Courted: Hyacinth Brides Box Set

by Bree Cariad

  Marjorie nodded, her eyes wide.

  “Then leave now.”

  Gulping, she turned and ran. It was a good thing Tatum was coming in or she might have run into the door in her hurry to escape.

  Chris clasped him on the shoulder, winked at Dora and left, walking back to the kitchen. Turning slowly, Gaelic’s eyes lost their glare and softened. “Are you all right?” he asked gently, pulling her into a hug.

  All right? How can a person explain how amazingly wonderful it was to have the man they cared about not only announce to everyone that he loved her, but defend her as well. “I love you,” she murmured against his chest.

  His chest rumbled with a laugh making her smile. “That’s nice to hear, Dora. Very nice to hear. Because I love you, too. I have for quite a while.”

  Chapter 5

  With spring came the inevitable rush of hormones. Dora had never really had that trouble before. She was a common sense kind of person and so while all the girls growing up would spend their spring days drooling over their newest crush, she usually spent her time in more interesting pursuits.

  However, now that she had someone quite drool-worthy to salivate over, she found it was hard to concentrate on anything else. Everything reminded her of him. The clear blue sky was his eyes; the deep brown of the desk at work was his hair. The deep rumble of a thunderstorm was his growl when he defended her. It made doing anything very distracting.

  Something her friends thought was extremely funny.

  “Earth to Dora,” sang a soft voice and she looked up from her mocha to find Stephanie, Cami, and Kathy grinning at her.

  “What?”

  “Daydreaming about Gaelic again?” Kathy asked with a grin.

  “He’s so dreamy,” Cami sighed dramatically, leaning the back of her hand against her forehead.

  “Shut up,” she said with a giggle making them laugh.

  “It’s about time you reached puberty,” Stephanie teased.

  It had taken weeks, but finally all four of them were at the Lava Lamp together. Cami, six weeks out of being pregnant was still glowing though she also had that look of a woman who wasn’t getting a lot of sleep. Kathy was softly rounded with her second pregnancy and by the way she rubbed her baby bump, very happy with the situation. Stephanie was the quietest, which Dora didn’t make much mention of. She knew that Stephanie and Chris were getting close to having their house complete. Some nights the two didn’t come home because they stayed up late finishing one thing or another. As much as she would miss them, she would be very happy for them when they finally moved in.

  “So tell us more about him,” Kathy said. “I mean, I know what Xander tells me about him, but that’s all guy stuff. Tell me the softer side of Gale.”

  “He’s really sweet,” Dora admitted, knowing she was smiling so wide her mouth hurt. “Always thinks of me first. Last week he was in Europe and he overnighted me a case of bratwurst from Germany because I said I had never had one.”

  “They were good too,” Stephanie said with a grin.

  “Oh, that’s so unfair,” Kathy said. “You find out everything first. At least with Xan and me living here this summer, I won’t feel so out of it. Spring break is far too short.”

  “How will you finish your degree?” Dora asked with interest.

  “Online. There are only two classes I’ll need to go sit my exams for and those won’t be until senior year.”

  “Found a house yet?” Stephanie asked.

  “No. Nothing’s quite right. We need a place big enough for our growing family, along with a study for his work. A fenced backyard or a backyard big enough the kids can play safely would be a plus. When we come home in June, we will probably start looking further out. But I really hope we find something suitable soon. Xan loves my parents but refuses to make them put up with us and two babies.”

  “Come to Hins Creek,” Cami said brightly. “I love it there.”

  “Xander was mentioning that. I think he and Jerod talked about it actually.” They continued to chat and sip coffee when Dora happened to notice something. How she noticed it, she wasn’t sure, but her eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on it.

  “You in trouble again?” she asked Stephanie, who jumped as if startled.

  “No, why?”

  “No coffee?”

  “Does Chris put you on coffee restriction?” Kathy asked in confusion, sipping on her tea.

