by Livia Grant
Troy finally snapped out of his trance. "I sure as hell hope you're Sean."
"Guilty as charged."
Hallie's surprise changed to anger. "Wait a minute. There is a man answering Traci's door and you know his name and yet I know nothing about this whatsoever? How is this possible?"
Troy released Sean's hand and turned his attention to his petite, blonde wife. "It's possible because my sister's heart was broken by a guy she met in Chicago and she asked me to keep it a secret so people wouldn't ask her about it." Troy turned his brown eyes that looked so much like Traci's back on Sean. His surprise was replaced with simmering anger. "Which begs the question of how you got to be here and why my sister isn't here to introduce us."
Sean stepped aside and ushered them into the air-conditioned house. "Come on in and cool off. You're a few minutes early and Traci is just finishing getting ready. I promise you, she is well and will be out to say hi herself in just a few minutes."
Hallie wasn't giving up on grilling her husband. "Let me get this straight. Traci is dating someone and you knew about this and didn't tell me?"
"She asked me to keep it a secret from everyone."
"I'm not everyone, Troy. I'm her sister for fuck's sake!"
Sean could hardly believe his eyes when Troy scooped his now screeching wife into his arms, taking long strides down the hallway. "We'll be right back, Sean."
He could hear Hallie wailing, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to cuss again. Please, Troy, I was just surprised. It won't happen again. I promise!"
Just before the door to Traci's office slammed shut Sean made out Troy's reply. "Hallie, you've promised me you'd quit cussing every day for the last four months. I'm done waiting. We've discussed this. Each and every single time you cuss, you're getting your ass toasted."
Based on the loud slam, Sean suspected the HoH had kicked the door closed. He stood rooted in place, unable to block out the sound of the semi-private moment occurring down the hall between the newlyweds. He might be uncomfortable that they were airing private matters in front of him, yet his khaki shorts were growing more uncomfortable with each loud smack of a hand to a naughty bottom heard through the door.
The sounds of the relentless spanking went on for several long minutes, giving him pause. Sean suspected he should excuse himself to Traci's room to give them privacy when they returned to the living room, but he stood transfixed to his spot, unable to move. By the time the sound of the spanking stopped, Hallie could be heard bawling her eyes out. He could hear the whir of Traci's hairdryer from her room and he was grateful she'd missed the main event. Sean couldn't help but wonder if Traci knew her brother and his wife were practicing domestic discipline.
I didn't think the whole DD thing was very widespread. That's odd that it runs in the family.
Several minutes passed before the door to the office opened and the young couple appeared, holding hands. Hallie trailed her husband, suddenly taking an interest in looking at her stylish sandals. Troy and Sean shared a pointed look and Sean couldn't shake the feeling that he was being dared to comment on what had just happened. If Troy was waiting for Sean to object, he would be waiting a long time.
"Hallie, I think you have something you'd like to say to Sean." Her husband prompted her as he pulled her close to wrap his arm supportively around her waist. Sean heard Hallie's mumble, but couldn't make out the words. Apparently, Troy couldn't understand her either.
"Start again, this time clearly and please look up at him as you're talking."
Sean saw remnants of tears still wet on her cheeks as Hallie lifted her chin. Regret spilled from her green eyes. "I'm very sorry I cursed when I was surprised, Sean. Troy has asked me many times to stop using vulgar words, but I've had problems remembering."
Sean didn't know what the correct reply was in this situation so he went with less is more. "No problem."
Troy kissed the top of his wife's head and hugged her to him while sliding his hands down to cup her ass. Her sharp intake of breath confirmed that she would feel her husband's reminder for some time to come.
"I trust that will be the only reminder you will need today, Hallie. You remember what happens if it isn't, don't you?"
"Oh God, please, Troy. Not at the party."
He pulled back and lifted his wife's chin to look lovingly into her eyes. "Hallie, honey, you're in control here. You don't like the consequences, then stop talking like a sailor. You heard what worked for Zach and Erin. The punishment will get longer and harder each time, until you finally learn your lesson. I don't care where we are or who sees us here in Corbin's Bend. You will obey, do you hear me?"
