Just as their women did, the men in the O’Connor family went searching each other out when they had a problem they couldn’t tease apart. Quinn jumped in his truck and went to look for one of his brothers, hoping to find both of them in close proximity. He ran into Liam first, in one of the supply buildings getting ready for a guide trip with Jon as the head guide.
“Hey, Liam, got a minute?”
Liam looked up and nodded. “Yeah, man, what’s on your mind?” Quinlan ran his hand through his hair and stood quietly for a moment. “By the look on your face, you have a wife problem.”
Quinn reached down and started straightening climbing ropes, separating them from the tangled mess they were left in as he tried to formulate the words he wanted to use. Liam waited him out.
“I’m not sure how to put this into words.”
“Yeah, Jocelyn reminds me often that men are not always the most communicative creatures.”
Quinn set the straightened rope aside and looked up, his hand inched towards his hair again before he began to speak.
“Something is going on with Cheyenne, and I can’t figure it out. I try to be very observant and to pay attention to her tells, but I just can’t figure her out this time.”
“Well, I’d say that women tend to be that way with us, but I know that’s not the case between you and Cheyenne. I’ve watched the two of you, and you seem to be able to read each other with a word, a gesture. It’s amazing. That being said, just what exactly are you having trouble with?”
“Well, you know she’s still working on the Spencer account that at first I was pushing hard for her to end but now, so long as I am in the loop, I can let her stay on it. She says she’s near the end of the upfront work, and she’s promising to tell me if she finds something else fishy. She has stayed home to work, but…” He shrugged as he reached for another rope, “There’s something there that I’m not fully aware of, and she doesn’t want me to know about.”
“Like what? Cheyenne is excellent at what she does. We haven’t had any other incidents making the break-in questionably related to the account. The brake line, we know something happened but no new clues, right?”
“Right. There just isn’t any way to say who could have done it with the number of employees around on an average day. Of course, no one saw anything. Or nothing they’re telling.”
“Then what else could it be?”
“I don’t really know. I’m positive it has something to do with Spencer’s accounts. But that’s not the whole of it. She’s having trouble sleeping because her mind won’t turn off. She can’t watch a movie without getting distracted or start a conversation without forgetting to finish it. Hell, she began dinner yesterday and forgot she’d started it. If I hadn’t stepped into the kitchen to see what smelled so good, it would’ve burnt the house down because she was miles away. I finished, and she never clued into the fact that she had left it on. She thanked me for cooking. I know something is up, and she doesn’t want to tell me.”
“What makes you think she doesn’t want you to know? Cheyenne is usually upfront. Have you point blank asked her what’s wrong?”
“Think I’m new at this? Of course, I asked her up front what was going on. She looked away from me and said there wasn’t anything. I pointed out her strange moods her irritability, her lack of concentration. The fact that she’s gone for long hours and she spends even more extended hours in the office was an issue with me. She told me I had imagined things.”
“Well, are you imagining things?”
“I started to think so until last night and then today.”
“Today? You mean this morning? What happened?”
“Today I sat her down. I logically and systematically went through all the things that weren’t right. I offered suggestions as to things that might be causing a problem. I identified what I saw that made me think that she wasn’t dealing with something very well and that she hadn’t disclosed it to me yet. She blew me off.”
“That, of course, got you irritated, and you probably did what you shouldn’t have done.”
“Liam, I’m not like you. I don’t just discipline for safety and health. We have a different relationship than you and Jocelyn. I know you’re adamant about no such thing as punishment. As a reminder, you don’t punish, but I do. Keeping things from me is not okay, and Cheyenne knows it. I don’t do anything when I’m angry or when I’m overemotional. I tend to stay pretty cool and calm. Bottom line though is if I need to know something and she doesn’t tell me or she’s keeping something from me, and we both know it,” Quinn shrugged, adding, “there are consequences.”
“I’m assuming Cheyenne’s okay with those types of consequences, in those situations.”
