by Bree Cariad
“A roast?” she asked in surprise as she spotted it on the counter. They usually only ate roast on Sundays.
“Your father called this morning to say he was bringing a colleague over for dinner. I figured pot roast with potatoes and carrots was a good, simple meal. If you’ll get that ready, I’ll start on dessert.”
That was always the best course. Kathy was a bit of a bungler at dessert. It was one of the reasons she had chosen baking in school. Surely having her grades depend on it would force her to become good at it. She was more a ‘little bit of this, a little bit of that’ cook. Pastry usually had to be more exact.
Once the food was in the oven and the dessert was in the fridge, her mom pointed at the kitchen table. “Gerry won’t be home for an hour and forty minutes. Why don’t we just sit and relax?”
From anyone else’s mother, that would probably sound either like a great gab fest or be a warning that a talk was coming. Kathy knew the former was out – gossip was a bad word in her home, so that left the latter. Filling two glasses with juice, she joined her mother at the kitchen table.
“Honey, Hyacinth is different,” she started kindly.
“Okay?” That was an odd way to start a conversation. “I know everyone has the same values we’ve got.”
“Well, not everybody,” she said, shaking her head. “Your father would like to think so, but the fact is this is a small town and just like all small towns, there is the good and the bad. Gerry grew up in a large city so has always idealized small town life. I, however, grew up in a small town. I know what it’s like.” She leveled her soft brown eyes on her daughter and smiled. “Everything you would find in any city on earth, you will find to some extent here. It will just be more likely to be covered up. Yes, I do think most of the families are into the values we hold dear, but that doesn’t mean everyone is perfect. There will be students you find friends, and others you hope to never see again.”
Ah, it was that lecture. It had been a few years since they had moved to the last town and now Kathy remembered the same kind of talk. “You’ll find friends, dear. It just takes time.” Yep. That was where her mother was going with this.
“I know, Mom. I met a jerk today. But there’s over two hundred in my class so I’m sure I’ll find a group to hang with.”
“Two hundred?” Carilyn said in surprise. “Where do they hide them all?”
“Twenty miles in any direction?”
“Right. Well, anyway, honey. I just want you to remember if you need a hug, just let me know.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
With that out of the way, the conversation turned to one of her favorite subjects. “So, your birthday didn’t get the celebration we normally give it with our move and all, so we are celebrating it this week. Know what you want?”
“A new player. Mine’s almost dead.” Kathy had had the same mp3 player for years. Her parents only allowed her to listen to it in the hour before bed, so it had lasted longer than most, but now it couldn’t even hold an hour’s charge before it died.
“Mmhmm, anything else?”
Grinning, Kathy started in on her list and the next hour flew by as her mother nodded and asked more questions. “All right, that’s quite the list,” her mother finally said when she had mentioned about fifty things she wanted. “Is there anything else?”
Yes, there was, even though Kathy knew she wasn’t likely to get it. But, she said the words anyway. Who knew? Maybe her father would relent this year. “I could really use a car, Mom. I mean, you don’t really want to drive me to and from school every day next year. Plus,” she rushed on, “when I find a part-time job, you would have to drive me to that too. This way I could drive myself everywhere I wanted.”
Carilyn’s eyes softened. “You know your father is against the idea.”
“Yeah.” Flumping in her seat, Kathy sighed. “I just think it would be easier.”
Reaching over, her mom patted her hand. “I’ll mention it. Just don’t get your hopes up.”
“Thanks.”
The scent of pot roast slowly filled the air and as they got up, Carilyn to check the roast and Kathy to gather the plates to set the table, they heard the garage door open. “Your dad’s home.”
“There’s my girls, beauty one and beauty two,” he said warmly, walking into the kitchen. “Dinner smells wonderful. Leyton will be here soon. He went home to pick up his wife.”
Leyton turned out to be a pharmacist at the hospital, his wife Jude, the head of the PTA. They were both in their seventies with smiles on their faces and wrinkles to match. As soon as they all sat down at the dinner table, Leyton looked over at Kathy. “How are you liking Hyacinth, young lady?”
“Fine so far,” she admitted. “I’ve only really met one other person my age.”
“You’ll have to come to the picnic next week,” Jude said, her eyes lighting up. “Everyone local will be there. Our granddaughter Jaylee will be a senior next year. We’ll introduce you. You definitely want to be in with the right group at school. Jaylee’s a good girl and would be the perfect one to introduce you to her friends.”
The right group? Sounded like every high school was the same. Sighing to herself, Kathy was glad when the conversation turned to things she didn’t care about so that she could zone out as she ate.
“Kathy?” Gerald’s warning tone caught her attention and she glanced up in confusion.
“Yes?”
“Leyton asked you a question.”
Blushing because she had just committed what her father would consider a sin, she turned toward his friend. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I daydream a lot.”
The older man smiled, his eyes twinkling. “I was just asking when your birthday was.”
“Oh, I turned eighteen a few weeks ago.”
Jude clasped her hands together. “Oh, you are going to have a great summer. I think it’s so good when courtship begins during the—.”
