see me in my office later this week?”
Rosa joined her at the table just as Luke’s last words filled the restaurant. The two women looked at each other with wide eyes. In a town like Green Valley, everyone knew what Luke was insinuating, and Carolyn actually felt slightly embarrassed for the woman who had once been an idol to her. No sooner had Lucas joined them at the table than a raucous cheer went up throughout the neighboring tables. Lucas looked taken aback at the response, and slightly embarrassed that everyone had seemingly heard his words to his friend. He probably hadn’t intended for them to be spoken as loudly, but tensions were running high.
He looked down at their plates, and then up, at their startled and reddened faces. His own steak sat on his plate untouched. “I seem to have lost my appetite for the food here at the moment,” he admitted. “What do you say we get out of here, and go grab a burger at the cafe?”
“That sounds wonderful,” they agreed in unison, grabbing their purses and scrambling to their feet.
Chapter 6
When Lucas got to the church on Tuesday morning, Troy was waiting for him outside. At the sight of his old friend, Lucas sat in his truck, shaking his head and smiling even as he prayed for God to give him the words to speak. Personally, he had always been surprised to see that Troy had stayed in Green Valley. In his opinion, Troy was a bit of an enigma. A star basketball player, and a total jock to the outside world, but secretly a soft-spoken bookworm with a straight A average all through school. Troy did not believe in the ethos of the community, which was domestic discipline. Lucas on the other hand was a huge proponent of the lifestyle. Counseling married couples implementing it into their relationship was one of his favorite parts of his job, and what he was hoping to do for Troy and Aurelia. There was only one problem with that that Lucas could currently see, besides the fact that Troy was strongly against it. He had not brought Aurelia with him.
It was probably for the best, Lucas told himself, grabbing his Bible off the seat beside him before opening the door and climbing out of the truck with a smile on his face that was genuine. Even if he and Troy were never able to come to an agreement on this issue, Luke loved his friend and wanted to see him happy in his marriage. He would do whatever he could to make that happen—even if it didn’t include domestic discipline. He secretly hoped it did. It would help the Blacks in numerous ways and it was plainly clear to everyone but Troy that Aurelia was all but begging for a spanking.
As he walked towards the church, Troy met him. Since high school, Troy had completely ditched the jock persona and embraced his inner nerd. The only hint at his basketball stardom being his height, the one thing he couldn’t change. Gone were the basketball shorts and high-tops. They had long since been replaced by glasses, designer jeans and sweaters. His jet-black hair had grown from the buzz cut he had worn in high school, and as a whole, he seemed much more comfortable in his own skin. As he got closer, he could see that Troy was as always, holding a book. Lucas was surprised to see that the title was one he recognized, and often referred to the people he counseled. It was a practical guide to practicing domestic discipline, one his dad was well known as giving as a wedding gift during his time as bishop.
Lucas wanted to be surprised and hopeful, but the truth was, it didn’t mean anything. Troy always came prepared. And he always did his research. Luke greeted his friend with a handshake, and quickly unlocked the church, entering behind Troy.
“I’m so sorry about last night,” Troy said as they entered Luke’s office. “I never know what to do when she gets like that. The more I say anything at all, the worse she gets.” Troy took a seat across from Lucas as he spoke.
Lucas sat also, sighing as he regarded his friend. Troy looked so lost. It was an emotion that was unusual for the man with the genius level IQ.
“Are you happy?” It was a question Lucas always asked when he counseled couples. And even though Troy was alone, it seemed the right thing to say.
Troy pushed his glasses up on his nose with one finger, and clutched his book tighter. “I actually am. I know that Aurelia and I seem an odd match. I’ve heard the talk. Her personality definitely overpowers mine most of the time. But, she’s a good wife. She takes good care of the home, she’s a decent cook, she’s actually really intelligent, and we’re sexually compatible. There’s not a lot of room for complaint. It’s just that she does this thing sometimes. She just flips a total switch and turns into a total brat. I’m sorry, but there’s no other word for it. And it’s always when we are in public. And the more I try to stop her, the worse it gets.”
“Bratting. It’s called bratting.”
“Yes, that’s what I said. She’s a brat. I don’t know what to do about it. I’ve tried everything, and it continues to get worse.”
Lucas rubbed the bridge of his nose, and sighed. For a genius, Troy could be really obtuse at times. “Bratting is a thing. Women, often women in domestic discipline relationships do it to get attention, or a certain result.”
Troy stared at him flatly. “But Aurelia and I aren’t in a domestic discipline relationship. I don’t believe in oppressing my wife with archaic rules and expectations. It’s two thousand sixteen, Lucas. No offense.” The last was added sheepishly as an afterthought.
