Caitlin sat down on the edge of the bed waiting for the explosion.
Chase tossed the pharmacy bag over onto the bed.
“Open it.”
Caitlin did, and her eyes widened with alarm. There were three hairbrushes of different sizes, lengths and widths – wooden-backed, hard plastic-backed and one that was backed with some kind of leather. Her gaze went to his.
“The brush I used before was given to me by my great grandfather, Jacob. It was an antique passed down through the family. It was collateral damage along with everything that blew up. It may take some trial and error to find another one suitable for my purposes, but trust me, I will find one.” He ignored the distressed look on her face. “But first, we need to talk. Are you going to marry me Caitlin?”
Caitlin sucked in her breath. That was the last thing she’d expected him to say.
“Well?”
“Yes,” Caitlin whispered.
“Soon? I don’t really need the big hoopla made out of it, but I know women are different. My family, at least the women, will expect to be involved. That means hoopla,” Chase complained. “I don’t want to wait. I need to know you’re mine now. No more running away, no more syndicate conspiracies or agency operations, just you and me, Cait. One man, one woman and hopefully a baby or two down the line.”
“I’d marry you tomorrow,” Caitlin said softly. “That was my fantasy five years ago but it couldn’t be.”
“It can be now,” Chase said walking over and sitting down beside her. “We can make it happen now. We’ll get online, get a marriage license, and be in Las Vegas tomorrow to seal the deal. If my folks want more, if you want more, you can plan it out and do it up big later. I need you to be my wife now. I don’t want to wait a single second beyond what is necessary to know that you belong to me.”
Caitlin smiled. “Yes, I’d like to do that. I don’t need all the hoopla either. But we still have a lot of things to settle, Chase.”
“I know, and we’ll take those issues on one at a time after we’re married. Only one thing has to be taken care of now.”
Caitlin gave a sigh, “A ring?”
He shook his head and with a quick yank, she was across his knees. “A spanking!”
“No!” Caitlin cried trying to cover her bottom, as her fiancé of only forty-five seconds yanked down her jeans and underwear and picked up one of the brushes. She cried out as it connected with her bottom.
“Ow!” Caitlin didn’t know which brush he was using, but it was painful and he was relentless. He held her tightly across his knees as he applied the brush. Each slap of the back of the brush caused another sting as an intense burning sensation spread over her entire bottom.
He paused long enough to reach for another brush and started whacking again. He tossed that brush aside and attacked the downward curve of her bottom with his hand, making sure she wouldn’t side comfortably for a while.
“Are you going to disobey me again?” Chase demanded landing a hard whack on her sit spot.
“No,” Caitlin sobbed.
“Are you going to behave yourself and stop hacking?” Chase demanded.
“That’s not fair! I was hacking to help you!’ Caitlin cried.
Several more hard whacks changed her mind on that theory.
“No more! No more!” Caitlin wailed. “I don’t need to hack anymore!”
Chase pulled her up into his lap, ignoring her whelp of pain. “Are you going to love me for the next sixty or seventy years?” he asked. “Even if I do set your ass on fire when you deserve it?”
Caitlin nodded burying her face into his chest to cry. He tossed her jeans and panties off her ankles, and lifted her into his arms. He carried her over to rocking chair in the corner and sat down her in his lap, letting her curl up so her bottom wouldn’t be touching anything. He held her, rocked her, and let her cry as he massaged her bottom gently. Caitlin let herself cry. She didn’t have to be strong and control all the time anymore. She realized that she’d never felt so vulnerable. She’d never felt so loved and cherished either.
* * * * *
Valerie woke up slowly, and grabbed her chirping phone to see the readout. It was a text message from Blake. ‘Get up! Call your Mom! Call my Mom! You’ve only got a month!’
She rolled over and yipped as her bottom made contact with the mattress. She groaned as she rubbed her aching bottom, but she moaned as she took inventory of her other parts. Blake was nothing but through. Her breasts were tender and her center was still throbbing from his attentions the night before. How she loved that man. He’d come straight home from the airport, and they’d made love three times before they’d even taken the time to talk.
