Samson and Sunset (18 page)

  Glad we were near the lake. My, you
could have cut the silence with a knife. I was keeping my mouth
shut. Those 10 or 12 swats had made an impression on me. I realized
for the first time Shay really was the boss and maybe I had better
not be such a sass mouth. I never ever wanted another spanking from
that man. In my lifetime, one was enough.

  ***

I was very quiet as we cooled the horses out.
Shay had mounted Samson and I was getting ready to mount Sunset
when Shay said, "No, no, no, you’re not riding her back, you’re
walking and leading her."

  I was not in any position to protest
and besides, I didn't think my skinny little bottom would have
wanted to sit right then anyway.

  ***

Shay made some conversation on the way back
to the house, but the only thing I said was, “Please, please never
let anyone know that you had spanked me.”

  "Too bad, princess, if it comes up, it
comes up. Because you need to understand right now: if you ever
have another little temper tantrum like that, no matter where we
are or who's there, you’re going over my knee, little girl. Now you
just remember that!”

  You know, I did remember it, and I
think for the first time in my life I knew everything wasn't going
to go my way all the time. I'd met my match. Damn!

  After we got the horses put away, I
walked to the Big House and went in through the kitchen. Cookie and
Kelly where cooking up a storm.

  "Hey, sweetie,” said Cookie. “Supper
will be ready soon."

  "I'm not hungry, Cookie. I'm not
coming down to eat tonight."

  "What!” Cookie said. “Well that’s a
first. We’re going to miss ya. You feeling okay?"

  I told her I was fine and went into
the informal dining room. Wessy was there with Maggie. He always
lay in his bassinet during supper.

  I said hello to Maggie and asked if
Wessy had been fussy.

  "Oh no,” she said. “He's such a good
baby.”

  She seemed happy watching him, so I
headed upstairs and went right to a bath to soak my stinging, boney
bottom. I heard Shay come in, and he walked into the bathroom and
sat down on the edge of the tub.

  "Your bottom hurting a bit there,
princess?”

  "Just get out,” I said. “Go eat. I'm
not coming down."

  "Oh my, are we still pouting?"

  "I just don't want to face all those
people and please don't tell them."

  "Well, Callie, if they ask, I'll tell
them, ’cause ya know, everyone saw the little scene out front; you
playing jockey like you did, running Sunset like that. I swear,
sometimes you act like a wild Indian."

  Well, I thought, maybe my Indian
spirit
did
get a little riled up!

  Shay went downstairs. I got out of the
tub and dried off, put on a cute matching bikini-underwear and bra
set, then a pretty little slip-on dress over that. I sat down on
the sofa, and thought: Why am I going to miss supper? If I’m there
I can probably keep Shay from telling anyone what happened.

  So I opened the door and started down
the stairs. Immediately I heard a lot of loud laughter coming from
the dining room. Everyone got real silent for about 30 seconds when
I appeared in the doorway. But that was as long as they could
contain themselves, and they just burst out laughing. Maggie had to
use her napkin to wipe the tears from her eyes.

  “Come in, honey, and sit down,” Maggie
said.

  “She probably can’t sit,” Shay said
with a straight face.

  “Oh, Kathrine,” Maggie said, “we’re
not laughing at you, we’re laughing at how funny it would have been
to see Shay spanking anyone! He doesn't believe in that any more
than you do, and I'll bet he never spanks the kids. He's too gentle
hearted.”

  I tell you, he could do no wrong in
that house.

  After supper Shay asked Cookie if
she'd baby sit for a while; said he’d get her a big box of
chocolates if she did. She winked at him as if she knew the
score.

  “’Course I'll watch my two little baby
dolls. You two just run along now and settle things up.”

  When we got to the suite, Shay put his
arms around me and slowly moved me toward the wall, where he pinned
me.

  “God, woman, you turn me on so much,”
he said. “I was so turned on by that cute little red ass of yours,
and if we hadn’t had to cool the horses out, I’d have fucked you
right there."

  "Thought you didn’t like that kind of
language?"

  Shay pulled his head back and sort of
gave me a ‘who's the boss look.’ I, too, was becoming turned
on.

