by Holla Dean
The lawyer finished his coffee and forked up the last piece of apple pie Julie had served him before saying, “I know these are unusual circumstances. But you don’t have to decide today. You two talk it over—put some serious thought into it—and let me know what you decide.”
When Julie came back from seeing the attorney out, she sat across from Seth. “Well? What you think?”
“I think we can’t make a decision right this minute. I think we better get to know each other a little bit better and find out what we each are expecting out of the marriage. I do know that I’m not willing to spend ten years of my life in the kind of marriage that I don’t really want. I’d rather take my chances on trying to buy the ranch when it goes up for sale or just content myself with what I have.”
Seth was glad to see Julie nod her head and agree with at least that much. He’d been spending much too much time here on Jason’s ranch and leaving his own ranch to his hands. It was time for him to get back home and look after his own interests. But he didn’t want to leave Julie here alone. With Jason’s cattle taken care of, there wasn’t much for Julie to do other than feed the few horses in the barn and milk the cow twice a day.
“Look, why don’t we tie the horses and the cow to Jason’s wagon and take them over to my ranch? That way you won’t be alone out here and we can spend a little more time together and get to know each other before we decide what to do.”
When he saw her hesitate, he added, “Don’t worry, you can stay in my guest room again. I need to see to my ranch and we’re not going to have enough time to try and figure out if this is something we want to do if we only see each other for a few hours between now and our deadline. As Mr. Hastings pointed out Jason died nearly two weeks ago. We only have a little more than two weeks to make our decision.”
“Isn’t there still too much snow on the ground for the wagon?”
“Probably, but I’ll get Billy to hook the plow onto the tractor and clear things enough for us to get through.”
She nodded again and said, “Okay. I guess you’re right. What about the chickens?”
That was something he hadn’t thought about. They didn’t require a lot of care with the coop in the barn, so he said, “We’ll leave them here. Make sure there is enough food for them for a few days and then we can come back every three or four days. They should be fine.”
“Okay, you call Billy with the plow and I’ll get a few things together to bring with me. While we wait for Billy I’ll clean out the chicken coop and get them set up with enough feed and maybe I’ll muck out the stalls so when we do come back here they’ll be clean for the horses.”
“Sounds good,” Seth said as he went to the land line to call Billy who spent most of his time in the barn and should pick up.
Julie changed into her coveralls and went out to the barn while he made the call. Once he was sure Billy would be on his way soon, Seth followed Julie to help her with the chores. Then he hitched up two of the horses to the wagon, tied his horse, the remaining horse, and the cow to the back. Julie would follow in her car.
The timing worked out beautifully. By the time they’d done all the work they needed to do in the barn and Julie had taken a shower to clean up, Billy arrived on the tractor with the plow attachment.
He lowered the plow blade and cleared out an area in front of the barn and then cleared a section to Julie’s car. Once he cleared the way for both the wagon and car to start on the journey to Seth’s ranch, Billy got busy clearing the path all the way to Seth’s place.
At the slow pace they moved, it was almost nightfall when they finally reached Seth’s barn and got the horses settled in. They were both relieved when they got to the kitchen and saw the housekeeper’s note telling them she left a lasagna in the oven. With the blizzard, Mrs. Alvarez hadn’t been able to get to the ranch in several days and it was good to have dinner waiting for them when they arrived.
Julie dished the lasagna onto plates while Seth pulled out two dinner salads from the refrigerator along with some dressing.
"Looks like we have ranch dressing, thousand island, and blue cheese dressing. What's your preference?"
"I'll have whatever you have, I like them all."
They sat and ate mostly in silence and when Julie cleared the table, rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher, Seth said, "I think we’re too tired to talk tonight. Mrs. Alvarez will have breakfast for us in the morning now that she can get through the roads. How about you ride with me tomorrow while I'm checking on things around the ranch?"
Julie nodded her agreement and said, "That's fine, right now I just want to go to bed and get some sleep. I need to go back out to the car and get my suitcase."
"It's already in the guest room. I had Juan bring it in for you."
"Okay, thanks. I'll see you in the morning. Gramps was always up at five, will that be all right?"
"Sounds about right if you want to shower in the morning. Mrs. Alvarez will have breakfast ready about six and I usually head out right after that."
"I'll see you in the morning then."
When Julie entered the guest room she found her small suitcase was on the window seat. She hung up her shirts and put her folded jeans in one of the drawers of the dresser. Her bras and panties went in another drawer along with her socks. She only brought enough for a few days since she knew they'd be going back to check on the chickens and clean the coop. Grabbing her flannel pajamas, she padded down the hallway in her stocking feet to the bathroom. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas. Walking back to her room, she ran into Seth who was heading to the master bedroom. Blushing at having him see her in her flannel pajamas, Julie murmured a quick good night and slipped into her room.
