Cowboy Caveat

by Vanessa Brooks

  Millie flung herself on her sister and burst into noisy sobs. Amy patted her back absently, chewing her lip and watching Ethan corral the horses. She was extremely worried about facing Rick Cook, the Texas Ranger.

  CHAPTER 11

  In the end, Aunt Peggy came over to their house to stay with the boys. Lucy had enlisted her friend Jayne from town to stay and help the old lady out. Jayne had needed no persuasion however. Since Ethan had proposed to Amy, she had shifted her devotion from him to Max. This time, though, the feeling was mutual, and Lucy was pleased to be able to help by throwing Jayne in the ranch foreman’s path, so to speak. Ed was amused by his sweet wife’s matchmaking and he agreed that it seemed to be working. Max had been over to their house three times already and usually they were lucky if they saw him at the house once a week!

  At last Ed and Lucy were seated next to one another aboard the train, heading for Dallas. Ed urged an exhausted Lucy to rest against his shoulder and catch up on some much-needed sleep. Although this journey was necessary, Ed intended the trip to be a fun one for his wife.

  They had never got away on a honeymoon after their marriage because of what had happened to his parents. The children had come first after the wedding and had taken up much of their time and devotion. Ed wanted to spoil Lucy while they were staying at his grandmother’s house, take her to the theater and to the shops, dine out with her and importantly make love to her. This last was crucial as far as Ed was concerned. He wanted to show Lucy that she was loved and that despite the recent changes he had made in their relationship, with himself placed in the more dominant role, he still worshipped and adored her.

  Lucy needed no more persuasion to rest her weary head. The past few weeks had been a shock to the sweet-natured Lucy. Quite apart from all the upset surrounding Amy shooting Henderson, there was the change in Ed himself that she found confusing.

  At first she had been livid to be spanked by her husband and with a butter pat! Ed had actually hurt her! Normally she would have expected her easygoing husband to apologize afterwards and everything would go on as before, but not this time; not that he had ever punished her like that before! Something had changed between them and Lucy wasn’t sure whether she liked the change or not. Ed was still fun to be with, but now Lucy found herself watching her behavior all the time. Ed had spanked her a couple of days back for swearing, something he had never done before the butter pat incident.

  Then there was her body’s strange and embarrassing response to Ed spanking her -- she was excited by it. There was something very wrong with her and it was worrying Lucy and affecting her sleep at night. If only she had someone to talk to about this, but it was all much too personal to share. Lucy sighed and she made herself comfortable on Ed’s shoulder, snuggling into him as his arm came around her.

  Pulling his wife in close to his side, Ed smiled as Lucy burrowed into him. Her eyes were closed and he could see blue shadows beneath them. He frowned at the sight; she looked so very tired. He was going to spoil her while in Dallas and lay a new foundation down for their marriage to grow on...after he had sorted out this current mess his dear sister Amy had landed them in. Once again, he was glad to know that his sister would be Ethan’s problem from now on... that is if after all of this trouble he still wanted her. Dear God, what a terrible thought -- to be stuck with Amy!

  * * * * *

  Rick Cook was a pretty good judge of character and he decided, after talking at length with Mr. and Mrs. Ethan Walker, that he could trust them.....well him leastways. It was pretty obvious the man had done the right thing when he had caught up with his wife, judging from the way she avoided sitting down and rubbed her backside at every opportunity – that is when she thought no one else was looking. She was subdued and respectful towards her husband, too. Yup; he reckoned Ethan Walker was alright!

  “No, no, we cannot stay here, Mr. Cook. I’m sorry but that is out of the question!” Amy insisted.

  Rick glared at Amy’s outburst and pointed his finger, jabbing it at her as he made his point, “You, ma’am, are a fugitive and I am a Texas Ranger. You will do as I tell you or I will tie you behind my horse and make you walk all the way to Dallas, whereupon you will be flung in jail to await trial! Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, but......”

  “NO. NO. NO BUTS! Mr. Walker, it seems that whatever punishment you meted out to your wife yesterday has worn off. I suggest you remove her to the barn and repeat it right now, an’ that, sir, is an order!”

