“You were pretty then, too,” Paul forgot her parents were in the room, until Connie snorted.
“I apologize for pulling you down on the floor, Paul. At the time it seemed… funny… but I’m afraid my sense of humor is not exactly conventional…”
“Neither is mine… I shouldn’t have swatted you before I introduced myself,” he grinned again, and suddenly they were both laughing, and the world was ‘right’ again.
Connie looked at Lenora and she was smiling. She looked over at him, and winked, and Connie was shocked to find himself winking right back.
********************
Dottie somehow managed to convince Abby to let her ride along with her into town a few days later. She promised that she wouldn’t be a bother, but Abby said she was more than welcome to join her and Monty for lunch if she wanted to, and she made sure to remind Dottie that they needed to head for home on time. Papa was very strict about being home by suppertime… and being late could very well mean they wouldn’t be permitted to go again for several weeks. Dottie promised her sister she would meet her at the appointed time, and headed for Paul’s office. She was anxious to see where he worked… and to see if they were still attracted to each other. Her Mama certainly liked Paul, and once her Papa was convinced Paul didn’t need killing, he’d learned to tolerate him. It was so hard to believe she, Dorothy Jean Webster, had a beau of her own! She felt rather sorry for Becky and Maddy. They were the only two of her sisters who weren’t being courted, but the Sweetheart Dance was approaching, and perhaps they would meet someone there…
Dottie found the newspaper office, and smiled at the name Paul chose: The Red Scarf News. He’d explained he didn’t want to put ‘weekly’ in the title because he might start printing the paper a couple of times a week, or perhaps, someday in the future, extend it to a daily paper! While that was unheard of in small towns, he felt it could eventually happen. He wanted a name to represent the town… and he’d painted the window himself, in red and blue letters. It looked very nice, and Dottie was duly impressed. She opened the door and went inside. Not sure what to expect. There was a counter to separate the large room into a work area and a place for customers to wait for attention, and a curtained off room in the back.
Dottie assumed that Paul was in the back because she could hear voices… and she decided to simply surprise Paul. She opened the swinging gate, and walked through a maze of tables, and stepped through the curtain into the back room. She spotted steps leading upstairs to the living area, and knew she didn’t dare set foot up there unless one of her sisters or Mama was with her. Her Papa would cut a switch if she did something so reckless with her reputation. Still, she heard raised voices, sobbing, and a woman came running downstairs, crying hard, and Paul chasing after her. Neither of them spotted her standing close to the curtains.
“Don’t you dare run away from me, little girl,” Paul scolded. “How do you know you’re pregnant?”
Dottie’s heart fell right to the floor, and she wanted to die. She let out a cry, then turned and ran through the office. Paul had another girl pregnant…!!
Paul’s eyes widened in disbelief as he spotted Dottie just before she took off running, and he said, “Don’t you budge from this spot, Theresa. If you do, I’ll tan you within an inch of your life…” He chased after Dottie, and spotted her going into the bank. By the time he got there, she was crying in her sister’s arms, and Monty Fairchild looked as though he would like to tear him apart with his bare hands.
“I think you’d best leave Dottie alone, Alexander. She’s not a girl you can trifle with and expect to get away with it.”
“I’m not trifling with her, Fairchild. Dorothy Jean, I’m close to paddling you proper. Stop this crying and listen to me. I need your help.”
“Help with what? Taking care of your pregnant girlfriend?” Dottie accused, her brown eyes full of hurt.
“You are going to be very sorry you said that, honey,” he said matter-of-factly, and then added, “You’ll be damn lucky if I don’t take you over my knee and teach you that running away from a situation without getting the facts straight is not acceptable behavior in my eyes.”
Dottie straightened up and put her hands on her hips, “Just what can you say to make the situation any different, Paul?”
“That little girl is my baby sister.” He saw Dottie’s eyes widen in surprise, and then fill with guilt. “I could use your help right now, honey. Please… I give you my word that you are the only girl in my life.”
