Learning to Live Again (Corbin's Bend, Season Two Book 9)

by Ruth Staunton

  She didn’t figure this move was going to miraculously cure things either, but there was not much left for them in North Carolina. She had known for a while they couldn’t keep living the way they had been. She was exhausted down to her bones, and pretty much willing to try anything that would get Grant more involved. If he wanted to take over making the decisions in the household, he could have at it. She was beyond tired of doing it by herself. If that meant accepting this community’s little rules and spanking quirks, so be it. She believed in living and letting live anyway, and there was no way Grant would actually spank her. Sure, she knew he – and everyone else in this community – believed in it, but she couldn’t see him actually doing it. For that matter, she couldn’t see herself ever giving him a reason to. She’d been living as a competent adult without supervision for a very long time now. That wasn’t about to stop just because he had decided he wanted to take a hand in matters. Besides, that would require Grant actually taking an interest in her and what she was doing. She couldn’t remember the last time he had actually taken an active interest in what was going on instead of just expecting her to know. It would be nice if he did, but she wasn’t holding her breath. He might be home more now that this new job at Sandy Ridge College was less demanding, but that wasn’t about to change more than a decade of habit.

  * * * * *

  Upstairs, Grant along with Brent Carmichael, Matt Renton, and Joe Harshaw manhandled the bulky dresser to the top of the stairs and through the bedroom door. As the oldest, Kathleen had been given the larger of the two upstairs bedrooms. Grant suspected it was meant to be the master, but he and Lainie had preferred to take the one downstairs bedroom to give themselves a modicum of privacy from their two teenage daughters.

  “Where’s this going?” Brent asked from his position on the opposite end of the dresser.

  Grant looked around the room blankly. He had no idea where Kathleen would prefer the furniture to go, and he certainly did not want to deal with the resulting tantrum if – God forbid – they managed to put it in the wrong place. “Kathleen!” Grant called. “Come show us where you want your dresser.” It should’ve taken her no more than seconds to appear. She was supposed to be up here helping to unpack boxes. Through her open bedroom door, Grant could see his younger daughter Natalie unpacking clothes from an open box and hanging them in her closet. Since Kathleen had yet to make an appearance, Grant called again. “Kathleen! I need you to come here. Now.” The dresser was getting uncomfortably heavy even with the four of them spreading the weight between them. If Kathleen did not appear soon, they were going to have to put it down in the first available place, and he would just have to deal with the fallout later. He tried one last time. “Kathleen! Here! Now!”

  Finally, Kathleen appeared at the doorway of the family room, earbuds dangling from both ears. She was fifteen, with the lithe, leggy look of adolescence. Physically, she was the image of her mother, except that she had Grant’s own height and his hazel eyes. She scowled vehemently at him. “What?”

  Grant took a deep breath and reminded himself, not for the first time, that the move had been hard on the girls. It was natural that Kathleen should be angry for a while. At least, that’s what Lainie kept telling him. “Come show us where to put your dresser,” he said calmly, “and please hurry. This thing is pretty heavy.” Shrugging nonchalantly, Kathleen eased past them and pointed to an expanse of empty wall. The men gratefully lowered the dresser where she indicated, sliding it back to be flush with the wall. “This is my eldest daughter, Kathleen,” Grant said, taking no notice of her scowl and drawing her over to the group of men. “Kathleen, these are Mr. Carmichael, Mr. Renton, and Mr. Harshaw,” he said, indicating each man in turn. Kathleen made no move to acknowledge them.

  Brent stepped forward and extended a hand. “Please, call me Brent. Everyone does. I look forward to getting to know you better over the summer. I know it’s hard moving in and not knowing anybody, but we do a lot of activities now that school is out. You’ll have plenty of opportunity to get to know everybody.” Kathleen reluctantly shook Brent’s hand, but made no further effort to acknowledge what he had said. Her signals couldn’t have been clearer if she had hung a no trespassing sign around her neck. She wasn’t interested almost to the point of rudeness, but Brent didn’t seem to mind.

