“Anyway,” Mac continued, “last night, Nick called me. He said he’d startled you in the kitchen, but that your reaction had been extreme. He said – he said – that he didn’t think that a woman would react like that to a man unless she’d been frightened by one.”
Abby winced, her hands clenching into fists. A memory of her father bubbled up, and Mac quickly laid his hand over hers. Giving it a brief squeeze, he went on, “Nick linked your changes in behavior to your nervous response and concluded that you must be having problems. Since you didn’t want to go in to do a job you’ve always loved, he thought that you might be having difficulties at the library. So he rang Holly.”
Abby’s jaw dropped. “He rang Holly?”
Mac’s face was grim. “Yes. From her he learned that she wasn’t working with you anymore; that you were working alone with Mr. Franks.”
“Y-yes. He changed the rotas so that she could set up a senior citizen’s club on the days the children’s clubs weren’t on.”
Mac shook his head. “There was no senior citizen’s club. He mentioned it in passing to Holly, but it was never anything more than an idea. He changed the rota so that he could get you on your own.”
“Oh.”
Sighing, Mac continued, “Nick rang me, told me what was going on, and asked if we could get Mr. Franks investigated. He said he would try to get you to take a day off today, if he could, to give Hollisters time to complete the investigation.”
Abby nodded. “He did try to persuade me not to go in, but I insisted because of the children’s club.”
“Uh-huh. He and I waited up all night, but nothing had come through by this morning. Anyway, we thought you’d be safe enough during library opening hours, so we agreed that I would fly home, and we’d make sure that we were there to meet you at six, when the children’s club ended.”
Frowning, Abby said, “But you must have arrived before six. It was only ten past five when... when...”
Jaw clenched, Mac said, “The report from Hollisters arrived at four, as I was flying back. Mr. Franks was just an alias. His name is really David Jackson, and he’s a wanted man in Arizona.”
Abby paled. “What is he wanted for?”
The sheriff coughed. “I’m afraid it’s not good. He’s wanted for rape... and for murdering his wife.”
“Oh, no!” Abby’s heart plummeted, that poor, poor woman. She put her head in her hands, feeling sick.
Mac moved and drew her gently into his arms, so that she could rest against his chest.
“Tell me the rest,” she mumbled, knowing she had to hear it.
She felt Mac’s arm tighten protectively around her, and then he said, “We alerted the sheriff, and Nick drove like a bat out of hell to get to the library. I diverted the helicopter so I could land in the park, just across the road. But on the way, Holly called Nick. She’d seen Daniel Harris who attends your club, and he told her that it was cancelled. She told us and then she ran to the library to check that you were okay. We all arrived at about the same moment...”
“...And your husband smashed the door down to get in,” the sheriff added. “However, you seemed to have it just about under control.”
Abby’s eyebrows shot up. “I did?”
The sheriff smiled. “Didn’t you realize you’d caught him right where it hurts?” he said. “You made a good job of it; ruptured something, I believe. According to the doctors, he’s not likely to be bothering women again for a very long time, if ever.” He sighed in satisfaction. “Not that he’d be able to, anyway. He’s back in Arizona to stand trial, and the case looks watertight. I reckon he’ll be incarcerated for pretty much the rest of his days.”
The rest of the morning was chaos. Local news reporters descended on the ranch, keen to find out what had happened.
“It’s probably best to hold a press conference,” the sheriff advised. “Then they’ll go away and leave you alone. While they think there’s a stone left unturned, they’ll just keep hounding you.”
Mac looked at Abby. “I don’t like it,” he said tersely. “You’ve been through a traumatic time, you should be resting.”
Abby laid a gentle hand on his sleeve. “I’m okay,” she said softly. “Let’s just do it, then we can get back to normal.”
So Calla, helped by Holly, set up the formal dining room, welcomed in reporters from everywhere, and Abby sat answering questions with Mac at her side. Despite the cameras trained upon her, she did so with a quiet, unmistakable bravery and dignity that made the man beside her ache with pride. Finally, it was over and the journalists and camera crews packed up their equipment.
Mac stiffened and stepped closer to Abby as the last of the cameramen came over to speak to her. “Ma’am, I just wanted to say how sorry I am for what you went through, and how glad I am that you’re okay,” he said. “But we’ve just broadcast you live, and Twitter, Facebook, the website... We’re getting thousands of messages of support for you. Just thought you might want to know.”
Abby nodded. “Thank you,” she said faintly. She hadn’t realized that she’d been live on television.
“No problem.”
He finished packing up his stuff and waved goodbye. They watched from the window as the last of the trucks left. Abby walked out of the room, leaning on Mac’s arm, feeling distinctly shaky. “Mac, I think I need a drink,” she whispered.
Me, too,” he muttered.
“Seconded,” agreed Calla, walking up behind them with Holly in tow. Back in the kitchen, Calla poured brandies for them all with a heavy hand. Nick and Jeb walked in just as she was distributing glasses.
“Got a couple spares?” asked Jeb, gruffly.
“Sure.” Calla nodded, and poured another two.
