She stepped into the diner and spotted Albert across the room. Upon seeing her, he set down his cup of coffee, rose, and walked toward her. She held out her hand to him. “Good afternoon, Albert.”
“Hello, Callie. You look very lovely in your new dress.” He kissed her hand. A man had never kissed her hand before, and she decided she liked it. She felt even more like a lady and stood a little straighter.
“Come and sit down.” Albert placed his palm on her back to guide her toward the table. He held out her chair and she sat awkwardly. After he sat down across from her, he asked what she would like to eat. She felt nervous and afraid of giving him the wrong answer. What would a lady eat?
“I’ll have whatever you’re having, just less of it,” Callie said. Her cheeks grew warm and she scolded herself. Such a silly thing to say!
But Albert didn’t seem to think anything was amiss in her answer. He summoned the waiter and ordered her a biscuit, a slice of ham, and an egg. He then folded his hands in front of him on the table and studied her. “So, Callie, here we are.” He wore a blank expression, and Callie couldn’t tell if he was pleased with her or disappointed, so she felt even more nervous.
“Thank you for the dresses, Albert. You are very generous.”
“You’re welcome.”
A silence followed, during which he continued to regard her. She couldn’t be sure, but he looked sad to her, and her worry that she was a disappointment to him continued to grow. She cleared her throat. “I like this dress because it reminds me of a dress that Ophelia wore in Hamlet. Delightful play.”
Albert took a sip of his coffee and frowned thoughtfully. “Is that right?”
She nodded. “Yes, and the day after we attended the theater, my father bought me a lovely silk scarf like Ophelia wore. It was the color of the sky just before a storm, a pretty greenish gray.”
He placed his coffee cup on the table and studied her. “I’m surprised you wanted to leave what seems to have been a fine life in St. Louis and journey all the way here to an unknown future.”
Callie blinked. He made a good point, and she hadn’t thought that he might question her reason for moving west. She looked down, feeling ashamed, and spoke honestly. “What’s the use of fine things in life, if there’s no love?” She bit her lip, and tears threatened to spill. She stared at the light reflecting off her glass of water on the table, unable to meet his eyes.
Albert touched her hand. “It looks as though I’ve upset you. I didn’t mean to. I am only trying to get to know you, and I don’t mean to question your motives. Rest assured that I will marry you regardless of what brought you here or what you left behind.” His voice was firm and held resolve. It wasn’t the most romantic thing for him to say, but to Callie it showed that he had good character, just like Jude. It also hinted at him figuring out she wasn’t quite as well off as she’d pretended to be in her letters.
She looked at him tentatively through her lashes, and he offered her a smile. The smile seemed forced, though, and Callie still felt worried that she was a disappointment to him.
“I keep my promises too,” she said softly. “And from now on I want to be totally honest with you, Albert.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Callie,” he responded, and the smile he gave her then seemed genuine and kind.
Their conversation turned to lighter subjects, and they spoke more easily during the next hour. Although Callie continued to feel on edge, she managed to hide her apprehension. She even managed to make Albert laugh a couple times. Two things became clear to Callie by the end of their conversation. One, he was a good man and would make a fine husband. Two, it would take a lot more than that for her to forget about Jude.
* * *
For most of the morning, Jude visited every establishment on Main Street inquiring into the character of Albert Smith. No one had a bad word to say about the man.
“Oh, he’s a fine member. Always pays his bills on time,” said the banker.
“He tells my grandmother she looks mighty pretty whenever he stops by,” said the shopkeeper.
“He’s donated money to every charity and fundraiser since I’ve been here,” said the preacher.
By noontime, Jude was thoroughly disgusted by Albert’s righteousness. He finally gave up and resigned himself to letting Callie go. There was no way he could propose to her in good conscience. Still, his jaw clenched as he witnessed them exiting the diner and Albert stooping to kiss Callie’s cheek. Jude studied her reaction carefully. As soon as Albert turned his back to leave, her body slumped, as though she could finally relax. He considered crossing the street to speak with her but decided against it. No good would come from spending time with her at this point.
Jude walked along the sidewalk toward the saloon. He needed a stiff drink and loud music to get his mind off of things. He strode through the double doors and sat on the only free stool at the bar, which was next to two men who appeared deep in conversation. Jude wasn’t feeling social and hoped no one would try to talk to him.
“Whiskey,” he ordered gruffly from the barkeep, who was a new face to him. Jude wondered absently what had happened to the man who usually tended the bar, but he didn’t feel curious enough to ask. As soon as the whiskey was placed in front of him, Jude downed it. Slamming it on the bar, he growled, “Another.”
This he repeated three more times, until he was well on his way to being drunk. It brought him very little relief. Hunched over his fifth whiskey, he stared at his tanned, work-weathered hands and mused about the trip. Never would he have guessed that he’d fall in love. If he had predicted its possibility, he would have been more careful during his interactions with the girl. He wouldn’t have spanked her, hugged her, or engaged in long conversations with her. From the beginning, he’d thought she was cute, a fun distraction from his main focus of driving. But now, she took up all his thoughts and everything else seemed a distraction.