  Amy went beet red and spluttered with indignation, but before she could speak Ethan had swatted her bottom and grabbed her arm, swinging her away from the table where Rick Cook sat. Ethan marched Amy outside just as Cook had suggested he should but he had no intention of punishing his indignant wife. He felt exactly the same way about being left behind at the staging post with the children as she did. They needed to get to Dallas to sort out this mess and sitting in the middle of nowhere was going to get them...well, nowhere!

  To stop any misunderstanding between them, he folded Amy into a bear hug, restraining her until he felt her relax into his hold. He spoke softly into her ear, “I’m with you on this one hon but we gotta bide our time. No good’ll come of riling up a Ranger, Amy, so jus’ leave it to me.....promise me, darlin’?”

  “Hmm.”

  “Little girl, your bottom is mighty sore right now...so don’t tempt me. Alright, Amelia?”

  “Yes, alright.”

  “Pardon?”

  A very heavy sigh escaped from Mrs. Amelia Walker as she said, “Yes, sir.”

  Ethan nodded, pleased that she’d remembered. They had spent a difficult hour explaining everything to Mr. Cook the day before and then he, in turn, had questioned Amy at some length. Ethan had instigated some behavioral rules for Amy, including one rule that she should always call him ‘sir’ whenever he called her by her full name Amelia.

  Although Amy was still extremely contrite about shooting an unarmed man, she was getting tired of Ethan’s high-handedness. After all, she had been punished for that and now it was time to move forward and plan.

  “Perhaps we should wait until everyone is asleep tonight and just slip away,” she suggested.

  Ethan groaned. Why was she not listening to him? “What part of leave it to me don’t you understand, hmm?” Amy flounced and Ethan did a double-take. Amy flouncing? He couldn’t help it; he laughed. Amy stamped her foot and glared at him but when she saw his dancing eyes and heard his infectious chuckle, she grinned. My! He was a handsome man, this husband of hers. Ethan pulled her back towards him and planted a smacking kiss on her lips. “Don’t you worry, little gal, I got this one covered!” Amy relaxed. It was quite a nice feeling being looked after, and perhaps she could get used to this whole marriage lark after all.

  * * * * *

  Hilda Campbell was quite taken aback when her housekeeper showed her eldest grandson and his wife into her parlor. She was delighted to see them, of course, but being an astute woman she knew there must be something very wrong for them to be there, especially minus their children.

  “Rose please go fetch us a pot of chocolate and some muffins and then you may prepare the yellow guest room for my grandson and his wife, thank you.”

  “Yes’m,” the woman said and bobbed a curtsy.

  “Oh, and Rose, cut some yellow roses from the back for the dressing table in the bedroom. I am sure that Lucy will enjoy them. Thank you, Rose.” Rose bobbed again and left the room.

  “So Grandma, are Amy, Ethan and the children all out?” Ed asked as he made himself comfortable in one of the overstuffed chairs.

  Hilda looked at him, her eyes widening in surprise. “Despite sending Amy and Millie a train ticket each, I have heard nothing from them. Why? Did you expect to find them here? Oh my dears...should they have been?”

  Lucy leaned forward in her chair, looking anxious, “You haven’t seen them...what....not at all? They left days ago to come and visit you…Something has gone very wrong!”
<
br />   “Calm down, Lucy. We don’t know that yet.”

  “But, Ed, they should be here by now, you know they should!” Lucy pressed her hand to her mouth and twisted around to face her husband.

  “Will one of you please explain to me what has happened?” Hilda commanded.

  Ed proceeded to fill his grandmother in on the events that had led to their arrival that day. After he had finished, Hilda sat back in her seat, silently digesting what she had just heard. Rose appeared with the tray of hot chocolate and muffins, and there was a moment or two of organization with tables and cups being handed around. “Thank you Rose, now would you be so kind as to send the boy to Judge Richardson’s establishment asking him to please join us for dinner this evening if he is able.”

  Rose bobbed again and after murmuring another “Yes’m,” she left the room to find her son.

  Hilda turned to Ed and Lucy. “The judge is a very dear friend of mine and is still very active in the justice system. I am certain that he will know how best to help Amy. She has been an extremely stupid girl Edward and I hope that you have put aside your usual distaste for punishment and dealt with her, pointing out the seriousness of the situation to her?”

