A Beautiful Ranch

by Malone, Misty

  Lilly slumped her shoulders. "It was such a shock to me when he started spanking me, and it hurt so much, all I could think about was how much it hurt, and how upset I was that he was treating me like a child, and how embarrassed I was because of it."

  "Embarrassed? We'll talk about the embarrassed part in a minute, but are you saying you didn't hear what he said?"

  "No, it hurt too much. It was such a shock and I kind of lost touch with reality, and then it hurt so bad I couldn't think about anything else. Then I was just plain embarrassed, and there was no way I could look at him and see him laughing at me."

  "Why did you think he'd be laughing at you, and why were you so embarrassed?"

  "Like I told you, or you guessed, I've developed feelings for Dalton, but it was clear to me that he saw me only as his little sister's friend. I didn't think I could keep staying there, seeing him on a daily basis, knowing he didn't return my feelings. But my random painting I'd just done helped me see that I was happier when I was staying there than I'd been in a long time, and I knew my paintings were better. So I decided I was going to try to get him to see me as an adult, not just an annoying friend of his sister's."

  "He didn't see you that way, Lilly."

  "That's what it felt like to me. I tried starting conversations with him, but he never seemed to want to talk to me much. Anyway, I really don't remember anything about the spanking except for how much it hurt and how embarrassed I was. Then when I started to calm down after the spanking and I started gaining control of my senses again, I found myself sitting on his lap, cuddling up to him. I was even laying my head on his chest. I don't know how I got there, but I figured he probably had a good laugh over it, and how immature I'd been. I was so embarrassed, and I just couldn't look at him, so I got up and ran out. Then later that night, I left because I knew I'd never be able to look him in the eye again."

  "Oh, Lilly, I wish I'd known all this. First off, I can guarantee you Dalton never laughed at you. He cares a great deal for you, more than you realize, or he would never have spanked you."

  "Yeah, right."

  "Lilly, that part is very true. I know my brother well. He would not take the time to spank you if you weren't very special to him. And I also know him well enough to know he would have been talking to you before and after he spanked you. It's a shame you were in shock and couldn't hear him, because I'm sure you wouldn't be feeling this way if you had."

  "How can you be so sure?"

  "I've been there. I know what his spankings are like. He explains what you've done and why it was dangerous; what could have happened. By the time he's done, it's very clear how much he cares about you and how worried he was. Then afterwards, he pulls you onto his lap so he can hold you in his arms while you cry and calm down. He keeps reassuring you, telling you how much he cares about you, while you calm. He doesn't let you up until he's sure you're okay."

  "So do you think that's how I got onto his lap?"

  "I'd bet on it."

  "I figured I made a fool of myself and climbed onto his lap myself. That's part of why I was so embarrassed."

  "I don't think so. When the spanking is over he lifts you up and sets you down on his lap. He holds you there while you calm down and he makes sure you're okay."

  "That's how he spanks you. You're his sister and he loves you."

  "I'm positive that when he got back to the house and you were gone, he panicked. He was so worried about you, thinking of all the things that could have happened."

  "What makes you think that?"

  "He told me so. He called me to see if I'd heard from you, then he told me what happened. Lilly, I saw the fear in his eyes when he told me how he went to the house anxious to talk to you and you weren't there. He went up to his deck, where he can see quite a ways in all directions, but he couldn't find you. He called you repeatedly, but you didn't answer your phone."

  Lilly's eyes were wide with surprise. "I don't even know if I had my phone with me that day. I was very upset when I left."

  "And he was very upset when he couldn't find you. He called the men to help look because he didn't want you out roaming the ranch lost after dark. You can imagine all the thoughts going through his mind."

  "You said he was anxious to talk to me. About what?"

  "I don't know. All he'd say is that's between you and him. I know he's been beside himself with worry. Would you do me a favor and at least call him? Let him know you're okay. But what you two need to do, is get together and talk."

