An Unexpected Wife

by Masters, Constance

  “We’ll make them understand,” Cliff said as they made their way through the living room, smiling and nodding to people. “Grandpa could we borrow the truck?”

  “Of course you can, boy, but first, there’s a wedding cake that needs to be cut. Could I have a minute with my new granddaughter?”

  “Of course.” Sage smiled. She had never realised how hard it was to make yourself smile over and over. It must have used like a million more muscles than a normal smile. “I want to talk to the children first though before we do the cake.”

  “Of course you do, Sage,” Grandpa said. “You can run along and talk with your grandma for a bit Cliff.”

  “You trying to get rid of me, Grandpa?”

  “Yes I am, now run along.” He waited until Cliff was well out of earshot to start talking to Sage. “You know, for what it’s worth, I think staying with your aunt and uncle while you have a short honeymoon is the right thing for those kids.”

  “I hope they realise that. They’ve been through so much already.” Sage liked this man, his tone was soft and wise and not at all bossy.

  “Exactly, honey, and so have you. You need to be the best you that you can be before you take over being their parent. It’s a big job and you have to remember that being a parent means making the hard decisions for everyone and sometimes they aren’t the most popular.”

  “Well, I guess I just have to play it by ear,” she said.

  “I guess you do,” Grandpa said, leaning over to kiss her cheek. “Both of you. Just remember that your new grandma and I are here for you, darlin’, anything you need, you can call on us.”

  * * *

  “Bailey, can you get your sister please honey and bring her in the kitchen?”

  “Sure. Is something wrong?”

  “I just want to talk to you both.”

  “Is it about us staying with Aunt Jen for a bit longer?”

  Sage sighed. Would anyone here give her five minutes to handle things herself? She wanted to just explode. “How do you feel about that?”

  “I want to come home with you and Cliff. Aunt Jen’s house is boring.”

  “It won’t be for long Bails I promise. One way or another you will be coming home and that’s where we’re going to stay.”

  “You promise?”

  “Of course I promise.” Oh man, she hoped she wasn’t lying to this kid.

  “Cliff too? You’re married so Cliff has to live with us too doesn’t he?”

  Sage hugged her brother tightly to her and glared at Cliff over the top of Bailey’s head. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

  “Well, Netty isn’t going to be as easy as me.”

  “Why aren’t I gonna be easy?”

  It seemed Netty had found them on her own. “Netty, honey, I was just explaining to Bailey that you are going to stay a bit longer with Aunt Jen. Just a little while, I promise, then you and Bails will come home.”

  “I don’t want to! I want to stay with you.” The little girl latched onto the Sage’s waist.

  “Netty, you love Aunt Jen.”

  “I know but I want to stay with you and Cliff.”

  Cliff bent to Netty’s level. “Do you want to know a secret?”

  Netty didn’t let go of Sage but she turned her face enough that she was able to hear. “We have something planned. While you’re at Aunt Jen’s, Sage and I are going to be working on a surprise for you and Bailey.”

  “What kind of surprise?”

  “A great one.”

  Sage’s eyes widened. While the grip on her waist had loosened and Netty seemed to be all ears now, she was concerned that they were once again setting these kids up for a fall. “Trust us, Netty, okay?”

  “Okay, but not more than seven days.”

  “I can’t tell you how many days, sweetie, but it won’t take long, two weeks at most.”

  “Two weeks is long, it’s really long!”

  “Just keep thinking about your surprise, darlin,” Cliff said.

  “We need cake,” Grandpa said from the doorway.

  “Come on, how about we let you help us cut the cake?” Cliff said. “The sooner we get this honeymoon happening, the sooner you can come home with us.”

  * * *

  “I feel like a heel,” Sage said grumpily. “I shouldn’t be the one that feels like that.” She stole an angry glance at Cliff who hadn’t said a lot since they’d left his grandmother’s house.

  “Wait, I should feel like a heel? Why?” Cliff blinked with shock.

