The Rancher's Girl

by Dina Chapel

  Rose set back to the task at hand, making short work of unfastening and removing the petticoats and draping them on top of her dress on a large rock near the water’s edge. She didn’t want to waste another second. She already felt guilty enough about fibbing to get out of going along for Sunday services.

  Rose had begged off, claiming “women’s” trouble, and professing to a headache too. She had really just wanted some time alone, and Sunday was her day off. A dip in the watering hole was too good to resist. She figured she’d be back before anyone was any the wiser.

  Rolling her bloomers up to just above her knees, Rose picked her way carefully from the edge into the deeper water, and when it was deep enough she just swam straight in. It felt glorious!

  She dipped her head under and enjoyed the feeling of the cool water covering every inch of her. Nothing could ever compare to a swim in a cool lake on a hot day. Rose tried to recall the last time she had done so as she watched a family of ducks on the other side of the pond. The babies were following the mama. It was so cute. But at the same time it made her sad and lonesome.

  She looked away from the ducks and dipped under the water again, trying hard not to sink into the sadness that always threatened to take hold if she would allow it. She had to be strong. Rose swam about underwater for a minute then popped up for some air.

  “Rose!”

  She screamed. A voice had bellowed her name from behind her. She turned quickly to see Cal Monroe standing on the water’s edge, hands on hips, looking for all the world like an angry bull who had just seen red.

  “Cal! You scared me half to death!” Rose was incensed. “What do you mean, sneaking up on me like that?”

  “Me?” Cal was nothing short of incredulous. “I scared you?”

  “Yes. That’s what I said.” Rose knew she shouldn’t back down from him, hard as it was. “You didn’t need to yell my name like that. I was underwater!”

  “You just come on out of there, Rose. Now.”

  “Why? Is something wrong? Is everyone at the ranch okay?”

  Cal nodded immediately. “Everyone’s fine, they’re fine. Now come on out.”

  “But I just got in.”

  Cal turned then and, pulling off his hat, ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He then plopped his hat back on his head and turned around.

  “Alright. Let’s try this again.” He seemed to have calmed. “Get your naughty fanny out of that water this instant or I will come in there and get you out!”

  Maybe he wasn’t calm. Rose shook her head.

  “I just got in here. It feels good and I want to swim for a bit before I get out.” Rose smiled at him then, in an ill-conceived attempt to diffuse the tension. “Care to join me?”

  Cal didn’t answer. He just turned around and sat down on that big rock and pulled his boots off. Rose watched him as he then rolled his pant legs up a bit and started to take his shirt off. He stood then and even though Rose knew she shouldn’t watch she couldn’t seem to not watch as Cal finished removing his shirt, laying it on the rock. His holster and pistol joined it and he turned back around.

  Rose felt her mouth go dry. Cal Monroe without a shirt was a sight she hadn’t been prepared for. He was solid and well-muscled, with broad shoulders and large biceps leading down to a narrower waist. His skin was tanned from laboring without a shirt on, most likely; something Rose had never seen herself. She was sure she would have remembered something like that.

  It wasn’t that his clothes hadn’t already given her some indication of the man underneath them, and Rose would be lying flat out if she said she hadn’t ever looked at him that way, but something about not having that layer of cloth made the sight of him turn Rose into mush. She felt a bit light-headed and got that funny feeling way down low, past her belly. That feeling that she got for a man. And one she hadn’t had in a while.

  Cal was heading into the water and Rose smiled at him. “You’ll see,” she said encouragingly. “It feels so good, so refreshing.”

  Cal looked straight at her without smiling. “Oh, I’m not coming in to wade.” He wasn’t taking his eyes off her. “I’m coming in to get you out. You don’t mind very well, do you, young lady?”

  “But…I thought…” Rose stammered, but Cal cut her off.

  “I told you to get out of the water or I would come in and get you. And that’s what I’m doing.” Cal was in all the way now and swimming straight toward her. Rose ducked quickly under the water and headed in an opposite direction.