“What? Courtship?” Confusion settled, and Kathy glanced between the couple who looked startled at her interruption, and her parents. Her mother looked concerned, but her father had a calm expression on his face that did not fool her. She was in trouble. It was in the firm set of his jaw and the darkening of his eyes. Ah, drat. There would be no way to talk herself out of this one. Interrupting someone while they talked was something he hated. Hoping he would settle with either making her write a million lines or stand in the corner for an hour, she tried to keep her mind off the most likely punishment, a spanking.
“Kathy,” Gerald said quietly. “Please go wait for me in my study.”
Oh, no. So it included a lecture too. Blushing, she nodded and stood up. “It was nice to meet you,” she murmured to their guests before practically running from the room. She only hoped they had no idea what was about to happen, but supposedly most of the households did the same thing so they probably did. Stepping into her father’s study, she closed the door quietly behind her and went to stand in front of his desk. The whole room felt masculine, from the dark, cherry furniture, to the deep maroon leather sofa in the corner. One whole wall behind his desk was filled with books, all of them medical in nature. The dark carpet under her feet just added to the feel. She wondered if this was how it felt at school to be sent to the headmaster’s office.
There was no way to know how long her father would take. It could be now, or it could be an hour from now. She was pretty sure he would wait until Leyton and his wife left before he came in to spank her.
The clock ticked softly on the wall and every once in a while she glanced at it. Five minutes… seventeen… twenty-nine… forty-two… She began to wonder just how long this was going to take when the door opened and he stopped inside. Gulping, she stared at his desk.
“Kathy, you know I don’t accept rudeness in my home or from my family.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Most of the time, you’re a well-behaved young woman, one I am proud to call my daughter. Your lapses are infrequent, but whe
n they come, it’s just a chance for you to be reminded to pay attention.” His voice was kind, soft, and his hand as it touched her back was comforting.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again. “They shocked me.”
“Was that an excuse?”
Blanching, she shook her head. He hated excuses. If you did something wrong, admit it, take your punishment, be forgiven and move on. That was his motto.
“No. I shouldn’t have interrupted Mrs. Compton.”
“Correct.” The sound of his buckle coming undone made her grimace. “Bend over the desk, rest on your elbows.” Groaning softy because that meant he really meant to wallop her, she bent over, resting her upper body on her forearms. Her friends always said a spanking over jeans was a good thing. She had no idea what they were talking about. His belt seemed to act as though denim wasn’t even in the way. The bite was still strong and very powerful. And there was never any warning before the first blow fell.
Her air whooshed out as the leather fell across her bottom, heat spreading across her cheeks.
“My daughter won’t make these kinds of mistakes again,” he said quietly, his belt coming down two more times. “She thinks of others first before she speaks.” And again the belt fell, always in the same spot, right across the fleshiest part of her rump. “She never wants to be rude to anyone.” Heat added to the fire until it was impossible to stand still. Tears leaked from her eyes even as she whimpered, her lips twisting into an ugly grimace in her attempt not to sob. “I love her and will make sure she acts as the woman she truly is.”
When the leather fell again, her ability to hold the sobs back broke and she bawled as he continued to lay down his belt over her overheated backside. When the only sound in the room was her coughs and sobs, she knew he was done. But she couldn’t move as her knees gave out and she sunk to the floor, crying. Before she reached it, he pulled her up and into his arms.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she sobbed into his chest, grasping his arms.
“Shh, I know. You just aren’t paying enough attention. You’ll do better next time.” He kissed her softly on her forehead and she nodded quickly. This reminder would stay with her for a long time. “Now come into the living room. We’ll have our prayers early and you can go to bed.” It was only eight but Kathy didn’t feel like arguing at all. In fact, collapsing into her bed and sleeping sounded very attractive at the moment.
It never ceased to astound her how there was no physical manifestation of such a spanking. With how much it hurt, shouldn’t there have been bruises form over night? But no. In fact, even though there was slight discomfort, her rear end didn’t feel bad. But sitting down would be a definite reminder. After taking a shower and putting on a pair of shorts and a tank top, she went downstairs where her parents were talking at the kitchen table.
“Morning,” Carilyn said. “Fruit this morning. Help yourself.”
“Thanks,” Kathy yawned, hugging her from behind and accepting a warm hug from her father before she went to put some fruit in a bowl. “So what was this picnic thing that’s happening next week?”
“Memorial Day,” her father said. “There’s a huge picnic in the town park. Games, a few rides, everyone goes.”
Nodding, she tried not to grimace as she sat down. True, it wasn’t exactly painful, but her rump would have rather not been sitting on a hard surface. “Sounds like fun.”
“It will be. Carilyn, you’ll need to make Kathy some more Sunday dresses. She’ll need them far more often here than she did before and we want to make sure she has plenty of them.”
Swallowing a half glass of juice to stop herself from complaining, Kathy stared down at her food. Yuck. More frilly dresses.
“And make them a little more mature. She’s eighteen and this summer is very important from what everyone says. Today when I go to the town council meeting, I’ll find out more about what happens during a girl’s eighteenth summer so we can plan accordingly.” He smiled and winked at her. “Our little girl’s grown up.”