“I didn’t know any of your family was here…” Dottie was puzzled.
“Theresa came in on the stage about half an hour ago,” he explained.
“Dottie, I think you should go with Paul,” Abby gave her a gentle push.
“I’m sorry for wanting to break your skull, Alexander.”
“I’m not sorry,” Paul said candidly. “It means you care about Abby and her family just as much as I care about Dottie and her family… It’s good to know we can count on each other,” Paul added as he offered Monty his hand.
Monty smiled in understanding, and shook hands. “If you and Dottie want to join us for lunch, just meet us at Myrtle’s at noon.”
“Thanks,” Paul replied, then took Dottie’s hand in his and led her down the street. “I really am going to turn you over my knee for jumping to conclusions,” he promised, and when she gave him a stricken look, he relented just a bit and added, “I won’t spank you too hard this time, though.”
Dottie swallowed hard. If her Papa said that, she knew it would definitely happen. But, did Paul really intend to spank her…? They were back at the newspaper office in short order, and Paul made the introductions. It was easy to see the family resemblance, and Dottie felt like a fool… especially when she could see that Theresa was even younger than Nattie! Why she appeared to be fourteen or fifteen… much too young to be expecting a child.
“Dottie is the woman I hope to marry someday, Theresa, and I don’t keep secrets from her. I want to know what happened… Did some guy force himself on you?” Paul asked as gently as possible, sensing his sister was fragile and scared to death. She was shaking, and he didn’t know what to say, or how to help her. The front door opened, and Paul really didn’t want to deal with a customer, but he couldn’t afford not to. I’ll be right back,” he promised, and hurried out front, a smile on his face, even though he was simmering with anger on the inside at the thought of someone taking advantage of his baby sister.
“Let’s sit down over here,” Dottie pointed to a table and chairs in the corner of the storage room. “I know you don’t know me, but I have five sisters, and I’m used to listening to girl talk… Are you sure you are pregnant?” The girl nodded miserably. “How many times have you missed your monthly?” she asked, and Theresa blushed a fiery red. “It’s okay, honey. That’s how we can tell how far along you are…”
“I haven’t missed one,” Theresa whispered.
“You haven’t?” Dottie asked in surprise, wishing Abby were here to help. “Theresa, how do you know you are pregnant?” she asked.
“I let Guy Masters kiss me, and he put his tongue in my mouth… Molly Simpson said that’s how babies are made… but I didn’t know that… and now I’m pregnant and I don’t know what to do! I hate Guy Masters, but Molly dared me too… I didn’t mean it…” she cried
Dottie got up and came over to give the frightened girl a comforting hug. “You aren’t pregnant, Theresa. You cannot get pregnant from kissing a boy. There is a lot more to it.”
‘Are you sure?” Theresa looked at her hopefully.
“I heard all about it from my Mama, and she has eight children, so she knows.” Dottie took a deep breath, and decided it would be in Theresa’s best interests to tell her how babies were made… That way she wouldn’t accidentally get pregnant. Her Mama felt it was important that girls knew about all that stuff before they were caught unaware… And Dottie suddenly realized just how smart her Mama was, and vowed she was going to
give her a big hug when she got home later and thank her for being so smart. She talked softly to Theresa, and let her ask questions, answering the ones she could, and telling her she didn’t know yet when she didn’t have the answer.
When Paul returned, Theresa jumped up and hugged him happily. “I’m not pregnant, Paul. Molly lied to me about everything.”
“I’m glad, honey,” he hugged her in relief, and rolled his eyes when the front door opened again. This time it was his father, looking for a runaway daughter. Once the situation was fully explained to him, he took his daughter in hand and announced they were going home, and she was going to apologize to her Mother for running away… He hugged Paul, and smiled at Dottie and thanked her for her help with Theresa.
“I hope to marry Dottie someday, Pa, if she’ll have me,” he added with a grin.