“Yep. Anything we do is consensual. If I’m paddling her ass for something she shouldn’t have done and she knows she shouldn’t have done it, she’s not happy at that moment, but she’ll always tell you that she chose this type of relationship.”
“Maybe she’s just over stressed,” offered Liam as he checked the packs.
“The thing is, Cheyenne needs it sometimes when she’s all balled up inside tight. Burning her butt is usually the thing that breaks the dam. Getting a little rosy bottom gives that release that she’s looking for and then followed by other activities. And yes, even after punishment. See, I don’t have that restriction. I punish for disobedience, but I reward for accepting that punishment.” Quinn grinned with the disclosure. “But we are always careful to walk a line of respect in all things.” It was as though Cheyenne had shut herself up into a cemented room with no exit. Then he ended his tale by telling Liam that she slammed out of the door the minute she could.
“She simply climbed into her car and, drove away.” Quinn was flummoxed.
“Are you sure you didn’t miss something? You didn’t miss a cue that she was giving you or something? I mean, you guys know each other so well. I can’t imagine that you wouldn’t have seen something or noticed that something was missing, but she’s a woman, and you might have.”
“That’s what I’m saying there wasn’t anything that I could put my finger on. However, there is something, and normally I would’ve been able to get it out of her by the time we got to the spanking. Except, that didn’t happen this time. She walled up and didn’t allow it to penetrate her. She was spitting mad by the time I was interrupted.”
“Maybe you didn’t carry it out long enough, you know, when you were interrupted you should have stayed with it as well. Sometimes Jocelyn needs more than I think she does at first, but then she hits her breaking point, and I’m glad I stayed the course.”
“Really, I did what I thought I could do. Truly, even if I hadn’t been interrupted, if I had spanked her any longer, it would’ve bordered on bruising. That is something I won’t ever do. Punishment for whatever the offense is just not the way to go here. Maybe I should have jumped in the truck and followed her, but I thought I needed to give her some space, give her some breathing room to maybe sort some of this out herself. The last time we were at an impasse like this was over a year ago, and I remedied the problem with a spanking and a proposal.”
Ciarán walked into the room just on the heels of Quinn’s last statement.
“Well, if we’re talking Cheyenne and this is the way that she’s working things out, you might have a problem. She has ripped up a part of that road with her car, soft rock blaring, not five minutes ago.”
“What are you talking about? I watched her drive off the ranch.”
“You might have, but she must have come back because she just turned a perfect brody right there in the grass. Kicked up a bunch of rocks on the side of the driveway and sped back out. I came looking for you because I wasn’t sure she was in her right mind to be driving down the road. I guess it’s rhetorical to ask if she had an argument this morning. Did you step in it or did she?”
“Quinn was just telling me that he knows something is going on. He just can’t figure out what it is, and Cheyenne isn
’t giving him any assistance in figuring it out.”
“Well, I know you’re more into the domestic discipline then we are at our house, but I have to tell you something is going on. I’m not sure that I wouldn’t get onto Kathrine for that driving behavior as being dangerous. Quinn, want me to put in a call to Parker and see if he can pull her over and bring her down a little bit?” Ciarán stood holding his phone at the ready.
“Would you mind? I think I’ll go driving behind her and make sure that she doesn’t have any problems. But if Parker can pull her over, he might be able to bring her down some and then I won’t be the bad guy.”
“Sure thing.” Ciarán shook his head. “Hopefully he’ll be able to grab her.”
“Yeah, and I better get out on the road to follow her in case. She’s probably all the way into the next county by now, but I’ll do what I can.”
By the next week, Quinn and Cheyenne had spent very little time together between ranching, his shift, and Cheyenne’s end of month work. It was now time to wrap up the data she had collected. Cheyenne had just pulled the last monthly records that she needed to prove her case to Martin. All of the payments due this week had processed, and she was on her way home to do the final analyzing when she stopped to invite Kelli over.