He was gently soothing her with loving words and slow pats to her blistered bottom when Traci appeared from her bedroom and stood next to Sean. He risked a glance sideways and could see her look of horror as she realized what she had missed.
"Oh for crying out loud, Troy! I leave you alone with Sean for ten minutes and you have to give Hallie a spanking?"
Troy grinned at his sister. "Talk to your sister-in-law. She's the one who continues to talk like a truck-driver. I've tried everything else. The new rule is she gets a bare-bottom spanking the minute she lets it slip. If she's foolish enough to let it rip twice in the same day, the second one will be with my belt and the third, the Corbin's Bend paddle. We haven't got to three in one day, yet, have we, baby?"
Hallie was swiping away her final tears on her cheek as she replied, "No, sir, but the day is young. I sure as... well I hope I don't slip up again at the party."
"So do I. I may need to borrow Sean's belt if you do. I didn't wear one today."
Hallie's groan of embarrassment brought an adoring look of love to Troy's face.
Troy continued to help Hallie pull herself together, hugging her close to whisper assurances of his love, while he held a tissue up for her to blow her nose.
Sean reached out to grasp Traci's hand. "Well, that was some introduction."
Troy had turned his attention back to his sister and Sean. "Consider it your welcome to Corbin's Bend. I know I was a bit surprised to see you, Sean, but I'm happy you're here. Especially if it makes my sister as happy as she looks right now."
Remembering his arrival the day before, Sean felt a connection to Traci's brother. "I'm not entirely sure she was happy to see me when I got here yesterday, but I think we're past that now, aren't we, Trace?"
He watched the shy blush creeping up her neck, consuming her. Sean was pleased with her simple, "Yes, sir."
Troy's knowing grin put Sean at ease. "So you're in town from Chicago then?"
"Yep."
"You have a daughter. Is she with you? Traci didn't tell me her name."
"It's Ashley and she's in Wisconsin with her grandparents for the holiday weekend."
"You divorced?"
"Widower."
"Shit, I'm sorry about that. I didn't know."
"No worries, but thanks."
Sean was worried the game of twenty questions might stretch out longer, but Troy brought the conversation around to safer topics. "So do you like Texas BBQ?"
"You bet. Who doesn't?"
"That's great since that's the theme for today's party. We'd better get going if we want to get some of the ribs and Angie's cupcakes."
The foursome grabbed the salad Traci had thrown together and headed out to the party. Their conversation came easy, yet Sean wished he had a few minutes alone to think because something Troy had said earlier nagged at him, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on what it might be. Obviously, listening to a husband spank his wife in the next room was not an everyday occurrence, but Sean couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something else from the odd exchange.
Traci must have noticed as she held them back far enough to have a private word as they were nearing the community center. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry I left you alone to deal with that."
"I'm fine. Yes, it was a strange way to get introduced to your family, but they seem to be doing fine no
w." They both glanced forward to watch Hallie jumping onto her husband's back to catch a ride with a giggle since her too-tall shoes were already killing her feet.
"Yeah, well they're still in that sickly-sweet, in-love stage. It's been kind of hard to be around to tell you the truth."
Sean stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk and forced a couple with kids walking behind them to detour around. He pulled Traci close and looked into her eyes.
"Sean, what are you doing?" He could tell she was uncomfortable with the public show of affection.
He didn't try to stop his grin. "I'm making others jealous of us. Showing them that we're in that sickly-sweet, in-love stage." He closed his lips to her's in a passionate kiss. He waited until he felt her relaxing into his arms before letting her come up for air. "That should do it."
He loved the dreamy look in Traci's eyes as she gazed up at him. "Should do what?"
"Tell every guy in town that you're off limits."
He had expected her to laugh, but he saw a seriousness in her eyes. "Sean, I'm worried I didn't get a chance to warn you about Corbin's Bend yet."
"Warn me about what? My in-law's summer cabin is in a small town like this in Wisconsin. Everyone there is outgoing and friendly. I bet Corbin's Bend is the same."
