Learning to Live Again (Corbin's Bend, Season Two Book 9)

by Ruth Staunton

  “I agree,” Grant said, coming in behind Kathleen. He had changed out of his uniform, but rather than the T-shirt and jeans he normally wore at home, he was wearing a dark green button down shirt and chinos. “I’m glad to see that you’ve taken this to heart,” he told her. “I was afraid you wouldn’t.”

  “I didn’t at first,” she admitted, “but I talked to some people this week, and they helped me understand that it wasn’t bad, like abuse. It’s something some people choose, and it’s okay, just different.”

  “Sounds like you’ve done a lot of thinking,” Lainie said. Privately, she breathed a sigh of relief, and thanked whoever was listening for the kindness and understanding of her neighbors. For the first time, she began to hope this might actually turn out all right.

  “I have,” Kathleen agreed. “I’m really sorry about how I’ve been acting all summer. I just wanted to go back home. I’m sorry I’ve been such a brat.” Grant put his arms around Kathleen from behind and hugged her, pressing a kiss into her hair.

  “I’m very proud of you,” Lainie said. “I know this meeting isn’t going to be easy, and having to apologize may be hard, but I can already tell you’ve done the thinking and the learning you needed to do so I know you’ll be great.”

  “Your mom’s right,” Grant said. “This is going to be just fine.” He moved over and took Lainie’s hand then reached out and put his other arm around Kathleen. “Now,” he continued, “let’s go get this meeting over with so we can put this whole unpleasant business behind us.”

  In deference to Kathleen’s age and the unusual circumstances surrounding tonight’s decision, the meeting was being held in one of the conference rooms in the dome rather than in the discipline room. When they arrived, the members of the discipline board were all seated along one side of a long conference table. A number of their neighbors were seated in chairs along the walls. Lainie saw Char as well as Julie and Matt, Jonathan and Benjamin, and Venia. Some of them, like Char and Jonathan, had come to report on Kathleen’s progress with her community service. Others had no direct connection with the situation but had simply come to support them. That touched Lainie more than she could say.

  Finally, Charles Robinson, who was president of the discipline board, called them all to order. Instantly the room went quiet, and the tension seemed to increase tenfold. Lainie reached over and took Grant’s hand. Charles said a few words reminding them why they were there. As if anyone could forget, Lainie thought irritably. Then, he asked Kathleen if she had anything to say before the meeting proceeded. He was smiling kindly at her, and Lainie could tell he was trying to make it easier on her, but Kathleen still looked terrified.

  Kathleen swallowed hard, wiped her palms on the sides of her pants, slid a paper out of the folder she had been carrying with her and got to her feet. “Yes, sir,” Kathleen answered quietly and then began to read.

  Her voice shook the entire time. It wasn’t the most eloquent speech Lainie had ever heard. It was chock full of teenage slang and occasionally awkward, but in spite of all that, what it was most of all was absolutely and utterly sincere. That rang true throughout it all. Lainie had rarely been prouder of her daughter in her life.

  When Kathleen finished, Charles thanked her for her apology and asked her to wait outside while they discussed how to proceed. Kathleen shot one uncertain look around the room but got up and stepped outside the door without hesitation or complaint. When the door closed behind Kathleen, Charles asked for reports on the progress of her community service. Both Jonathan and Char reported that she had done well. They had both also had conversations about consensual spanking relationships with her and thought Kathleen seemed to be really trying to understand. Finally, Char said bluntly, “Yes, she screwed up, but she just stood here and took responsibility for it and sincerely apologized. She’s young and trying to wrap her head around a relationship most of the mainstream population doesn’t understand. She’s trying, and I don’t think we can ask any more of her.”

  “I’m inclined to agree,” Brent replied, and there was a murmur of agreement from around the table. There was a bit more discussion, but in the end, they decided that once Kathleen had fulfilled her community service they would consider the incident closed with no need for further intervention.

  Lainie felt like standing up and cheering. It was only Grant’s restraining hand on her arm that kept her in her seat. Brent went to the door and called Kathleen back inside. When they told her the decision, she broke into a huge grin. “Thank you!” she said to the table at large. Lainie could tell she was barely restraining herself. When Charles finally dismissed the meeting, Kathleen jumped up and ran around the table to where Lainie and Grant were. Throwing her arms around them, she squealed happily and hugged them tight. Lainie was shocked. Kathleen typically considered herself far more mature and dignified than such public displays of affection with her parents. Still, Lainie hugged her back with equal enthusiasm. The sense of relief was palpable.

  Grant wrapped one arm around each of their shoulders. “Come on,” he told them enthusiastically, “let’s go home.”

  EPILOGUE

  “Look at you,” Grant said, stepping into the living room.

  “Oh good, you’re home,” Lainie exclaimed. “Your costume is in the bedroom.” To her credit, she didn’t add hurry up, but it was clear enough in her tone. Instead of going into their bedroom, Grant walked up behind Lainie, who was bent over an end table pouring candy into a bowl stenciled with pumpkins and spiders.

  “Calm down,” he told her, trailing a hand over her back and patting her backside meaningfully. “It’s going to be fine.” Dropping lower, he gently squeezed the lower part of one bottom cheek. Lainie drew in a sharp breath. Just as he had suspected, she was still feeling the lingering effects of yesterday’s discussion as to why she had no reason to stress out over Halloween. It didn’t have to be perfect. They were going to have fun, and that was all that really mattered. “Do we need to go over why it doesn’t need to be perfect again?” he asked.

