It's Just A Ranch

by Misty Malone

  “She took her computer and said she’s going out to write, but I don’t know where she went. I don’t know how she can write outside, but she says it gives her inspiration.”

  “I agree with you. I don’t know how she can write on a laptop to begin with, but she does. I think she takes it outside and writes until the battery dies, then comes in and charges it up for the next day.”

  “Do you want me to give her a message when she comes back in?”

  “No, that’s okay. I want to talk to her, but it can wait until after supper tonight.” Maria nodded, and he turned to go back outside. When he got to the door, he turned again. “If she says she’s going anywhere in her car, have her call me first. I need to talk to her before she takes her car anywhere.”

  “Oh, okay.” Maria went back to the pie she was making for supper.

  Mindy came into the kitchen fifteen minutes later. “My battery died. Was Garrett in here? As I was walking back to the house I thought it looked like him coming out of the house and back to the barn. He left on a tractor. Was anything wrong?”

  “Not that I know of. He came in looking for you. He said he needs to talk to you before you take your car anywhere.”

  “My car? What’s up with that?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe he saw a tire going flat or something. It’s hard to say.”

  “Maybe. I haven’t noticed anything driving funny or anything, but maybe he saw something that didn’t look right to him. Who knows?”

  “He does watch out for you, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he gives your car a visual check regularly.”

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Mindy said with a smile.

  Maria caught her smile. “It is a nice feeling knowing someone’s watching out for you, isn’t it?”

  “It is. It gives you a warm, tingly feeling.” She was still smiling as she went upstairs to continue writing after plugging her computer in to charge.

  She came downstairs later and helped Maria with supper, which is where Garrett found her. She was bent over the open oven door, ready to pull a big pan of lasagna out of the oven. Without saying a word, he went to her, took the pot holders out of her hands, and pulled out the pan of lasagna, setting it on the stove. He set the pot holders down and took her in his arms for a kiss.

  She blushed, knowing Maria and Wyatt probably saw him kiss her. “Thank you,” she said.

  “For what; taking the pan out of the oven, or for the kiss? You’re welcome for both,” he teased her, loving the way she blushed.

  Maria was smiling, but tried to sound serious. “That will be enough of that in my kitchen. Have you washed up yet?”

  “I washed up out in the barn before I came in. You wouldn’t want me near that delicious looking pan of lasagna if I hadn’t, would you?”

  “I most certainly wouldn’t,” she said. “That’s why I asked.”

  “Not to worry, Maria. I’m a good boy and I follow rules.” Maria scoffed and went back to tossing the salad, but Garrett saw the smile on her face. He leaned down to whisper into Mindy’s face. “Unlike someone else I know, who seems to have trouble following rules.”

  Mindy looked up at him, but couldn’t read his face. Was he referring to the lecture he’d given her yesterday when she took Buttercup out for a ride without telling him? He’d been teaching her how to ride Buttercup, one of his friendlier mares, and there had been a misunderstanding. She explained to him that since he told her he thought after the lessons he’d been giving her that she was ready to ride outside the corral, that meant she could go whenever she wanted, as long as she didn’t go beyond the area she was free to take the four wheelers in. Apparently she hadn’t been listening quite good enough, because he’d actually told her the next time they went riding she could take Buttercup out of the corral.

  He’d told her in the past that she always hears what she wants to hear, and that’s not always the same as what he actually says. She had to admit he might be right about that. But nothing happened yesterday. She apologized and assured him she understood now what he meant, and promised to follow his rule. Was his comment about not following the rules referring back to that, or did she forget another rule?

  She thought about that all during the meal. He gave her a glance a few times during supper, and she could tell something was up, and it worried her. What could she have done now that upset him? He’d only spanked her one time other than that first time, but he’d threatened several times lately, saying she was getting awfully close. He said he’d been keeping track of all the times she almost followed his rules, or followed most of the rule, as she liked to point out to him.

  She was afraid the next time she stretched the meaning of one of his rules would be one time too many, but she honestly couldn’t think of anything she’d done like that lately. She tried to convince herself he was just referring back to yesterday, and tried to enjoy her supper.

  As soon as supper was over, however, so was her newly found enjoyment. She started to take dishes in to help Maria, but Garrett stopped her. “Mindy, as soon as you’re done helping Maria, would you please come to my office? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  “Go ahead now, Mindy. We did most of the dishes before supper, so it won’t take long.”

  “Are you sure? I can help you first.”

  Garrett stepped in, taking Mindy’s wrist and starting toward the office. “Thank you, Maria,” he said. He pulled her down the hall and into the office, where he locked the door before letting go of her arm.

  “What’s going on, Garrett? What do you want to talk about?”

  He sat down on the couch and pulled her down to sit beside him. “Your little orange bug.”

  “What about it? Is something wrong with it?”

  “What’s wrong with it is that the little lady who drives it ignores my warnings about driving too fast.”

  She could tell from the tone of his voice that he was upset, and that wasn’t good. He could be concerned and want to talk, or he could be upset. Right now he was upset, and he hadn’t even started his lecture yet. This was not good at all. “What do you mean? I haven’t gotten any speeding tickets.”