  ***

I think he found me to be very submissive
that night. The heat between us was especially electric. When the
great sex was over, Shay held me in his arms and said, “So. Did you
learn anything today, Callie?”

  “Why? Was I supposed to?” I said, all
innocence.

  “Gee, woman, you still can't admit it,
and you still have some of that smart mouth!”

  “Well,” I said, "it was like you
thought you were in
The Taming of the Shrew
!"

  “Really?" Shay said, chuckling, "I
thought it was more like the Tanning of the Shrew." I gave him a
look and he pulled me close, kissing me gently, saying, "Princess,
you stay in here, I'll go get the kids and put them to bed."

  He left, but before he brought the
kids up for bed, he returned with a glass of iced tea and a small
glass of orange juice. Shay knew I liked to put orange juice in my
tea, so I knew that was his little peace offering.

  I sat up to drink some of the tea,
saying, "I just don't know how you could beat your wife."

  "Beat my wife! Callie, I never beat
you. I would never beat you. Now a good spanking, that's different.
Especially if the person receiving it is in need of one, and you
definitely were in need of one. And you know, I studied law in
Omaha, it's legal in Nebraska to spank your wife if she needs it.”
He sat down on the bed and added:

  “I told you someday I'd tame you down,
and today I did. I see I did it without breaking your spirit, but
that's a good thing. I really love you, Callie, and you scared me
to death today. I thought you'd kill yourself riding like that. If
the spanking helped to give you some perspective about some of your
foolish actions, then it served its purpose. I don't know what I'd
do if anything happened to you, princess.”

  He hugged and kissed me, then headed
down to get our babies

  ***

Now here is something that Shay never knew: I
would never tell him, but that little spanking he gave me, well,
with every swat I just got more sexually aroused. He could have
swatted me 100 times more! I liked that authoritative side of Shay.
He was so handsome it turned me on just looking at him. Now this
would always be my secret, as I wasn't going to let him spank me
again, and knowing this information, he most certainly would have
done it again, and again, and again.

  ***

Well of course the story got all over
Westover. Shay's friends idolized him and now they were calling him
King Shay. The wives were amazed. One even asked me if Shay had
really spanked me.

  "You heard right,” I said.

  "Oh,” she said, "You’re so lucky! I'd
give anything to have Shay Westover spank me.”

  Well, she'd never get to know how
fantastic it really was. That was my little secret.

  Parting Gift

  Every Monday Cookie went to meet her
sister for lunch in Hudson, and afterward they would do their
week’s grocery shopping together at Shakley's Super-Market. She
always called me before she left to see if I needed anything. I was
craving licorice, so I asked her to get several packages, plus some
Bloody Mary mix and club soda (I still didn't drink liquor, but I
liked Virgin Maries.)

  "I knew that," Cookie chuckled. "I
already had that on the list without even asking you."

  She always left us a huge bowl of soup
(chili, chicken noodle or vegetable) and a tray of sandwiches in
the fridge, wrapped in tinfoil. Our Cookie took care of us. All we
had to do was set the table and warm the soup on the stove. I think
we could handle that.

  Shay came in as usual about 3 in the
afternoon. The kids were napping and he was frisky, so we showered
together and gave the sheets a run for their money.

  "Do you want to go riding Callie?"

  “We can't,” I said. “Maggie’s out and
Cookie’s in town shopping. Let’s just lay here and savor the time
alone, nap a bit. It's a good day to cuddle, darlin’."

  Shay heard Maggie downstairs, so he
called down and asked her to keep the kids while we napped awhile.
I'm sure she thought we were going to have sex.

  One thing about Maggie, she loved
having the kids, so she came up and got them.

  "Bye bye Mommy, bye bye Daddy," Kelly
said as they went out the door.

  I cuddled up in Shay's arms and we
went to sleep. Damn. The phone rang and woke us up.

  “Don't answer it, Shay, someone always
wants you, let them work it out themselves.”

  "It could be Maggie," he said, as he
grabbed for the phone.

  I rolled over on my side in
disgust.

  "What...? What...! Where!!"

  I turned around. Shay's voice was so
different. I’d never heard that voice before; alarm, disbelief,
sadness.