She fell asleep quickly and for the first time in several nights, she did not go and crawl into Seth’s bed. When she woke up she was surprised to find herself alone in the guest room. She must have been very tired to be able to fall asleep and not need to go to him.
After a quick shower, Julie braided her hair into one thick braid that hung over her shoulder. Knowing she'd be out in the cold for several hours, she put on her silk long underwear and the matching top before pulling on her jeans and a quilted flannel shirt.
When she entered the kitchen, Seth was just finishing his breakfast. He stood up and held the chair out for her to sit down and said, "Take your time, were not in a hurry. I'm just going to go out and talk to the hands and see what's been going on while I've been gone the last couple of days. When you're done eating just come on out to the barn."
Rosita Alvarez put a stack of flapjacks in front of Julie with a little pitcher of warm maple syrup. Next came a plate of scrambled eggs with bacon and Julie thought she’d burst from all the food. She was trying to be polite, but when Rosita suggested some hot oatmeal, Julie said she had to get going and made her escape.
Out in the barn she found her horse saddled and ready to go. Seth was talking to one of the hands and Julie waited until he was done before saying, “I could have saddled my horse myself, you know.”
He looked at her with a frown and said, “Most people would just say thank you. I’m sure you can saddle your own horse, but I was out here and it was no problem.”
She didn’t know why the troll bitch inside her always came out when Seth was around. Rather than apologize, she just shrugged and swung up on the horse’s back. She was ready for a good ride; it’d been too long since she rode regularly and she was looking forward it.
Seth led the way and they rode north to the pasture he said the cattle were grazing. “The boys will move them in the next few days a bit east, closer to Jason’s ranch. We kind of rotate them around in a wide circle.”
“Do you ever have them grazing on my ranch?” As far as she was concerned, the ranch was hers until it was sold or she married Seth. If she married him.
“Only in the summer. It’s too far in the winter when we have to bring them feed.”
They plodded slowly t
hrough the deep snow until they came to a big camp fire where the cowboys were taking turns warming up. While Seth talked to the hands, Julie looked around at the sea of cattle. With the snow so deep, there wasn't anything for the cattle to graze on. In the winter, it was common for them to keep the cattle in one area and bring the feed to them. A movement in the tree line caught her eye and she glanced that way. It looked like a young calf had wandered off.
Leaving the men to finish talking, she turned her horse and headed to the calf. As she got close, the animal became nervous and trotted deeper into the trees. Julie followed, reaching for the coil of rope hanging from her pommel. She had no idea if she'd be able to loop it around the calf's neck, but she had to try so that she could guide it back to the main herd.
After a couple of failed attempts, she slid off the horse and tried to move closer, talking soothingly so the animal wouldn't turn and run off. She finally managed to get the rope around its neck and just as she turned to tie the other end to the pommel, the calf turned and started trotting away from her. She held on tight to the rope, but she was no match for the calf. In very short order, she found herself being pulled faster than she could run through the snow and then she was on the ground facing down, clinging to the rope as if it were a lifeline.
She cried out once, yelling, "Stop!"
Of course the calf paid no heed to her yelling and kept going. Julie could only be grateful that the deep snow kept the calf from being able to run too quickly. It finally occurred to her to let go of the rope before she ended up seriously hurt being dragged along the ground. Once she did let go, it was only a short distance before the calf realized there was no more weight on the rope and stopped.
She sat on the ground trying to catch her breath while debating if she should try and coax the calf to come back with her. The noise of someone rushing through the brush made her turn her head to look back the way she had come. It was Seth and he sure didn't look happy.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"What does it look like? I was trying to save one of the calves that had run off."
"You could have gotten yourself killed! Why didn't you say something when you left?" Seth swung off his horse and strode toward her purposefully making her, for just one second, want to jump up and run. She couldn't decide if he looked angry or concerned. Maybe a little bit of both.
"You were busy talking to the hands. Besides, I don't have to tell you every move I'm going to make."
He had reached her now and held out his hand to help her up from the ground. No sooner did she take his offered assistance then to find herself half bent over his hip, tucked under his arm and suffering more than a few very hard spanks from his hand.
"Stop it! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Julie kicked her legs violently trying to get loose but his left arm held her fast around her waist.
"You're damn lucky it's so cold out, or I'd have your damn britches off and you'd be feeling my belt across your bare ass."
He continued to spank her while lecturing about the dangers of wandering off alone on a ranch without telling someone where you were headed. Despite the layers of her clothes, the spanking was beginning to hurt quite a bit and it didn't look like he was going to quit anytime soon.
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry, I just saw the calf all by itself and thought I should come and get it. It wasn't like you couldn't tell where I was going with my tracks in the snow leading the way."
He gave her five more smacks before grabbing both arms forcing her to face him and said, "You grew up on a ranch and you know better than to run off by yourself. Now get back on your horse and let's get this calf back to the rest of the herd."
