Courted by Discipline: A Courting Romance (In Hyacinth Book 1)

by Bree Cariad

  “What happened?” she asked, scurrying down the stairs.

  “I wasn’t paying attention,” Carilyn admitted. “Bent to take the roasted vegetables out of the oven and accidentally laid my arm on top of the stove. While it was on.”

  “Mom! I could have driven you to the hospital.” Kathy’s breath sped up as she felt like panicking. She hated it when her mom got hurt.

  “That’s sweet. But I’ll be fine. They’ll just put some sort of medication on my arm and wrap it up. But if you could fry the rest of the vegies? And then follow the directions I’ve written for the rest of the meal? I’d appreciate it.”

  “Sure.” As Kathy went into the kitchen to see how complicated her mother had made the recipe, she heard the garage door open. “Dad’s home!”

  Her mother walked past her to the door that opened to the garage and waited. It opened a few seconds later and instantly her father unwrapped her mom’s arm, looked at it, wrapped it up and escorted her out to his car. He walked back inside a couple seconds later and walked over to Kathy. “Are you all right?” he asked calmly.

  “Worried about Mom. Is she gonna be okay?”

  “She’ll be fine. These look like second-degree burns so she’s going to be hurting for a while, but they’ll heal. Will you be all right here by yourself? We’re likely to be some time.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’ll finish the dinner like she asked and then put it in the fridge so you can eat it when you get home.”

  “Thanks, honey.” He pulled her into a tight hug. “I’ll call you if we’ll be much later than your bed time.”

  After he left she shook her head. It was only three in the afternoon. He expected them to be there for six hours? “Poor Mom.”

  Waiting wasn’t easy, and Kathy felt too antsy to go upstairs and read Xander’s letter. Instead, after dinner was finished, she put it in the fridge and did the dishes before going into the living room and waiting. By five all the worst ideas began to form inside her head. What if Mom was scarred for life? What if her arm was so damaged that it had to be amputated? What if something was really wrong and she never returned home?

  As tears spilled down her cheeks, Kathy paced back and forth along the living room floor. When the phone rang just before six, she ran for it. “Is she okay? Are you coming home?” she called loudly almost before she had even lifted the receiver.

  “Kathy? What’s wrong?” The voice on the other end of the line was not the one she expected, but she found herself spilling everything anyway.

  “Dad took Mom to the hospital and he said things would be okay but it’s been hours and I don’t know how she is and—” Sobs ripped through her throat and she burst into tears. Cami kept talking, sounding frantic herself, but Kathy was crying too loudly to hear her.

  “Kathy!” Cami’s shriek finally made Kathy hiccup and hold in her sobs for a second. “Dad and Xan are on their way over. They’ll stay with you until your parents get back. Okay?”

  “Okay,” she managed to answer. Cami kept talking in her ear, probably more to try and keep her mind busy than anything and Kathy sat on the floor shivering the whole time. When a knock came at the front door, she jumped up and ran to it. Opening the door and spotting the two intense Covingtons was a wonderful thing in this moment. “They’re here,” she murmured into the phone.

  “Okay. Call back if you need me.” The phone clicked and Kathy stood back so Alex and Xander could enter.

  “Alexander,” Alex said quietly as his son took Kathy by the hand, his tone almost a warning.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Xander said tersely. “This small town needs to grow up.” He led her over to a sofa and sat down, pulling her down next to him. Leaning her head against his chest, she realized she was still shaking. “Dad’s calling the hospital now, Kathy. He’ll find out what’s going on. Want to tell us what happened?” His voice was soft and yet had the quality her father had, the kind that made her want to tell him everything.

  “Mom burnt her arm on the stove. Dad said it was second-degree burns. He took her to the hospital and it’s been hours. I don’t know how she is. What if something happens?”

  “Shh,” he whispered, pulling her into a tight hug. “Your dad wouldn’t have lied to you. If he said she had second-degree burns, he should know. And emergency rooms take forever. Once I had to go to the ER for breaking my toe. I was there for five hours. Want to know what they told me?” Fighting her tears, she nodded. “That there was nothing they could do for a broken toe. I would just have to deal with it.”