Abby took her glass and sat down at the table. She looked at them all wryly. “I... uh... just wanted to say I’m sorry for not confiding in you all sooner. I guess I was feeling embarrassed... and scared. But thank you all for helping me.”
“Oh, Abby!” Holly stood up and gave her a quick hug. “I’m always here for you.”
Nick nodded, and raised his glass to her. “If you ever need help…”
Abby smiled, “... ‘Tell you.’ I know. Thanks, Nick.”
“You’re welcome.”
Calla and Jeb stepped forward to envelop her in a hug. “You’re like our own daughter,” Jeb said gruffly. “If anything happened to you, it’d be the end of the world. Promise us... promise us... if you’re ever worried about anything, you’ll tell us.”
Abby nodded, her face solemn. “I was raised to sort out my own problems, and I guess I’m just learning how to share them. But from now on, I’ll try.”
Jeb smiled, though his eyes were suspiciously wet. “You do that,” he said softly.
Mac sighed, then reached out and put his arm around Abby. Picking up his brandy glass, he raised it in a toast. “To wonderful friends,” he said.
Around the kitchen, people smiled. “To friends!”
That evening, after dinner, Abby and Mac went into the snug. It was the first chance they’d had to be alone together all day. Mac sat down, reaching out to cuddle Abby in beside him on the sofa.
She relaxed, feeling a deep languor steal through her. She was tired and knew everything was catching up with her. But she still had some questions to ask. “Mac?”
“Mmm?”
“What about the oil well? When do you have to go back?”
He looked down at her. “I’m not going back, honey. The investigation’s nearly done. I’ll deal with all the loose ends from here.”
“Oh.” It was a sigh of pleasure. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
There was a long silence. At the back of her mind, Abby registered that she was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t even tried to kiss her now that they were alone. She knew that she was aching for him. But maybe he was angry with her for not telling him what was going on. Finally she said, “I’m sorry I screwed up again. I should have told y
ou what was happening—”
“Screwed up!” Mac jerked round in his seat to look her in the eyes. “Screwed up! Honey, some maniac tried to... to...” He blinked hard, but not before she’d seen the tears in his eyes. “I don’t care... don’t care one jot about any of that. All I care about is that you’re alive... alive and well.”
He bent his head and kissed her with such raw passion that she gasped. He pulled back immediately, and jumped to his feet. “Abby! I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I promised myself I wouldn’t do this.”
“What?”
Abby stood up fast, and caught hold of his arms. What on earth was wrong with him? “Mac, what are you talking about? Do what?”
“I... he tried to rape you, Abby! The last thing you need is me kissing you like that!”
Understanding dawned, and Abby could have cried. “Mac,” she said, drawing him gently into her arms, “you’re my husband. I love you. When you touch me... kiss me... it feels like the cleanest, most beautiful thing in the world. A million miles away from how it felt in the library. And I’ve missed you so much. I would love it if we could... could...”
She blushed and his eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really.”
Sweeping her up into his arms, he took the stairs two at a time, and they were in their bedroom before she could catch a breath. “Oh Abby,” he groaned, settling her on the bed, “I thought my life would end when you fainted. I thought he’d killed you.”
She shook her head. “Mac, it’s okay. I’m here; I’m fine. Make love to me, please.”
How could he be proof against such a plea? His heart filled with thankfulness that she was alive as he wrapped his arms around her and proceeded to show her just how precious she was to him.
The next morning, they lay cuddled in bed together as the sun rose. “Shouldn’t you be getting up by now?” she asked, drowsily.
“Nope.” He smiled against her hair. “I’m not working this week.”
“This week? Why not?”
He shook his head. “Abby, I just saw someone try to rape and maybe murder my wife. You can’t imagine what that was like. I want... I need to be with you. To know you’re all right, to look after you. Nothing else is more important than you.”
“Oh.” Sleep fled, and she sat up on one elbow to look down into his face. His eyes slid to her bare breasts, rosy in the morning light, and a small, wicked smile played across his lips. “Well, if you’re sure,” she said. “You don’t have to take the time off on my account. I’m all right, you know.”
His eyes darkened. “I’m sure,” he said. “But I think the problem is, you’re not. You’re not sure that you’re the most important thing in my life. I don’t think that you understand that in my world you come first, above everything.”
He reached out and stroked her breast. She shivered.
“You didn’t tell me about him because you were trying to protect me, weren’t you?” he said softly. “You knew I was busy, and you didn’t want to worry me.”
“Y-yes.” She couldn’t think; his fingers were causing havoc with her equilibrium.
“You thought my work was more important than you.”
“Y-yes.”
“And you shut everyone else out because...” His thumb circled her nipple and she gasped. “Because…” he prompted.
“Because I was ashamed,” she breathed.
He paused, looking down into her, his face suddenly watchful. “Ashamed?”
She opened her eyes, and then shocked herself by bursting into tears. “Oh Mac, I was so ashamed. He was horrible, and he kept trying to touch me, and I was afraid it was my fault. He said I’d flirted with him, but I didn’t. I didn’t... and when he touched me, I just felt so scared and so dirty.”