It was that talk that got her into trouble. She’d thought she’d been good. Really, fifty thousand dollars sitting in the bank and she’d only spent a little bit of it. She hadn’t splurged on anything new in months, and he’d been gone ten really long days. The handbag had only been three hundred dollars, and she’d lost the receipt so she couldn’t take it back. Blake didn’t buy that excuse though, and he’d taken the price of that handbag out on her backside for breaking the agreement they’d made.
Valerie got up gently, testing the soreness in her bottom. She gave a huge sigh. It was her bad luck to fall in love with a man who believed in domestic discipline. It was her good luck that she was in love with Blake and he loved her back. Well, her Momma had always said that little girls will find a man like their Daddy, and little boys would find a woman like their Momma. There must be some truth in that old saying because her Daddy was a good man. Blake was like him, setting her backside on fire if she didn’t stay on that straight line of being good and doing as she was supposed to do.
Blake might be strict, but he was a loving man too, and after ten days of being gone, he’d had a lot of loving to catch up on. While she didn’t enjoy his new toy of a paddle, she did enjoy everything else about him, and he set her to tingling with only a glance.
She got up and got dressed, changing out her purse, and hiding the offending new one in the back of the room she called her closet. She had a lot of work to get started on. She was getting married!
One Month Later
“Caitlin! Girlfriend!” Valerie screamed dragging her friend into her parents’ bedroom where half a dozen women were milling around in various stages of getting dressed. “Look at you! I knew that dress would be perfect on you! Where are your shoes?”
“Right here,” Caitlin admitted holding up a plastic bag shopping bag. “I’ve been practicing in them, but I’m not wearing them until I have to walk down the aisle. They’re killers!
“Honey, we’re women. We have to make sacrifices for fashion,” Valerie laughed.
“Sit down, honey,” Mrs. Hannah, said motioning for her daughter to sit back down on the vanity bench to finish her bridal make-up. “She’s been running around like crazy all morning. I heard you got married, Caitlin.”
Caitlin lifted her hand and wagged her fingers, showing off an old-fashioned wedding band set of platinum and diamonds. Valerie grabbed it. “Oh. My. God. Girl, that’s at least five carats!
“I know but I didn’t pick it out. It was a gift from Chase’s grandmother, Celia. Her generation was from the oil days when the family was wealthy. She gave it to Chase to give to me. That makes it very special because she’s a very special lady and I love her,” Caitlin explained. “I don’t wear it very often, but today was a dress-up day, so I wanted to wear it. You know me, I’m normally mucking around with horses all the time. This is what I wear most of the time. She wagged a finger on her other hand to indicate the braided platinum wedding band the the design of a Celtic knot. “This is the band Chase gave me when we got married.”
Valerie waved at the air in front of her. “I couldn’t believe it! I heard it with my own ears and I still couldn’t believe it. You ran off and got married in Las Vegas!”
Caitlin smiled. “All we needed was a minister and a license. We didn’t need all this,
but we’re getting it anyway. I couldn’t get away with anything less with Chase’s mother, Gran and other women in the family. What Karen and Gran want, they get. So, our big wedding will be in three weeks, right after you get back from your honeymoon.”
“My turn to be Matron of Honor,” Valerie squealed. “I love the dress, not as much as I love mine today, but almost as much.” She looked over at the bridal gown awaiting her. “Who would have thought it - both of us married! You! You didn’t tell me Chase was the man, the one from your past. Why’d you keep that a secret?”
“This and that,” Caitlin said moving over closer and whispering into her friend’s ear. She looked around at the women in the room that were listening. “Someday, sometime in private, I’ll tell you about it.”
“That’s a deal,” Valerie whispered back. “Are you happy?”
