Corbin's Bend Season Two

by Livia Grant

  With each mile she gets closer to Corbin’s Bend, the harder her heart is pounding. It’s as if her body is revolting from her decision to leave Troy’s without having settled things between them, but what’s the point? Staying would only have left her wanting more of what she can never have. By the time she is pulling into her aunt’s driveway, Hallie just wants to fall into her bed, pull the covers over her head and hide until it doesn’t hurt anymore.

  Before she’s out of the SUV, the front door swings open, her uncle filling the doorway. He doesn’t look happy.

  She’s not even halfway up the walk when he calls out to her. “Troy is worried sick about you, young lady. What possessed you to get up and drive away without telling him where you were going and then not answer your cell phone?”

  She is in no mood for Uncle Adam’s tone. “I thought you told me not to talk and drive. I was only doing what you and Troy lectured me about.” She brushes past him into the living room and stops dead in her tracks. Aunt Gina is sitting on the couch looking like she’s been crying. That’s not the part that surprises Hallie the most. Sitting next to her is Stacey.

  “Stacey? What are you doing here?”

  “Hey, Hallie. I drove over from Denver in a rental. We have another show tonight before the tour is moving on. I was worried about you after last night and I had some things I wanted to talk to you about that I didn’t get a chance to last night before your boyfriend carted you off. Luckily he gave me your address.”

  Hallie drops her bag with a plop. “Yeah, well he’s not really my boyfriend.”

  Aunt Gina lets out a sad cry. “Oh Hallie, what happened, honey? I thought things were going so well with Troy.”

  “You and me both, Aunt Gina. Apparently, Troy had other ideas.”

  Uncle Adam butts in. “If that young man hurt one hair on your head, I’m gonna bring him up in front of the Disciplinary Board.”

  The irony is thick as she swings to look at her uncle, anger at every HoH in the city of Corbin’s Bend suddenly bubbling over. “Oh never fear, Uncle Adam. He didn’t hurt a hair on my head. He just broke my heart instead. I’m sure there are no rules against that in Corbin’s Bend. And like it matters anyway. Troy is a man. Men have no consequences. You all get a figurative slap on the wrist and a fine. Troy doesn’t even live here anyway and… “ Hallie’s heart contracts as she prepares to say the words that hurt her more than she wants to admit. “And, he never will live in Corbin’s Bend.”

  Her aunt and uncle stand staring at her in shock at her outburst. Stacey, on the other hand, has jumped up and grabbed Hallie’s hands. “Oh I’m so glad I came. I didn’t think I could talk you into coming with us and leaving that hunk of a man behind, but if he’s not really your boyfriend, we’d really like it if you would join the tour as my assistant.”

  Hallie is confused. “Who is we?”

  Stacey clarifies. “The management company. The Kings are falling apart without you and only after you left did they all realize how important you were to keeping everything running smoothly. They know better than to stick you with Eddie again, but they would love it if you would take a new band under your wing and help them get organized and on tour. Who knows? Maybe we can go on the road together. Wouldn’t that be great?”

  Hallie’s heart is pounding at the most unexpected offer. She knows she should be grateful and on one level she is. It’s nice to know that people had noticed what a good job she’d done and it makes her feel validated. Still, the idea surprises her. She dares a glance at her aunt and can see the panic on Gina’s face at the thought of Hallie leaving Corbin’s Bend.

  Hallie hasn’t even said a word when the front door slams open and Troy comes barging in. He looks so tall and powerful and for the first time since the night she met him, Hallie is actually afraid of him. Their eyes meet as he takes large strides to cross the living room to grab her by her upper arms, shaking her ever so slightly.