  “After five hours?” she asked, wincing at her sore throat.

  “Yes.”

  “Were you mad?”

  “Yes.”

  “And with your bad toe, you couldn’t play rugby.”

  He chuckled softly. “Or racquetball.”

  “All right,” Alex said, walking back into the living room. Kathy hadn’t even realized he wasn’t in the room. “We’ll stay with her until you can get home… Yes… I think she might prefer to hear it from you… All right.” He held the phone over. “Your father.”

  Sitting up, she put the phone to her ear. “Daddy?”

  “Hi, honey. I’m sorry I didn’t call. Your mom’s fine. Her skin’s a little damaged, but in about three weeks, it’ll be healed. There may be a little scarring, but not much. Are you going to be okay with the Covingtons? I’m sure they would be fine at taking you over to my brother’s house.”

  Which was the last place Kathy would want to be. “I’m fine. I was just worried about Mom.” They spoke for a few more minutes before she finally turned off the phone, feeling like an idiot. “Sorry,” she finally said, embarrassed to even look at the two men who were standing across the room.

  “It’s fine,” Xander said in a soothing tone, sitting down next to her. “Have you eaten?”

  “Umm… no. I was waiting for them.” Plus Kathy had never been able to eat when worried.

  “All right. How’s pizza sound?”

  “Good.”

  Xander gently removed the phone from her grasp and made a call. “What do you like on your pizza?” he asked.

  “No olives or onions.” Everything else she could handle.

  “Yes, a large, thick-crust pizza with everything except olives and onions.” He continued his order while Kathy tried to ignore the fact Xander’s father was staring at her. She must look awful. He was probably wondering why his son was making such a fuss. She certainly did. The pizza arrived and once she’d eaten, Kathy began to feel better. Unfortunately that made her feel worse to have two men watching over her like she was a little kid.

  Deciding to be brave, she said, “I’m sure I’ll be fine now. You two can go home. There’s no reason for you to sta—” Xander shook his head, stopping her mid-word.

  “We aren’t leaving until your father gets home,” he said firmly. “So,” he said, as if to distract her – and it completely worked, “You read the letter?”

  “Only the first answer. Mom called me down at that moment because of her arm.”

  “Who went into the hospital and didn’t come out?” Alex asked in his deep voice, startling her.

  “Dad,” Xander said in a terse tone. Alex just held his hand up to forestall whatever he was about to say.

  Confused, Kathy shook her head. “I don’t think I know of anyone that went into the hospital. Well, me with my appendix when I was ten, but that was about…” Her voice trailed off as she remembered and gulped. “My nana. Mom’s mom. She went in for routine surgery and died due to the anesthetic.”

  Alex’s eyes were surprisingly kind. “Which makes sense as to why you might overreact when your mother goes in for something small.”

  Kathy nodded, but she wasn’t sure she liked Mr. Covington. Unconsciously, she scooted closer to his son. Xander moved as though to put his arm around her shoulders, but his father shook his head.

  “Dad!” Xander exclaimed, leaping to his feet and pacing back and forth along the floor. “This is to help. Why
can’t this town get it through its thick skull? There’s nothing wrong with it!”

  “Do you want to endanger her reputation?”

  “No,” Xander sighed, shaking his head and seeming to deflate. “No, I don’t want that. Not that I care what anyone here thinks.”

  Kathy was pretty sure they were discussing her, but in what context she wasn’t sure.

  “Wait for the banns, son. That’s all you have to wait for.”

  Taking a deep breath, Xander nodded and offered her a small smile. “You must wonder if we’re crazy.”

  She offered a timid one back. “I know you’re talking about me, I just don’t understand the perspective.”

  Nodding, he walked back over, though this time he sat as far away from her as possible on the sofa. “This town lives about two centuries out of date in some ways. I wish I could explain, but by law I cannot. Just please… don’t think it’s anything bad. It’s not.”