“Dang right. Can I have a car?” she blurted out, aware her mother winced.
He raised an eyebrow. That was all he had to do. Uh-oh.
“Stand.”
“Daddy, I—”
“Now, Kathy.”
Whimpering, Kathy slowly pushed her chair back and leaned against the table, gripping the side. At the kitchen table, he never removed his belt. Instead there was a small piece of leather that was all too conveniently left nearby and he grabbed it, laying five swats over her shorts, reigniting the burn from the night before. They were quick and hurt, but this had been more of a warning than a true punishment.
“Sorry.” Swearing of any kind wasn’t allowed. Not even the more acceptable ones. Where was her head lately?
He waited for her to take her seat and then sat down, placing the leather right where she could see it. Not that she needed the reminder. Her rear throbbed and burned and sitting on the hard wooden seat just added to the discomfort.
“Carilyn, there’s a ladies’ auxiliary to the town council. They meet every other Saturday from noon till two. The next meeting is next week. I’d like you to attend.”
Kathy’s mother nodded. “It will be nice to meet the other women in town.”
“Kathy, after school is officially finished, the council has set aside events for the teenagers to do all summer. They’ll be announced at the picnic and I would like you to choose at least a couple, one you will enjoy doing and the other that will be more of a chore. If you feel up to it, they need volunteers at the hospital.”
Volunteering at the hospital was not one of her favorite activities. He had roped her into it for the last two summers and she would prefer to do anything else. “I’ll think about it.”
He nodded and glanced up at the clock. “Now, I don’t need to leave for four hours. What do you need doing around here?” That was one thing about her father. He was not above helping out. Before long, he had on a mask and the sound of the sander filled the air as he worked in the living room walls. Between the three of them, they got quite a bit of the downstairs sanded before he had to shower and leave.
“Are you all right?” her mother asked after he left and Kathy reached back to squeeze her rear end which was still a little hot.
“Yeah. I deserved it.” Not that she enjoyed it. She didn’t. But knowing her father didn’t hold a grudge and that after punishing her, he seemed to forget all about her infraction was a big help. It lifted any guilt she had about it.
“Well, now that we’re settling in, your dad asked me the other night if you were too old for a father/daughter date. He was thinking tonight if you’re interested.”
Beaming, Kathy nodded. Father/daughter dates were a tradition for as long as she could remember. They usually consisted of doing some sort of game like bowling or go carts and then eating food her mother wouldn’t approve of. With something so wonderful to look forward to, the rest of the day went by quickly. The two of them were able to finish the downstairs sanding, before she ran upstairs to shower the dust out of her hair. She had a fun night ahead.
Chapter 3
“You did not,” Kathy laughed as she and her father sat at the local diner eating something greasy and rather gross. It tasted divine though.
“I did,” he admitted, grinning. “On our second date, I was still trying to impress your mom and her major was, well, I thought it was physics. At the time I had no idea what metaphysics was. So, when I brought her the periodic table that I had spent days putting together, she smiled but looked really confused. It wasn’t until several dates later that I found out that A: the periodic table was more of a chemistry thing and that B: metaphysics was not physics.”
Squealing a laugh, she shoved a fry in her mouth. Imagining a younger version of her father trying to impress her mother was too fun.
Before they could continue, her father looked over her shoulder and nodded. “Alex,” he called. Alexander Covington walked into view, just as tall, just as impo
sing as he had been in their living room a couple of weeks before.
“Good to see you here,” Alex said smoothly, shaking Gerald’s hand. His eyes slid over to Kathy and he nodded. “And how are you enjoying Hyacinth, young Kathy?”
Gulping as something about him unnerved her, she glanced at her dad who nodded encouragingly before looking back at the man standing next to their table. It might have been her imagination, but he looked pleased for some reason. “So far so good. I haven’t really met anyone yet.”
“You should come to the picnic next weekend,” he encouraged, lifting his hand and waving someone from behind her forward. “The entire town turns up and you can meet some of our wonderful girls. Of course, now, you can meet my son.” A younger version of the man in front of her stepped forward and turned startlingly bright blue eyes on her. “Alexander, these are the Brethertons. Gerald’s a doctor at the hospital and his daughter Kathryn will be a senior next year. Gerry, Kathy, my son Alexander. He just moved back into town a year ago. This summer he’ll be courting.”
The people around here sure were old fashioned. Courting? Couldn’t he have said his son was dating the girls locally?
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” her dad said, shaking his hand. “Your father says you’re a lawyer.”
“Yes, Dr. Bretherton. Currently I work remotely for a firm in Chicago that has several cases in our state.” Turning his eyes back on Kathy, Alexander held out his hand, taking hers between both of his. “And it’s a great pleasure to meet you, Miss Bretherton.”
“You too,” she said softly, not sure of what else to say. The younger Alexander had short dirty blonde hair and besides his gorgeous eyes, his face was all angles. She could only assume he would look a lot like his father when he reached his age. Looking to be in his late-twenties or early-thirties, she thought he had the look of a man who belonged in a courtroom – he held that inestimable quality of being very firm and strong. She actually kind of felt sorry for whomever he married. Poor girl.