  “Because he was pulled over, helping a car along the side of the road.” He sighed, and she could tell he was calming himself down. “Mindy, we’ve talked about this before. I’ve heard people say they saw your little orange bug flying down the road, or whipping around town. I warned you that getting a car like that is going to make it stand out. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’re driving too fast, everyone notices it. Aaron Southerby, a friend of mine, came out to talk to me today, and when he saw your bug sitting in the lane, he asked whose it was. He said he was helping a car along the road last week when this little orange bug went flying by him. He guessed it was doing seventy-five or more.”

  “People can say a car is going however fast they want to say, but they don’t really know. I mean, who would actually know how fast a car is going just by watching it go past?”

  “Oh, I don’t know; maybe a sheriff’s deputy, like Deputy Aaron Southerby.”

  “Oh. So your friend is a deputy?”

  “Yes.”

  “I didn’t see any sheriff’s cars sitting anywhere.”

  “I don’t doubt that, or you would have slowed down. He was in his personal vehicle. But that doesn’t mean he can’t tell how fast a car going past is traveling.” Without another word, he pulled her over his lap and quickly reached around to unfasten her jeans and pull them down, along with her panties.

  “No, Garrett, not that. I don’t want a spanking, and I especially don’t want you to take my panties down.”

  “We’ve been over this, Mindy. I didn’t pull your panties down the last time, but I told you then that any future spanking you get will be on your bare bottom, unless it’s just a few warning smacks over your jeans. Now settle down and get it through your head that you’ve earned a spanking and will be getting one, so you can accept it.”

&nb
sp; “Accept it? How do you accept it? They hurt. Oh, Garrett, no. I just thought of something.”

  He paused a moment. “What’s that?”

  “You can’t do this here. Maria will hear, and I’ll be so embarrassed.”

  He continued taking her panties down. “No, she won’t. Dad had this room soundproofed years ago. That’s why I brought you here. I don’t have to worry about all the screaming and yelling you do. You’ll have all the privacy you want, so you can feel free to yell at me all you want, although that’s something else we’re going to be talking about.”

  “What is?”

  “We may as well start with it, so you can keep it in mind during the spanking, and then we’ll address your driving.”

  Mindy was struggling for all she was worth, trying to get free, but he was holding her tight and she wasn’t budging a bit. It was extremely frustrating. “Garrett, damn you, start with what? What are you talking about?”

  “That,” he said, giving her a good solid swat. “I want to talk about your attitude.”

  “But you said you’d only spank me when you were protecting me.”

  He started the spanking, mixing it up so she never knew when or where the next swat would land. “Right now I’m protecting you from yourself. You’ve developed quite an attitude lately, and it’s not like you. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I think I’ve figured it out. I’m sorry to say I think I’m partly to blame, but that will stop right now.”

  “If you’re to blame, why am I the one getting the spanking?”

  “That’s a prime example of the attitude you’ve developed, Mindy. When you’re over my knee getting a spanking, it is not the time to be getting mouthy or to curse. Yet, you’ve done both. I think I’ve been too lenient with you.”

  “You sure don’t feel like you’re too lenient right now.”

  “I’m not being lenient now; I’m giving you what you deserve, and I think what you need.”

  “I do not need this! Are you crazy?”

  “No, I’m not. But you’ve been stretching my rules, and you’ve developed an attitude when I talk to you about it. But yesterday I heard you talking to Maria, and this new attitude was present then, too.”

  “But I apologized to her later. You may not have heard that, but I realized I was wrong, and I apologized to her.”

  “But that told me I should never have let your attitude get to where it is now. I think you’ve been pushing me, a little at a time, to see what I’d do. Well, I’ve caught on now, and you can see what I’m doing about it.”

  “So this isn’t for speeding?”

  “We’ll be addressing that next, but this needs addressing first.” He stopped the spanking and rubbed her bottom a bit, giving her time to catch her breath. When he was sure she could listen to him, he simply talked to her, without the spanking, to be sure she heard him. “Mindy, you’ve become a very special, very important part of my life. I hope our relationship is for life. It’s too early to jump into anything yet, but I’ve found myself thinking about what a good wife you would be and what a wonderful life we could have.”

  She turned around and looked up at him with a mixture of love and sadness. “Really?”

  “Really. I don’t know how you feel about it, and I’m not asking you to commit to anything, but I want you to know how I feel, so the next thing I’m about to say will make sense.”

  “I feel the same way, Garrett,” she whispered.

  “Good,” he said, as he quickly pulled her panties back up before pulling her up onto his lap to give her a gentle kiss. After a hug, he continued. “But honey, for this to work out, we have to have mutual respect. The attitude you’ve given me, and Maria yesterday, and who knows who else, does not show respect. Knowing you like I do, that’s not you, and that tells me something is wrong in your life. I think I’ve been letting you push too hard, and get away with too much. I put those rules in place to protect you, but while you haven’t actually broken any of them, you’ve pushed and pushed, and stretched them as much as you can.”