“Beyond happy,” Caitlin admitted. “For the first time in my life, I feel truly loved. I feel fulfilled and with Chase’s family I feel like a part of something bigger than myself. It’s like this was my destiny all along, but I couldn’t see it with all the other things going on.”
“I’m going to have that too,” Valerie, breathed, as she checked her watch. “Starting in about forty-five minutes when I become Mrs. Blake Ford.”
EPILOGUE
Eureka, Montana, late September of the following year
Caitlin stood at the window looking over the deck and enjoying the view beyond it, and realized she was experiencing strong déjà vu. She’d done this before, in a different home, a different deck, a different set of mountains, and a different country.
The Eureka Mountains were beautiful all the time but in September, they were already covered with her beloved snow. It was strange how she loved all the different regions of the country, but favored the mountains. Cold and snow, even the sub-zero temperatures, were her true element. If she’d had her way they would have investigated living in Alaska, but Montana was a far north as she could budge her husband.
They’d been lucky to find this place because it suited both of them. Her neighbor in Cranbrook, B.C., was renting her property and planning on expanding his business. The property in Concrete, Oregon had been snapped up three days after it hit the market. It had been a long fight, but at long last she’d convinced Chase that it was logical for her to use her money to purchase the ranch in Montana. She was not going to let him sell his portion of his family legacy or go into debt. He’d finally gotten it through his thick head that money was easy in her trade. He was a hard sell, her stubborn, pure alpha male. Besides, Chase needed his money to get his fledgling helicopter service up and running. It was something that was desperately needed in their new area.
It had taken them months and a lot arguing and fighting to settle most of their differences. Several more spankings too, which she still thought was ridiculous, but there was no hope of changing his ideas about that. They’d gone back to Texas for nearly eight months. They were thankful for those additional months with Chase’s mother. They stuck close to the family and enjoyed birthdays, anniversaries and their wedding that had turned out to be – as Chase predicted - a major hoopla. They’d also seen the family through the worst of times - the death and grief over their loved ones - as Karen succumbed to the cancer. Tragedy had struck again only a month later when Grandmother Celia had passed away in her sleep.
Chase had spent a lot of those eight months working for his uncle completing the flying hours he needed for his aircraft certifications. Those hard-sought certifications were another reason they’d decided to stay in the United States. Trying to deal with applying for Canadian Permanent Resident Visas and re-certifying for those same certifications would have set him back years. Their compromise was moving to Eureka, Montana. She got her mountains, and they were still in the States and Eureka was only seven miles from the Canadian border. There were all kinds of local agreements that allowed navigation and shared services between the two countries at the local level. The people of Eureka didn’t much care about a border separating friends and neighbors and the nearest town a few miles up the road on the Canadian side of the border.
She watched as a large truck pulling a horse trailer navigated its way up the lane.
“Why didn’t you tell me Dad was here?” Chase asked, coming up behind her and enveloping her in his arms, as was his habit.
“He pulled in the lane a few seconds ago. Don’t hover unless you want to get yelled at,” she warned.
“I won’t hover,” Chase denied. “I’m looking forward to some normal human company.”
Caitlin snapped her eyes to his. “You invited Termite here.”
“I did not! I made a casual ‘come see us sometime remark’ and the next thing I knew he’d moved in with us for three weeks.” Chase complained. “I didn’t know I was in for three weeks of total weirdness from you two, walking around talking in binary code. And the guys name is Ralph. Calling him Termite is… weird.”
“We weren’t talking in binary code, you don’t even know what that is. But I’ll admit we did speak in language code quite a bit because we were talking about programming issues. If you’re going to put two software geeks in the same room, you have to expect that. I enjoyed Termite… okay, Ralph’s visit, but I was also glad when he left. You know he’ll be back.”
“I was afraid of that,” Chase said grumpily. “Dad’s going straight to the barn first. I’ll go help him unload Gumby.”
“He’s capable of unloading a horse,” Caitlin said softly. “Don’t hover.”