  “Don’t you ever do that to me again, do you hear me? You scared the shit out of me when you were gone and then you wouldn’t answer your phone. I thought something bad had happened to you, Hallie. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “Oh I don’t know, Troy. I was thinking I wanted to come home, but the funny thing is, as I was driving back here, it dawned on me. This isn’t really my home. I’ve decided I’m not cut out to be a 1950’s woman. After all, I can open my own fucking doors and I’ve decided I don’t need the threat of getting my bottom paddled every time I break some arbitrary rule some man makes up so he has an excuse to beat his woman.”

  Direct hit. She’s angry. So why does the pain in his eyes boomerang back and pierce her own heart?

  “What are you saying, Hallie? You’ve decided you’re not going to stay in Corbin’s Bend?” She’s never heard Troy sound so vulnerable before. Her anger is slipping away, leaving her feeling exhausted. She doesn’t have any fight left in her.

  “Let’s face it, Troy. This isn’t going to work. I’m never going to be happy here. Stacey’s offered me a job and I’m going to take it. I’m good at managing bands and I’m still young enough that I’m not ready to give up the travel and excitement of the music industry. What am I going to do with myself here in Corbin’s Bend, anyway? There are no jobs for me here and, well I just think this is best.”

  There’s an eerie silence in the room as all eyes are on Troy and Hallie as they have this most private conversation. Hallie is sure she must be imagining the tremble she feels as Troy loosens his hold on her arms. She wants to cry out to him to put his hands back on her as he drops his arms to his side, taking a small step that is more like a stumble, backwards. His eyes haven’t left hers as he internalizes what she’s said.

  When he speaks, she can barely hear him. “Will going back on the road, managing a band… will that make you happy?”

  Hallie thought he would be yelling at her, trying to convince her it was a crazy idea. His quiet question catches her off guard. “I don’t now, honestly, but I think it’s what I need to do.” Her heart is pounding in her chest as she waits, hoping he will leave so she can break down and cry and then praying he never leaves because she’s sure her heart will break the second he does. She has never felt more confused than at this very minute.

  Troy looks nervously around the room, making eye contact with a concerned Uncle Adam, a crying Aunt Gina and a confused Stacey before returning his gaze to Hallie. “All I ever wanted is for you to be happy, Hallie. If this will make you happy, then I wish you the very best.”

  He leans in to place a last quick kiss on her forehead and is half way to the front door before Hallie wakes up out of her trance.

  “Troy!”

  He turns, his eyes full of unshed tears. She’s so tempted to call him back. To tell him it was all a big bluff, but then she remembers Victoria’s words and reminds herself he needs to hurry back to Denver to pack up his apartment.

  “Goodbye.”

  He releases a barely audible moan before turning and striding out without a backward glance. Had he turned around, he would have seen Hallie crumbling to the floor where she stood, her aunt rushing to her side to hold her while sobs wracked her petite body.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Six weeks later - Valentine’s Day

  “I can’t believe you’re roping me into going out tonight, Trace. This is my first weekend in town and I have a thousand chores, not to mention the absolutely last place I want to be tonight is a damn Valentine’s Day party. I knew I should have driven separately today.”

  Troy’s sister has pulled her car into the parking lot of St. Michael’s Parish instead of dropping him off at his new house, just a few blocks away from her own home on Spanking Loop. They’d been shopping in Boulder for furnishings all afternoon and Troy just wants to get home and unpack.

  “Don’t be a baby, Troy. You know I have next to no social life. It’s Valentine’s Day. Can’t you at least escort me to a small get together in the basement of the church for a few minutes? I kn
ow you have no desire to mingle, but I’d actually like to meet Mr. Right at some point before I become a senior citizen. Who knows? Maybe he might be here tonight.”

  His sister knows how to push his guilt buttons. “Fine. I’ll go for a little bit, but we aren’t staying late, got it? I’m not very good company these days anyway.”

  “Really? I hadn’t noticed.” Traci’s grin forces him to smile.

  Thank God for his sister. She’s been a Godsend, helping him sort through his anger and sadness after losing Hallie at the New Year. The last six weeks have been a whirlwind for Troy, of both highs and lows.