As luck would have it, Quinn would go to work tonight. He was finishing his last shift, and so far, Cheyenne didn’t use Kelli for diversion. They needed to plan in case that changed. Parker was out at his place working the stock tonight, and even though the U.N. level sanctions had lifted at the ranch, Quinn didn’t like her out at night. She hadn’t been too keen on it either. It was now or never and never wasn’t an option.
Cheyenne didn’t appreciate Parker pulling her over the other day when she was trying to get to Spencer’s place. She had thought not to work at Spencer’s ranch and just stay at, her own house to work but after the break-in at home, it didn’t really seem to matter. Parker, chewed her out then offered to help her with whatever her problem was. If she could have told him, she would have.
She was raw from hurting Quinlan that morning by ignoring his invitation to talk once again. Looking back on it, she knew she would need to tell him in the next day or so. A small smile played about her mouth, as she knew what would happen. They would have a punishment session for sure but then, another for sure was a play session. She had no doubt that after both of those and then most likely maintenance again, but life would be normal, and she would sleep. She yearned for an appetite, sleep, and most of all, the freedom to talk to her husband uninhibited again.
Cheyenne was thinking, one or two more nights of this awkwardness and stiffness. This last week, Quinn didn’t do much but watch her as though he would see the clue he was missing and it would all make sense. He discussed the club and the build. He asked if she wanted to go and she’d declined. She missed her husband. Kelli said she’d come out after work and Cheyenne went on to spend a little time with Quinn before his shift. He left for work and Cheyenne was finishing the dinner dishes when the phone rang.
Chapter Nine
Quinn ran his hand through his hair and swore quietly. This was just not supposed to happen in a small town. Not with his family. As the ambulance drove to the hospital, he slowly walked around the little car that had been Kelli’s before the accident. Totaled. There was no way that this cute but crunched car was anything but totaled, and he found himself once again thanking God for the protection of Kelli and her fast reflexes. Still, something didn’t sit right. Two accidents in less than two months were just odd, too odd.
He reviewed the information they had so far. He knew that something wasn’t right with Cheyenne’s accident but with no real leads or evidence to follow up on, their hands were tied. What about Kelli’s accident, could there be a connection? Running his hand through his hair, he settled his hat back on his head and decided to encourage a little more investigative work because while it wasn’t her first accident, it was the first one that wasn’t a simple fender bender.
Kelli was a bit out of it, but once the EMT said that she was looking good, just bruised and her leg looked broken, Quinn relaxed. He made the calls he needed to, speaking to Parker and then to Ciarán as Liam, and his son Jon were out of range. He let the men break the news to the women, asking Ciarán to call Cheyenne. Quinlan knew nothing was going to keep his wife away, but the longer, the better because they would not get more updates for a bit. He had done this enough times in his line of work to know the drill.
Calls made, he quickly set about pulling all the information together for his report and protecting any evidence. What exactly had happened seemed odd, to say the least. Kelli had told him she was just leaving her apartment and had gotten onto the main road when she was blinded by light. But how could that be? The sun was setting, and she was driving southeast, that took her out of the line of sight of the setting sun. Something was definitely not right here. Finishing up, he left the final details to those whose job it was to clean up and record the evidence behind him. He drove into town to check on his sister, meet his family and hold Cheyenne.
Pulling into the parking lot, he could see some of the family had beaten him there, and when he walked into the waiting room, he quickly surveyed the gathering for Cheyenne. He didn’t see her at first and grumbled when his phone rang. Looking at the ID, he saw Da’s number and answered it as he continued to walk and scan the room. As he reassured his father, he spied Cheyenne pacing down one of the halls leading out of the waiting room.
