Page 73 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 2

sir."

Sean was impressed by her polite answer. "I thought you were close. My daughter, Ashley, is fifteen."

Zach and Erin shared a chuckle. At first Sean was unsure as to why, but Zach clarified for him. "I imagine you're having as much fun as we are raising a teenage daughter in this day and age. Don't get me wrong. Avery is a great kid, but man it can be hard to keep kids on the right track at times." He glanced at his daughter who was now blushing a bright red, a look of joint anger and embarrassment in her eyes. "I'm trying my hardest though, aren't I, Avery?"

The teenager looked down at her half-full plate, pushing potato salad around aimlessly.

Her father blinked with shock at her sullen, “Mmhmm, I guess so.”

“Sorry, I’m sure Avery didn’t mean to be so rude.” Zach looked pointedly at his daughter who sighed and sat up a little straighter.

“Avvy’s pouting cos she wants to sit with her friends but she’s grounded,” Jordan said with a grin.

“Jordan,” Erin warned.

“And she lost her phone.”

Avery gave Jordan a withering look.

Sean felt the need to lessen her embarrassment. "You remind me of my Ashley. She was recently grounded too and lost all electronics for several weeks. She called me the meanest dad on the planet at the time if I remember correctly."

Brent and Troy laughed. Brent congratulated him. "Being an HoH is a thankless job at times, but it sounds like you're doing something right."

There it was again. First Troy and now Brent had used the term HoH. Traci squeezed his hand under the table before she leaned in to whisper, "I really do need to talk to you, Sean."

Before they got their chance to excuse themselves, a new couple joined them at the table. "Thank goodness you showed up, Traci! I've been holding a spot for your interview on page two. I'm hoping you took some pictures at the conference. I'd love to include some artwork with the story. Wait a minute. Who do we have here?"

Sean felt all eyes, once again, on him and Traci. Traci squeezed his hand again before introducing them. "Hi, Ettie and Vance. I'd like you to meet Sean Campbell. Sean and I met at the conference in Chicago and he's here visiting me this weekend. I'm afraid I'm going to be too busy this weekend to give you that interview. Why don't you just fill the spot with another story?"

"No way. The story just got even more exciting. We can add a personal angle to let the readers know how you met Sean."

The man at her side tried to calm her down. "Ettie, Traci said she was too busy to give you an interview. We've talked about this. Everyone in town loves your passion for getting the paper out, but you need to work on not prying. Traci will tell you about her conference, but only if she wants to."

"But, I've been saving a spot for her. I don't have anything else to fill that page."

"That's your problem to solve, not Traci's. I'd suggest you let it drop. Remember what we've talked about. People come to a party to have fun, not be grilled by the local reporter."

"But how else am I supposed to get a good story?" Upon seeing the stern look Vance was leveling on her, she appeared to throw caution to the wind. "Fine. If I don't have enough material, I'll just go back to writing creative stories of your demise. The way I'm feeling today, I'm sure I can come up with quite a doozy."

Vance remained unflappable, placing his finger under her chin as he raised her face up to make sure she was paying attention. "I'm sure you'll be able to come up with even more after we get home and I introduce you to a few of my newest creations. That's the great thing about living with you, baby. I have such a deserving canvas for testing out my art."

Vance stopped long enough to pull a business card from his pocket, reaching over to hand it to Sean. "Vance Foster. Let me know if you need anything while you're in town. The shop is closed for the holiday, but I could open as a special favor to Traci if you need anything."

Sean didn't have the first clue what he was talking about until he glanced down at the business card in his hands. It read W & C's Leather and Chainmail Shop - Implements, Restraints and Gear for all your Fetish Wear Needs. Traci groaned next to him. She attempted to pull her hand out of his, which told Sean she knew exactly what Vance did for a living.

Sean returned his attention to the couple. He was fascinated watching the power dynamics on display. Instead of Ettie getting angry, she melted against Vance's chest, leaning in for a hug as she quietly apologized.

As if the light bulb had come on, he looked around the table and beyond. Sean took note of the subtle body language occurring around him. As the lively conversations continued, he noted more than one woman who stood near the picnic bench next to her husband. That alone was strange enough, but when he witnessed two women several tables away placing cushions on their bench before sitting down, Sean began to slowly piece the puzzle together.

Traci gripped his hand like a vice under the table. When he turned to her, uncertainty danced in her eyes. Traci might have been right when she'd said there was something unique about Eagle’s Pass. But surely... no. It wasn't possible. How could there be a whole town practicing domestic discipline so openly? Flashback memories of the blowhard heckler in the audience of Traci's presentation suddenly made sense. He'd talked of Eagle’s Pass, but at the time it had gone over Sean's head.

The question was on the tip of his tongue when Troy quietly leaned across the table to address his sister. "You didn't tell him?"

Traci leaned forward, trying to keep their conversation private. "No, Troy. I didn't think I'd have to, but since all of you HoHs can't seem to stop your cavemen routine for five minutes, I guess that was a mistake on my part. I mean seriously. You had to spank Hallie within five minutes of your arrival today?"

Troy reached to grab Traci's wrist, standing. "I'd like to speak to you privately, Traci."

"Oh, not again!" Traci was exasperated, but so was Sean.

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