Mail Order Surprise

by Malone, Misty

  He turned and left.

  Georgia heard the footsteps going through the kitchen, and then the back door shut. She stayed in the bedroom for another ten minutes, not sure what to do. She finally ventured out into the kitchen, peeking around the corner to be sure he wasn't there waiting for her. When she saw the kitchen empty, she went in. The breakfast she'd fixed for him was still there. He hadn't touched it. Good. It served him right to go without breakfast. She hoped he was hungry.

  She looked around the kitchen, not at all sure what she should do. Maybe it was a mistake to come out here. She thought she had started having feelings for Austin, but she certainly didn't feel that way now. Any feelings she had for him were gone. The spanking had hurt, but she knew that hurt would leave rather quickly. The pain of her husband not believing her and spanking her for something she hadn't done, however, was not likely to leave nearly as quickly.

  It didn't take her long to decide she couldn't live with a husband who didn't believe her and spanked her for things she didn't do. She was a good person and would not allow that to happen. They hadn't consummated their marriage yet, so she knew she could get an annulment. She didn't want to ask her father for money to come home, though, either. They would insist her plan for a husband hadn't worked, and would insist she marry one of their choices. She decided she'd go back into Laramie and try to find employment. She had been teaching in Boston. Maybe she could find a teaching position, or find someone looking for a private tutor for their children.

  Her mind made up, she changed into her split skirt and blouse, then packed her clothes back into her two valises and set them by the door. She made her way out to the barn, carefully watching for any sign of her husband. Luck was with her, and he and the men were apparently out working in a field. No one was in the barn, so she quickly looked over his horses. She was impressed at the stock, and quickly picked one and saddled it. She rode to the house, quickly grabbed her valises and tied them to her saddle, and got her gun out and some ammunition, just in case.

  Austin hadn't asked about what she'd brought with her, and she hadn't told him about her gun. She planned to eventually, but the time hadn't seemed right yet. She was glad she'd brought it with her now, as she knew it wasn't real safe for a lady to be out riding alone, especially when she wasn't sure she knew how to get back to Laramie.

  She started off in the direction they'd come from when he brought her to the ranch, and hoped she could find her way back. For safety reasons, she tried to follow along the tree lines when possible, and paid close attention to her surroundings. Not only was she watching for landmarks she remembered passing on the way to the ranch, but she didn't know what, or who she may encounter along the way. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Laramie come into view. She put her gun and ammunition away as she neared the city.

  She rode into town, and stopped at the mayor's office. When she asked if there were any openings for a teacher, his eyebrows raised. "I don't believe we've been introduced. I'm Clyde Conard, the mayor of Laramie. I don't believe I've seen you in town before. Did you and your family move here recently?"

  "My name's Georgia, and I didn't move here with my family. It was just me," she answered. She saw the frown on his face, and went on. "I can assure you I am qualified. I was teaching in Boston before I moved here."

  He squinted his eyes as he looked at her. "You moved out here all on your own?"

  "Just me."

  "Now, why would a young girl move all the way out here by herself? Are you running from something?"

  "Absolutely not, sir, and I'm not a young girl. Like I said, I was teaching in Boston."

  Clyde slowly and casually moved between her and the door as he studied her a bit closer. "You don't look old enough to have been teaching, and no decent young lady travels across the country by herself. I think maybe we should go talk to Sheriff Montgomery."

  He reached out to take hold of her arm, but she quickly dodged him. "Why would we need to talk to the sheriff?"

  "Just as I thought," Clyde said. "If you weren't hiding from someone or something you wouldn't be afraid to go see the sheriff. I'm going to take you over there and let him figure out who or what it is you're running from."

  Georgia was stunned, but she was also out of room, having been backing up the entire time he was talking. He reached out again and grabbed her arm before she had a chance to find a way past him. "Get your hands off me," she said. She tried again to jerk her arm free, but his grasp was too strong. He pulled her along behind him as they went out his door and into the next building over.

  The large man behind the desk stood immediately. "What's going on, Clyde? Who have you got there?"

  "Don't know, Grant. That's why I brought her over here. She came looking for a job as a teacher, but her story don't make sense. She says she was a teacher in Boston, but she don't look old enough to be teaching. She also says she moved out here by herself. Now, why would a young girl be moving across county by herself? I figure she's running from someone or something, so I brought her to you. I figured maybe you could figure it out."

  The large man nodded his head. "Okay, Clyde, I'll handle it from here. Thank you." He waited until Clyde left to address the young lady, who did not look happy. "Have a seat," he suggested, "and let's talk."

  "I don't see that we have much to talk about," Georgia said. "I came here to ask about a teaching job. Your mayor, if that's really who he is, had no business handling me like that."

  "That may be true," Grant admitted. "Clyde has been known to jump to conclusions in the past. Let's see if we can't sort it out. What's your name, and how old are you?"

  She harrumphed, looking appalled. "This is outrageous, but I can assure you I am plenty old enough to be here. I am twenty-two years old, and have been teaching in Boston for the last year."

  "I'm still waiting for your name, ma'am, and why did you move out here all by yourself?"