  “No,” she groaned. “Dora and I went out coffee drinking one day and I got a bit carried away and might have overdone it a bit. I definitely got in trouble for it.” Dora barely managed to hide her grin at the memory. Her friend had been so high on caffeine, Chris had thought she was drugged.

  “So why no coffee today?” Cami asked, standing up enough to look down into Stephie’s cup. “All you have is water?” Sitting back down, she cocked her head a bit. “And you’re kind of green. What’s up?”

  Dora’s eyes flipped from Stephanie’s slightly trapped look to her drink and back and her eyes widened. “Stephie…” she breathed and her friend turned and gave her a pseudo smile.

  “We were going to tell you. It just wasn’t time yet.”

  “Stephie!” she squealed with excitement, jumping up and hugging her. “Oh, this is wonderful news.”

  “What?” Kathy asked, looking between the two of them. “What are we missing?”

  “We found out a few weeks ago,” Stephanie said quietly. “Chris and I decided not to say anything for a few weeks because there are…issues. But yes, Dora, I’m pregnant.”

  “Why aren’t you happy?” Cami said, leaning forward and placing her hands over Stephanie’s. “What’s wrong?”

  “There are issues with my biological family,” she said slowly, “and so we had a CVS done. We’re waiting for the results.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I’ve been wanting a baby for a while and so does Chris but I’m so scared. If there’s something wrong with our baby…” Her lips quivered and she took a big gulp of water.

  “Don’t think like that,” Cami said, squeezing her hand. “Your baby is going to be perfect and healthy and beautiful. When do you find out?”

  “Today or tomorrow hopefully. They had to send everything to Seattle and Dr. Denad says it depends on how fast they get everything back to her. I—” She broke off as her phone buzzed and she pulled it out of her purse. Her face went white as she saw the caller ID.

  “We’re with you,” Kathy said, placing one of her hands on top of Cami’s. Dora placed hers on top of Kathy’s as Stephanie answered.

  “Hello?” she said in a whisper. “Yes, this is Stephanie…Uh-huh…Yes, I understand…No, I would like to know…” She put her head down and tears dripped down her cheeks. “Yes, thank you, Dr. Denad…Yes, I’ll make an appointment. Thank you.” She put the phone down and cried silent tears for several seconds as her friends held on. “My baby’s fine,” she finally managed to whisper. The entire clientele of the café jumped when Cami screamed and launched herself around the table to hold onto Stephanie.

  “Oh, this deserves a celebration,” Kathy said, tears running down her cheeks as well. She whipped out her phone and it was up to her ear in the next minute. “Hi, honey…Yes, we are. Can you do something for me…? Thanks. Call Alex and Charlotte and schedule a celebratory dinner for tonight…No, I can’t tell you why…No, you’ll have to wait…” She winked at them. “All of us. Alex, Charlotte, Drake, Cami, Jerod, us, Stephanie, Chris, Dora…” She pulled the phone away from her ear. “Dora, is Gale in town?”

  “Not until Saturday.”

  “Okay, everyone but Gale…Nope, not gonna tell you,” she said in a sing-song voice making Stephanie laugh for the first time since they cornered her. “All right, see you tonight. Love you.” She put the phone down and winked. “All right. Now, why don’t we take you to the inn so you can give your hubby the good news?”

  “I’ve got a better idea,” Dora said, pulling out her phone. Minnie answered. “Minnie, get Chris for me.” Stephanie looked
startled and a little unsure but Dora just smiled.

  “Dora? Is everything all right?” he asked, coming on the line.

  “Perfect. How are things at the inn?”

  “Slow, actually, why?”

  “Think you can get away for a few hours?”

  “If it’s important, of course I can.”

  “It’s important. Can you meet me at the house?”

  “Dora, are you all right?”

  “Just meet me there, okay?”

  There was a small pause and he said, “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” The soft click immediately followed telling Dora he was already on his way.

  “Let’s go. Your hubby will be waiting for us at this rate.”

  As it was, they barely made it home and were in the living room when he walked in. His eyes flowed over all of them before falling on Dora and his wife. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Stephanie whispered. “Dora thought it was best if we had a little privacy away from the inn for this.”

