Corbin's Bend Homecoming

by Ruth Staunton

  Chapter 3

  Nancy rolled down her window as soon as they exited the highway, letting the clean mountain air blow in for the first time. It smelled crisp and fresh, like grass and forest and rain all mixed together. After hours upon hours in the truck over the last few days, she needed to escape the stuffy, cramped and unusually tense atmosphere. She knew why nerves were eating her from the inside out, making her afraid to speak too much lest she blurt out the truth in front of Chloe, but what she didn’t understand was why Sebastian had spent most of the trip silent.

  Chloe certainly hadn’t helped matters. The first few hours she nearly bounced in her seat with excitement, but that quickly wore off when she realized miles and miles of highway passing by was far from entertaining. Luckily Nancy had bought a portable DVD player to keep Chloe occupied, but even that only lasted for so long. Between multiple potty breaks and random bouts of whining, Sebastian looked ready to pull his hair out by the time they entered the town of Corbin’s Bend.

  An overwhelming wave of apprehension flooded Nancy when they started passing by places like the Ginger Paddle. Coupled with a street named Spanking Loop, there was no way Sebastian wouldn’t pick up on the town’s quirks. She regretted not confessing last night when they were sitting on the balcony of their hotel room after Chloe fell asleep. She’d tried to make the words spill out of her mouth, she truly did, but no matter how many times she thought she’d hit upon the best way to approach it, they just wouldn’t come.

  Now, with Chloe wide awake and avidly studying the sights of their new hometown, there was nothing she could say.

  Nancy worried her bottom lip with her teeth and snuck a glance at Sebastian to see if he had picked up on anything. He didn’t seem perturbed by anything they’d passed, but sometimes her husband was difficult to read, keeping a tight lid on his thoughts and emotions.

  “Turn right a quarter of a mile ahead.” The robotic voice of the GPS made Nancy cringe as it directed them to their final destination. She took a deep breath when Sebastian pulled into the driveway of their brand new home. She couldn’t change her mind and turn back now that they were here, that time had long since passed. They’d come too far, and all that was left was to hope for the best.

  No. Everything would work out. It had to.

  As soon as the engine turned off, Chloe jumped out of the truck, eager to explore.

  “What do you think?” Nancy asked, unbuckling her seatbelt to follow Chloe. But first she had to gauge whether Sebastian had noticed anything odd about their new town.

  “It’s nice,” he paused. “Quaint. And the mountains are beautiful.”

  “Good, I’m glad you like it,” Nancy replied, then exited the vehicle before he could say anything else. She wasn’t ready to face the music just yet. She needed to check out the house, make sure the movers put everything where they should have and get Chloe settled. Tomorrow would be soon enough. Tomorrow she’d tell him the truth.

  Sebastian watched Nancy practically run to the front door of their new home, tugging Chloe along with her. He stepped out of the truck and turned to take in the neighborhood. The houses looked similar, but not cookie cutter, and were all well maintained, with flowers and neatly cut lawns in front. He spotted what appeared to be the tops of play sets in a few of the backyards over the tall fences that surrounded each lot, which meant there were other children around for Chloe to play with. That would be a huge improvement for her, in and of itself. He didn’t mind taking her to the park, but he never knew if there would be someone there for Chloe to play with when they arrived. Would there be kids her age, or a bunch of teenagers hanging out at the top of the slide, smoking and doing who knows what else? If there were kids her age, would they be nice children who wanted to play with anyone, or little jerks who’d hoard the swings all to themselves? It would be far better for her to have friends closer to home to get to know over time and, hopefully, connect with.

  His brand new home had sage green siding trimmed in a light tan, with a neatly landscaped row of bushes across the left side and a healthy bed of dark red flowers across the right. He had no idea what kind either were, but they looked nice, and like they’d been planted a while ago. He appreciated the effort someone had put in to maintaining this home, even though it was empty.

