Page 9 of His Loving Guidance
“Wendy, I swear it. We –”
The ringing of the house phone downstairs cut Lucy off. Her guts turned to water. Only one person would call at four in the morning.
James.
* * *
Disbelief and anger churned within James. He felt ready to explode. Taking a few deep breaths, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You left, Lucy. You left the cabin in the middle of the night, did not bother to wake me up, and drove all the way back home. I’m not happy. I am furious with you!” The iciness of his own voice took him aback, and he swallowed hard as he tried once again to get his emotions in check. He had not been this angry with Lucy in – well, ever. The image of her navigating the wet, windy roads down the mountain in the dead of night made his blood boil. She could have had a serious accident.
“I already told you Wendy found the letters.” Lucy glanced down at the envelopes she held in her hand, each containing three separate letters she had once meticulously folded and stored away. “You heard the message she left on my cell phone. I panicked. I was afraid she’d blab to my mother. It was bad enough that Wendy found out, but if she told Mom, I’d just die.”
“So our relationship embarrasses you.” He could not resist the jibe, though in all honesty, he preferred to keep the details of their domestic discipline relationship private. “Wait. I didn’t mean that,” he said, reaching for Lucy’s hand. Her posture was stiff next to him on the couch, where they had sat down to have their discussion after Wendy graciously made an excuse to go to the library. The early morning sunlight streamed in the windows, promising a beautiful day.
“This sucks, James.” Her face crumpled. “This really, really sucks.”
“Wendy finding us out?”
“No. Not exactly.”
She rocked forward and back in her seat, as if the motion provided her comfort. He hated seeing her like this, tormented and on the verge of tears. His anger waned a bit, but he still felt betrayed that she had blocked him out of her life during a time when she needed him by her side. Through her pride and embarrassment over her family, she had denied him the right to comfort and protect her when she needed it most.
“Lucy girl, I will never, ever think badly of you because of something your sister or mother or any other member of your family does. I’m pissed that Wendy snooped through our stuff, and I’m not happy that she’s going to be here in our house for the next few weeks, but her actions don’t reflect on you. Don’t ever, ever cut me out again. You’re my wife, Lucy. I love you. Your problems are my problems.”
“I didn’t want to burden you.” She sniffled. “I thought I could be back at the cabin before you woke up. I thought I could talk to Wendy and make her understand, and then you wouldn’t have to be bothered with yet another family problem thanks to me and my fucked-up relatives.”
“Language, Lucy,” he warned lightly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to pull her near. She molded herself onto him, her head resting below his chin. “So do you think Wendy understands?”
“Yes. At least better than I expected. She thinks I’m a little strange for wanting you to spank me, and I think she’s convinced herself it’s just an exaggerated kink I have, even though I told her it wasn’t exactly sexual. That blew her mind. But she promised to keep it a secret and mind her business from now on. She even apologized for reading the letters.”
“I’m glad one of our problems is resolved then.” Determination tinged his words, and Lucy must have sensed it. She froze, holding her breath for a few moments before finally exhaling.
“I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”
“Big trouble. You have a serious punishment coming, young lady.”
“Will it be now?”
“No. We’re going back to the cabin, Lucy. We still have a week and a half of vacation left, and I intend to spend it with you, alone. I think by the time we get back there, I’ll be calm enough to discipline you.”
“All right.” She paused. “How will you get the truck you borrowed from Tom Branson back to him?”
“We’ll leave it at his daughter’s house in town. He let me borrow an old truck he was getting ready to sell, so he says he’s happy to have it off the mountain.”
“Okay. Are we leaving now?”
“Yes. But I’m making a stop at that new adult shop first. The one in the shopping center behind the new gas station. You can wait in the car while I run inside and get what I need.”
“Why?” She pulled back, her expression pale. “What do you need?”
He reached under her bottom to give her left cheek a squeeze. “You’ll find out when we get to the cabin.”