  “What kind of activities?” Natalie asked quietly from the doorway of her bedroom. Three years younger than Kathleen. She was shorter and rounder, having not yet lost all of her childlike build or hit her adolescent growth spurt.

  Grant opened an arm to her, and Natalie shyly crossed over into it. “This is my younger daughter, Natalie,” Grant said. Unlike her sister, Natalie handled the situation with much more social grace, shyly stepping up to shake each man’s hand in turn.

  “There are a lot of activities,” Brent said, in answer to her earlier question. “I usually try to take the teenagers hiking or camping at least once during the summer, and some of the other adults offer things too, art classes, cooking lessons, that kind of thing. It really varies. It depends on what the kids want, and who is available to do what. There will be plenty to keep you busy, I promise.”

  Natalie grinned, eyes shining with anticipation. “That sounds great!”

  “It does,” Grant agreed, “but first you need to finish getting unpacked.” He turned her and gave her a gentle nudge back in the direction of her bedroom. He turned around in search of Kathleen and found that she had already disappeared, presumably back into the family room from where she had come.

  “She seems like a great kid,” Brent said.

  “She is,” Grant agreed. “They don’t come any sweeter or more bighearted than Natalie. She’s a little shy at first, but when she warms up to you, she sticks like a rock. Kathleen, now, she’s another story. She’s my strong-willed child.”

  “I can see that,” Brent said neutrally.

  Joe shot a thoroughly disapproving look in the direction where Kathleen had disappeared. “Seems like she could use an attitude adjustment, if you ask me.” His tone and manner made it perfectly clear just exactly what form he thought that particular attitude adjustment should take too. “Sarah would have never been that disrespectful. She knew what it would get her if she were.” Brent sent Joe a very sharp, very pointed look, and Joe abruptly broke off.

  Grant sighed. Great, he hadn’t been in the community for twenty-four hours yet, and he was already screwing up. He couldn’t fault Joe’s observation. His own father or grandfather would’ve likely done much the same. His children though, to his shame, had not been raised with those same standards. Grant had nobody to fault for that but himself. That’s what this move was about. They were starting over, and this time, he was going to get it right.

  “I apologize for that,” Grant began.

  Joe cut him off. “It’s not you who needs to be apologizing.”

  Grant winced inwardly. He was right about that too. Grant would definitely be having a discussion with Kathleen about her behavior later.

  “What are we bringing up next?” Matt asked, moving toward the stairs.

  Grant followed, grateful for the shift in conversation. “We still have the majority of the bedroom furniture. I’m not so worried about boxes. Lainie and the girls can help with those later. It’s the big pieces I want to get in.” With that, the four men trooped down the stairs, discussing logistics and how best to continue unloading the truck.

  By early evening, the moving truck was completely empty, not only of the furniture but also of all the boxes. Grant pulled the large loading door on the back of the truck closed for a final time, amazed at the progress they had made. He had expected it to take them days, unloading in piecemeal fashion as they got the chance. He had been stunned and grateful when Matt, Brent, and Joe had shown up this morning, announcing their intention to help him. He had tried to wave them off, insisting it wasn’t necessary, but they had shrugged and patently ignored him, saying simply that this community took care of their own
. With no more explanation than that, they had jumped in and gotten to work. Someone, he wasn’t sure who, had shown up at lunch time with sandwiches and informed Lainie that the ladies would be back in the morning to help her unpack.

  The wholehearted way the community had welcomed them warmed him. It wasn’t something he had experienced in years, not since he was a small boy visiting his grandparents. Their small farming community had exhibited a similar type of community feeling, but it wasn’t something he’d experienced in any place he’d lived since. The fact that it existed here simply confirmed his conviction that this was the right place for them. He knew Lainie had reservations, but sooner or later she would come around. Corbin’s Bend was going to be good for them. He just knew it.