  “What is it, sweetheart?” he said, stepping forward and sitting down next to her.

  “We’re having a baby,” she said softly.

  He paused. “Did you hear from the doctor?”

  “Yes,” she said, nodding. “The baby’s fine, Chris. Healthy. We’re having a baby girl. You’re gonna be a daddy.” Her voice broke on the last word and he yanked her into his arms. His sobs joined hers and the other three stood up and left the room.

  “Yay,” Cami said as they sat down at the kitchen table. “I can’t imagine how horrible that wait had to be.”

  “Me neither,” Kathy said. “I’m grateful my babies are strong and healthy.”

  “I can’t believe all three of you have or are giving birth this year,” Dora said, filled with warmth at this incredibly wonderful news. “Cami’s twins and now with your and Stephie’s babies due in September. All your kids will be in the same grade in school. How great is that?”

  There was a small pause as Dora opened the freezer and removed the ice cream she had purchased months before but had never eaten. After grabbing three spoons, she sat the container on the table.

  “Yum,” Kathy groaned, taking a spoonful. “Xander is pretty strict about dessert. This never leaves this room.”

  “So what stage are you two in?” Cami asked, getting a large spoonful herself.

  “Stage four, technically. But I haven’t really seen him since we dipped over into that.”

  “Want my advice?” Kathy asked, taking another spoonful of ice cream.

  “Sure.”

  “Get it over with. The day he comes home, ask him to wallop your backside. As much as I was kind of freaked out the first time Xander spanked me, I’m glad I had no fair warning. We were in stage three but when I broke a promise to him he spoke to Dad and next thing you know? Stage four. I think if I had been able to think about it, I would have been a lot more freaked.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” Cami agreed. “When stage four started, Jerod told me his strongest rules. I found a way to break them really quickly and found out what a strong disciplinarian he was. Strangely enough, it made me love him more. That was the day I realized he loved me warts and all.”

  “Do you know what he uses?” Kathy asked, looking at the ice cream as though she wanted more, but sucking on her spoon instead.

  “No,” Dora admitted. “We haven’t really talked about it.”

  “I don’t think they do until it comes up,” Cami said, shaking her head. “Dad was a biggie for the paddle or with his hand when needed.”

  “And Xander has the hardest hand on record,” Kathy said wryly making Cami laugh and nod. “Dad always used his belt except when I was really naughty. Then he’d bring out the paddle.”

  “What does Jerod use?” Dora asked with interest. She had just assumed everyone did things the way her father did, hand, strap, or thin paddle depending on what she had done wrong.

  “Oy,” Cami said, grimacing. “Ever heard of a birch rod?”

  “No. Is that a kind of paddle?”

  After taking another spoonful of ice cream, Cami proceeded to reveal what a birch rod was to Dora’s surprise. “He hits you with a tree branch?” she asked in shock.

  “It’s not as bad as it sounds,” she admitted. “The worst part is he makes me pick out the branches and prepare them now. You know, the whole ‘you’re an equal partner in this and so this is your job.’”

  “That sounds painful,” Dora admitted, feeling nervous about Gaelic spanking her now.

  “It is. And it’s far worse over a naked behind than a clothed one.”

  “Everything is,” Kathy agreed with a nod.

  “Your husbands spank you naked?” Dora asked, feeling as though shock was the word of the day.

  They both looked at her and she could see a slight look of pity on their faces. “All men do,” Kathy finally told her. “It’s kind of one of those little known facts that the wife gets a bared spanking. I got one on my wedding night.”

  “You did not!” Cami said, snorting a giggle.

  “I did. I freaked out about something and wouldn’t quiet down so Xander calmed me down by lighting my butt on fire.”

  Giggling, Cami’s body shook. As her eyes turned to Dora, they softened. “Dora, while it is painful, it’s different. I don’t know if I can explain it. But baring your all for your husband is part of the whole thing.”