  Entering the front door, Sebastian found himself standing in a large foyer, with hooks on the wall to his right to hang coats. The stairs leading upstairs were directly in front of him and the living room off to the left. A door opened off the foyer and he could see a half bath done in neutral tones with brushed nickel fixtures. He walked through the living room, past a dining room and into the kitchen. He liked how all the living spaces were opened to one another, letting you see from the front to the back of the house with no interruptions. It would be great for having friends and family over. Off the kitchen was a door that he assumed led to the garage, a pantry and laundry room. Everything was modern and new, if a little bland, but a far cry from the twenty-year-old appliances he’d been forced to deal with in their old place.

  Though the movers had done a good job of getting their things into the correct rooms, everything had to be unpacked and put away, and the furniture wasn’t exactly where they wanted it placed. Sebastian and Nancy spent the next several hours setting up the kitchen and living room, then making beds and shuffling bedroom furniture around. The walls were all the same bland beige right now, so they’d need to paint later, but at least by dinner time the house looked like someone lived there, even if it wasn’t perfect.

  “Ugh, we should have planned on a trip to the store to get some food before it got this late,” Nancy said, slumping into one of the kitchen chairs. “Maybe we can order a pizza or something?”

  “Sure, let me look through the stuff in the welcome basket they left us to see if there’s any menus or information in there,” Sebastian replied. After a scanning a through a few ads, he chuckled at what he found. “It looks like I’ll be going for a drive back down the mountain a bit.”

  “Why?” Nancy asked, confused.

  “Because that’s where the only pizza place is.” The look on her face was priceless. The city girl obviously hadn’t considered what living in a small town would mean.

  “They don’t have a pizza place?”

  “Nope. Mama Mia’s Gourmet Pizza Parlor is it.” He laughed again at her utter shock at this news. Sebastian guessed that wouldn’t be the last time the reality of their new home would smack Nancy between the eyes. Not being able to run to the mall in ten minutes, or have her choice of takeout food available at her fingertips was going to be a shock to her system. One that he personally believed would be good for her. A slower way of life in a small community was a great way to live, but it also came with its own challenges. “What do you want to order? I’ll call now and leave in a few minutes to get it. That way I can drive around a bit and get a better grasp of the area.”

  Nancy’s face went from shock to something close to panic. “Can’t you drive around tomorrow?” she begged.

  “What’s the matter, Nancy? You’ve never had a problem with me going out before.” Something was off with her and had been the whole drive. At first, he’d assumed that she was just stressed from being cooped up in the truck since he certainly was. But when she didn’t relax, even a little bit, in the evening, Sebastian began to suspect that the close quarters of the past three days wasn’t the reason for her tension.

  “I just don’t want you getting lost when we don’t have anything else to eat in the house. Chloe’s hungry and so am I.” Her words were clear and direct and helped ease a bit of Sebastian’s worry. “I’d feel better if you just put the address for the pizza place in the GPS and went straight there.”

  Even though he obviously wouldn’t get lost with a GPS, he understood her point. Sometimes he had a tendency to go tooling around, seeing where a road went, and ended up much farther away from his destination that he expected or planned. It drove Nancy nuts, even when they had plenty of
time to get wherever they were going. Sebastian liked to explore occasionally, see what was beyond the horizon, while Nancy needed to have a clear route from point A to point B, along with a detailed plan. And she always liked to stick to her plan. Right now her plan seemed to be to eat dinner as soon as possible, so he decided it wasn’t worth the argument. He’d have plenty of time to drive around and check out the town, and, truth be told, he was pretty exhausted and hungry himself.

  “Okay, I’ll just go get the pizza, but first you have to tell me what kind you want.”