  Ed looked uncomfortable and coughed. “We-ell, not quite, Grandma, because she and Millie used the tickets that you sent to them for a visit, to catch the train without my knowledge, so in fact I haven’t seen or spoken to Amy since she shot Henderson.”

  Hilda frowned. “But did you not say that Lucy was with Amy when this shooting occurred Edward?”

  Lucy shuffled in her chair and, feeling embarrassed as she remembered the outcome of that day, she spoke up, avoiding her husband’s eye. “I was with Amy, yes, you are correct, and I take full responsibility for what I did in putting the girls on the train to send them to you m’am, though in hindsight I wish that I had just taken them home and allowed Ed to deal with the problem.”

  Hilda fixed Lucy with a gimlet eye. “And why is that my dear, your idea seems to have been an eminently sensible one to me!”

  Ed cleared his throat and said, “Grandmother, may we go up to our room now? It has been a long day, and I think that Lucy should lie down before dinner. She is exhausted.”

  “Of course you may go up and rest. Do not worry over much, my dears, I am sure Ethan will take good care of the girls. Lucy, your brother seems to me to be a very capable and resourceful young man, and I am sure that all will be well. Dinner is at seven o’clock sharp. The judge will hopefully join us, he is a wise man and will be able to advise us I am sure. Now, go and get some rest and I shall see you both later.”

  For some reason that she couldn’t fathom, Lucy felt rather resentful towards Ed. She tried to reason this out and came to the conclusion that it was to do with leaving their boys and Tyler behind at the ranch. She worried that Aunt Peggy was too old to keep track of her mischievous sons and Jayne would be too busy chasing after Max to keep an eye on her charges. Lucy fretted and worried so much so that every time Ed spoke to her, she snapped his head off.

  When they were settled into their pretty bedroom with all their clothes packed away, there was a tap at their bedroom door. Ed opened it, and Rose stood there clutching a glass vase filled with a bunch of yellow Texas roses. “Why thank you, Rose, how kind!” he exclaimed, taking the flowers from her. He swung back into the room, closing the door behind him with his foot.

  “Hey darlin’, smell these real Texas roses from Grandma’s garden!” He went to his wife as she was putting her underclothes into the bottom drawer of the chest, and thrust them under her nose.

  “Ed, for goodness sake!” Lucy shoved his hand clutching the vase away from her face. The vase and its contents flew out of Ed’s grip and fell to the floor. The glass cracked and water soaked into the blue and yellow floral carpet. Lucy straightened up and glared at her husband, shouting, “Now look what you’ve done!”

  Ed was incredulous. “Me?”

  “Yes, you...thrusting them into my face like that. What did you expect would happen?” Lucy raised her voice in temper.

  Ed looked thoughtfully at his wife, wondering what was going on in her pretty head. This behavior was just not like her. He left the flowers and broken glass for a moment and took his wife’s hand in his, pulling her gently so that she stood in front of him. Lucy stared crossly at the buttons on Ed’s waistcoat and would not meet his eyes.

  “What’s the matter, Luce? This isn’t like you,” he said gently.

  “Nothing’s the matter,” she replied untruthfully.

  Ed put his hand under her chin and lifted her face so he could look her in the eye. “I want you to look at me, Lucy.” Lucy avoided Ed’s gaze and shuffled her feet.

  “Come on, darlin’, this really ain’t like you at all. Please tell me what ails you?” he coaxed. Lucy huffed and tried to twist her face out of Ed’s hand.

  Ed was beginning to lose patience with his little wife. He wasn’t sure what to do, but he could almost hear Ethan inciting him in his head to spank Lucy for her behavior. He really didn’t want to do that, not here and not now.

  He tried again, saying, “Listen, darling, I can’t help you if I don’t know what is wrong.”

  Two bright pink spots appeared in Lucy’s cheeks and she stamped her foot, “Why does anything have to be wrong! You were just clumsy and stupid so I got cross, that’s all! If you want to help, then just leave me be, Ed!” She jerked backward and spun away from him.