He could tell from here that she was over anxious. He needed to bring her down some, reassure her, so he passed his father off to Ciarán who was sitting with Katherine in his lap and strode towards Cheyenne. In his deep dom voice that he knew comforted her, he called to Cheyenne and watched as she stopped dead still before turning to assess his mood. He deserved that because his mood had not been predictable lately, just as hers had not the last few weeks.
They stared for a few seconds only. Something was wrong. Quinn could see it in her inability to keep her eyes on him. She looked down almost immediately. She was in full submissive mode that in some arenas would have been perfect, but in this situation, not good.
He walked over and placed his index finger under her chin to raise her eyes, but she resisted. Concern increasing, he immediately put his thumb and index finger in the cage position and tugged her chin upward. She still had her eyes downcast, and she was crying. He ran his left hand behind her neck, sliding upward so he could tangle his hand in her hair tugging downward.
“Eyes to me, beag amhain. Anois.” She tried to disentangle herself and turn away, but he would not allow it. His hand held steady and the pressure increased slightly. He gentled his tone but kept the authoritative quality.
Cheyenne sniffled and tried to swallow a sob.
“Tell me. Is it because you are worried about Kelli? She’ll be fine, baby.”
Cheyenne stepped into his arms, and Quinn folded her into himself tightly.
“Quinn, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have had her come to the house tonight. I have her in all sorts of trouble.”
“Honey, it happens. It was an accident. She’ll be just fine. Look, the doctor is coming out, let’s go listen. Then you can tell me about the trouble you have gotten her and you into,” he comforted. “I won’t accept anything but the full truth.” Quinn knew there was a lot to piece together here, but Kelli was first.
Taking his wife’s hand, he had to tug a little as they strode into the main waiting room and he took his phone back from Ciarán. Nodding acknowledgment of Liam on the other side of the group, he waited on the doctor’s words. Parker was already walking back to the area experience told Quinn Kelli was in.
As the doctor began to talk, Chase walked in to join the group. Parker must have called him, thought Quinn. Something must be up because Chase was a busy man. Kelli worked for him and would someday soon be his sister, too. He was likely there because he felt Kelli was his family, already. He liked the reassurance that Chas
e’s concern gave him. Quinlan pulled Cheyenne into his embrace while they listened to the extent of Kelli’s injuries.
“Kelli is fine. She has no internal bleeding and no concussion, but she will be very sore and bruised. She also has a laceration on her arm from the broken glass that is being sutured now but other than a dislocated shoulder, which is in place now, and a fracture to her tibia she’s doing well. Rather remarkably, she wasn’t more hurt because the impact had to be solid to break her tibia. I had expected more injuries. Thankfully, there weren’t any, and her fracture will heal. That is if we can keep her off of it.” Doc knew her all right.
Liam, always the eldest in family protection mode, asked, “Do we get to take her home?” Quinn could see that Liam was already calculating where they should take her and Quinn had the solution.
“I think so. She needs someone with her for a couple of days. I’ll want to see her in two weeks, sooner if she has problems.”
Quinn asked the question he needed to ask, still being on duty.
“I have my officer here. Can he take her statement while it is still fresh?”
“Sure. I’m just going to keep her a while longer, getting her casted and make sure I haven’t missed anything. Give me about fifteen minutes and you can send him into bay eight. He will be a good distraction while we cast.” Dr. Mason headed back when there were no other questions posed.
Something wasn’t right, and he needed to talk to Parker, Chase, and the others. Then they needed to move Kelli to the ranch. His house made the best choice as they had no children yet for Cheyenne to tend and so it was quieter as well. Too quiet sometimes, but Quinn pushed that thought off as he focused on the issues at hand.
Cheyenne eagerly accepted his suggestion about Kelli staying at the house. “You know that means Parker too?”
Too eager? Nah, she was just concerned, and she felt it was her fault somehow, so guilt was another part of this. His woman had plenty to explain when things settled down. The rest of the family quickly agreed it was the best choice, and the men sighed collectively.
Her Balancing Act: Quinlan O'Connor Book 3 Page 16