  Chapter 4

  The next morning everyone slept in, exhausted and happy to be in their own beds, even if the surroundings weren’t familiar yet. Chloe passed out without protest after eating two slices of pizza and guzzling a glass of milk. Sebastian had run into the gas station next door to the pizza parlor and picked up a six pack of micro-brewed beer for him and Nancy to split, which they did after putting Chloe to bed. Once he returned home, Nancy relaxed a little, especially after downing her first beer. They sat and talked about paint color options for each of the rooms, and what additional furniture they would buy. It was the first time in what seemed like weeks that they’d sat down and had a full conversation, and Sebastian was hopeful that Nancy’s bout of nerves was just related to the move and not a sign of something more.

  Unfortunately, that optimism fell to the ground at around eleven the next day when two men walked up his driveway while he was rearranging the boxes they’d yet to move into the house into some semblance of order. He spotted their approach out of the corner of his eye while trying not to drop a box full of Nancy’s medical books as he moved it the top of the pile to be unpacked next.

  They didn’t look threatening. In fact, they appeared downright welcoming, even if they strode up the drive and straight into his garage like they owned it. Maybe they were neighbors who wanted to welcome them to the neighborhood? They’d be disappointed if that was the case since he was the only one home. Nancy had taken Chloe to pick up groceries an hour ago, but Sebastian expected it would still be awhile longer since they had to go to Denver to the big supermarket to get everything they needed to set up a kitchen again.

  “Sebastian, glad to see you made it into town without any problems. I’m Brent Carmichael, and this is Jonathon Travers.”

  Sebastian tried to cover his surprise that these two strangers knew his name, reminding himself that it had been a long time since he lived in a small town. “I’m Sebastian Zeal, but it seems you already know that.”

  “I hope you’re feeling better this week,” Jonathon said. “It would have been awful driving cross-country with the flu.”

  What in the world was this man talking about? Sebastian hadn’t been sick in months, and he certainly didn’t have the flu any time recently.

  A sick sensation began to build in Sebastian’s gut at the strange comment, one that hadn’t been there last week, but he answered honestly without betraying his suspicion. “I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

  “I can imagine that you’re probably very busy unpacking and sorting through the house, but we really need to finish your interview. What time can you meet us at the Application office in the Community Center?” By the casual way Brent asked, Sebastian guessed that he should be fully aware of, and expecting, this interview, but he didn’t have a clue what Brent was talking about. But he’d place bets on who would know exactly what was going on. There was only one person who could have known and who obviously failed to tell him. The person who’d coordinated their whole move to this town, sight unseen. Who’d done all the research and filled out all the forms, his lovely wife, Nancy.

  Now he was left standing here looking like an ass because he didn’t have a clue what these two men wanted to interview him for. A job? Approval from the co-op board? Though he thought he’d signed all the forms for that. They wouldn’t have sold them the house if they weren’t approved, right?

  Not seeing any way around it, Sebastian was forced to try to hunt for more information. “Is this just a formality for the co-op?”

  Brent and Jonathon shared a look, a concerned look that said he’d guessed wrong. Sebastian ran through every discussion he’d had with Nancy over the past two or three weeks, trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

  “Didn’t your wife tell you we needed to complete the interview process with you, in person? We made an exception because you were ill, but it’s a required part of the process.”

  Sebastian faced Brent and finally just asked the burning question. “But what am I interviewing for?”

  Brent and Jonathon shared another worried glance, this one tinged with obvious frustration. A frustration that Sebastian shared with them.

  “Do you know what Corbin’s Bend is about?” Brent demanded, losing a bit of his friendly demeanor.

  Sebastian’s mind raced as he put the clues together. The odd street names and shops they passed driving in, Nancy’s silence on the way here and nervousness about him driving around town last night. It all led him to one conclusion.

  “Spanking and discipline,” he guessed, though he tried very hard not to make it come out like a question.

  “We were very clear with Nancy that you had to be interviewed the day after arrival.” Brent seemed to be growing angry, and that was the last thing Sebastian wanted.

  “I have no problem completing the interview, don’t worry about that,” Sebastian assured him. “In fact, I have quite a few questions for you. Can you give me a half hour to get cleaned up?”