  “You know why.” He could look as innocent as he liked but if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck, it is a duck.

  “Um, no I don’t. Am I sorry that my grandparents blew the whistle on us? It wasn’t ideal, but they made up for it by giving us a nice party don’t you think? Their hearts were in the right place.”

  “If that’s the story you’re sticking to.” Sage was being mean when he’d been nothing but nice to her and the kids but he had also been deceitful and conniving. If he wasn’t happy with things the way they had agreed to them, then why had he agreed? Why make promises of wanting to win her over? She hadn’t asked for any of that.

  “I’m not sure what your problem is but I’m not arguing right now,” Cliff said with a sigh. “I don’t want to argue at all.”

  “Sometimes, you don’t get what you want. Sometimes, people make all your decisions for you; change your plans, decide what’s best for you.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Don’t twist my words.” Sage was getting angrier as time ticked by. There was silence for a few minutes and that didn’t make her happy either. “We had a deal.”

  “We still do.”

  Cliff was white knuckling the steering wheel and she could tell he was getting riled, quiet anger wasn’t enough though. She was mad damn it and she wanted a response. She wanted a fight. “Sure, that’s why you told your grandparents about our getting married, suddenly like magic, the kids find out about us and you’re sleeping in my bed. I bet you planned on her inviting Aunt Jen but I bet you didn’t know that Aunt Jen would insist on keeping the kids though did you? “

  Cliff pulled his grandfather’s truck to a stop outside Sage’s house. “You actually think that I orchestrated all of this to get you in the sack? Really?”

  “Yes, it all seems a little convenient to me.”

  Cliff did not utter a word but if the flashing from his eyes and the steam coming from his ears was any indication, there was plenty going on inside his head.

  Sage sat there stunned, she’d wanted an argument, not compete silence. She watched Cliff open the door and slam it behind him. She had never seen him so angry. He’d probably stalk off to the barn for a bit until he’d calmed down. Nope, he was coming around to her side of the truck. Uh oh, perhaps she should have escaped while she had the chance. She wanted a fight and it looked like she was about to get her wish. Her fingers just about reached the door lock when he flung the door open. Efforts to scramble to the other side of the car were stopped by very strong male arms. Before she knew it, she was out of the car, scooped up with ease like a small child. “Cliff, stop, what are you doing?”

  “Carrying my wife over the threshold.” Her angry husband tipped her over his shoulder, her head and arms dangled like a rag doll as he marched away from the car.

  She had no choice but to grasp his belt buckle to steady herself as he took two steps at a time up to the porch. “Cliff!” she squealed.

  Cliff slapped her bottom hard. This was escalating fast and she wasn’t going to be able to stop it. It didn’t hurt to try though. “You can’t spank me because I’m upset! Please, Cliff!” The screen door squealed and then banged shut behind them as he strode into the living room and up the stairs to the bedroom. She tried to fight; to kick and wriggle, but she was held firm. Sage punched the solid back, which only earned her another hard slap.

  “I’m not spanking you…” Cliff started to say, stepping into the bedroom they
had slept in together a short time ago.

  “Well good, just because you’re my husband, doesn’t mean you can manhandle me whenever you want to,” Sage interrupted.

  “I was going to say, I’m not going to spank you for being upset. I am going to spank you, because you deserve it,” Cliff said, returning the favour and cutting her off before she was finished. He let her down and sat on the bed, still keeping her firmly between his knees.

  “I don’t want you to.” Sage tried to step away but Cliff had her in a vice like grip.

  “Hmm. Do I care at this moment?” Cliff was almost talking to himself. “Nope, not interested.”