Traci chuckled. "Hardly. Corbin's Bend is different from any other town you've ever been to."
Sean had no idea why the normally levelheaded Traci was suddenly prone to obvious over-exaggeration. "It's a small town in Colorado, Trace. I hardly think there's anything you need to warn me of, unless it's a busy-body town gossip. I've found small towns always have a few of those."
"Well, we do have our share of those, but that's not what—" Traci didn't get to finish her sentence. Troy and Hallie had stopped up ahead and turned around to shout at them to hurry and catch up.
Sean tried to reassure her. "Traci, I'm sure everyone will be very nice. Let's go meet your neighbors."
He could tell Traci had more she wanted to say, but the crowd was pressing in behind them on the sidewalk, pushing them forward towards the huge open-sided tent with dozens of picnic tables. Festive music was being piped into the tent lending to the party atmosphere. There was a large barbecue pit at the far end where several men were flipping burgers and chicken on the open fire. Kids in bathing suits throwing water balloons at each other ran between the tables as scolding mothers chased them out of the tent and into the mammoth open green park.
Without even talking to anyone yet, Sean could see why Traci loved living in Corbin's Bend. He thought of Ashley and couldn't help but picture her here among these families. He picked out many kids around her age and wondered if any of them could be best friend material for his daughter. Unfortunately, he had a lot of details to work out with his career before he could consider making a move to Colorado.
They followed Troy and Hallie to a table not far from the barbecue pit. They joined a large group of families already seated at an extra-long group of tables pushed together.
"Well, who do we have here, Traci? I can't believe you've been holding out on your best friend!" A beautiful raven-haired woman carrying an adorable toddler drinking from a sippy cup had come around the long table to greet them.
Sean had fun watching Traci blush with pleasure as he wrapped his left arm around her waist to pull her close. "Hi, Char. I'd like to introduce you to Sean Campbell. Sean, this is Charmagne Carmichael. And this tall guy coming up behind her is her husband and one of the town founding fathers, Brent."
Sean was not short, but he had to look up several inches as Brent reached to shake his hand. "Welcome to Corbin's Bend, Sean. I had no idea Traci was seeing someone, but it's great to meet you."
"Thanks, Brent. Traci and I met a few weeks ago when she was in Chicago attending a conference. I was missing her and decided to fly out for the long weekend."
Char jumped back into the conversation, gently pressing Traci for more information. "That's so romantic. I've been trying for weeks to get you to spill the beans on how things had gone in Chicago. I can't believe you've been keeping this guy a secret. You still haven't told me how your presentation went yet, either."
Traci tried to change the subject, but Sean wouldn't let her get away with it. "Well, I was there and her presentation was a huge success. She had people coming up for her autograph days later."
"Stop exaggerating, Sean. They were asking me for my business card, not my autograph. They just wanted to email me some additional questions."
Brent congratulated her. "Still, that's a great accomplishment, Traci. We've all been waiting to read about the conference in Ettie's paper. She's here today. Make sure you give her an interview, will you?"
Sean and Traci shared a smile before he leaned in to whisper, "Town gossip?"
"One of many, yes. But she's really nice."
They made their way to two open seats at the long table, sitting directly across from Troy and Hallie and next to a family of four. One of the daughters looked to be Ashley's age. The father sitting next to Troy stood to stretch across the table to shake Sean's hand.
"Sean, I'm Zach and this is my family. My wife Erin and daughter's Avery and Jordan. Welcome to Corbin's Bend. Have a seat and join us."
"Nice to meet you, Zach, and thanks. I appreciate you letting me join in the party at the last minute."
Erin smiled kindly. "Are you kidding me? The more the merrier. Any friend of Traci's is a friend of ours."
Sean turned to the blonde-haired Avery to ask, "Do you mind me asking how old you are, Avery?"
She blushed, obviously surprised to be addressed by the new guy in town. "I'm thirteen, sir."
Sean was impressed by her polite answer. "I thought you were close. My daughter, Ashley, is fifteen."