“She could do a heap worse, son,” his father said, and then as quickly as he arrived, they were on their way home… hoping to be there by dark.
“Is he going to spank Theresa?” Dottie asked, absolutely positive that her father would do just that if one of them ran away like that.
“She’s been through a lot… and Pa will leave it to Ma to handle,” Paul replied. “Thank you for your help, honey. I didn’t know what to say to her. I thought she’d been raped or seduced. She’s just a baby!”
“I’m truly sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain what was going on, Paul. I jumped to conclusions and thought the worst. I feel terrible about that,” she admitted.
“Which is why you are getting a spanking,” Paul said firmly, taking her arm and walking over to the chair his sister had used earlier. He sat down, and pulled the unresisting Dottie over his knee.
Dottie was shocked when Paul tried to toss up her skirt and found it was a divided riding skirt, and couldn’t pull up. He stood her on her feet, and said, “Take down the skirt, Dorothy Jean, I won’t spank you over anything but your drawers… and after we are married, you won’t be permitted to keep those either.”
“What if I tell you I don’t want you to spank me?” Dottie asked.
“I’d think you weren’t as grown up as I thought you were, and I’d put off asking your Pa for permission for us to marry a lot longer,” he answered seriously.
Dottie didn’t want that. She undid the fastenings on her riding skirt, and pushed it down.
“That’s a good girl,” Paul praised her, meaning no disrespect whatsoever. Part of being an adult was accepting the consequences of your behavior. He wasn’t out to hurt his pretty Dottie, just make a point. He spanked the seat of her drawers until she was crying, and then he asked, “What have you learned, Dorothy Jean?”
“Not to jump to conclusions… and not to run away without talking to you, Paul. I’m sorry…” Just that quickly the spanking was all over. Paul helped her up, and waited until she righted her clothing before giving her a hug and telling her that he really did love her.
“I won’t ever mistreat you, Dottie, but I will spank your bottom once in a while… and sometimes just for fun,” he grinned at her and kissed the tip of her nose.
Chapter Six
David Price, Texas Ranger
One second Maddy was minding her own business, and in the next moment she was facing the barrel of a gun in the hand of a man who looked like he would love nothing more than to shoot her dead on the spot. She thought about going for her rifle, but quickly dismissed the idea as stupid. The man was a cold-blooded killer, and she was going to have to do some fast thinking to save her life.
“Get off the horse, bitch, and don’t make me tell you again.”
“What do you want?” Maddy asked. The man was letting her see his face, and that was not good. Papa always said that if a man wore a mask he didn’t want to be identified. This man didn’t care. He was desperate, and he intended to kill her. She wasn’t going to let that happen, not if she could prevent it in any way.
“I want that horse, bitch, and you’ve got five second to get off his back.”
Maddy knew her father would go after the man and track him to the ends of the earth if need be to get back her precious Blackie, but the thought of turning the gentle gelding over to this cruel man was nearly unbearable. If he was on the run, he would ride Blackie to death. She wasn’t going to let that happen either.
“Blackie has been sick. This is his first time out of the corral in a week… He won’t take you far.”
“You’d better hope you’re lyin‘, bitch,” he threatened her. “Get off that horse now.”
“I’d at least like to know the name of the man who is planning to steal my horse. You will hang for it, you know,” she hoped to scare him.
“Lady, hanging for stealing your horse is the least of my worries. If you don’t get off that horse, though, I’m gonna take you with me, and have some fun with you when I lose that lawman on my tail.”
“I doubt I would be much fun,” Maddy persisted in arguing with the man, trying to slow him down since she knew the law was after him. Suddenly, the man reached up and grabbed her arm and jerked her out of the saddle.
“Damn you, bitch. You gave him time to catch up to me, and I’m gonna use you raw after I kill that fucking Ranger.”
Maddy forced herself to go completely still. The killer would only tighten his grip if she struggled. Papa told her that was human nature. The lawman was wearing a badge, just like in her dreams, and she wondered if she’d magically conjured him to appear when she needed him most. He was so close she could see his eyes, and he’d come through the trees so they wouldn’t see him.