  She held her head high as she explained her actions. "My name is Georgia Langley, or at least it used to be. If you must know, I came out here to be married. I've recently found out, however, that my new husband is a bully. I will not allow him to harm me again, so I left. I was hoping there would be an opening for a teacher, but Mr. Conard was just awful. Maybe you can help me. Do you know of any teaching positions around, here in Laramie or anywhere else close?"

  The sheriff became instantly interested when she mentioned her new husband was a bully. "Ma'am, are you saying your new husband struck you?"

  "Yes, sir, he most certainly did, and I will not allow it to happen again."

  "I don't take kindly to any man harming a woman, no matter what, ma'am. Any man who strikes a woman should be in a cell, in my opinion. Who is this man, and I'll go bring him in?"

  A smile spread across her face. She'd thought about what Austin had done to her. It might be fun to watch him being brought in by the sheriff and put in a jail, even if it was just for a night or two. She looked back up to the sheriff. "Austin Barrington."

  The sheriff's look of concern turned to a look of surprise, and soon turned to a frown. "What exactly did Austin do? I don't see a black eye or any bruises."

  "It is rather private, but I assure you he did strike me."

  The sheriff was studying her when the door opened and a young man walked in. She noticed he had a badge on, much like the sheriff's. The sheriff looked at Georgia again, before addressing the young man. "Joe, go out and get Austin Barrington. Tell him I need to talk to him. In case he's frantic, or worried, tell him I've got his wife, and she's fine."

  "Okay, boss." As soon as the young man left, she turned to the sheriff. "What's going on, Sheriff? Are you going to protect me or not?"

  "You haven't told me what I need to protect you from yet, ma'am."

  "I told you my husband struck me."

  "But you haven't told me how."

  "Why does that matter? He struck me. I get the impression you don't believe me. Are all men in and around Laramie alike, or what?"


  "I'm not sure what you mean by that statement, ma'am, but I know Austin Barrington. He's a friend of mine, and frankly, striking a lady does not sound like something he would do at all. But I can't imagine him allowing you to come clear into town on your own, either. Did he know you left the ranch?"

  "I can see I will not be receiving any help from this office, either, Sheriff, so I will be on my way."

  Before she could turn around and make her way to the door the sheriff was there, standing in front of it. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't let you leave yet."

  "And why not?"

  "You leveled some serious charges against Austin. I need to talk to him and see if there's any merit to them. If there is, I will deal with it."

  He softened his business tone a bit before continuing. "What I expect is happening at the moment, though, is he's realized you've left and is beside himself with worry about your well being."

  "He certainly wasn't worried about my well being this morning."

  "Ma'am, why don't you sit down and explain to me what happened while we wait for him to get here."

  "Like I said, it is rather private."

  "I'm sorry, but I will need to see where he harmed you so I can pass the information on to the judge. If you have a bruise or other evidence of how he harmed you, it will likely be gone by the time the judge gets here. I'll have to see it so I can pass the information along to him."

  Georgia's eyes got huge. "Then we will just have to forget about the whole thing. I don't care if you bring charges against him so much, but I just want to get away from him. That brings me back to why I'm in town, which is to see about a teaching position. Are you going to help me any there, or can you direct me to another town that may have an available position?"

  "Mrs. Barrington, I think we should wait until your husband gets here and I can talk to him. I'm guessing this is all a misunderstanding, and you won't need a teaching position. If, however, he did in fact strike you, I will do what I can to help you."

  "You will?"

  "Yes, I will. You have my word on that." After watching her expression, he tried to talk to her again. "Why don't we get started, while we wait for him to get here. I need you to tell me exactly what happened, where he struck you and how."

  "Why do you need to know that?"

  "How else can I ask him if he did what you're accusing him of?"

  "I don't suppose you can simply ask if he struck me in any way?"

  He shook his head. "I need the details so I can relay them to the judge when he asks why he was arrested. So, why don't you tell me the whole story." When she was obviously still hedging, he suggested, "The judge may very well ask you questions about it, Mrs. Barrington, so you need to be able to at least tell me."

  "Very well," she said, looking around to insure their privacy. "No one else needs to know this, do they?"

  "Only the judge, if I arrest your husband."

  "Okay. This morning I went out and took care of the chickens. When I was done I went back out of their fenced in area and closed the gate. My husband accused me of not fastening the latch good enough yesterday and allowing the chickens to escape, so today I set the basket of eggs on the ground so I could double check to be sure the gate was latched securely. It was. He came in later for breakfast, and said I had again not latched it tightly. I assured him I was positive I had, but he didn't listen to me." She paused, and with a sad look on her face, added, "Or at least he didn't believe me. He took me into the living room, sat down on the couch, and pulled me across his knees, like I was a child, and he struck me repeatedly."

  Sheriff Montgomery had to work at not smiling. He even looked away for a second and coughed. "So he spanked you?"

  "Sshh," she said, looking around again. "Yes, he did."

  "Is that all he did?"

  Her eyes were big as she stared at him. "Sheriff, it hurt a great deal, and I did not deserve it. I am positive that gate was closed." Again, she became extremely somber as she said, "My husband didn't believe me."