  He found Lainie in the kitchen. She was slumped in a chair at the table. When she looked up, he could see that she was clearly exhausted. He slipped in behind her, gripping her shoulders lightly and kneading with his thumbs. Lainie let her head drop forward, moaning softly. “Tired?” he asked.

  Lainie nodded. “I hate moving. It should be illegal.”

  Grant chuckled. “I’ll have to check the statutes on that one.”

  Lainie looked up at him with a weary smile. “You do that.” She sighed again. “I’ll get up and do something about dinner in a minute.”

  “Don’t,” Grant said. “You’re exhausted. We can go out.”

  He saw the relief flash through Lainie’s eyes, but she said, “We don’t have to do that. I can cook.”

  “I know you can, but we’re going out,” Grant said placidly. Lainie gave him a slightly disgruntled look, and he fought a very unhelpful urge to smile, knowing if he gave into it Lainie would likely serve him his head on a platter. He pulled back her chair and levered her out of it. “Go shower. I’ll round up the girls and tell them to get ready.”

  * * * * *

  A little over an hour later, he was herding everyone into the car, headed for Endelè. They had all cleaned up for dinner. Grant had changed into khakis and a dark green Polo that he knew was one of Lainie’s favorites. She’d always told him it brought out the green in his eyes. She seemed to have been following the same train of thought since she had changed into one of her light cotton sundresses that he particularly liked. He always loved it when she wore dresses. They just seemed to make her appear all the more feminine, soft and delicate. It brought out every protective instinct he had. Not to mention that dress also offered far more ease of access if they decided to take things a little further in private. Not that they had done that in a long time, not in the way he meant. Their coupling had become increasingly distant and mechanical in recent years. Back in North Carolina, he had worked all the time, and Lainie had not been much better. They were both constantly exhausted, and what sex they’d had was more often than not coming together out of frustration, duty, and need rather than any real passion. That was yet another thing he was hoping would change as a result of this move.

  When they pulled out onto the main street, Kathleen caught sight of the name on the street sign and screeched, “Spanking Loop? Seriously?” Both girls had been asleep the night before when they had gotten in, and this was the first time they had really gotten a look at the community. Grant sighed.

  “Yes really,” he said. “We talked about this, remember?” He certainly remembered it, whether she did or not. The idea of the domestic discipline relationship was not a new one to Lainie. They had never practiced it, but they had talked about it, and she had had some basic understanding of how it all worked. Explaining such an idea to their children, however, had been a whole different kettle of fish. Once they had made the decision to apply to become members of this community, Grant had known it had to be done. People here were discrete and extremely respectful of the fact that there were children in the community, but their shared interest wasn’t hidden. His girls would have to know.

  Despite the fact that Grant himself had grown up in a family that practiced DD, he’d had no idea how to begin to explain it to them. He never remembered anyone explaining it to him. It was just simply the way things were. He didn’t remember ever questioning it. His dad and his grandpa had run their households. They were the authority, and anyone whether that be him, his mom, his grandma, or even any of the neighborhood kids that hung around fell under their authority, which included being disciplined for any rule breaking and misbehavior. It was as natural as breathing.

  That wasn’t the case for Natalie and Kathleen. Natalie, easy-going and accepting as she was, had pretty much taken it in stride. Both Grant and Lainie had gone to great pains to explain to them that this was something they had both agreed to and thought would help their family. Natalie had accepted that at face value, admitting that she did not like the constant arguing and fighting, and if this was going to help it, she was all for it. Kathleen, on the other hand, had been horrified, declaring the whole thing abusive, barbaric, and downright weird. From that moment on, she had fought the move tooth and nail, and judging by her attitude today, she still hadn’t given up the fight.

  “Still weird,” Kathleen muttered.

  “You’re entitled to your opinion,” Grant replied, “but I expect you to keep it to yourself. Whatever you think of their choices, it’s no excuse to be rude or disrespectful to our neighbors. You and I will be having a discussion about that after dinner.”