  Upon returning to Denver on the disastrous New Year’s Day, he’d gone into the office to try to bury himself in work. No one had been more surprised than Troy when he and Harris had traced the root of the sabotage back to code introduced by a previous member of their team, Victoria. Before the team had even left Washington, she’d embedded a virus in the code set to activate on Christmas Day knowing it would put the entire project in jeopardy.

  The very next day, Troy had flown to DC to hand over the evidence to his boss, Peter. They’d confronted Victoria together and she had confessed. It still turns Troy’s stomach when he realizes she had tried to ruin the entire team’s work in a misguided attempt to force Troy to move back to Washington DC. Now she faces a court-martial while his team successfully wrapped up their big project and moved on to the next.

  As busy as his work has been, not an hour goes by that he doesn’t think of Hallie. One of Troy’s biggest regrets is he never got to tell her his plans for the future. He’s not sure it would have changed her mind and made her want to stay, but he wishes he’d tried harder to understand what had gone so wrong their last night together. He’d just been so hurt by her rejection, he’d rushed out of the Newberry’s house without trying harder to change her mind.

  So, despite Hallie moving on, Troy had gone through with his plans to retire from the Air Force. His boss, Peter, had not been thrilled when Troy advised him that he wanted to move to Corbin’s Bend to be near his sister, but Troy had been relieved when Peter approved the plan. As of two weeks ago, Troy is now a private citizen. He will continue to head up confidential projects with his team, but this time as a highly paid private contractor. He’s arranged to work out of Corbin’s Bend three days a week, driving into Denver twice a week and flying to DC for meetings with Peter at least one week per quarter.

  As he had hoped, he’s now spending more time with his sister. The problem is, it’s taken every ounce of his control not to pump Traci for any scrap of information on Hallie. Several times, he’s picked up the phone to call Hallie, but would chicken out, not sure what he would say to her other than begging her to come home. He’s still working on coming to terms with the fact that she is in a different place in her life than he is. He is ready to settle down and start a family and she is still young and deserves to see the world. He just hopes she is happy, wherever she is, because he feels gutted without her.

  As they arrive in the basement of the rectory, Troy can’t help but compare this party to the one he, Hallie and Traci had attended on Christmas Eve. This party is tiny and pretty lame in comparison, but then again, only a portion of the town attends church here at St. Michael’s. He glances around, hoping to see Gina and Adam and then relieved when they are not there.

  They are greeted by Dr. Marcus Devon and his wife Cadence just inside the door. “Hey there Traci and Troy. Glad you guys could make it. I’d stay away from the punch bowl if I were you. Someone spiked it a good one.”

  Troy shakes the good doctor’s hand. “Thanks for the advice, but I honestly could use a good shot right about now.”

  Traci pulls him farther into the room where he greets several other people that he remembers and even more he’d never met before. Troy finds himself wishing everyone had worn nametags to make it easier for him to keep everyone straight.

  Luckily, he is able to pick out Father Beauchamp since he’s the only one in a priestly collar. Father Henry is making the rounds, greeting the guests and is sure to stop to greet Traci and Troy, shaking Troy’s hand lightly.

  “Welcome to Corbin’s Bend, officially. I know you have to be excited to be moving so close to your sister and she’s thrilled to have you here. You know that, right?”

  “Oh I have a pretty good idea, Father, but thanks for reminding me.”

  “How are you settling in? Have you received your official welcome basket yet?”

  “Yep. Brent dropped it by himself.”

  “Good. Good. And have you gotten the full tour of the town?”

  “Well, yes, but I pretty much knew my way around before since I’ve visited Traci so often.”

  “Right. Right. So I guess there’s only one thing left for you to do to make it official. I’m hoping you can help me tonight as a matter of fact. We normally take care of these matters after the service on Sundays, but I have a doozy that just can’t wait for Sunday. As a new, single HoH, you wouldn’t mind helping me out tonight, would you?”