  "Daphne, I can't face him again."

  "Why not?"

  "Because he spanked me!"

  "Because he has feelings for you! Lilly, haven't you heard what I've said? Dalton is a man who's in charge of his life and the things in it. When he says something, he expects to be obeyed. He's the boss on the ranch and is used to the hands listening to him when he tells them something. He's really not as bossy as he sounds, except when it comes to safety. That's the one thing he's very particular about. If one of the hands compromises his safety, he fires him. If I did something to compromise my safety, he'd spank me. That's the way he is. He does it because he cares. He doesn't want any of his men getting hurt, he doesn't want me getting hurt, and he obviously doesn't want you getting hurt."

  "You don't think he looks at me as your annoying friend?"

  Daphne laughed at that question. "I'm sure of it. He may have at one time, like the time years ago when he made you sit on his couch for an hour, but I know he doesn't now. I've seen it in his eyes when you were there."

  "I don't know. I think I'd be too embarrassed to see him again."

  "Lilly, there is no reason for you to be embarrassed. Tell me you'll at least think about it, and think about it seriously."

  Before she could go on or get a response from Lilly there was a knock at the door.

  "Expecting someone?" Daphne asked.

  "No, and I'm a mess," she said, looking in the mirror. "Would you please see who it is and get rid of them for me?"

  "Sure." Daphne went to the door and opened it, and immediately gasped.

  Lilly quickly turned toward the gasp she heard. "What's wrong? Who is it?"

  As she asked the question, Dalton moved his stunned sister aside far enough to come into the room. He went straight to Lilly and had her up against his chest, his arms wrapped securely around her before he or anyone else could say a word.

  Chapter Eight

  Dalton held Lilly tight against him for several minutes before finally finding his voice. "Lilly, are you okay? You've been crying. Are you all right?"

  Lilly looked over at Daphne, who was standing beside them with a big smile on her face. "I think I am now," she said quietly, hoping Daphne was right and Dalton did care about her.

  He leaned back and used one finger to gently lift her chin to look at him. "We need to have a long talk, Lilly. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but I've been worried sick about you."

  "I didn't mean to worry you."

  "I've done nothing but worry since you left. I've been going crazy." His lips descended slowly to meet hers, and he gave her a light, tentative kiss. When she didn't object he kissed her again, with much more passion. He was elated when she seemed to melt into his arms. Holding her against his chest again, he asked, "What made you leave without talking to me?"

  Dalton could see Lilly's eyes as they went from him to Daphne, and saw the big smile on his sister's face. Looking back to Lilly, he said, "We'll talk later, when we can sit down and have a long talk, but right now I just have to hold you, let my heart calm down. I about went crazy worrying about you."

  Looking over at his sister's silly grin, he knew she was well aware of his love for Lilly and was sure he'd be teased. He really didn't care, but he had to get in a jab at her, as well. "Don't look too smug, sister. I'll bet Brian won't like hearing about how you opened the motel room door without checking who was knocking."

  It was all he could do to keep from laughing when Daphne's big grin disappeared i
nstantly. "Oh, come on, Dalton, he doesn't need to know this one time, does he? I was really upset talking to Lilly and hearing about what happened, and the huge misunderstanding you two need to talk about. Can't you forget to mention it this one time? I'll leave and give you two the privacy you need."

  Lilly wasn't sure exactly what he was talking about with opening the door, but she could easily see that Daphne didn't want Brian to know about whatever it was she'd done, and felt she had to try to help her friend. "Dalton, I'm not sure what you're saying Brian would want to know about, but please don't get her into trouble on this trip. If what she's telling me is right, I misunderstood several things. If she hadn't come out here, I wouldn't know that, and that means a whole lot to me, that she took her time and money to do that for me."