  "I'll go right now, I'm on it," he
said.

  "Shay, what is it? What's the
matter?”

  Shay was sitting on the edge of the
bed, just holding the phone in his hands.

  "Cookie died,” he said.

  "Stop it, Shay, that's not funny. Stop
it. I don't believe you,” I whimpered. “You’re just trying to fool
me, stop it. Stop.” My eyes were filling with tears. “Please, tell
me you’re just fooling with me."

  "I'm sorry, Callie, she's gone."

  ***

The next few hours were just a blur for me. I
truly can't retrieve that time.Cookie, my Cookie, was gone

  I remember Shay got dressed and went
downstairs. He said he was going out to find Joe. Oh God! How was
Shay going to tell Joe? I started praying.

  “Let this not be true, a mistake
maybe.” I threw myself on the bed and started sobbing.

  Time just stood still the next few
days. My mom and dad came and got the two children.

  Shay didn't come back to the suite
that night. I knew he and some of the guys were probably with Joe.
In the morning I went downstairs and Maggie was just having coffee.
I toasted her a bagel, put some cream cheese on the side and gave
it to her. I told Maggie I'd make lunch. She thanked me and went
about making phone calls.

  It was about 7:00 a.m. when Shay came
in, took off his boots, poured a small glass of brandy and just
drank it down. Then he lay down on the bed in his clothes.

  "Callie, get me up at 11. I’m taking
Joe into Hudson to make funeral arrangements."

  When I brought a cup of coffee to the
bed, he was already asleep. I covered him and let him sleep until
11. When I woke him, he was sort of in a daze.

  He showered and dressed and, as he was
putting his billfold in his back pocket, he rushed out the door. I
ran to the door as he was going down the stairs and asked him when
he'd be home.

  His reply was, "When you see me."

  Everyone gave each other their space
for the next few days. Everything was in disarray. I fixed lunch
and sat at the table with Sterling and Maggie, who had been trying
to find someone to replace Cookie (as if that was possible.) Maggie
got a lady from Westover to come and work for a few days to see if
she could handle the job. I didn't want to hear about it.

  ***

I learned that it had happened while Cookie
and her sister were grocery shopping. She had leaned over into an
open cooler and just keeled over into it. She’d had a massive heart
attack and was pronounced dead at the scene. She had Joe and Shay
as contacts in her billfold and her sister couldn’t get a hold of
Joe, so she’d called Shay.

  Shay and I slept together the next few
nights, but we just seemed to cuddle and there was no
conversation.

  I thought to myself, are they really
this cold?

  Shay showed no emotion over what had
happened. He just seemed to be working extra long and hard. I'm
sure he was doing Joe's part. I asked Shay if he wanted to talk
about it. He said there was no reason and changed the subject. I
couldn't understand Maggie either—so busy trying to get domestic
help. Didn't this family realize the immensity of what had
happened? Nothing would ever be the same.

  I knew Maggie needed help, but I was
there, and all she had to do was ask me if she needed anything. I’d
told her as much. She didn't know this at the time—of course
neither did Shay—but I was a great chef. I could cook up a
storm.

  Well, Maggie ended up hiring one of
the other farmhand's wives for Cookie's job and gave her a
permanent position.

  ***

Cookie's funeral was Thursday afternoon at
the Saint Luke's Church in Westover. Shay worked late the night
before and I fixed supper for him.

  "We have to be at the church by 2
p.m., Shay," I said as I cleared away the plates.

  Shay was a pallbearer.

  "I know that Callie," he snapped.

  "Shay, I know you’re tired, but I’m
not only stressed myself, I'm tired, too." I got up and went
upstairs to go to bed.

  When Shay came up he drank a brandy
and just sat out on the sofa in the den. Then he turned on the
news, listening a bit. After a few minutes he shut the TV off and
came to bed.

  He sat the alarm clock for 5 a.m.

  "Good grief, Shay," I said (perhaps
the wrong choice of words.) "Why are you getting up so early?”

  He didn’t answer; just wound the alarm
with a blank expression.

  “You act like you don't even care that
Cookie's gone,” I said and turned on my side.