“I’m not offended, Troy.” It was the God’s honest truth. Luke knew how his friend’s brain worked. Troy understood facts and figures, statistics. If it could be explained in a chart, and backed up scientifically, Troy got it. Domestic discipline couldn’t. It was more about emotion, and chemistry, and even sex. And there was no book out there that was going to get that to make sense to a person like Troy. But there was one thing that might, and Lucas was hedging all his bets on it.
“I just want to ask you a question. As long as I’ve known you, you have not wanted to have a domestic discipline lifestyle in your marriage, correct?”
Looking puzzled, Troy nodded. He wasn’t the type of person who found it necessary to restate facts or rehash that which he considered obvious.
“Have you ever asked Aurelia what she wanted?” To Luke, the answer to T
roy’s conundrum was an obvious one. Aurelia’s family were a very strict domestic discipline household, and her father was not known to spare the rod with his children when they were growing up either. If Lucas had been a betting man, he’d have bet that Aurelia expected to practice DD within her marriage. And that without the structure of a firm hand, she was floundering.
As he had expected, Troy looked positively baffled by Lucas’ line of questioning. “Have I ever asked my wife, a grown woman of great intelligence if she wanted me to spank her like a child when she didn’t meet up to some archaic set of standards I set for her?” Troy looked as if he thought Lucas had grown a second head, but he humored him. “No, I haven’t. Why would I? Why would she want that?”
“Troy,” Lucas began, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “I know that you have a very strong set of opinions on this subject—and they are valid ones—or they would be, if you were not neglecting to factor in the most important part of the equation.”
Troy’s brow furrowed, and he leaned forward with interest. Words like factor and equation always got his attention. “What’s that?”
“Consent, and choice. The women in Green Valley are not oppressed. They consent to this lifestyle. They accept it, and to be perfectly honest, a great deal of them enjoy it.”
Troy was losing interest, and fast. “They enjoy being beaten?” he deadpanned.
Lucas sighed behind gritted teeth. Troy was beginning to get to him with comments like that one. To hell with bishop-ness. “Dude. I do not beat my wife. That’s ridiculous. I’m trying to explain something to you, but if you’re not willing to hear it, I guess I don’t know why you’re here.” Lucas stood, done with the conversation and ready to dismiss his friend.
Troy stood too, but he didn’t make for the door. Instead, he put his hand up as if to stop Lucas. “No, wait. I’m sorry. That was out of line. I am willing to listen. I can’t promise I’ll understand, but I’m willing to listen. What do you mean they enjoy it, and what do they enjoy exactly?”
Lucas sat again, and started over. “They don’t enjoy the spanking. They are not supposed to. But from my understanding, the counseling sessions I have seen over the years, and my own experiences, they enjoy the boundaries and expectations, knowing that there are firm consequences if they mess up. Something to help them assuage the guilt they might feel. They enjoy knowing that we care what they do, and that they are taking care of themselves, and the connection that comes out of this lifestyle, well, I got to tell you, buddy, there’s nothing like it.” Luke pointed to the book that Troy still held in his hand. “Did you read that?”
“I tried. I didn’t get very far.”
Lucas nodded. It was more of a how to book than a why book. It was a pretty pointless read for someone like Troy who thought that they were adamantly against the lifestyle. “Well, try again. If you skip ahead a few chapters, it will talk more about the whys than the hows. Maybe you’ll find something that helps you understand. But for now, the only thing I can tell you is to ask Aurelia. No matter what the two of you decide in the end, this is a discussion you need to have. Odds are, when Aurelia got married, she expected that she would be in this type of relationship. You need to hear her out, and she needs to hear you out.”
“Okay. Yeah, I can do that.” Troy’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he processed the instructions, shaking Luke’s hand across the desk before he turned to go.
“And, Troy?” Lucas added, just before his friend exited his office. “I would be happy to sit down with the two of you about this as well.”
Troy’s nod was polite and dismissive as he closed the door behind him. Lucas wondered if Troy would, in fact, heed his advice and ask Aurelia.
As the door closed behind Troy, his friend’s unwillingness to understand settled like a weight around his heart, and he thought about Carolyn, and her reaction at dinner the other night to knowing Rosa was in trouble. How would she react when she was the one in trouble? Luke knew no details of her past, but if it was anything like he imagined it to be, living a domestic discipline lifestyle could prove to be a disaster. He didn’t have enough experience counseling couples to have ever dealt with a situation where the spankee was a victim of past abuse as he assumed Carolyn was.
She said she was okay with it, but her response to Rosa being in trouble said otherwise. Then there was the fact that unlike most wives in courting stages, she had been a perfect angel, at least while she was around him, which was admittedly only on weekends. That was of course, the desired response, but in this situation, knowing Carolyn’s personality, it spoke volumes.