  “And it isn’t as horrifying as it sounds,” Kathy continued. “There’s the humiliation and worry that always accompanies a spanking and the added fresh air really draws your attention. And it brings you closer.”

  “Yes, it does,” Cami agreed, nodding.

  Dora wasn’t sure whether to believe them or call Jerod and tell him his wife and sister-in-law lost their minds.

  A cleared voice made them turn where Chris and Stephanie stood at the door to the kitchen. “How do you feel?” Kathy asked with a grin.

  “Fantastic,” he admitted. “And I hear we’re having a celebratory dinner tonight?”

  “Yep!”

  Dora hadn’t been spanked since before her father died and to be truthful, while a part of her craved the peace it could bring, getting spanked by Gaelic was a bit daunting. Especially after the information Cami and Kathy gave her. A birch rod? A bare spanking? Just the thought of him looking at her jiggly backend was more than scary. He might be able to look past things when she was wearing clothes, but naked? She had always imagined the naked part would be in bed under the covers. It had never occurred to her that a husband would see his wife naked in any other aspect.

  It made her look at herself naked in front of the mirror. It wasn’t the most pleasant sight. Large breasts, poochy stomach, and wide hips, not to mention when she turned to the side, a flabby behind. What a disaster.

  On the one side, the logical side of her brain, she knew Gaelic said he loved her full figure and that he meant it. On the other side, the part who had been teased and made fun of her entire life because of her size, she was sure he would be horrified. Looking into the mirror after she got dressed, she took a deep breath and nodded to herself. “I’ll be okay with this by the next time I see him.”

  Why did that have to be a couple days later?

  “Not ready, not ready,” she muttered to herself late Friday. Gaelic wasn’t supposed to be back in town until the next day but he had called to say he was just arriving. She wasn’t ready. “I should have had another fifteen hours, at least.”

  “What are you muttering to yourself?” Chris asked, walking up to the front desk and raising an eyebrow.

  “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “Still on a baby high?” she asked to divert him. Talking about his pregnant wife and baby girl could usually do it.

  “Absolutely. Five months, just five months and I’m gonna have a baby girl to love, cherish, and glare at other men over.”

  Spluttering, she laughed. “Aren’t you glad you live in Hyacinth? At least you don’t have to
worry about her dating.”

  “Doesn’t mean I won’t still glare at men over her,” he said with an unrepentant grin. “Now, what were you muttering about?”

  “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m going to need to get going pretty soon. Gaelic called. He got in early.”

  His eyes lit up. “Go now. It’s quiet. Sally should be here soon. I can handle desk duties for fifteen minutes.”

  “Really?” she asked with a cocked eyebrow. The last time Chris filled in at the front desk, nobody could find anything because he didn’t put stuff back where he had found it. Both Sally and Minnie had begged him never to do it again.

  “I’ll be fine,” he said, his eyes twinkling. “I just might hide something on purpose to really drive Sally crazy.”

  “Oh, boy,” she moaned, grabbing her purse. “Just don’t hide it so well that you don’t know where it got to.”

  Laughing, he took her place while she walked out the door.

  Even with her nervousness about seeing Gaelic, there was a definite pleasure in walking home. Spring was fully in bloom and the scents of the flowers as she walked down the road were incredibly pleasant. Stephanie was with a client today so Dora had the place to herself once she got there. After taking a quick shower, she was left in a bit of a conundrum as to what to wear.

  He was taking her out to dinner, but it wasn’t fancy. Of course, it wasn’t her outer wear that she was necessarily interested in. Kathy’s suggestion that she ask for a spanking to get it over with was in the front of her mind. It seemed that protecting her backside was a good idea. What if he liked tree branches too? She would wear jeans, but knew that with a hard spanking, it barely mattered. Her father had been a big believer in letting the punishment fit the crime and depending on which rule she broke, he could go easy on her or so hard she ached for a couple days. From the sounds of it, all men had a trick they either learned or developed that naturally emphasized their own beliefs in spanking.