  Dalton had to smile at the little lady. Her loyalty to her friend was one of the reasons he'd fallen in love with her. She also just told him he was going to have to add a few more rules to her list once he got her back to the ranch, which he fully intended to do within a day or two. They'd have to have a talk about general safety, like opening a door without knowing who's on the other side. In the meantime, he wasn't sure what he wanted to do. Lilly was right; Daphne had been a big help to him through this whole thing, calling Lilly every day and reporting back. But Brian was as concerned about Daphne's safety as he was, and he would certainly want to know if either of the ladies standing in front of him had done that.

  Before he'd made a decision, Daphne got his attention. "Dalton, now that you mentioned Brian, I have a question for you. I can't believe he sold me out. I told him not to tell you where I went until I had a chance to talk to Lilly. Did he tell you everything the minute I left, or how exactly did you know where we were?"

  "Before you get all upset with your husband, let me assure you that no, he did not tell me where you went. I asked, but he wouldn't tell me."

  Daphne squinted her eyes suspiciously as she studied her brother. "So how did you know then?"

  "Mark had that information for me within about fifteen minutes once I told him what airport you flew out of and when. Once he knew the destination city, he called motels in the area saying he was looking for his sister, and it didn't take long to find the motel Lilly was staying at."

  Daphne was upset. "So you thought you had the right to check up on me and follow me? Isn't that called stalking?"

  Dalton answered her in a stern voice. "Watch the attitude, young lady, or I will talk to Brian." He softened his expression and voice as he reached out and pulled Daphne over with one arm so he could hug both ladies at once. "You're right, Daphne, I shouldn't have asked Mark to do that, or followed you here, and I apologize. But I've been so worried about this little lady that I couldn't just stay there, knowing you knew where she was."

  He reached down and gave Lilly a little kiss on her head and was happy to see her timid little smile as she looked up at him. "Dalton, I'm sorry now that I left. I've been talking to Daphne, and I think I misunderstood some things. Thank you for coming." She turned to Daphne next. "And please don't be upset with him. It means a lot to me that he came to find me."

  "I guess I'm not really upset with him. I know how worried he's been."

  Dalton pulled both ladies in against his chest. After a group hug he suggested, "It looks like neither of you ate much of your supper and it's cold. Let's go find a restaurant."

  "Sounds good to me," Daphne said. "And then why don't you two come back here and have a good talk. There was a big misunderstanding, and you two need to straighten it out so you can get on with your lives—together." She saw the two of them smile as they looked at each other. "Dalton, assuming you reserved a room, let me use it while you guys talk. Tonight's the best night of the week for watching television. When you get everything straightened out, you can come get me. Then I'll come back here and spend the night with Lilly and she can tell me everything you guys talked about."

  Lilly giggled and Dalton frowned at her, but seeing the two ladies smiling, he soon gave in and smiled, as well. He sighed resignedly and said, "The trouble is you're probably telling the truth, so I'm not sure what I could actually scold you for."

  They were all smiling as they headed down the hall in search of a restaurant, Dalton in the middle, with a woman on each arm. "Thanks for giving us some privacy tonight, Daph. I appreciate it."

  "I was serious about wanting to use your room. Flying always gives me jet lag, no matter how long a flight it is. I'll start out watching a good show and then probably take a nap. Which is good," she added with a mischievous grin. "Otherwise I wouldn't be wide awake to hear all the gossip—I mean, all the good stuff you guys are going to talk about."

  Without a word Dalton reached back and smacked Daphne's backside.

  "Ouch! Dalton, we're in public!"

  "You know what I think of gossiping," he said with a grin.

  Lilly gasped and slowed, but Dalton put his arm around her waist and kept walking. He looked over at her and smiled. "I don't like gossip," he said simply.

  "I'll remember that," she said hesitantly.

  "Good idea." She looked apprehensive until he looked down at her and winked.

  After a nice dinner, during which there were many looks and smiles passed between Dalton and Lilly, Dalton dropped Daphne off at his room, and accompanied Lilly back to hers.