  Troy is as confused as ever. “Father, you lost me right after you said right. I’m sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh goodness. I thought your sister had explained how St. Michael’s is a tad bit different than some of the other churches you’ve attended outside of Corbin’s Bend. In keeping with the town’s unique bylaws and practices, we feel it is ordained from God that we include corporal punishment into our confession and redemption program here at the church.”

  “Come again? You mean you punish TiH’s by spanking them if they come to you and confess? If so, I bet your confessional business is pretty slow.”

  Father Henry must have a good sense of humor as he is chucking. “Actually, you might be surprised, but of course not all confessions deserve punishments. But for serious offenses, I do strongly believe in corporal punishment to both correct future behavior, but also to relieve the heavy guilt that often comes with sinning. For married ladies and gentlemen, I will suggest a number of paddles they should receive and they are to go home and report it to their HoH who will handle their discipline in private. For single parishioners, it’s a bit more complicated. I obviously don’t want to administer a spanking for reasons of propriety, and so our tradition is that our single TiHs are chastised by our single HoH’s. We of course keep everyone’s identity confidential as to not embarrass the young lass should they encounter their spanker at some point in the future.”

  Troy’s mind is trying to make sense of all he’s just heard. “I thought Corbin’s Bend has a Disciplinary Board who does something similar. Are you trying to put them out of business?”

  “Oh goodness no. There is more than enough room for both of us. In fact, we often work in conjunction with each other. But tonight, for example, is not a Disciplinary Board matter. No town rules were broken. It’s a private matter and here at St. Michael’s I am very happy we have the means to properly handle the situation confidentially and get our misguided young woman back on the path she belongs.”

  As if he needed more proof, this conversation is proving to Troy he isn’t close to being over Hallie. He’d moved to Corbin’s Bend because he believes in the benefit of discipline, but tonight, faced with the prospect of being able to properly spank a submissive in need of his help, he wants no part of it. The only person he wants to share such an intimacy with is Hallie.

  “I don’t know, Father. I’m sure there are other singles here who might jump at the chance.”

  Taking Troy by the arm. “Oh come, young man. I left the poor dear getting prepared. Let’s not make her wait in dread longer than she already has. I’m sure she’ll appreciate you helping her mend her ways with a nice hard paddling. What better way to remind yourself of why you are choosing to live in Corbin’s Bend?”

  Troy really doesn’t want to do this, but Father is pulling him along insistently. He looks back to see Traci’s smiling face and wonders if she knows what’s happening. Then he r
emembers she is a single TiH in Corbin’s Bend which means she may have been on the receiving end of Father’s confessional discipline before. She flashes him a supportive smile and Troy steels himself for the job ahead.

  “Okay, Father. You’re catching me off guard, but I guess there is no reason I’m not able to help.”

  “Very good. Let me go get everything ready and I’ll be back for you in five minutes. Have a drink of punch while you wait, but only one mind you. I need you to be in control.”

  “Oh never fear, Father. I wouldn’t dream of punishing a young woman unless I was in complete control.”

  “Very good.”

  Troy isn’t thirsty, but he heads to the punch bowl to give himself something to do in this awkward intermission. Now more than ever he wishes he hadn’t let Traci con him into coming to this lame party.

  “I’m sorry. I should have warned you, but I honestly didn’t know how to bring it up. Don’t be mad at me, please?”

  Troy turns to see his sister looking guilty. “Maybe you should line up to confess too and I can deliver two for the price of one tonight.”

  Traci’s eyes expand, not quite sure if he was joking or not. “Relax, sis. It was a joke. Yes, you should have told me about Father Henry’s strange twist to the confessional, but honestly, how could you have known he would have a naughty woman in need of discipline tonight of all nights? It’s supposed to be a party, for goodness sake.”

  Is that guilt he sees in his sister’s eyes? “Of course, Troy. Still, if you decide to keep attending St. Michael’s, you might be called into action every once in awhile.”