  The sheriff was pretty sure he knew now what the problem was. He was debating how exactly to handle it, when Austin came barging into his office. He looked around quickly, and went to Georgia, pulling her into his arms. "There you are," he said in a soft voice. "I've been worried sick about you. Are you okay?"

  The sheriff watched closely. It was obvious Austin was sincere, but it was just as clear to him that she was not returning his hug. Eventually Austin realized this as well, and pulled back far enough to look into her eyes. "Georgia, what's wrong?"

  "You have to ask? You struck me, Mr. Barrington, for something I did not do. I am an honest lady and will not be married to a man who refuses to listen to me or doesn't believe me."

  Austin paled. He became so pale that Sheriff Montgomery was glad when he sat in a chair across from his wife. He was afraid he was about to pass out. It took a full minute before Austin found his voice. He picked up one of his wife's hands, holding it gently, massaging the back of it with his thumb. "I have to be sure I understand this right," he said softly. "You left this morning of your own accord, because you were upset that I spanked you?"

  "Again, you aren't listening to me. You struck me for something I didn't do. You didn't believe me. How can we be married if you won't listen to what I say, or you don't believe what I am saying? I am not a person prone to lie, Mr. Montgomery."

  He cocked his head to the side and studied his wife. "So you weren't so upset about being spanked, as much as that I didn't believe you?"

  "That is correct. How can I develop feelings for you and have the kind of marriage I hoped we would have if you don't believe me?"

  He still looked confused. "So you're saying you're positive you didn't leave the gate open?"

  "I am positive. I double checked it."

  He was immediately on one knee on the floor in front of her, with both her hands in his. "Then I am sorry, wife. Maybe I need to listen closer to what you are telling me. I didn't know of anyone else that could have left it open, so in my mind it had to have been you."

  "So you thought it was okay to strike me, even though I told you I didn't do it?"

  "First of all, you have to stop making it sound like I took my fist to you or something such as that. I would never do that. I spanked you. And to be honest, I understood that using a gate is new to you and I could have understood if you would have simply apologized. In my mind there was no one else that could have done it, and gates are new to you, so I wasn't so upset about the fact that the gate was left open. I was upset that you refused to admit to a mistake."

  Sheriff Montgomery, who had been watching and listening to the whole conversation, added his thoughts. "It sounds to me as though there was a big misunderstanding. Mrs. Barrington was upset that you didn't believe her, Austin, while you were upset that she wouldn't admit to something she claims she didn't do. If you don't mind a suggestion, the two of you seem to be a good match. Both of you are good people, with good morals. I think you two should go home and talk, find a way to work this out."

  Austin looked from the sheriff to his wife, and smiled. "I think Grant's right, Georgia. I would still very much like to make this marriage work. I think, too, we make a good match. Are you willing to try again?"

  "Do you believe me when I say I am positive that gate was closed?"

  "I do. I still have no idea how the gate was opened, but I can tell that my failure to believe you was the most important thing to you, and that tells me a lot about you. I believe you are an honest person. Can you forgive me for jumping to the wrong conclusion, and acting on it?"

  "Let's go home, husband."

  He smiled, as he stood up and pulled her up with him. When they were both standing he gave her a kiss, which left both of them smiling. He took her hand and headed them toward the door. "On the way home we need to have a talk about you coming to town on your own. I told you I plan to protect you, and you coming clear to town on your own is not safe."

  The sheriff had to chuckle
as they closed the door. Austin had been a good friend of his for several years, and he was a good man. From what he saw of his new wife, she was a good person, as well. He smiled as he remembered how embarrassed she was that he spanked her. Knowing his friend as he did, he hoped she got over that. He had a feeling that wouldn't be the only spanking she received from her new husband. He smiled again as he thought of how surprised she would be to learn how many of the other women in this area suffered from the same indignity.

  He hoped she and Austin would work out their differences and make their marriage work, but he could tell his friend would have his hands full. Not many women had the spunk to come into town from the ranch by themselves, especially when they were this unfamiliar with the area. She was also brash enough to inquire about a teaching position. Not to mention how pretty the little lady was. He was sure she'd draw attention. Yep, she would be a handful, all right. It might be fun to sit back and watch this relationship develop.

  Chapter Four

  Austin suggested Georgia ride in front of him on his gelding and they tie the one she'd ridden to the saddle of his. "I'd like us to be able to talk on the way back," he explained. "Besides, I was so scared when I didn't know where you were, I'd like to have you close on the way home."

  She agreed, thinking it would be easier to talk that way, and that was something they needed to do. She was surprised to hear what he wanted to talk about, however. He was sincere in his apology for not listening to her, but he was very concerned for her safety.

  "Being out here alone is not safe. If you need to go to town, talk to me. I will try to accompany you. If I can't, I will at least have one of the hands go with you. I am very glad you made it to Laramie alone, but you were very lucky. A single lady with no means to protect herself could have met with all kinds of trouble, from both people or animals. After you've settled in at the ranch I will teach you how to protect yourself. If you go far from the house, even on the ranch, you should take a rifle for protection. We will go over all that later, though. Right now I'm happy to have you back, safe and sound."