  They sat down on the couch and he immediately pulled her over onto his lap. He guided her head onto his chest. "Now, this is about how we were sitting the last time I held you. I obviously had no idea what you were feeling. Can we go back and try it again? Daphne said there were some misunderstandings, so we need to talk it through this time. Can we try that, please?"

  "I think that's a good idea."

  "Good. Now, I was comforting you, and I thought you seemed to be calming so we could talk. What happened that made you jump up and run?"

  "Well, I think we have to go back further than that."

  He studied her expression several moments. "How far? We can go back to where you're over my knee getting a spanking, but I don't think that's what you have in mind." He looked up as he asked, "Or is it?"

  "No, I don't want to go there again, but what happened after you stopped? How did I end up on your lap?"

  "I put you there," he said rather dismissively. She could tell he was thinking of something else, so she gave him a little time. Finally, he addressed her seriously. "I'm thinking maybe in a way we do need to go back to where you're over my lap getting spanked."

  She tried to jump up off his lap again. "No!"

  He was ready for her to try to leave this time and tightened his arms around her. "Oh, no, you don't. That's rule number one here. I know this is all new to you, and I'm thinking now I jumped into this sooner, or quicker than I intended to. Let me back up with what probably should have happened before I gave you your first spanking."

  "My first spanking?"

  "Yes, your first. Let me back up a little bit. That fateful day I went into the house for the sole purpose of finding you so we could have a talk. What happened next I think will make more sense if you know why I wanted to talk to you, so let's start there."

  "I'm not sure I understand, but I'll listen to anything you want to explain."

  "Good girl. I came in the house to ask you out on a date."

  "You did?"

  "Yes. Every evening after supper you and Clay left together, and I assumed you were spending the evening together."

  "No, we weren't," she explained quickly. "I went out walking every evening. He just walked me out because he was going the same direction."

  "That's what I found out that fateful afternoon. I was talking to Clay, and he cleared that up. The only reason I hadn't asked you out before then was because I thought you were dating Clay. He's my foreman and friend, and there was no way I'd ask out a lady he was seeing, no matter how much I wanted to."

  "So that's why you never wanted to talk to me much, either?"

  "I'm not sure—"

 
"I tried on several occasions to start a conversation in the evenings or on Sundays, but you never were much interested in talking. You weren't rude, but you were kind of guarded."

  "I was totally guarded." He tightened his arms around her as he continued. "I was attracted to you, Lilly, but I thought you were already seeing Clay. That made you off limits. I knew if we started spending time together, I'd have a harder time keeping my distance."

  "So that was all a misunderstanding?"

  "Totally. I misunderstood what it meant when I saw you and Clay leave the house together every evening. I'm sorry."

  "I don't think you're the only one who misunderstood something."

  "Okay, let's keep going then. I came in to ask you out, excited that we were free to start a relationship, assuming you were willing."

  "And I was. I wished we could start a relationship, but when you never seemed to want to talk to me much or spend time together I thought it was because you weren't interested in me. I guess that was my misunderstanding, and I'm sorry."

  "Okay, we've had a couple misunderstandings so far. Something tells me we may find more as we continue. Here's where I need to explain that when I came in to talk to you to see if you were interested in a relationship and found you missing, I was upset. I was disappointed, but mostly I was worried. I'd just found out I was free to start seeing you if you were willing, and all I could think of was all the terrible things that could have happened to you. I went to my deck and looked for you, but you were nowhere. I was worried about you, but I was also upset. I'd given you rules to keep you safe, and you ignored those rules, and may have put yourself in danger."

  "I'm sorry, Dalton. I really did think the rule was meant for me, so I wouldn't get lost. Daphne and I have been at that pond so many times I knew exactly how to get back to the house."

  "I understand what you thought. It was actually meant for both of us, so you wouldn't get lost and I would always be able to see for myself that you're okay. I should have made that clear; I see that now. It looks like that was another misunderstanding in our path."