He hugged her close and patted her back before letting her go so he could get the rope and haul the calf back to them. What the hell was that? A few comforting pats on the back after beating her ass? She watched him slowly approach the calf while speaking gently to it. Instead of turning and running like it had done with her, the young animal just stood there and watched him. She half expected him to spank the poor thing for running off from the herd, but all he did was scratch behind its ears, then he grabbed the rope close to its neck, and walked it back to his horse.
Looking surprised to see her just standing there, he said, “I thought I told you to get on your horse.”
“Who the hell do you think you are telling me what to do? I’ll get on my horse when I’m good and ready.”
“You’re just itching for a taste of my belt, aren’t you? You’re soaked through from being dragged through the snow. We need to get you back to the house before you end up with pneumonia. Now get on the damn horse or I’ll put you on him myself.”
His voice was hard and she felt a twitch between her legs when he mentioned his belt again. Somehow she didn’t think she should test him right now. She rolled her eyes, turned her back to him, and mounted her horse. Embarrassed to ride to the fire and face the cowboys in case they’d seen any part of her spanking, she turned towards the way they had come, planning to follow their tracks back to the house.
That didn’t sit well with Seth who soon was behind her demanding to know where she thought she was going alone.
“Back to the house. For all I know your cow hands saw what you did to me out there!”
He reached out and grabbed the reins from her hands to stop her horse.
“Do you really think I’d spank you where everyone could watch?”
“How the hell would I know what you’d do? The fact that you spanked me at all is more than I can deal with!”
“We’re gonna talk tonight, Julie. We’re gonna get a few things straight about how life is going to be if we get married.”
“Fine. But getting married is looking less and less appealing.”
After taking the calf to the hands, they rode in silence until the house came into view and then Julie said, “You can go back to your cowboys now, the house is in sight and I can make it.”
“I’ll ride with you to the barn. No one would know where to look if you fell off your horse.”
“Fell off my horse? I’m not some greenhorn, you know.”
“Maybe not, but you don’t have sense enough not to ride off alone.”
Chapter Seven
Julie spent the rest of the day bored out of her mind trying to find something to do. There was no housework because Mrs. Alvarez took care of all that and the cooking. The snowdrifts were too high in the corral for her to take the horses out and give them some exercise. She went into the barn and spent a little time brushing the horses, feeding them some carrots, and just killing time. There wasn’t a lot to do as there was a ranch hand that took care of mucking out the stalls and feeding the horses. She finally went back to the house where she waited in her room, reading a romance novel that she had brought along with her. She got out her laptop and spent some time on the Internet. But she had no focus and was unable to concentrate on anything.
She could think of nothing but the spanking Seth had given her in the woods. In her mind, she compared it to the spanking she received when her car had the flat tire. This latest spanking was about ten times worse. It was longer and he had struck her bottom much harder. He definitely was a spanking cowboy and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.
Even though she had told him she wanted to get married, she was having second thoughts. Having her husband spank her whenever he felt she needed it wasn't something she wanted. At least she didn't think so. And yet as she lay there thinking about both her spankings, she couldn't help but notice that wet feeling between her legs and the little flip-flop her belly did way down low. What was that about? Was it excitement? Could it actually be sexual excitement? How could something that was so humiliating cause her pussy to get wet and make her feel so…so hot? It just didn't make any sense at all and she wondered what tonight would bring when he came home.
What kind of mood would Seth be in when he returned home that evening? She knew he would want to talk and she wanted to as well,
but she was afraid that she was going to have to capitulate to his way of living if she wanted to keep her ranch. Maybe she should just give up on the ranch and let it be sold. She could go back to the city, find a job that didn’t require so much traveling, and forget about ranching. There was just one problem with that plan. She was discovering just how much she’d missed the wide open spaces and how pleasant it was to breathe in fresh air instead of the smog of city life.
Seth came home at dusk and they ate dinner together with Mrs. Alvarez serving them. After she dished out their desserts, she said, "I'm leaving now. When you're done, please rinse your dessert dishes and put them in the dishwasher. I’ll run it in the morning after breakfast."
Seth and Julie looked at each other for a few minutes while they waited for Mrs. Alvarez to leave the house. Julie got up and rinsed the dishes before pouring Seth a cup of coffee. She found a small sauce pan and heated up some milk so she could make herself hot chocolate.
"All right, you’ve dilly-dallied enough. Come back to the table and sit down. Let's talk."
She sat down and he took one of her hands and started talking.
"You told me you wanted to get married. I'm not so sure I’m as ready as you are. While it is to both our benefit, we would be locking ourselves into this marriage for ten years. That's a long time and I have a certain idea of what I want my marriage to be. And I don't plan on spending the next ten years being unhappy. No ranch is worth that.”
Julie was quiet for a few minutes, but then she said, "I don't want to be unhappy either. But I'm going to marry you because I want to save the ranch and because, even though I hate to admit it to you, there does seem to be a certain attraction. I just don't know if I can live with you spanking me whenever you feel like it. Or making me stand in the corner."