Zach and Erin shared a chuckle. At first Sean was unsure as to why, but Zach clarified for him. "I imagine you're having as much fun as we are raising a teenage daughter in this day and age. Don't get me wrong. Avery is a great kid, but man it can be hard to keep kids on the right track at times." He glanced at his daughter who was now blushing a bright red, a look of joint anger and embarrassment in her eyes. "I'm trying my hardest though, aren't I, Avery?"
The teenager looked down at her half-full plate, pushing potato salad around aimlessly. Her father blinked with shock at her sullen, “Mmhmm, I guess so.”
“Sorry, I’m sure Avery didn’t mean to be so rude.” Zach looked pointedly at his daughter who sighed and sat up a little straighter.
“Avvy’s pouting cos she wants to sit with her friends but she’s grounded,” Jordan said with a grin.
“Jordan,” Erin warned.
“And she lost her phone.”
Avery gave Jordan a withering look.
Sean felt the need to lessen her embarrassment. "You remind me of my Ashley. She was recently grounded too and lost all electronics for several weeks. She called me the meanest dad on the planet at the time if I remember correctly."
Brent and Troy laughed. Brent congratulated him. "Being an HoH is a thankless job at times, but it sounds like you're doing something right."
There it was again. First Troy and now Brent had used the term HoH. Traci squeezed his hand under the table before she leaned in to whisper, "I really do need to talk to you, Sean."
Before they got their chance to excuse themselves, a new couple joined them at the table. "Thank goodness you showed up, Traci! I've been holding a spot for your interview on page two. I'm hoping you took some pictures at the conference. I'd love to include some artwork with the story. Wait a minute. Who do we have here?"
Sean felt all eyes, once again, on him and Traci. Traci squeezed his hand again before introducing them. "Hi, Ettie and Vance. I'd like you to meet Sean Campbell. Sean and I met at the conference in Chicago and he's here visiting me this weekend. I'm afraid I'm going to be too busy this weekend to give you that interview. Why don't you just fill the spot with another story?"
"No way. The story just got even more exciting. We
can add a personal angle to let the readers know how you met Sean."
The man at her side tried to calm her down. "Ettie, Traci said she was too busy to give you an interview. We've talked about this. Everyone in town loves your passion for getting the paper out, but you need to work on not prying. Traci will tell you about her conference, but only if she wants to."
"But, I've been saving a spot for her. I don't have anything else to fill that page."
"That's your problem to solve, not Traci's. I'd suggest you let it drop. Remember what we've talked about. People come to a party to have fun, not be grilled by the local reporter."
"But how else am I supposed to get a good story?" Upon seeing the stern look Vance was leveling on her, she appeared to throw caution to the wind. "Fine. If I don't have enough material, I'll just go back to writing creative stories of your demise. The way I'm feeling today, I'm sure I can come up with quite a doozy."
Vance remained unflappable, placing his finger under her chin as he raised her face up to make sure she was paying attention. "I'm sure you'll be able to come up with even more after we get home and I introduce you to a few of my newest creations. That's the great thing about living with you, baby. I have such a deserving canvas for testing out my art."
Vance stopped long enough to pull a business card from his pocket, reaching over to hand it to Sean. "Vance Foster. Let me know if you need anything while you're in town. The shop is closed for the holiday, but I could open as a special favor to Traci if you need anything."
Sean didn't have the first clue what he was talking about until he glanced down at the business card in his hands. It read W & C's Leather and Chainmail Shop - Implements, Restraints and Gear for all your Fetish Wear Needs. Traci groaned next to him. She attempted to pull her hand out of his, which told Sean she knew exactly what Vance did for a living.
Sean returned his attention to the couple. He was fascinated watching the power dynamics on display. Instead of Ettie getting angry, she melted against Vance's chest, leaning in for a hug as she quietly apologized.
As if the light bulb had come on, he looked around the table and beyond. Sean took note of the subtle body language occurring around him. As the lively conversations continued, he noted more than one woman who stood near the picnic bench next to her husband. That alone was strange enough, but when he witnessed two women several tables away placing cushions on their bench before sitting down, Sean began to slowly piece the puzzle together.