  When she finally came up for air, Cal seemed just as angry as before, maybe more so. Rose decided to plead her case.

  “I don’t understand why I have to get out.” She swam backward as she spoke, since Cal wasn’t stopping his advance on her. “I just want to swim a bit. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Rose, the longer this takes, the angrier I get. Are you understanding that, girl?”

  There was just no reasoning with this man. “Fine, Mr. Monroe. Have it your way. I’ll get out right now.” Rose swam toward the shallower water, but still away from Cal. She was really going toward the opposite side of the pond from where she had left her things. She was mad, but she was no fool. He seemed madder.

  Rose turned just as she stood in the hip-deep water to find Cal Monroe coming out right behind her. The next thing she knew he had grabbed her upper arm to pull her along with him, while simultaneously landing a hard swat to her wet behind with his free hand. Rose jumped and would have fallen in the water if not for Cal’s strong arm holding her up. But then he was also holding her in place with that same arm so that he could spank her backside. He was a blessing and a curse.

  “Ow!” She glared at him. “What was that for?”

  “That was for not getting out the very first time I told you to.” Before she saw it coming he landed another hard swat.

  “Hey!” Rose tried to pull her arm from his tight grasp.

  “And that’s for not getting out the second time.” Cal helped Rose carefully out of the water. Rose noted that even through his anger, he was very solicitous of her and very much a gentleman. But once safely back on the grass, he swatted her, hard, again.

  “Ow! Please stop doing that!” She tried to wriggle herself loose of his hand again, to no avail.

  “Oh, I’m just getting started young lady. You’ll see.” He started back toward the other side of the pond, pulling Rose along with him. She nearly stumbled because she wasn’t looking where she was walking and, before she knew what was happening, Cal had effortlessly scooped her up and was carrying her in his arms to the spot where they had both left their clothing.

  Rose suddenly became very aware of the fact that she was only wearing her drawers and corset. And they were both wet and rather threadbare. She may as well have been naked. But it seemed that Cal was still too angry with her to notice.

  “Why are you so mad about me swimming in Miller’s watering hole?” She wanted to take the focus off her wet underthings. “It is my day off, and no one’s ever said that there was no swimming allowed here.”

  Cal didn’t answer, at least not right away. He reached the large rock where their things lay and set Rose carefully down on her feet. Rose started to reach for her petticoats when Cal placed his hands on her arms and turned her to face him.

  “You’ve done more than one foolish thing this morning, but since you seem to have done so without realizing what you’ve done wrong, I’ll explain briefly before we head back.” He then lifted a hand to her face to brush a wet lock of hair from her eyes, a gesture so tender and easy that it took them both a bit by surprise. Cal dropped his hand just as quickly as he had lifted it and looked away for a moment. Rose also dropped her gaze to the ground.

  She wished he would decide how he wanted to treat her. One minute he was strict and threatening to discipline her for the slightest infraction of the rules. The next she thought he might just take her in his arms and kiss her senseless.

  Cal cleared his throat and continued. “Fo
r one thing, no one should ever go swimming alone. Always have at least one other person with you. For safety’s sake. For another, you came down here without letting anyone know where you were going. On a spread this size, we could easily lose track of someone if we have no idea even what direction they’ve headed in.” Cal paused and Rose felt his eyes upon her. The realization of how risky her simple little dip in the pond was had begun to dawn upon her.

  She felt guilty now. Rose knew part of the reason for her behavior was the fact that she had fibbed about not feeling well so she could get away on her own. She couldn’t very well tell someone she wanted to go swimming then could she? The whole plan—to spend some time alone on her day off and have a nice cool swim—had backfired.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Monroe.” Rose couldn’t look him in the eye. “You’re right. I don’t know all of the safety rules when it comes to living on a ranch. I’ve always lived in town, but that’s no excuse of course.”

