Sweet Town Love

by Maggie Ryan

  She smiled happily and skipped along to keep pace with his rapid stride. “I’m looking forward to meeting your uncle and seeing the garage. From what you said last night about him, he seems like a nice man.”

  Despite his agitation, he couldn’t help chuckling at her. “You think everyone seems nice.”

  That brought back unpleasant memories, and she shrugged. “Maybe just the people I haven’t met yet. I certainly knew some people who weren’t so nice before I moved here.”

  Nate’s heart ached for her past experiences. She certainly hadn’t had a normal childhood with the security that most children never had to question. He felt a resurgence of the determination he had been feeling ever since he had laid eyes on his little Miss Wilson. He was going to take care of her, protect her and make her world as stable as he could.

  Chapter 4

  Kathy sighed as she shoved the empty plastic bag and tags into the trash can and left the ladies room wearing the ugliest, most expensive panties she could imagine. Fortunately, ugly meant that they were drastically marked down in the clearance section, but still expensive because they cost more per pair than the other panties in the multi-packs. The problem was that she couldn’t afford to buy a multi-pack right now—not until she had a job. She went out to the parking lot and headed to Nate’s pickup truck.

  “All set?” he asked as he quickly exited to go around and hold her door open for her. “Where’s the bag?”

  “I put them on in the ladies’ room and threw out the bag,” she answered as she climbed up into the vehicle. “I’m in compliance with your wishes.”

  She must not have been as successful as she had hoped at hiding her feelings. As soon as he was back in the truck, Nate was pulling her across the seat and into his arms. “All right, it appears that we have a bit of a problem here,” he said softly. “My wishes are to keep you safe and happy. That will make me happy. You seem to think that wearing panties is a burden or an unreasonable request. So first, I want to thank you for going along with something that you apparently disagreed with, to do as I asked. Second, I’d like to understand why this is such a problem. What am I missing here?”

  She sighed. Nate really was a nice guy and he was obviously trying his best. “I’m embarrassed,” she finally answered. “I’ve never talked about panties with anyone before and especially not a man I’m enjoying spending time with…”

  “Let’s call it dating,” he invited. “Continue.”

  Her heart sang to have him commit like that. “It’s strange to have a man concerned about making sure that I have panties on instead of trying to get them off me.” Her eyes opened wide and she gulped, quickly putting her hand over his mouth to stop him from responding as she hurried on. “I didn’t mean that how it sounded. It confuses me because that isn’t what my impressions have led me to believe about men. But I want to please you and so I’ve done the best that I can to do what you want. I just don’t have very much money right now, and I can’t afford to spend it on clothing that no one sees.” That didn’t sound too good either, so she quickly added on, “I’m not advocating anything, I’m just embarrassed and confused.”

  His eyes, which had been intently studying her expressions as she spoke, gleamed with something she couldn’t define. He kissed her forehead. “I’m asking, no, I’m requiring you to wear panties because I am determined to protect you from embarrassment. In Menton there is always a possibility that things could suddenly go wrong in unanticipated ways and you could find yourself over someone’s lap getting spanked. It happens, not often, but it happens. My mother found herself in just such a situation and got a spanking that she felt was very wrong. It’s why she left town and has never come back, not even to see her family. So it is important to me that you have panties on every single day. The pair that you are wearing now is a good start, and thank you, but what about tomorrow and the next day and the day after that? I can lend you some money until—”

  “No,” Kathy answered firmly. “Thank you, I don’t mean to be rude, but I am not having a man—even a very nice man—buy me underthings. It’s not appropriate. I’ll wash them out every night so they are clean for the next day and, as soon as I can, I will buy more. That’s the best that I can do.”

  Nate nodded his head as he gently pushed her back to her side of the bench seat. “That will have to be enough then, how can I ask for more? Buckle up, I’ve got to get back to work.” He started up the truck and backed out of the parking space. “What are your plans for the afternoon? Are you feeling nervous about the meeting with the sheriff later?”

  “I’ve been focused on finding a job and doing the things you wanted me to do. I’m sorry that I didn’t apologize yet to Mr. Collins, but I’m working on it. I guess I’m trying not to think too much about the sheriff.”

  “About Mr. Collins… I’m glad that you weren’t able to see him this morning. He’s a real stickler for ensuring that women behave themselves. If you had gone into his office alone and confessed to feeling sorry about your poor behavior, you just might have found yourself across his lap. He’s the one who administered that spanking to my mother.”

  Kathy shuddered at what could have been a close call. “What happened?”

  “It was graduation week and the seniors were in high spirits. A group of them went out armed with bars of soap and wrote the high school initials and their class year on car windows all over town. My mother got caught and spanked on the spot, right there on a public street. Mr. Collins is an elder for the big church in town and I guess he felt that gave him the right, although my family doesn’t attend that church and she had a father and brother he should have deferred to. She went home, packed her suitcase and left on the next bus, vowing to never return to this town. She’s kept her word. When Uncle Bucky had his heart attack, she was on the phone constantly with the doctors and the hospital and the home care people during his recovery, but she wouldn’t come see him. Since I was about to finish my tour in the Army, she decided that I would move here and keep an eye on him for her.”