  Mindy hung her head, which told Garrett he was right, and she was seeing it now, as well. “I’m sorry, Garrett. I haven’t meant to do that.”

  “I know you haven’t, baby, but you have, and I’ve allowed it. I know you’re new at following rules, and I tried to be patient, and a little lenient. But I’m new at this, too, and I now see that that philosophy is wrong. If I would have spanked you the first time you pushed against one of my rules, I don’t think you would have been so quick to push again.”

  He lifted her chin so she was looking at him, as he took one of her hands in his. “Things are going to be different now. When I give you a rule to keep you safe, that rule is to be followed to the letter. There will be no more stretching it just a bit.

  “Last night while I was laying in bed I thought about you taking Buttercup out by yourself. I know we talked about it and you said you thought I meant you were ready to take her out by yourself, so I let it go, just making sure you know now what I meant. Thinking about it last night, I realized I should have spanked you. If you misunderstood, it was because once again, you heard what you wanted to hear. I made it perfectly clear that I meant the next time we go out riding, instead of both of us riding Duke, I thought you’re ready to go out on Buttercup, if you’re with me. Answer me honestly, baby. You knew what I meant, didn’t you?”

  She tried to look down, but he held her chin. “I want an honest answer, young lady.”

  She sighed. “Yes, I knew what you meant. I wanted to take her out, though, and I knew that if I told you I just misunderstood you, you wouldn’t spank me for it. If nothing happened yesterday, I was hoping you might even let me start taking her out alone, seeing that it worked okay once.”

  He closed his eyes a moment. “Thank you for your honesty. This relationship is new to both of us, and we both have to work together to make it work. I needed to hear that.”

  “I don’t think it’s going to be so good for me, though,” she said.

  “Honey, right now there are so many things I should have spanked you for and didn’t, like that, that it wouldn’t be fair to you to make up for all of them now.” She looked relieved, but it was short lived.

  “I am going to give you a good spanking now, and we’re going to talk about the things I should have spanked you for. Be aware, though, that you won’t be getting off easy for them from here on out. Any of these things will earn you a spanking from now on.”

  “But I’ll never be able to sit down,” she said, truly concerned.

  “I don’t think that will happen. I think after the first few spankings you’ll see I’m serious about this, and you’ll stop pushing. You’re a smart lady. You’ve only been pushing this hard because I’ve allowed it. I’m not going to allow it any longer, and I think you’ll catch on to that quickly.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “I think I am. I don’t particularly like spanking you, knowing it’s causing you pain. But now that I see withholding them isn’t really doing you any favors, which is what I thought I was doing by not spanking you, I think we’ll be all right. I’ll spank you when you earn it, and by doing that, I don’t think you’ll earn it as often. In the end, I think we’ll both be happier.”

  “Maybe eventually, but I don’t think I’m going to like it much in the near future.”

  “Maybe not tonight, but keep in mind that if you weren’t so special to me I wouldn’t be doing this.”

  “I’ll try, but it’s hard to think about anything but the pain right then.”

  “Before I put you back over my knee and we finish this, I want to talk to you about all the things you should have been spanked for and weren’t.” She nodded, and they spent the next ten minutes talking about what all he felt she should have been spanked for, making sure she understood why.

  “Okay, Mindy, it’s time I held up my end of this relationship. Over you go.” He picked her up and had her back over his lap in short order and pulled
her panties back down. He started the spanking again, quickly reviewing all the things they’d just talked about.

  When she thought he was finally done, he surprised her, and it wasn’t a good surprise. “Now we’re going to talk about your driving.”

  Her eyes got wide. She was so sore now she didn’t think she’d ever sit again. “No, please. It hurts.”

  “This is a spanking, honey. It’s supposed to hurt. Just think how much it would hurt if I would have given you a spanking for each thing you did.”

  “I know, but it hurts!”

  “This is the last thing we have to talk about, and we are going to talk about it. I know you’re sore, but believe me, you can take more. I will never cause you any permanent harm. You may not enjoy sitting tonight, but you’ll live through it.” He began spanking again, while talking about how dangerous driving fast can be and how bad he would feel getting a call from Aaron saying she’d been in an accident.

  He knew she was sore, but as hard as this was for him, he knew he had to make her see he was serious now, and would be from here on out. When he finished the spanking, he gently pulled her panties back up and helped her up. He let her squirm around on his lap until she found a spot that was semi acceptable. He pulled her in against him, resting her face against his chest and holding her so that most of her weight was off her bottom, which he knew was sore. He gave her his hankie, and held her, rubbing her back while she got her breathing under control and calmed enough to talk.

  “Are you okay now, honey?”

  “Define okay,” she said, still whimpering, but holding on to him.

  He chuckled. “You’ve still got your sense of humor, so I’ll take that to mean you’re okay.” She was still trying to control her whimpers and gasping, but she stretched up and kissed his cheek.

  He held her tight against him, leaning his chin on her head, while they talked. He could tell the difference in her. She seemed so relaxed and happy. As he was thinking about that, it occurred to him, this was exactly what she’d needed. She seemed settled and content.