  Jonathon jumped in since Brent looked like he was furiously trying to solve the puzzle in front of him. “Not a problem. Can you meet us at the Community Center? It’s just off Spanking Loop. The big, three story tall dome, you can’t miss it.”

  The men turned and swiftly walked away in the direction Jonathon had instructed Sebastian to follow. As soon as they disappeared from view, he restacked the boxes he’d been sorting and closed the garage door, his mind going a mile a minute.

  After a quick shower where he tried unsuccessfully to devise a plan to deal with this completely ridiculous, impossibly awkward situation Nancy had dumped him in, Sebastian headed out, still contemplating his next move. Nancy went to a great deal of effort, and deception, to get him to Corbin’s Bend, even knowing his feelings on spanking. Sure, it was fun in the bedroom once in a while, but she wanted more, and was clearly willing to go to extreme lengths to try to get him on board.

  The easiest way to solve the problem would be to walk into this interview and tell Brent and Jonathon the truth. That Nancy spent the last few weeks lying through her teeth while she plotted and planned to uproot their family clear across the country without Sebastian knowing what kind of place she was moving them to. After spilling his guts, he would go home, call the moving company and tell them to come the next day, re-pack all their belongings and go back to Rochester. Nancy could probably get her old job back without much fuss, and everything would go back to the way it was before. They’d find another apartment somewhere in the city, close to her work, and Sebastian would stay home with Chloe and never see his wife.

  Even though he didn’t know if he wanted to live in Corbin’s Bend, going back to the way things were wasn’t an appealing option either.

  The walk through town didn’t help ease his turmoil since it just made Sebastian like the place even more. From the quiet, clean streets and neat houses, to the people who waved from their front porches or storefronts as he walked by. Living in the city the past few years had really sucked something out of his soul that you only experienced in a small community, but was this the community where he wanted live and raise Chloe? One where, apparently, spanking was the norm?

  For some reason that prospect wasn’t quite as off putting as it would have been even just a month ago. Maybe it was because he was here and it seemed so peaceful, and normal? Or possibly because he’d become increasingly more frustrated with Nancy’s habit of making decisions without consulting him, even a little?
The answers to those questions would have to wait in the face of a more pressing decision. How to approach Brent and Jonathon? Surprisingly he found that decision turned out to be an easy one.

  With complete honesty. Nancy had lied enough for the both of them, Sebastian needed to man up and confess.

  He entered the large building, and stopped in the entry to read the signs for all that it held and figure out how to get to the Application Office. Fortunately, a familiar face approached him within seconds.

  “Sebastian,” Jonathon said, reaching out to shake his hand again. “Thank you for coming so quickly, the Application Office is this way.”

  Sebastian followed Jonathon down the hall, hoping that he’d be able to come back and check out the man cave he’d seen a sign for, and bring Chloe to the pool. This place did seem to have every amenity he could think of, you just had to agree to spank your wife to live here!

  “Gentlemen,” Sebastian started after they were settled into chairs, “before you say anything, I have to admit that I had no idea what Corbin’s Bend was all about. My wife failed to include that bit of information when we discussed moving here.”

  Both men were shocked silent for a second, their faces revealing a range of emotions, from surprise to disbelief to confusion. Sebastian waited silently for them to return to some semblance of normal. A very visibly upset version of normal.

  “But you signed the application,” Jonathon said, bewilderedly retrieving a stack of papers from the desk and handing the packet off the top to Sebastian. “Right there, on the last page.”

  Sebastian flipped through, and found that he had, in fact, signed the last page. “My wife handed me a stack of signature pages that she said were related to the purchase of the cooperative shares. I never saw the application form that went along with them.” But he definitely saw it now, and what sat in his hand, completely filled out in his wife’s handwriting, was most assuredly an application to become part of a community where spanking was widely practiced out in the open.