  “Wow. So she was suddenly on her own without any planning, just like me. What did she do?”

  “She worked whatever jobs she could find, mostly as a waitress, eventually became a single mom and raised me on her own. When I started school, she found jobs within the school system so that we would have the same schedule. She started as a cafeteria lady, worked her way up, and now she’s a school secretary. When I enlisted, she decided that she would give marriage a try. She’d had a beau for years, but just couldn’t find it in herself to trust him completely and make the commitment. Once she realized that her son was a ‘big, bad Army dude’ she figured that he wouldn’t dare mistreat her.” He chuckled. “She never realized that I’d spelled things out to Owen when they first became serious, back when I was in high school—not that she needed my protection. She doesn’t take any nonsense from anyone, she’s perfectly able to stand up for herself.”

  Kathy sighed. “My mom works as a waitress and she’s constantly looking for her next protector. I grew up with a changing stream of men coming and going in our lives. She’s stayed with her job at the truck stop because it’s a good way to meet men. The fact that they are traveling men and unlikely to settle down didn’t seem to matter to her. All I’ve ever wanted was the stability of a normal family life. When Mrs. Donner was telling me about how the shops here all close when it is time for the women to go home and make dinner, it sounded so lovely to me. To go home, cook a good meal and have a man who worried about me being out at night and preferred that I stay home with him sounds like heaven.”

  “Even if you are in danger of being spanked when your wishes and his don’t align?”

  “Spanking is a decision made within the privacy of a couple’s home and is no one else’s business. This may shock you, but I think I’d be happy to be with a man who cared enough to be firm in his role as leader in a family, who took care of me so completely.”

  “Have you had any experience with men w
ho spank their woman?”

  “No, but I’ve read a lot of romances with that type of man and it gives me such nice shivers when they are so gentle and caring afterwards.”

  Nate snorted. “Afterwards. Sounds like you’re kind of skipping over the unpleasantries there. You know, the part when you are helpless and under assault, your bottom blazing with pain and you have no way of bringing things to a halt.”

  “There are safewords.”

  “Safewords? Your reading is more extensive then I would have guessed, but you’re mixed up, little girl. Safewords aren’t for punishment spankings, they’re for play.”

  “What do you know about it? Don’t tell me that you read romances too.”

  He laughed as he shook his head. “No, I have to admit that I haven’t read any of those romances. But I did have a friend when I was in the Army who asked me to be her disciplinarian. She had enlisted seeking the rigid rules of military life, but found that she was still floundering without someone holding her accountable for her down time choices.”

  Kathy was shocked by the white-hot jealousy that stabbed through her. “You have a girlfriend?”

  Nate shot her a quick glance and then reached over to take her hand. His eyes returned to the road, but his strong fingers held hers captive when she resisted. “I thought we agreed that we are dating, that makes you my girlfriend. I haven’t seen or heard from Jessie in over a year. She re-enlisted and I got out. She’s found someone else to spank her butt by now.” Kathy was still trying to pull away from him. “Settle down. It was never a romantic thing; I cared for her as a friend. My feelings for you are entirely different and I’m feeling like I’ve been knocked on my ass with how hard they’ve hit me.”

  She stilled and then turned toward him. “In a good way?” she asked tentatively.

  “In a very good way,” he confirmed. “But I’ve been concerned about whether you are going to continue to live in Menton when you are faced with a spanking—and eventually you will be if you stay. I saw with Jessie how well a spanking can work to provide a sense of security and I can hear in your voice that it’s what you’re seeking as well. So I can pretty much promise that it’s on the table in our relationship. You okay with that, or are you likely to bolt and break my heart?” His thumb rubbed against her hand in a gentle stroking movement. “That’s what you need to think about this afternoon. You need to have a pretty clear idea of what you really want, before you—we—meet with the sheriff in a few hours. Maybe you can talk to some of the women in town and get some insight about life in Menton.”

  “I was planning to keep looking for a job. Mrs. Donner said that people like to hire locally and the best thing to do would be to just go from business to business making inquiries.”

  “That’s the main reason why I wanted you to apologize to Mr. Collins. If he puts out the word that you’re a foul-mouthed vagrant, no one is going to hire you. They may realize that you are a sweet little thing, but no one will want to antagonize him. If the church membership ever decided to boycott a business, it would go under. Has anyone asked you about that encounter yet?”

  “No, or if they did, I didn’t understand what they were getting at.”

  “They’re not shy about finding out about everyone’s personal lives, so it’s going to come up. When it does, make sure that they know about your circumstances at the time. Play on being up all night feeling sick, worried about your future and what you should do, feeling hungry and being unable to open your food was the last straw; tell them that you instantly regretted what you said and have since tried to apologize, but he’s been unavailable. Leave it at that. You’re not going to see him alone; I won’t permit you to walk into that situation.”

  A thrill shot through her. “You won’t?”

  “Hell no. Any spankings coming your way are going to be by my hand and no one else’s.”