  “You just have some learning to do when it comes to this different way of life. Good rule of thumb would be to always ask someone when you plan to do something that you’ve never done before.” Cal lifted her chin with his hand. “That would be the safest course from now on, Rose. I want you to be safe.” He dropped her chin. “And its Cal.”

  Rose managed a small smile, even though she felt thoroughly chastised. And although her swim had been cut short and her Sunday plans ruined she was feeling a bit better about the whole episode, at least until Cal continued.

  “Now,” his tone matter-of-fact, “I was planning to take you to task right here and now. I don’t believe in delaying a punishment too long from the time of the misbehavior.”

  Rose stood in shock. “Wh…what do you mean, a punishment? What punishment?”

  “You’ll be punished for this little dalliance of yours, Rose. I aim to give you a good sound spanking so you’ll learn your lesson. After a session over my knee, you’ll think twice, maybe three times before you go off on your own like this again.”

  Rose was shaking her head in shock. “But you already spanked me! Several times, by the water’s edge. When we came out of the pond.”

  Now Cal was shaking his head.

  “Don’t you recall?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I recall a few light swats to your naughty backside and I told you what they were for already. I can assure you that was not a sufficient punishment.”

  “Light swats?” Rose was incredulous. She immediately backed a few steps away from Cal instinctively, as if she expected him to haul her over his lap any second. She didn’t want to be within arm’s length, just in case.

  “Now, as I was saying, I prefer to administer a spanking as soon as possible, but seeing as how we’re out here in the wide open, anyone could happen along and I can understand a desire for some privacy in a matter such as this. Plus, we’re not relations in any way, and it might be considered improper for us to be alone when I discipline you. I may need to have Mrs. Arnot present.”

  “No.” Rose was shaking her head faster the more he spoke. “You can’t…I can’t… No. No, Cal.”

  Cal picked up her dress and petticoats from where they lay on the rock and handed them to her as she babbled, almost incoherently in a weak (and futile, she knew) attempt to dissuade him from his course of action.

  “Get dressed, Rose.” Cal’s voice was stern. “Now, young lady. We’ve spent enough time talking.”

  Rose continued shaking her head as she did what she was told, without even really realizing she was doing it. But as Rose finished fastening her first petticoat she glanced up to find Cal Monroe watching her with a hawk’s eye. It was a bit unnerving, to say the least. She had the gumption to glare at him.

  “Would you mind at least turning around to give me a moment of privacy, Mr. Monroe?” Rose planned to hang onto every shred of dignity she could before it was all taken from her. She was certain that being draped over Cal Monroe’s large hard thighs and spanked by him would be completely undignified. She tried not to think about it.

  He had the decency to appear abashed. “Yes, yes. Of course,” Cal mumbled and promptly turned his back to Rose, adding almost to himself, “and its Cal.”

  Rose took a moment to glare at his back, then picked up her petticoat from the rock. She was about to step into it when Cal’s horse whinnied behind her.

  Rose glanced at the horse—as did Cal—and, seeing nothing wrong, they both turned back again. Then Rose had an idea.

  She could just slip quietly over to the horse, be up and away on it before Cal even turned around. She had walked here so he would have to walk back to the main house. That might give him sufficient time to cool off and reconsider punishing her. Really, what right did he have anyway? He was correct in stating that they weren’t relations and it was completely improper.

  Rose glanced back at the horse again, standing patiently by the large oak. It really wasn’t that far. Without her shoes on, she wouldn’t make a sound.

  She turned back to Cal Monroe’s back. He stood waiting, shirt on but not buttoned, hat in hand. He was tapping that hat against his thigh. His big, hard thigh. The one she would be pressed against when she took her spanking from him.

  Rose gulped. She felt hot and sweaty and thought that it might not be from the summer heat. She had to get away from him. Even if it was determined, once they were both back at the house, that Rose deserved some kind of punishment for her actions, then perhaps the Arnots, either or both, would be the ones to decide what would be appropriate and administer it themselves. She needed to introduce a third and rational party to this predicament she was in—and fast.

  Her mind made up, it was just then that Cal interrupted her thoughts.

