The O'Malley Brides (28 page)

“Oh
,
you poor kid,” Nick responded.  “She’ll chew you up and spit you out.”

“Yes, I’m beginning to see that,” Dell answered, a little insulted to be referred to as a kid.  “Just what do you suggest I do about it
,
old wise one?”

“Sorry,” Nick grinned.  “I guess I’m used to being the big brother.  I wish I had an answer for you
,
Dell.  I love Bridget and I believe at heart s
he’s a good girl.  It’s just that
she
could be the poster child for
Girls Gone Wild
.   I personally think a few trips over your knee for a bare bottom spanking might benefit her, but not everyone’s cut out for that.”

“Let me get this straight,” Dell asked, t
aking a big gulp of his beer.  “
Your suggestion is for me to strike her?”

“Yup,” Nick replied, calmly wiping his mouth.

“I have never raised my hand to a woman in my life and I don’t believe I ever could
,” Dell insisted, clearly shocked to the core.

“Not strike her,” Nick explained.  “Spank her. Pull her over your lap, pull down her panties and don’t stop slapping her ass until she is
crying and promising to be good, and m
aybe not even then, depending on the circumstances.  My Maggie carries on something fierce and I know for a fact the she’s not learning a thing until she’s sobbing and limp over my knees.  A couple of times I fell for that contrite act and she ended up getting another spanking for exactly the same thing in a few days.  It’s better to do a good job the first time.”

“Nick, are you implying that you spank your wife?”

“I’m not implying anything. 
I’m telling you that when the need arises I have no problem putting her over my knee.  Look Dell, I firmly believe that the husband is the head of the family and I don’t intend to
spend
the next fifty years arguing that fact with my wife. 
There isn’t another man on this earth that loves his wife more than I love Maggie.  However, I’ve handled enough divorces to know that when there is no clear head of the household, chaos ensues.  Everything becomes a fight, a battle and nobody wins.  I don’t ambush her or attack her.  She knows the rules and she follows them, well we’re working on that,” he said with a slight grin.  “I absolutely adore her and I want her to be safe and happy.  Maggie is a little wild herself at times, not to the extent Bridget is, but she has been known to do some pretty outrageous things.  I help her to understand the error of her ways so to speak.  I would never abuse her or cause her injury, but a red hot bottom is a great deterrent at times.”

Dell was stunned.  He had a tremendous amount of respect for Nick and his mind was weighing his words.  “And she just
lets
you spank her?” he asked incredulous.

“Sometimes,” Nick laughed.  “Sometimes she comes to me
,
others I have to chase her down throw her over my shoulder and cart her off for a few moments of privacy.   Maggie knows the rules and what will happen if she breaks them.  She’s not stupid, far from it, so if she chooses to ignore them, there’s an excellent chance she will get her bottom spanked.  It’s her choice.”

“Have you always spanked her?” Dell asked, guardedly curious.

“I spanked her a couple of times when we were going together during our high school years but apparently not hard enough or long enough because she screwed up our lives for the
next fifteen years, and I let her.   That will never happen again,” Nick stated firmly, a sad, faraway look in his eyes.

“I’ll think about what you’ve told me here today Nick, but I don’t have the faintest idea whether I could really follow through with something like that.”

“You think about it
,
Dell.  If
you decide she’s worth the risk,
that Bridget is someone you truly want in your life, you let me know.  I have a couple of other people who can help you.”

Nick went to the men’s room while Dell went to the bar to settle the bill.  “I need a diet cola to go please.” he told Patrick.

“Is that it?”

“No, let me have a salad with light dressing on the side also.”

Walking into the office, Dell sat his bag down to remove his coat.  Nick watched with pride when Dell handed her the soda and plopped the salad on her desk.

“Eat it,” he commanded.

Bridget’s first impulse was to toss it in the trash but something in Winston’s expression warned her not to.  As she opened the lid and pushed the fork out of the plastic covering, Dell turned and walked into his office a huge self-satisfied smile on his face.

Chapter 16

Tess bought several gallons of white paint with her own small stash of money.  She would be able to star
t painting the ceilings and she bought one
gallon
of kitchen paint
for the kitchen cupboards.  The
re were checks in her purse the bank had printed
for her to use temporarily until the new one
s
came with both their names on them, but
Tess balked at using Rory’s money.  After all if it was to be her home too, she should contribute something.  Having no idea how expensive paint had become, she was shocked
at the total.  At this rate, her
funds would not last long.  Thank God she had been saving for a car and the O’Malley’s had refused to let her pay rent. 

Loading her purchases in the new vehicle, Tess sat gingerly in the driver’s seat and called Rebecca from her cell
phone
. 

“Tess, I’m so glad you called.  Are you busy?  Do you think you could run over here and give me a hand?
” Rebecca asked hopefully.
 
“
Mason is at the office taking care of some things, so I don’t know how
long I have before he gets back, so can you hurry?”

“I will come right now Rebecca.  Is
everything alright with Julian
a?” Tess asked alarmed.

“Yes
, the baby’s fine
. 
I just need a hand looking for something.  Remember we talked about the book I need to find?”

“Now
I do,” Tess replied.  “I am
on my way, be there in about ten
minutes.”

“Great,” Rebecca sighed in relief.  “See you in a few.”