Resting her head against his chest, she cried out all of the pain and anguish that had built up over the last few weeks. Mac hugged her against him, feeling relief well up in him. He’d known ever since Nick had spoken to him that she must have been bottling everything up, just as she had when she’d been caring for her father. And after bring attacked in the library... Well, there was a lot of pent up anguish there, and he knew that it would probably be a long time before she recovered fully.
At least the dam was broken; she’d released the initial pressure and that was enough for now. As he heard her sobs abate, he bent his head to kiss her, and rubbed her back soothingly, but she raised her head and kissed him back with a desperate need that fired his blood. Together, they made love with a savage intensity that burned away all of the horror, and left them, in the end, feeling united and whole once more.
* * *
Later that day they sat together in the snug. “I like this room,” Abby murmured.
“Why?”
“Because it’s where we first... first...”
He smiled down at her. “Yes. I was so afraid that day. I thought I might lose you.”
“I was worried, too. I didn’t know how I’d take being spanked. But you looked after me. And I could tell you were doing it for my own good.”
“Yes.”
There was a long silence. Finally, Abby said, “If I’d told you about my fears, you could have investigated Mr. Franks sooner, and none of this would have ever happened. I never even thought about looking into his background.”
Mac shrugged, but his expression was wary. “Hindsight’s a wonderful thing.”
“Yes. It is. This was what you were trying to teach me by the lake, wasn’t it? To talk to you, tell you things.”
“Mmm.”
“I guess the lesson didn’t stick.”
He looked down at her wryly. “You’ve spent your whole life managing independently. I didn’t fool myself that you’d suddenly start sharing all your problems overnight.”
“I wish I’d shared this one, though.”
“I wish I’d made you.”
There was a silence, and Abby realized that Mac was blaming himself for what had happened every bit as much as she was.
He looked into her eyes, and knew what she was thinking. He closed his eyes. “Sweetheart, I can’t. You’ve just been through the worst experience imaginable. First your father, then him... I can’t bear to think what that animal did to you, what he tried to do to you.”
“Mac—”
“I died a thousand deaths when I went in and saw him slumped against you. Mind you, when I saw what a state he was in, I was so proud of you.”
She smiled. “I struck lucky with one of my knees, I think.”
“Yes, but you’d obviously already brained him with something. His head was cut.”
“Oh yes. A paperclip jar.”
He shook his head. “You’re amazing. And you’re alive. Unharmed, but still bruised, fragile. Don’t ask me to spank you, to hurt you. I couldn’t bear it. I just want you in my arms, precious and safe.”
She stroked his face tenderly, recognizing that he was as traumatized by events as she was. “Remember the very first time, when you took me to the doctor?”
He smiled softly. “You let me hug you. And I knew... I just knew... that I wanted to marry you.”
Her eyes widened. “You knew that, then?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“Wow. Well... that time, you gave me two weeks to heal, then you said we’d make a decision about the spanking.”
He nodded.
“Well, I propose we do that again. We give it two weeks, and then see how we feel. And, just like in bed, we’ll agree what we want to do.”
* * *
A couple of weeks later, both of them were feeling better. Abby’s bruises had healed, and Mac was looking happier. However, Abby was still conscious of a deep, twisting guilt whenever she thought about Mr. Franks. She could have prevented what had happened so easily just by confiding in Mac, or even Nick.
She knew, too, that Mac was still suffering. Sometimes, when he thought she wasn’t looking, a deep brooding shadow would pass across his eyes. He was blaming himself for leaving her alone, f
or not pushing her to tell him what was wrong, for not being able to rescue her from Mr. Franks earlier. They were both suffering, and Abby knew they had to deal with it.
She waited until they were in their bedroom that night before she raised the issue. “Mac,” she said quietly.
“Yes?” He looked at her, and she saw from the awareness in his eyes that he was well aware that their two-week deadline had arrived.
“Mac, it’s two weeks.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and ran a shaking hand through his hair. “It is. Do you still feel the same? That you deserve a spanking?”
She flushed. “I do. You?”
He grimaced. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot. What happened to you with Mr. Franks – well, I think that taught you that you should have raised your concerns earlier.”
She nodded.
He swallowed, and then continued, “But you ignored the lesson from the spanking at the lake. You put everything and everyone else before yourself. You kept your fears to yourself, even when we all asked you if you were okay. I’m your husband. I have a right to know your concerns, to know if anything is worrying you.”
She bit her lip. “I know.”
He sighed. “I shouldn’t spank you, Abby. I’m still angry that I didn’t know, couldn’t do anything quickly enough to prevent it happening. I’m frightened I’ll take it out on you.”
She walked over to him, and took his hands in hers. “I trust you,” she said. “I think we both need you to do it. We’re both feeling guilty about it.”
He searched her eyes for a moment, and then nodded. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He nodded, and she saw the moment when the decision was made. Slowly, he stood up and locked the bedroom door. Then turning to her, he said, “You know what to do.”
Color scalded her cheeks as she looked at him, then she bent her head, and reached down to unzip her jeans. Slowly she slid them, along with her panties, down her legs, until they tangled round her calves.
Mac sat down on the edge of the bed. “Take them off, honey,” he said.
Teaching Abby (Lone Star Family Values) Page 14