  She had been feeling like she was wrapped in a warm blanket of security, but suddenly there was a cold draft trying to work its way in. “Does that mean that you are my minder?”

  “It means that I’m the man in your life and all others had better leave you alone,” he growled.

  Oh my, how that tone sent a tingle that went through her, clear down to her toes, which wanted to curl in her shoes. “Okay,” was all she managed to get out past the tightening in her throat that corresponded with the internal clenches that were dominating her girly bits.

  The meeting with the sheriff was almost anticlimactic in its ordinariness. He was friendly as he chatted with Kathy. He took down the details of where she was living, her full name and phone number. He insisted on getting the contact information for her next of kin and, as he watched her body language, realized that there was the source of the sudden change in her circumstances.

  Will deftly pulled the story from her about how her mother had acted swiftly to not only remove Kathy from her home, but had also literally driven her out of town. Kathy thought that her mother had chosen to believe her boyfriend rather than her daughter about the sexual advances that had occurred when said boyfriend stopped by the house knowing that she was at work and Kathy was home alone. But the two men hearing the full story for the first time, jaws clenched, recognized it for the classic story of the aging beauty getting rid of the competition represented by the younger daughter. Brenda Wilson would receive a very chilly reception if she ever ventured to visit Menton.

  When he asked about her job search and heard about Nate’s fear that Dustin Collins might have acted to prevent anyone from hiring her, the sheriff was impressed with Kathy’s undaunted spirit. She would find something, she insisted. She just needed to keep trying and if she couldn’t find a regular job, she would start doing odd jobs. She was willing to do just about anything and wasn’t afraid of hard work. And she still planned to apologize to the elder—just not in a situation where she was alone with him.

  Nate’s low growl upon hearing that had the sheriff looking at him consideringly. Then he swung his gaze back to Kathy. “Go talk to Ed Johnson over at Johnson Groceries. Tell him your story and how you’ve got an appointment to meet with Dustin Collins and apologize, but he’s away for several days, then ask for his advice. Be respectful and mind your manners; it will be a worthwhile visit, even if it doesn’t result in a job. I want to hear back from you about your job status in two weeks.” He closed the folder on his desktop and leaned back in his seat as he studied the couple sitting in the pair of chairs in front of him.

  “Well, we’ve covered everythin’ that I needed to address, with the exception of the issue of who’s goin’ to keep an eye on your well bein’, Miss Kathy. The big question is do I assign you a minder or not.”

  “You do not,” Nate said firmly. “She’s a sweet little thing and well behaved. She’ll be fine.”

  Kathy’s eyes widened as she listened to Nate’s vehemence. “I thought that you wouldn’t mind doing it. Don’t you trust me? I’ve done everything you asked me to. What did I do wrong?” The hurt was clear in her voice.

  Nate grimaced at his clumsiness, as he reached over and took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Sweetheart, you’ve done nothing wrong, and that’s why you don’t need a minder. I trust you completely, I’m not so sure about this town. It needs to move out of the dark ages.”

  “I’m not questionin’ her potential for misbehavior, I’m wonderin’ whether she would benefit from the extra protection it will give her. Anyone who takes it into his head to cause trouble will have to deal with her minder, not Miss Kathy directly.”

  With her mouth formed in a big, silent Oh, she turned to Nate and waited for his response.

  “What do you want, Kathy?” Nate’s exasperation was clear. “Do you really want to be considered as belonging a step behind a man? Regarded as not capable of making your own decisions or representing yourself? Do you want someone to have the right to spank you, no matter what your opinion is?”

  She gulped. “When you put it that way, I want to say ‘of course not.’ Bu
t that isn’t the correct summation, because I do want to stay here and make this town my new home. I feel very comfortable here, like it’s a good fit for me. It’s pretty, the people have all been very nice and I find myself looking forward to the future. I didn’t feel that way about where I used to live, so the difference is very clear to me. I’m willing to go along with the town norm to fit in. The key is to have someone who understands me and I trust. Sheriff Will said it is to keep an eye on my wellbeing, that sounds nice. I haven’t been able to believe that someone was watching out for my wellbeing since I finished school and left that safe haven behind. My mother has proven that she doesn’t care and my old boss didn’t either, all he wanted was make sure that he had enough warm bodies covering each shift.

  “Mrs. Donner said that the women stay home at night because the men worry about their safety. You said the same thing yesterday when you wanted to pick me up for dinner instead of meeting at the Blue Bell. That doesn’t seem so horrible, to have men concerned about the women’s safety. Maybe the women are a step behind because the men are making sure that the path is safe, that they aren’t leading them into trouble. It doesn’t sound like men are treating women like children, it sounds like they believe that women are precious and deserving of special treatment.”

  “Special treatment that includes being pulled across a lap and spanked like a child.”

  Kathy blushed and turned away slightly from the sheriff. “We talked about this just this afternoon, Nate Burrows. You heard my opinion then,” she whispered forcefully. “Why are you doing this?”

  “This town had a major negative impact on my mother. I’m trying to protect you, to make sure that you get the respect that you deserve!”