Chase watched as his Dad expertly backed up the large horse carrier to the barn doors. “I still can’t believe you talked him into loaning us Gumby for stud.”
Caitlin smiled. “I still can’t believe everyone calls Satan’s Revenge ‘Gumby’ now. We could have done this the easy way with artificial insemination.”
“True, but Gumby should be given his chance at your mare, Porsche. She’s a beauty and he is a stallion after all. Why spoil all his fun?”
Caitlin rolled her eyes at that comment. “I think your Dad used Gumby’s delivery as an excuse to get away from everyone. They’re driving him crazy.”
“We care,” Chase said gruffly. “He lost Mom and Gran less than a month apart. He took it hard.”
“As it did everyone, and he took the worst hit - his wife, his mother,” she agreed. “Still everyone is offering up sympathy and kindness and while it’s very nice, it’s also driving him crazy. He’s sick of it. He’s hurting, but your Dad is a pragmatic man. Life goes on and he wants his to go on too. He’s using this trip to bring Gumby up here and to check up on you. He’s also getting some space from the rest of your family. It’ll give them time to move back into their homes and get back into their normal routines again. I’m going to enjoy watching you squirm for a while.”
“You told him we bought the place, didn’t you?” he asked with squinted eyes. “That we’re not going back.”
“It was accidental, but it did slip out. Chase, it’s been months now. He knows you’re not going back to Texas permanently. He has to give it his best shot like every other member of your family. Your family makes defecting from Texas sound like an international crime. If the family is having this big a hissy about you moving to Montana, what would they have done if you’d considered moving across the border permanently? At least you’re still in the good old USA.”
Chase gave her a light pat on her bottom. “Don’t get snarky! I’m a Texan, and even if I’m a transplanted Texan, I’ll always be a Texan. Most of us aren’t as radical as you. ”
Caitlin snorted. “Most people don’t my history. I want be close enough to the border so I can still make a run for it.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Chase growled. “What got you stirred up this morning? I told you to stop reading the political news. When are you going to start listening?”
Caitlin shrugged, but she threw back her head against his chest. “This was a good compromise - small town, lots of land and good
communications. I can have my horses, my dogs and my mountains, and you can have your helicopters.”
“Helicopter, singular, as in only one so far. That’s all I can afford at the moment.” Chase’s hands rested on her small rounded tummy, and moved it around to rest on her bottom. “If I catch you anywhere near Gumby or those two Mustangs for the next five months, there will be hell to pay.”
“I agreed about the two Mustangs since their not trained yet, but Gumby likes me,” Caitlin protested.
“It’s not happening, Cait,” Chase said sternly turning her around to face him. “We’re going to be watching you carefully, so don’t think you can pull a fast one over on us. If I’m not watching, Dad will be watching. The two Mustangs and Gumby are off-limits. Don’t think for a minute that your being pregnant will stop me from busting your ass if you disobey me on this.”
“You really are impossible,” she huffed, but he captured her lips and pulled her to him and she melted. She blamed it on her raging pregnancy hormones, but she knew it wasn’t true. It was Chase, pure and simple. She loved everything about her big, impossible man… except maybe his partiality for spanking.
There was a loud knock on the back door.
“Dad, you don’t have to knock!” Chase yelled as Caitlin headed toward the coffee pot to pour her father-in-law a cup before he could ask.
Marc Bennett entered the kitchen, large and excited to see his son and his newest daughter-in-law. As he came in, so did the dogs - four chocolate labs with something mixed in their heritage that they still hadn’t figured out. Marc hugged his son, kissed Caitlin and put a gentle hand over his grandbaby. “Have you found out what’s cooking yet?”
“Yes, we have, but Chase is keeping it as a surprise.”
Marc turned his attention back to his son, who was roughhousing with dogs. He gave his son a questioning raise of an eyebrow, but he returned is attention back to Caitlin. “I have a gift for you out in the truck. The girls decided that they wanted you to have Momma’s last quilt.”
Caitlin's Conspiracies Page 20