  Ed stared at his wife and sighed. Perhaps she just needed some rest and time alone; it had been a very trying few days. “Alright, darling, I’ll go for a walk and you can have a nice rest. I think you are just exhausted, that’s all. I’m just going to clear this mess up and then I’ll leave you in peace.”

  Lucy relaxed and nodded. She could rest properly with Ed out of the room for a while.

  Ed picked up all the glass and, placing it into his handkerchief, he left the room. Lucy let the breath she was holding go and flopped onto the bed. She lay there for a few blessed moments and then decided she was so hot she would remove her dress and petticoats before sleeping. She had just laid back down with a grateful sigh when the door opened and Ed walked back in with a new vase and the rearranged yellow roses.

  “Here we are, then, all as good as new. Where do you want them?”

  Lucy ground her teeth in irritation but told him to leave them on the dressing table. Ed did so and hovered hesitantly over his wife.

  “I thought you were going for a walk?” she asked him shortly.

  “You look so delicious and rumpled, I thought you might like me to join you for a little siesta, hmm?” Ed waggled his eyebrows playfully.

  Lucy was horrified and said, “No thank you. I want to sleep, Ed.” Ed looked crestfallen but nodded and bade her ‘good afternoon’ before slipping out and softly closing the door.

  Lucy sighed with relief and snuggled down to sleep. She had just nodded off when the door opened again and Ed came in asking, “Are you asleep yet, Luce?”

  Lucy ignored him and he bent down and began to clean the carpet up with a cloth. He backed into a small bedroom chair and it fell over with a crash.

  “Enough is enough!” screeched Lucy, jumping up and off the bed. She stormed over to where Ed was down on his knees cleaning. He looked up at his wife, somewhat startled by her sudden action. Lucy, unthinkingly and in a foul temper, pulled back her hand and slapped her husband’s face hard. As soon as she had done it, her hands flew to her mouth in horror and she backed away from her husband’s furious face, which now sported a very large red handprint.

  “I agree enough is enough!” said Ed, standing up. “I don’t know what has got into you, Mrs. Campbell, but I intend to spank it right out of you!”

  Lucy ran around the bed in a panic, what had she done! Ed took off his waistcoat and hung it on the now upright chair. He then locked the bedroom door and pocketed the key. He began rolling up his shirt sleeves as he sat down in the larger of the two bedroom chairs, intend
ing to quell his wife’s tantrum immediately. He patted his knee and said, “Come here, Lucy.”

  Lucy shook her head and stayed put. “I’m very sorry that I hit you, Ed, but I am very tired and I need to sleep.”

  Ed’s tightly held jaw and disapproving narrowed eyes did nothing to reassure Lucy. “Too late for that, Luce. I’ve been cutting you slack all day, but no more....you’re getting a spanking and that’s that. Remove your drawers and come here to me right...now!”

  Lucy whimpered and her stomach gave an anxious lurch; she knew that the expression on Ed’s face boded very ill for her. Ed continued to stare at his wife intensely, willing her to do as she was told.

  After an uncomfortable moment of silence and with Lucy’s heart beating rapidly, she undid the lace of her pantalets, allowing them to fall around her feet, while Ed stared at her with that thoroughly implacable look in his eye. He was furious with his wife but also thoroughly aroused by the tempting picture she presented, standing there with her blonde hair falling tangled around her naked shoulders. Her breasts peeked out from her frill edged corset and her thatch of golden hair was fully visible between her shapely legs. Lucy gave a shuddering sigh and began to move around the bed toward her husband. He watched her grimly and patted his lap once again. Lucy slowed and with faltering steps inched her way to Ed.

  He was vexed with her prevarication and reached out a long arm, yanking her forward and across his knees. Lucy, falling, put out her hands to steady herself and recoiled as they landed in the patch of wet carpet, but there was no help for it -- they had to remain there in order for her to stay in place. Then she thought, ‘Why am I trying to stay in place?’ and she tried to tip off the front of Ed’s knees. He felt her lean and quickly wrapped his arm around her waist. He lifted a leg and secured her to him.

  “Why am I spanking you, Lucy?” he asked rubbing an appreciative hand over her peachy bottom. Lucy hated this part but she obediently whispered, “Because I slapped you.”