  His words were more polite, but the meaning was loud and clear to her. It’s not you, it’s me. Wow. She had only seen him a couple times and she had already received the age-old brushoff. Well, he had seen her at her worst today. Nodding, she leaned back against the back of the sofa, pulling her feet up next to her. “Do you think they’ll be long?” she asked Alex.

  “He figured another hour.”

  Curling up with her eyes closed, she just wished the day to be over. It had sucked to the nth degree.

  Chapter 6

  Somehow she had managed to fall asleep, not waking up until her parents came home. Once she was sure her mother was okay – drugged out and giggly, but okay – Kathy went up to bed, not even bothering to say goodnight to the Covingtons. Her sleep was too restless as she had tossed the letter and the bear into the drawer under her bed and couldn’t get them out of her head.

  I’m such a stupid girl. Why would I think someone like him would want me anyway? Sure, he was nice enough to respond, but my cheat sheet to myself sounded like a kid wrote it and then he saw me in freak-out mode.

  Groaning, Kathy finally gave up trying to sleep just before five and went downstairs to make breakfast.

  “Good morning.” She looked up and smiled in relief at her mother who looked awake if rumpled standing at the door to the kitchen.

  “How’s your arm?” Kathy asked giving her mom a gentle hug, afraid to brush against her hurt arm.

  “Burning,” Carilyn admitted. “But honestly, Kathy, I’ve been in trouble with your father enough to know burn. I’m fine. How are you?”

  “Okay. I kinda freaked out yesterday and Xander and his father had to come babysit me. I’m sure,” she added in a fake voice as she tossed a pancake into the air and watched it land exactly where she wanted it, “we won’t be seeing him again.”

  “Oh, honey.” A wealth of understanding colored Carilyn’s tone and she hugged her from behind with her good arm. “I’m sorry.”

  Kathy set the table so her mom didn’t have to and as they sat down at the kitchen table, her father joined them. “How are you this morning?” he asked gently, watching her push a pancake around her plate.

  “Numb, I think.”

  Reaching out he grasped her shoulder, squeezing lightly. “Your mom’s fine, honey.” Kathy nodded and ate because it would cause less questions and as Gerald finished his breakfast, he turned to her again. “Think you can make dinner today? Your mom can’t do a lot with only one arm and I’ve told her she won’t.” The warning tone on the last word made her mother roll her eyes and Kathy grin. She had heard it toward herself many times. “We have, unfortunately, a dinner guest tonight.”

  “Dad! No,” she begged. “I’m not ready.”

  His eyes softened. “I know. But I’d already agreed to this one. If any more come up before your mother is well, I’ll put them off. For now, I need you to make dinner.”

  “Okay,” she said, giving in. She had planned on doing it anyway, but knowing another suitor dork was coming made her wish dinner was already over. After all, Kathy hadn’t even had the chance to mourn over a guy who wasn’t actually interested in her.

  Once she took stock of what they had on hand, Kathy figured they had the right ingredients for sweet n’ sour chicken and she had always wanted to try it from scratch. After her mom fell asleep on the sofa due to the pain killers Gerald made her take, he left for a meeting and Kathy got to work. The dessert was easy. Boxed cake mix and ready-made frosting. That she could do. Once the cake was in the oven, she read the directions for sweet n’ sour and started on it.

  It definitely wasn’t easy. But it kept her attention so completely that she didn’t notice the passing of time until she heard the garage door open. Glancing up at the clock, she was startled to find it almost five. “Oh, drat. And I haven’t had the chance to shower yet.” Setting the chicken aside, she turned off the stove and moved to go upstairs. Before she could make her exit, the door between the kitchen and garage opened and her father walked in, closely followed by Xander Covington and his father. Startled, Kathy stared at him with her mouth open. What was he doing back?

  “You look good in flour,” he said with a chuckle and she looked down grimacing as her entire body was dusted with white particles. Which probably meant her face and hair were as well.

  “When I cook, I do it with flare.”