Checking his appointment book for the day, Lucas glanced at the clock. He had hours before anything pressing was scheduled. Decision made, he locked up the church, and jumped in his truck. He needed to have a talk with Carolyn. Before the wedding. There was no time to waste.
Carolyn was sitting across the table from her father, sipping herbal tea when the doorbell rang. She welcomed the distraction. While mornings with her father had once been something she considered sacred, they had recently become silent stare downs full of unspoken challenge and accusations.
She stood quickly, and smoothed her dress, thankful that she had dressed already, and was ready for company. Her father made it to the door just before she did, swinging it wide, and barely managing more than a grunt when he saw that it was Lucas.
“It’s for you.” He scowled, pushing past her and stalking towards his office.
She ignored him, smiling wide, as she ignored the bile rising in her throat. “Good morning, Lucas. Come in.” She fawned in her best southern belle impression. “What brings you here so early?”
He ignored the question, staring after her father with a frown. “What was that about?”
Carolyn gulped, thinking fast, as she stuttered out her response. “What? Oh, h-him? He’s not a morning person, and he’s uh, got a lot on his mind, I guess. Work stuff.” Thankfully, Lucas accepted the explanation with a nod, stepping in closer to offer her a hug, which she graciously accepted, drinking in the smell of him, taking comfort in the feeling of being snuggled in close to his chest.
“I need to talk to you. Alone. Can you go somewhere? We could take a walk out by the lake or something?”
He kept her wrapped in his arms as he spoke, but the seriousness of his tone made her pull back. This wasn’t just a friendly morning visit. Something was going on. Something he seemed upset about. Her body went cold, and her mouth dried up. Had he figured out that she had lied? Did he know that their marriage was a sham? She knew she would have to tell him eventually, but she couldn’t right now. Not before the wedding. Everything would fall apart. Her father was taking the family back to Filmore soon, she could feel it. If she wasn’t married, she would have to go with them. She would have no choice. Panic threatened to set in, and she forced herself to hold it at bay. Lucas was looking at her strangely, waiting for her answer.
She expelled a breath that seemed to hold every fear that was currently overtaking her brain and forced her biggest smile. “Well, of course, handsome. I’d love to take a walk around the lake with you. How could I say no to an offer like that?”
“Great.” He took her hand, and led her out to the truck-and she tried not to feel like every step they took was a step closer to losing everything.
The drive to the lake was short and silent. Lucas kept shooting nervous glances her way, and she concentrated her efforts on not looking as awful as she felt. She allowed him to lead her to a well-worn bench that sat underneath an oak tree facing the lake.
“I had a meeting today, that was a bit eye opening to say the least, and when it ended, you were on my heart. I just felt like I needed to talk to you again before the wedding. With you in school, and Rosa being pregnant, we haven’t had a lot of time just for the two of us.”
“Okay. Well, I’m always up for some extra time with you, so this is nice.”
“It is,” he agreed shortly. She could tell from his tone that he had more to say, th
at there was so much that he was holding back.
“I want to talk about what happened at our house a few weeks ago. With Rosa.”
She frowned, partially relieved, because if it involved Rosa, it wasn’t at all what she had been thinking. She was also confused. Things with her and Rosa had been going well. Carolyn had put a lot of effort into making the thought of them as a family a good one for Lucas. Growing up with mothers who were best friends, Carolyn knew the importance of having a good sister wife relationship. She also knew that Heddy and Myra hadn’t always loved each other the way they did. It was something they had worked at. She was working at having at least a workable relationship with Rosa, even if things like time and their past prevented them from having the same sort of close knit relationship her mothers had. She had thought she was doing a good job. But if Lucas was here, wanting to talk about it…
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what you’re referring to. Whatever I did wrong, Lucas, I didn’t mean it. I’m really starting to like Rosa. I thought we were doing good. If I hurt her feelings somehow…” she trailed off as her face fell. “I’m sorry, Lucas. I’ll apologize for whatever it was, and I’ll do better.”
“Wait, what? Stop. Carolyn. You did nothing wrong. Rosa is really starting to like you too. It’s not…” he paused, frowning, rubbing his hands on his thighs nervously. “This really doesn’t have a lot to do with Rosa, at all actually, it’s about you and I.”
Shit. The butterflies came back as her stomach filled with dread once more.
“God, I’m making a mess of this. I’m sorry. It’s nothing bad. But, the other night, when Rosa said a curse word, and you knew she would be in trouble, your reaction was intense.”
Oh, that. Carolyn held in a giggle as her stomach settled. God, what a rollercoaster of emotions in such a short time. She shrugged. “It was a panic attack. I can’t control it. They don’t happen often.”
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