A long time passed, during which Jude remained seated at the bar, trying not to think about Callie but never able to get her out of his mind for longer than a few minutes. He intended to sit there until dark, when he’d know Albert and Callie’s wedding was over, and then he would go drown his sorrows in his hotel room with a bottle.
Dimly, he became aware of the man seated next to him raising his voice angrily in the direction of the man sitting on the other side of him. “Can you believe that?” the stranger said, then scoffed in disgust. “I mean, I understand principles and all, but as far as I’m concerned, the promise to marry don’t mean a thing until you both say ‘I do.’”
“Albert’s as honest as the day is long,” the other man said in a conciliatory tone. “Kept every promise he ever made, I reckon.”
Hearing Albert’s name piqued Jude’s interest. He strained his ears to hear more of the conversation.
“Honest is one thing, but he’s plain pigheaded. He don’t owe that girl a damn thing.”
His friend took a drink from his beer glass. “Maybe not, but if he said he was going to marry her, you can be sure as a gun that’s what he’s gonna do, even if he don’t want to. She did leave her home and travel all the way here at his beckoning.”
Jude gave his head a quick shake, trying to focus. “Excuse me,” he said to the irate man sitting next to him. “You aren’t by any chance talking about Albert Smith, are you?”
The man glared at him and snarled, “What’s it to you, mister?”
“The way you’re talking, it sounds as if he doesn’t want to get married.”
“You heard right,” he responded, scowling. “I’ll repeat, what’s it to you?”
Dumbfounded, it took a moment for Jude to find his tongue. “I’m a friend of the girl he’s supposed to marry. Why doesn’t he want to marry her? She’s a fine lady.” He felt his temper flare. Did Albert not think her good enough for him?
The man continued to scowl. “Don’t worry, he’s going to follow through on his promise. Trouble is, my daughter went to work for him a month ag
o and ended up falling in love with his sorry ass, and I’d bet all the whiskey in this bar that he’s in love with her too.” He shook his head and mumbled in the direction of the bar surface, “Damn fool.”
Jude’s mind raced, processing the information he’d just learned. He jumped up from his seat and looked outside. It was already growing dark. “We’ve got to stop this wedding,” he said urgently. “That girl he’s marrying is in love with me and I with her, and I’m a damn fool too.”
“What in tarnation?” The man stared at Jude, shocked, while the man on the other side of him broke into loud guffaws.
“What a stupid lot we humans are,” he said, laughing.
“Let’s go,” Jude said. He threw a wad of cash on the bar and made a beeline for the door, with the man quick at his heels.
They rushed out of the saloon and headed toward the chapel. Along the way, Jude’s new friend tore into a boardinghouse and fetched his daughter, a pretty young thing whose face was streaked with tears. “I don’t have time to explain, Sara, but come along to the chapel.” She fell into step with them.
The church bells rang, causing Jude’s step to quicken even more and his heart to race faster. The wedding had either just begun or just ended.
An unusually large number of people loitered in the streets, and they formed a thick barrier. “What’s with all the people?” Jude asked, frustrated and consumed with anxiety over the delay.
“Social bee,” the man muttered. “Blast it all.”
“‘Scuse me,” Jude said to a tightly assembled group of ladies as he shoved his way through. He winced a little, knowing he was being rude, but getting to his destination in time was so important that he didn’t care all that much.
“What’s going on, Papa?” Sara said, out of breath from hustling. Her face was flushed and she grasped her skirts in her fists to enable her to jog along with the men. “Why are we going to Albert’s wedding?”
“Because you should be marrying him, not the other girl.”
Sara wailed, sounding every bit as brokenhearted as Jude had felt only minutes earlier. “I wish I was, but he promised himself to her.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” her father responded in annoyed voice.
The chapel seemed miles away. To Jude, the entire journey from St. Louis to Sacramento felt shorter than his dash to the other side of town.
Eventually, they reached the chapel. Jude paused for a moment, trying to force himself to accept and react appropriately to whatever fate awaited him on the other side of the door. He looked at the man who joined him in his task to interrupt the wedding, and they gave each other a slight nod of encouragement. Now was the time to fix things, if they still could be fixed.
Jude burst through the doors, the first to enter, and the man and his daughter stormed in behind him.
The preacher spoke in a loud voice, as though he were speaking to a full church and not one couple in front of the altar. “If anyone opposes this marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“I oppose it,” Jude boomed. He held a hand against his chest, trying to catch his breath. His heart was beating fast, more from fear that he was too late than exertion. He looked at Callie, who had a bouquet of lilies in her hands, a wreath of daisies around her head, and a stunned expression on her face. She looked at Jude with her wide green eyes. Jude broke into a huge smile. He could hardly believe his good fortune. Mesmerized by Callie’s beauty and consumed by the knowledge that she had been only minutes away from being lost to him forever, he was only vaguely aware of the man from the saloon making his opposition known to the preacher too.
“This is highly unusual,” the preacher muttered, looking as confused as Albert and Callie, and significantly less happy than either of them.