  Within a moment, Sage was facing the carpet, her long brown hair over her face, in her eyes and puddling on the floor right next to Cliff’s dress shoes. She hadn’t noticed that he wasn’t wearing his boots. She’d never seen him in proper going out shoes. “Ow!” A hard smack landed on her rear end, the slight sting from the previous couple of whacks suddenly igniting the burn and starting a fire that was hard to think through. He wasn’t stopping at all, just a barrage of heavy-handed slaps that didn’t let up. She couldn’t stop thinking, even though her legs were kicking and her voice was yelling blue murder; this man was wearing suit pants and nice shoes. This man who was always comfortable in jeans and cowboy boots had put on dress shoes and a suit and he’d done that for her. He was making an effort here. Could she have been wrong? Was he doing all this because he liked her? “Stop, Cliff! I think I get it now!”

  “Sure you do.”

  Instead of stopping, he paused, giving her a slight hope that he had finished, but he was just raising her dress and lowering the scrap of lace that was all but covering her stinging bottom. “Oh please, Cliff, let me explain! Ahhh, please, that hurts!”

  “Good, I’m glad it’s hurting because I wasn’t aiming to tickle you.” Every word spoken was punctuated by another swat to her bottom. “Let me let you in on a little secret. Not only women have feelings!”

  “I know, I know.” Oh she had gotten this all so wrong.

  “Do you? I care about you and I care about those kids!” Cliff was angrier than he should have been and he consciously slowed his smacks. “What kind of person, what kind of man would I be if I took advantage of a grieving woman so that I could get her into bed?”

  “No, I know.” Sage burst into tears and not because her backside was on fire, although it certainly was, so much so that she couldn’t form the words she wanted to say to make this right. She had hurt this man who had done nothing but try to be a friend.

  Cliff stopped spanking and hoisted her to her feet, pulling up her panties and straightening her dress. “Let me just tell you this, Mrs. Welsh, I have never had to trick a woman and nor have I forced myself on a woman and I don’t intend to start now, even if that woman happens to be legally married to me.” He kissed her forehead and then stood up, stalking out of the bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

  It felt like hours before Sage even took a breath. She just stood there in her childhood bedroom, where she and Cliff had once made love, yes it had been special, not a one-night stand as she’d tried to convince herself that it had been. Now she had ruined everything.

  * * *

  Cliff stormed outside, not really sure what he was going to do. He would have loved to have driven into town to find himself a cold beer and a hot woman. Truth was though, this was his wedding night and the only woman he wanted was the little lady upstairs. He wanted his wife, even though it had started out as a means to an end, it hadn’t ended that way, not for him at least. Contrary to what this little brat thought, he wasn’t taking advantage even though he wanted her body so badly he could taste it. Cliff had thought about the moment he had sunk into her for the first glorious time from the night it happened and he lived for it to happen again. Thing was though, he didn’t just want her body, he wanted all of her, the whole thing and all the fixings, including the kids. He had hoped she at least eventually would feel the same way about him but he would never force himself on anyone.

  He grabbed his bag out of the back of the truck and went to the barn where there was a disused bunk room attached through a side door. Perfect, his badly behaved wife was upstairs in a warm bed and he was sleeping on a cot in the bunkhouse. Who was in the doghouse now?

  Finally, after a less than perfect cold shower, he was and lying in the narrow bunk. Just perfect. It would at least give him some time to think about what to do next. That didn’t take long at all. There was only one thing to do here. He would keep to the business arrangement they’d made while he waited and hoped that Sage would eventually want him enough that she would make the next move. He wasn’t going to make it easy on her though. A man had his pride.

  Chapter Five

  It was ages before Sage even moved. This was what she wanted wasn’t it, to keep everything all business? Maybe the old adage was true, ‘be careful what you wish for’. At this moment, she wished she could wind the day back. If she could wind it back, where would she stop? The part where she jumped to conclusions and hurt the one person who was trying to help her? What about the part where she stupidly got the half-cocked idea that Cliff was somehow trying to take advantage of her? That probably would have been a place to start, then this may have ended very differently instead of her standing there feeling like a sore and sorry chastised child. She couldn’t help but be hurt though; this was her fault but how could he have treated her that way? Tomorrow, she would have to talk to him and try to explain how confused she’d been. Curiosity gave her the strength to move finally. She had to look out of the window to make sure Cliff was still there. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the truck still where it had been parked.