It was David’s worst nightmare come true, and it took him a minute to shake his head and realize he wasn’t dreaming. Although he’s seen the woman in his dreams countless times, this was a life or death situation for them both. He knew exactly what was going to happen next, and he was powerless to stop it.
“Let the girl go, Amos. She hasn’t done anything to you.”
“She ain’t getting out of this alive, Price, unless you do what you’re told. Drop your guns now, or I’ll blow her brains out.”
David knew he meant it. Amos Carson had raped and killed his way across three states before coming to Texas and continuing his crime spree. David been sent to bring him in, and he’d spent months trailing the hate-filled man. He killed people like some people swatted flies. “Let her go, Amos. Take the horse, and we’ll live to fight another day.”
“I’ll live, and I’ll take this bitch with me, unless you want me to kill her. It’s the only way you’ll keep me from takin‘ her.”
Maddy wasn’t scared. She was angry. Both of the men were talking about her as if she didn’t matter in the scheme of things… and that was a huge mistake. Carson had his left arm wrapped around her neck, holding her tight, but it wouldn’t help him a bit in a moment. She knew his attention was on the lawman, and she also knew the lawman was going to drop his gun any moment… She couldn’t let that happen. Carson would kill him without a qualm.
Maddy said a quick prayer, and hoped she lived to thank her Papa for the lessons he’d drilled into all his daughters on how to fight if that was the only choice available. She was sure he would agree that this was one of those times. She suddenly jabbed Carson as hard as she could with her right elbow, then quickly followed the jab by swinging her arm up and letting her balled fist connect with his nose just as hard as she could. When Carson cursed and released her, she heard a gunshot, and Amos Carson was dead before he hit the ground.
Maddy sat down with a flop, and did her best to catch her breath.
“Are you all right, ma’am?” David Price dismounted and knelt beside her to ask gently. “Did he… hurt you in any way?”
“I’m fine. Just fine,” Maddy answered. “A bit shaken now that it’s over, and I certainly am relieved you showed up when you did. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get away from him all on my own, but I was certain he wasn’t going to take Blackie.”
“He would have killed you without blinking an eye,�
�� David told the stubborn woman.
“That’s why I kept him talking,” she announced, getting to her feet. “Come on to the house, and Papa will send some men out here to get his body and take it to the Sheriff. Papa is going to want to thank you for saving my life.”
“It’s the other way around, Miss…?”
“It’s Maddy… Maddy Webster. And you are…?” she was direct.
“David Price. I’m a Texas Ranger.”
“I can see the badge,” she grinned. She got a stick and poked it in the ground, then took off her kerchief and tied it to the top of the branch. “I can tell the men where to look…”
David was amazed. Most women would be having hysterics right now, but not this one. She was pretty as could be, and tough. And, he felt as though he knew her. She’d been in his dreams for years…
“You are a bit older than I thought you would be, David,” Maddy said in her normal, direct way, and when he gave her a look, she grinned. “I’ve seen you in my dreams. You have a perfectly rotten temper.”
David roared with laughter, and then nodded. “Yes, Miss Maddy, I have a perfectly rotten temper. Most women won’t give me the time of day because of it,” he replied.
“And why is that?” she already knew the answer, but wanted to see if he would tell her the truth. She’s seen this man upend her over his knee in too many dreams not to know exactly how he acted when a woman dared to push him too far.
“It’s because I have absolutely no qualms about taking a hairbrush to a bare fanny when it’s deserved,” David replied, looked at her shrewdly, and asked, “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Sure did. I won’t put up with a lot of bull, David. And if you spank me, you’d best make sure I really have it comin‘ to me first. I’ll shave you bald while you’re sleepin‘ if you don’t!” she dared to threaten him, and laughed when his face turned red. “Yes, I know you sleep like the dead…”
Sweetheart Dance Page 6