  “No, no, I’ve got that down pat,” Lainie assured him. “Really I do. I just got caught up for a minute.”

  For all her assurances, she was practically vibrating with energy. Grant was willing to bet that she had been racing around since the moment she came in the door from school this afternoon. Their house was immaculate, even the Halloween decorations out front looked like they had been straightened and perfected within an inch of their lives. Not to mention that Lainie was already in her costume nearly an hour before she needed to be. “Why don’t you go find a corner in the office and work on calming down?”

  Lainie whirled to face him, outrage written all over her face. “Why am I in trouble? I haven’t done anything wrong. Besides, I have too much to do.”

  “What is there left to do?” Grant asked. Lainie looked around them. He could practically see her grappling for an answer. As far as he could tell, there wasn’t a thing left that had to be done, and he could rapidly see her coming to the same conclusion.

  “Not much really,” she admitted with clear reluctance, “but what if one of the girls needs help getting into their costumes?”

  Kathleen and Natalie were upstairs getting ready to go to Denver and visit a haunted house with some of their friends. Though they had officially declared themselves too old for trick-or-treating, the group had decided to go to the haunted house in costume. That, in turn, had led to Lainie’s insistence that they should dress up themselves to pass out candy.

  “Then you tell them you’ll be with them in a minute,” Grant replied. “They know not to bother us in the office. Enough stalling, go.” He punctuated this final instruction with a light swat. Lainie jumped like a race horse stung by a bee and fled to the office. He followed, letting her get settled into position in the corner before coming up behind her and tucking the end of her short gingham skirt into the waistband to expose her still slightly pink behind encased in white cotton panties.

  “Grant!” she s
quawked, “you’ll wrinkle the skirt.”

  “Quiet,” he scolded. “No talking in the corner. You know better. I’ll come get you when you’re done.” He backed away and watched her for a few minutes. When her shoulders relaxed, he knew she had settled enough to obey regardless of whether or not he was watching. He left her there and went across the hall to their room to change into his own costume. When he returned, still damp from a shower, wearing his costume and boots, carrying the furry headpiece under his arm, Lainie was standing quietly where he had left her. He untucked her skirt then turned her to face him, tilting her chin up to kiss her. “Better?” he asked.

  “Much,” she replied, leaning into him for a brief moment.

  “Come do the face stuff?” he said, gesturing helplessly with the makeup kit he held in his hand.

  “Of course,” Lainie replied. “Let’s go in the bedroom where we can have a mirror.” Giggling, she grinned up at him and clicked her heels together.

  “Hoping the magic shoes will teleport you out of here,” he teased, tugging on one of her braids. She had wanted to die her hair brown to be a more authentic Dorothy, but thankfully one of her friends had convinced her that a blonde Dorothy was just fine.

  “Why would I do that?” she asked. “After all, there’s no place like home, and I’m already home.”

  Grant couldn’t help but smile. Getting here had been a rocky road, but just like the cowardly lion, he had finally found the courage to lead his family, and his family had finally found home.

  The End

  Ebook Offer

  WOULD YOU LIKE A FREE SPANKING STORY EVERY MONTH?

  At http://www.blushingbooks.com, we provide our visitors with a free eBook every single month! That's right, every month we choose an eBook to give to our customers at no charge, both to show our gratitude for your business and to provide a sample of the content we offer.

  Can you read this free eBook on your Kindle? Yes! Once you’re logged onto our site, it’s easy to send a book right to your Kindle.

  Can you read it on your iPad? Yes! Your Kobo? Yes! Your Nook? YES!

  We provide all of our books on BlushingBooks.com in several formats so that you can read our stories on virtually any reader! Membership at BlushingBooks.com is free, so sign up today and get your free story right now!

  DO YOU NEED A TRIP TO THE WOODSHED?

  Since 1999, Bethany's Woodshed has been publishing the best romantic and erotic BDSM and spanking fiction on the Internet. Before there were eBooks, there was Bethany's! More than a decade later, The Woodshed is Blushing Books exclusive preview site, and it is still going strong delivering the best, original stories - now with two updates a week. We guarantee at least 40,000 words of brand new, professionally written stories each week by all your favorite authors, plus at least 20 completed books when you join. Carolyn Faulkner, Maren Smith, Starla Kaye, Paige Tyler, Joannie Kay, Abigail Webster, Sullivan Clarke, Fiona Wilde, Breanna Hayse, Korey Mae Johnson, Melinda Barron, Courage Knight, Loki Renard ... they're all here, plus many more.

  Embrace the spank!

  See the stories first at The Woodshed!

  http://www.herwoodshed.com

  Blushing Books Newsletter

  Please join the Blushing Books newsletter

  to receive updates & special promotional offers:

  http://goo.gl/GYTwKZ

  Blushing Books

  is one of the oldest eBook publishers on the web. We've been running websites that publish spanking and BDSM related romance and erotica since 1999, and we have been selling eBooks since 2003. We hope you'll check out our hundreds of offerings at http://www.blushingbooks.com.

  You might also enjoy our membership site at http://www.herwoodshed.com, where we offer an exclusive first look at new novels and novellas by some of our most popular authors before they are released anywhere else.