Rebecca had searched everywhere for Mason’s book.  Since the baby’s birth, he had been glued to her side, not leaving her much time to look in the less obvious places.  With any luck he would be occupied for a couple of hours at the office at least.  Although Rebecca felt great, she was still sore from the birth and not exactly in shape to crawl under beds and scour closets. 
Besides that, she was loath to leave her daughter alone while she climbed on step stools.  What i
f she fell or got hurt?  Julian
a would be helpless.  Mason would surely lose his mind if she did anything so stupid.  No, this was the best idea.  If she and Tess couldn’t locate the damn book, Rebecca would call Molly and beg if she had too.

Tess arrived quickly, a little concerned about the determination she heard in Rebecca’s voice.  They had become friends, good friends immediately upon meeting.  If Rebecca needed help, Tess would drop everything to assist her. 

“Thanks for coming so fast,” Rebecca said as she pulled Tess into the foyer, hugging her.

“What is the matter?  What can I do to help?” Tess asked
,
letting Rebecca tug her into the living room.  The baby was asleep in her bassinet and Tess could not help stopping to peek in
.
S
he was such a beautiful little angel.  “Oh, she is so precious,” Tess said softly
,
enthralled with the child.

“She is
,
isn’t she,” Rebecca agreed, forgetting her mission for a moment as she smiled in wonder.  “Who would have thought my overgrown husband would produce such a perfect little girl?  And she’s such a good baby, not at all demanding like her father.  I swear she has more patience
than him already.  I hope she keeps her good nature, I
need someone in the house that isn’t a
control-freak.”

Tess turned and took Rebecca’s hands.  “Are things not good here
,
Rebecca?  Is Mason so hard to live with?” Concern for her friend was foremost in her mind.

Rebecca laughed.  “Not as long as he gets his own w
ay, then he’s a perfect husband.  B
ut
,
if I do anything he has expressly forbidden, it’s n
ot pretty.  He thinks he is on safety patrol,
24/7.  Of course
,
I have to admit I was not the easiest pregnant w
ife to look after,” she began
chew
ing on
her fingernail.  “I don’t think I was horrible, well, not too
horrible, but he had that damn expecting manual in his hand like it was the Bible
. 
Don’t do that Rebecca, it’s not good for you
or the baby,
dear
.  The book says that you need to do this
,
Rebecca. 
I don’t think that’s a good idea
,
Honey.  Maybe you should do it this way,
” she mimicked.  “You have no idea how badly I want to stick that book up his a…  Well, anyway, that’s why I need your help.  Do you remember the limo ride from the church to the reception?”

Tess nodded
.
“Most of it, why?”  The main thing she remembered was how badly her ass burned, sitting on the damn crinoline, but there was some conversation between Molly and Rebecca that she had not fully understood.

“Mason kept a whiteboard on the back of our closet door on which he recorded my um…
lapses in
judgment during my pregnancy, if you get my meaning? 
Periodically I would accidently-
on purpose brush against it, wiping off the most significant
ones like climbing on a ladder to change a light bulb or mowing the lawn when it the temperature was close to 100 degrees, that kind of stuff.  Once I picked up his beer and took a couple of swigs.  I thought he was going to have a stroke and I had to listen while he reread about the danger
of drinking while pregnant
from that damn book.  I’m not stupid and I would never do anything to harm our child, but I was so hot and I picked up the beer without giving it a thought.  He acted like I was a lush
, squirre
ling away in the closet
with a bottle of bourbon, g
eeze
!”  Rebecca was pacing, her blonde ponytail bobbing in time with her steps.  Going to the window she pulled back the curtain and peeped outside before she continued.

“Anyway, that day in the limo, Molly told me that Mason had another copy of that list in some type of book.  I need to find that book Tess, bef
ore my
six to eight
weeks are up.”

“Even if we find the book
and destroy it Rebecca, will
Mason
not
remember what was written in it?” Tess asked thinking Rory would if he were in a similar situation.

“Possibly,” Rebecca a
dmitted, chewing her nail again,
“
b
ut surely not all of it.  My God
,
Tess, that book will keep him busy and my ass red for months…maybe years!  No
,
I have to find it and destroy it.  I’m willing to take a few spankings if I have to and I probably deserve more
than a few, but not for everythi
ng he wrote down.  Hell, Julian
a will be heading off to college before he gets through,” she moaned, peeking out the window again.  “So will you help me Tess?”

“Yes,” Tess replied slipping out of her coat and tossing it on the couch.  “Where do you want to start?”

Rebecca gave a little jump and clapped her hands.  “Good, I’ll never forget this Tess.  If you ever need my help, all you have to do is ask.”

“Let us locate this
book first, Rebecca,” Tess answered with a grin.

They searched everywhere.  Rebecca went through drawers while Tess crawled under beds and climbed to reach the highest closet shelves.  Methodically they went through each room as quickly as they could, replacing each and every item as precisely as possible.  Rebecca had the baby monitor clipped to her jeans in c
ase the baby fussed, but Julian
a slept through the whole process.

They took
a short
break, gulping do
wn a soda and then Tess climbed a small ladder and heaved herself
into the attic with
a flashlight.  She had only been in there a few minutes when Rebecca hissed up to her.

“Tess.  He’s back.  Hurry up and get down here.”

Rebecca held the ladder steady as Tess wiggled her butt out of the opening, stretching the toe of her sneaker until she could touch the top step.  Quickly climbing down, Tess hung the ladder in the cellar way and they were both sitting at the kitchen table, trying to catch their breath when Mason walked in.