  “What?!” Kathleen protested. “I didn’t do anything.”

  “After dinner,” Grant repeated. There was no way he was getting into that now. He knew Kathleen’s temper far too well to risk having such a discussion in public. She wouldn’t hesitate to make a scene no matter where they were. She slumped against the car door, mumbling furiously under her breath. He ignored her. It wasn’t the place or the time and so help him, he wasn’t going to allow her to goad him into it. No matter how much the constant muttering was getting on his nerves.

  Thankfully, it was only a matter of minutes until they reached the restaurant. He parked the car and everyone piled out. Natalie had earbuds tucked into her ears and was humming along with her iPod. Kathleen was clicking away on her cell phone, texting most likely. He reached over and removed the earbuds from Natalie’s ears. “Leave them in the car,” he told them. “New rule. No electronics at the table.” Nearly identical expressions of shock came over both girls’ faces. Natalie looked as if she wanted to protest, but after a moment’s thought, reluctantly opened the car door and tossed her iPod into the back seat.

  “That’s not fair!” Kathleen shouted. “You can’t just up and decide something like that without telling anybody or talking about it.”

  “I can, and I have,” Grant told her. “You can put your phone back in the car, or I can hold on to it for a while, but if I keep it, you won’t be getting it back after dinner.”

  “Mom!” Kathleen demanded, turning expectantly toward Lainie.

  Lainie shot him a thoroughly perturbed look, and he realized belatedly that he probably should have at least discussed it with her first. It wasn’t really something he had planned to do though, just a spur of the moment decision. “You heard your dad,” Lainie said. “An hour without it won’t kill you.”

  Grant smiled gratefully at her. More often than not, as he had been trying to take more of a hand in matters over the last few months, she tended to side with the girls. It had caused no little tension between them. It was such a small thing, but her backing him gave him hope. He hoped it was the sign of a new start, for all of them. He held out a hand to Kathleen. “Are you putting it away or am I?” Kathleen snatched open the car door and slid inside, plugging her phone into the charger that lived between the front seats.

  Getting out of the car and coming back to join them, she gave Grant a pointed look. “It needed to charge anyway,” she informed him. She glided around him and strode to the door.

  Behind her back, Grant rolled his eyes. She might obey him, but she had to make it clear it was on her terms. As if he cared. After all, her phone was still in the car.
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  Inside the restaurant, a lady of about sixty bustled up to them. “You must be the new family. The Taylors, right? I heard you were moving in today. I’m Bernie.”

  Grant and Lainie shared a surprised look. Did everyone around you know them already? It was rather strange to have total strangers speaking to you as if they knew you. “Yes, ma’am,” Grant said finally. “I’m Grant Taylor. This is my wife Lainie and our daughters, Kathleen and Natalie.” He gestured briefly to each one in turn as he introduced them.

  “Just listen to you... Ma’am... Aren’t you the cutest?” Bernie beamed. “We aren’t at all formal around here. Everyone is pretty much on a first name basis with everybody else.”

  As Bernie led them to a table, Grant couldn’t help but notice more than a few curious stares from the other patrons. The back of his neck burned, and he fought the need to hunch his shoulders protectively around himself. Was this how animals in zoos felt, on display for crowds of strange people? He was profoundly grateful when they slid into their seats. Both Lainie and Natalie looked just as relieved. Kathleen was openly staring back. As they settled down and began looking over menus, Kathleen turned to Grant.

  “While you’re getting on my case about being rude,” she said hotly, “someone should tell them it’s rude to stare. Take a freaking picture. It’ll last longer.”

  “It is rude,” Grant agreed. “We can’t control other people’s behavior though, only our own. Besides, this is a small community, and we’re new. It’s natural that people will be curious.” From her expression, Kathleen wasn’t at all convinced. Grant picked up his menu. “What looks good?” he asked the table at large. Kathleen shot one more furious look around the restaurant, but seeing that everyone had gone back to their own meals, she settled down and scanned the menu.