  Sage’s rear end thudded like nothing else, she must have been black and blue. Unable to resist taking a peek, she dropped her dress in front of the full-length mirror, turning to examine what had to have been extensive damage.

  “Well, that’s disappointing.” There was no damage at all to speak of. All that was visible through the flimsy lace was a little pink skin, okay, more than a little. Her ass wasn’t tiny, but it wasn’t dark red either or bruised. Just like her pride it was just a little marred and blotchy.

  Sage laid awake for hours trying to figure out what she was going to say in the morning to try and fix this; sorry came to mind, but one little word didn’t seem like it would have the impact that she needed it to. How was she supposed to assemble the right words when everything was so jumbled up inside her head?

  * * *

  The sun felt warm on Sage’s face. It was morning and she was none the wiser as to what she was going to do. She had stood by the window watching for some kind of movement outside for a long time and hadn’t drawn the curtains when she eventually fell into bed.

  The next morning, the truck was still there. The light had been on in the bunkroom last night, so she assumed he slept in there. Lovely, apparently sleeping in a dusty old room was better than staying in the house with her. He was obviously still angry. Maybe she should have set the alarm to get up earlier and help with the morning chores. That might have eased the tension a little. “Oh well, maybe I’ll be able to think of something after I’ve had coffee,” she said to the empty room. Until then, if he wanted to see her and sort things out badly enough, once he’d calmed down of course, then he knew where she was. She padded down the stairs in her short sleep shirt, planning on grabbing some coffee and going back to bed.

  “Good morning,” Cliff said, from where he was sitting at the kitchen table.

  She jumped. “Cliff.” Sage, aka Captain Obvious had no idea what else to say. She did try to discretely tug down the material that was barely covering her bottom. Finding the man sitting in her kitchen was totally unexpected. It could be a good thing though, maybe he was willing to just forget what happened and start again. “Hi.”

  “I thought you’d never get up.”

  That sounded promising, kind of. “Oh, well, I didn’t know you were
in the house. I’m glad you’re here, I want to talk to you too.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time for talking, Sage, or rehashing what happened last night and how misunderstood you are. I have work to do. What I do need though is breakfast, something substantial.”

  “Oh, okay, well you know where everything is,” Sage said, but Cliff wasn’t moving, he was looking her directly in the eye. His fingers were entwined and he was tapping his thumbs on the table. It suddenly dawned on her what he was waiting for. “You want me to get it for you?” she asked, more surprised than shocked.

  “That’d be great. Some hot coffee too and biscuits, I’ve been working since dawn broke and I’m hungry.”

  “Biscuits.” Sage was trying to keep the edge out of her voice but it wasn’t easy. “You know, you could have just helped yourself, you have done before.”

  “I wouldn’t presume to ‘help myself’ as you put it, Sage. That was when I was a friend, caring for another friend. Apparently, as of the time that we said our vows yesterday, this is now a business arrangement. A friend doesn’t accuse another friend of the things you accused me of. This will be simpler all around. We will stick to our gender specific roles. I will do the work, and you will take care of the inside, that would be me, your husband, and anyone else that is doing work on the ranch.”

  “Really, you’re not even going to make allowances for how confused and upset I was?” Sage was getting her back up again now.

  “That’s all I’ve done, Sage, but if there’s one thing that matters to me, it’s my integrity. I won’t compromise on that. There will never be any hope for us as a couple, fake or otherwise, or even just a friendship, unless you trust me.”

  Who did he think he was anyway? How was he going to just sit there and demand that she trust him? “So, if you want to make this all about business, then you must work for me? Don’t I get to be the boss and tell you what to do?”

  “No.” Cliff smiled. “I am your husband and according to the bank, I am now responsible for your mortgage payments which means that I am also responsible for finding a way to make this place pay. That buck stops with me. I am willing to talk about that. I may have an idea but it will require lots of work and more than a little cooperation from you, so I’d really appreciate it if you could stay calm and focused on just that for now.”