  “Now I’ve known a woman to take a bit of time in getting dressed, Rose, but no matter how long you take, we will still be addressing the matter of a punishment when we get back to the house.” He paused then. “No amount of stalling will change that, young lady, is that clear?”

  “Yes, sir.” Rose was sure to answer him, with what she thought was just the correct amount of contrition in her voice, as she swiftly dropped her dress over her head. Grabbing her boots, she slipped quickly over to where Cal’s horse stood, walking backward so she could be sure he didn’t turn around.

  She was counting on the fact that Cal Monroe was a gentleman through and through. He didn’t disappoint.

  As her luck would have it (or what little luck she had), he didn’t turn around until Rose was seated in the saddle and, holding the reins tight, had clicked her heels into the horse’s sides to get her moving.

  It was then that, looking back over her shoulder to where Cal stood still waiting for her to finish dressing, she saw him turn, the look of surprise on his face at this sudden turn of events being very quickly replaced by pure anger. And that anger seemed directed right square at Rose.

  Cal wasted no time breaking into a run, making straight for his horse and his wayward charge. Noting the thunderous look on his face, Rose turned her face forward and focused her concentration on spurring the horse quickly into a gallop. Decision made, she needed to see it through and do so successfully. If Cal Monroe got a hold of her right now, judging by the look on his face, he’d probably whup her bare behind until she couldn’t sit for a week.

  As it was, Rose was already questioning the wisdom of her plan. What if he didn’t cool off on the walk back to the big house? The end result might be the same. But Rose still thought her chances were better having other folks around when she was confronted again with Cal. Even just for a buffer.

  She chanced one more glance back. Cal had stopped running after her and stood, a grim look on his face, his hat in hand. He hadn’t said a word the entire time. Hadn’t called after her or shouted for her to stop.

  Rose did not have a good feeling about this.

  * * *

  Cal stood still, silently watching Rose gallop away on his horse and feeling his anger rise up by the second. No one touched his horse. Ever. No one.
And now this little slip of a gal, this infuriating, troublesome, beautiful, comely, hardworking, sweet—no, no, he was mad, mad dammit!—this little girl had just up and rode off on his horse. Leaving him to walk all the way back to the main house. In the sweltering heat.

  He had already planned on having her across his lap for a good and proper spanking to teach her a lesson about swimming alone. And wandering the property alone to boot. Now horse thievery was added to her list of infractions.

  Now Cal knew she wasn’t really a horse thief. And he was pretty sure he knew why Rose did what she did. He’d been told many a time how frightening he appeared when he was angry. He had scared her enough to flee.

  But it wasn’t a well thought out plan, that was for sure. She had to realize that taking his horse would just make him angrier. Maybe she thought the Arnots would protect her, maybe even prevent him for punishing her.

  Cal knew those folks well and they knew him. He knew they would agree to the punishment and he knew they trusted him to deliver it also. He wouldn’t harm her, just make sure she learned her lesson. Enough so that she’d never do something so foolish again.

  Cal glanced back at the pond, cool and inviting, before setting off toward the big house. It sure had felt good for the minute or so he was in the water. Cal wished that he hadn’t been so angry at Rose at the time. His state of mind had kept him from enjoying the water and the company. He could think of nothing he’d like more on a hot afternoon than to take a long, cool swim with that feisty little filly. He made a mental note to do so one day in the not-too-distant future.

  After she had learned to behave herself and follow the rules. After she had learned to mind him. And after she had let go a little of the man she had lost. Cal didn’t know how long a thing like that could take, but he was willing to wait. He was a patient man and he had already decided that Rose was worth waiting for.

  When Cal finally made it back to the ranch house, Rose was nowhere to be seen, but he’d expected that. He figured he’d most likely find her hiding out in her room (which she probably assumed he was not allowed to enter) or pleading her case to Jim and Sara Arnot. He headed first for the barn, where he was met by Beau Cummings, cheerfully giving his old girl a rubdown.