  He shot her a grin and confusion settled. Why was he being flirtatious again? Or was this flirtatious? Maybe this was just normal, nice behavior on his part and she had thought it was something different.

  “Why don’t you go change your clothes?” her father suggested. “Is your mom still asleep?”

  “Last time I checked.”

  “Change and come back down. It’s important.” She glanced into her father’s eyes to see if it was good important or bad important. They looked happy enough, so turning she dashed upstairs. Everything she wore went into the hamper and even knowing she would look wet, she jumped into the shower long enough to wash out the flour and then quickly got dressed in shorts and a camisole top. After running a comb through her hair, she pushed her toes into a pair of flip-flops, and went back downstairs. Her mother was sitting up, though she looked a little groggy.

  “Feeling better?” Kathy asked her as she walked into the living room.

  “Those pills really knocked me out. I’m not sure how I feel,” Carilyn admitted with a wry smile. “Come sit with me.” Glad she wouldn’t have to sit by Xander who was seated across from her mother, Kathy plopped next to her and leaned against her shoulder. Alex sat in a high-backed armchair that as long as Kathy could remember, was only ever used by guests. Gerald joined them a few minutes later and sat next to her, sandwiching her between the two of them.

  “Would you like to start?” he asked Alex with a wide grin. He looked almost giddy.

  Nodding, Alex stood up, pulling a large piece of paper from his pocket and beginning to read. “Miss Kathryn Daisy Bretherton, we the undersigned have given our permission for you to be courted by Mr. Alexander Brandon Covington, Jr., for the process of one year, starting on this date and ending no later than one year from today. As a courted female, you are never to be in the presence of another male without either Mr. Covington or Mr. Bretherton present or a female trusted by one of the aforementioned gentlemen. Your rights from Mr. Covington are as follows…” He continued to speak, but Kathy glanced over at his son who was watching her.

  Could this really be happening? Did Xander want to do this going-steady thing for a year? And with her?

  “This courtship year is very important and will be carried out in the following manner. First, the getting-to-know-you stage where the couple may meet at either the Bretherton household or elsewhere if escorted by Mr. Bretherton. Second, Stage Two: where Mr. Covington may take Miss Bretherton out for specifically arranged times to dinner or to an event. These must be by the light of day. Third, Stage Three: Mr. Covington must assume less passive control and begin to take on the mantel he will assume completely upon matrimony. This will include
giving specific commands he will expect her to follow and discipline applied if not followed, up to but not including, corporal punishment. Fourth, Stage Four: all the above except with the addition of formal, over the clothing, corporal punishment if the situation requires. Five, Stage Five: by now Miss Bretherton and Mr. Covington have been courting for approximately four months. What has been termed the make-it-or-break-it stage is their last chance to truly decide whether or not to go on. Up until the end of this stage, either one may pull out for no other reason than to say ‘this isn’t for me.’ Once Stage Six is reached, they must show just cause as to why the courting should end. Six, Stage Six: Miss Bretherton will begin to spend more time with Mr. Covington’s family, helping his mother the same way she helps hers, learning the way he is used to having a house kept. During the same stage, if not already purchased, Mr. Covington must begin to search in earnest for a home for them as a couple. Seven, Stage Seven: from this stage onward, a proposal may be offered and accepted. Mr. Covington must first receive the blessing of Mr. Bretherton before he brings his troth to Miss Bretherton. In Stage Seven, one night a week, Miss Bretherton will cook for Mr. Covington in his home. Eight, Stage Eight: from here through Stage Twelve, the two are given more leeway in their relationship, leading up to, but not including sexual relations. At no time should Miss Bretherton or Mr. Covington ever be together disrobed. To do so would put shame on both members. Mr. Covington would be asked to leave town. Nine through twelve. These last four stages depend on if a marriage proposal has been proffered and accepted. If so, the engagement will take part during this time with the marriage to take place at the end of the courting ritual. If it has not been proffered, all former stages will be adhered to until the end of the courting.”

  Kathy blinked. That was a lot of information. She would need to read it several times to even remember what it said.