Jude walked down the aisle. He looked at Albert and said, “I love this woman, she loves me, and I’m going to be the one marrying her today.”
With a stunned yet affable expression on his face, Albert stepped away and waved at Jude to take his place.
“Albert,” Sara said softly, joining them along with her father in the front of the chapel. “I’m sorry about this.”
“I’m not,” Albert replied, flashing her a smile.
Callie was smiling now too. She placed her flowers on a pew and held both palms to her blushing cheeks. “You love me, Jude?”
He grinned at her and removed her hands from her face. He brought them to his lips and kissed each one. “I’m marrying you, aren’t I?”
“I sure hope so,” she said, and dissolved into delighted laughter.
Jude turned to the preacher. “Reckon you can finish what you started, only use Jude Johnson for the name of the groom?”
The preacher threw up his hands. “Why not?”
And so Callie and Jude got married, followed immediately by Albert and Sara. The four of them visited with each other after the unusual and happy turn of events. Jude had a feeling that they would all become very good friends if he and Callie settled in Sacramento. He could already imagine their children playing together.
“It was her outlandish stories that first got me curious,” Jude explained to the other couple. He gave Callie a stern look. “And I still intend to find out which of her stories are true and which are false.”
Albert laughed. “Like how she attended opera every Friday night in St. Louis?”
Jude sighed. “That’s a new one to me.”
Callie peered at Jude sheepishly through her lashes and giggled.
“Think it’s funny, do you?” Jude said with mock severity. “We’ll see how funny it is when you’re lying face-down over my lap.”
Callie stopped giggling but her eyes still sparkled. She looked happier than Jude had ever seen her. He was eager to get on to the next part of the evening, so he took their leave and grabbed Callie’s hand. “Come along, wife.”
Callie let out a gleeful squeak. “Right away, husband.”
Chapter Eleven: Truth or Spank
Jude removed each pin that connected the wreath of flowers to her hair. “You look so beautiful, Callie,” he said, as he lifted the wreath from her head. He placed it on the table and then folded her into his embrace. “This went from being the saddest day of my life to being the happiest.”
She circled her arms around his neck and gazed up at him. “I feel the same. I’ve never been so happy as I am right now, Jude. I loved you, but I wanted to be a good person and follow through on my promise to Albert.”
“I know, honey. Such a good girl.” He bent and brushed her lips with his. When she moaned and leaned into him, he captured her mouth and took what was now rightfully his. He set about exploring her sweet mouth. He’d wanted to kiss her for what seemed like ages, and it felt like heaven to finally be able to do so. He pulled away, leaving her panting and her swollen lips parted. She let out a soft whimper of protest.
“We have some business to attend to, darlin’.” He reached around her and unfastened the first of her crystal buttons, then undid each one down to the delicate dip of her back. He peeled the sleeves from her arms, revealing her thin chemise, which couldn’t hide her peaked nipples.
He dropped the dress slowly down over her hips. “Step out, my love,” he instructed when the dress pooled around her feet on the floor.
She did as she was told, balancing by placing her hands on his shoulders. “Are you going to make love to me, Jude?”
“Why, yes, I am, darlin’.” He slowly pulled her chemise over her head and took in the sight of her swollen breasts. He cupped one in his hand and caressed her nipple with his thumb, while his other hand lingered on her back. “But first, we’re going to play a game.”
Her eyes half-lidded and hazy with desire, she said breathlessly, “Game?”
“Mm hmm.” He bent and kissed her again before he walked to the small desk in the corner, picked up the straight-back chair, and returned to where she stood. After planting the chair beside her, he sat down and patted his legs with both hands. “Over you go.�
��
Her lips formed into a pout immediately. “I don’t like this game.”
“You don’t know that, you haven’t played it yet. Come on now, lickety-split.” He took her arm and guided her across his lap.
She landed and shifted over his legs. She was wearing lacy drawers that matched her new dress. He admired them briefly before he looped his finger under the ribbon tying them around her waist and tugged the fabric down the length of her legs, removing them completely. She squealed when he placed his hand on her bare bottom.
“What’s the name of this game?” she squeaked.
Jude kneaded her plump little cheeks, finding great pleasure in seeing and touching her bare bottom for the first time. “It’s called ‘Truth or Spank.’”
Callie giggled, and Jude couldn’t help but chuckle as well. He pulled off each of her shoes and rolled her stockings down her calves and off her feet. He took in the sight of his beautiful, fully naked wife lying over his lap, the picture of innocence, vulnerability, and arousal. His cock hardened and he cleared his throat. “Do you want to know the rules of the game?”
“I guess,” she grumbled.
Jude brought his hand down smartly on her right cheek. “First rule is respect. Care to change your response?” He smacked her left cheek.
“Yes, please! I want to know the rules,” she amended, and squirmed.
“Better.” He rubbed the sting out of the places where he’d just smacked. “The rules are simple. I’m going to ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer. For each lie, you get punished, but for each truth you get rewarded. Are you ready?”
She shifted again. “May I ask a question first?”
“Of course, darlin’.”
“I know what the punishment is, but… what’s the reward?”
Corralling Callie Page 10
