Count This Cowboy In (16 page)

"
Yes, dear?"

Both men laughed at the innocence she betrayed.  Trevor told Clay,
"There's beer in the fridge, Clay.  Help yourself.  I'm going to take my innocent little angel out to the guesthouse and get her tucked in bed."

When Trevor came back ten minutes later Clay said,
"What's with the guesthouse?  She seems really nice and you guys seem like you're getting along great."

"
Sam's fantastic.  I've never met a woman that's affected me like she has.  But I really want this to work, so I'm determined we're going slow.  We just met a month ago and although we work together and see each other daily, it's only been a month.  It may kill me, but I'm going to take it slow and not mess this up."

"
I hear you.  Good luck."

"
Thanks.  But listen, I need to talk to you while Sam's sleeping."

"
About what?"

"
I'd like to hire you, your detective agency."

Clay looked at Trevor curiously.  "What do you need to hire a detective for?"

"
Something doesn't sound right about Sam's father's death.  I haven't said anything to her about it because I obviously have no proof and I don't want to get her upset if it's nothing."

"
I understand.  What doesn't sound right?"

"
Let me give you a brief history here.  See if it sounds right to you.  Sam is an only child.  Apparently she got along well with both parents while she was growing up on their ranch and was told she'd inherit it some day.  She loved everything about ranching and her father taught her everything she wanted to learn.  Her mother died suddenly while she was in college, but she and her dad seemed to get even closer and made plans to run the ranch together when she graduated, with the idea that she would eventually run it herself and inherit it."

"
Okay."

"
Then the next year, while she was in college, he meets a woman and is married.  That was followed by his death and guess what; the new wife inherits the ranch.  She kicked Sam off the ranch and sold it.  Sam got nothing.  She feels betrayed by her father.  I think she was betrayed, all right, but not by her father.  You're the detective.  What do you think?"

"
I think it's definitely worth doing a little digging into.  It does sound a bit suspicious.  Where was the ranch; was it very big?"

"
I have no idea how big it was.  It's very painful for her to talk about, so I haven't asked her any questions about it.  She feels so betrayed and like her father let her down.  I'd love to be able to restore her respect and faith in her father."

"
That would be nice.  Do you have anything to go on; do you know where the ranch was?"

"
Amarillo.  Right in your back yard."

"
What's Sam's last name, or what was her father's name?"

"
Simmerly.  I don't know the name of the ranch, but her dad's name was ––"

"
Hank?"

Trevor
's eyebrows shot up.  "Yes.  Did you know him, or what do you know here?"

"
I never met him, but if you live around Amarillo you've probably heard of him.  He did a lot for the community and had a wonderful reputation.  I remember the visitation hours created a traffic jam, there were so many people."  He thought a minute and said, "You know, at the time I thought it was a little odd.  They didn't really say what the cause of death was and he seemed awfully young to me.  I think it's definitely worth looking into.  I'll do some digging and see what I can find."

"
Thanks, Clay.  I'm not going to say anything to Sam in case you don't find anything wrong, so don't say anything to her about it, please."

"
I understand.  I'll let you know if I find something."

"
Thanks."

The men talked a bit longer about Sam
's father and different things Clay could check.  Their conversation turned to other things then and they visited for a couple hours. 

Sam, who fell soundly asleep shortly after Trevor literally tucked her into bed, woke up and spent some time thinking.  She went over in her mind everything that had happened since she woke up
that morning.  Now, in hindsight, things looked very different than they had at the time they happened. 

She wished she
'd have done a lot of things differently, obviously and she was determined to do better next time.  But first she had to get past the spanking she was sure he would be giving her after Clay left.  She briefly thought of trying to talk Clay into staying late, but decided against it.  Why put off what would inevitably happen eventually?  She thought the same about trying to use her wrist as a means of getting out of it.  Again, it would only delay it.

So instead she started thinking about the way he held her after the spanking the last time.  She remembered how good it felt being held in his arms
and the safe, content feeling she had.  He'd held her several times since and she loved it, but somehow it was different.  She had felt so calm and peaceful and cherished.  The more she thought about that wonderful feeling, the less she remembered the pain involved in the spanking.  She had just convinced herself the spanking wouldn't be so bad after all and in fact was starting to look forward to it and the wonderful cuddling afterwards, when Trevor knocked on her bedroom door.

"
Sam?  Are you awake, Sweetheart?"

"
Come on in, Trevor."

"
Are you awake, sleepyhead?"

"
I woke up just a few minutes ago."

"
How's your wrist?"

"
It's okay."

He helped her up, careful of her wrist and making sure she didn
't use it and patiently waited while she went to the bathroom.  After brushing her teeth, she came out while she was still brushing her hair.  "Are you and Clay ready to make supper?"

"
Pretty soon, yeah," he said, a bit preoccupied.  She looked at him curiously and he said, "That's a nice hairbrush you have there."

"
What, this?  I've had this for as long as I can remember.  Why?"

He grinned as he said,
"I may have to take a better look at it later this evening."  At her confused look he added, "While we talk about this morning's sequence of events."

She still looked at him with a blank look on her face.  Then she suddenly turned red and said,
"Oh."  She looked at the brush again and hid it behind her back.  "No, Trevor, no."

"
It looks like a very effective brush, baby."

Sam was almost instantly at the verge of a true panic. 
"Trevor, no, please don't.  Tell me you won't do that, please.  My grandmother gave that to me when I turned twelve because she said all teenage girls need a good brush to make themselves beautiful.  Please don't ruin my memories of my grandmother."

Trevor was quickly at her side, pulling her into his arms. 
"Ssshhhh, honey, ssshhhh.  It's okay, I won't use it.  I'm sorry.  Calm down, Sweetie."  He rubbed her back until she calmed down again, but it took awhile. 

"
Sweetie, are you okay?"

"
Yeah.  Sorry."

"
Can you tell me what happened there?"

"
I don't know.  It's just that I have good memories of her.  She was Dad's mom and I don't want anything to jeopardize those good memories, like it did with ––"

She stopped and Trevor could feel her trembling.  He held her close to him and said,
"Like it did with your father."  She nodded.  He asked, "Sam, do you want to talk about him?"

"
No." 

She answered so quickly he wasn
't about to push it.  He found himself hoping Clay found something out that could help let her enjoy her good memories of her father.

A few minutes later they walked hand in hand back to the patio, where Clay was enjoying a beer.  They went inside and the men proved they could at least follow Sam
's directions for making some potatoes to put in the oven and a salad.  They visited while the steaks grilled. 

After they ate they did the dishes
and Clay said, "Trevor, I hate to eat and run, but I'm heading back toward Texas tonight.  I'm stopping for business fairly close to the border, but I've got a few hours driving to get there." 

Sam started getting nervous, remembering the incident with the hairbrush.  She was actually okay with the spanking
and especially the cuddling, but this hairbrush thing changed everything.  She knew he wouldn't use her hairbrush now, but she'd never considered him using anything but his hand.  This new thought had her stomach doing somersaults. 

Trevor had his arm around her waist as they walked Clay out to his truck.  They said their good
-byes and turned to go back in the house.  Once inside, however, they didn't stop at the living room.  He kept his arm firmly around her waist and led her through the house and out the back door and down the path to the guesthouse.  She knew where they were going and why, so she didn't even ask.

He knew she was resigned to this when her head dropped down and her pace slowed a bit, but she didn
't stop and she didn't argue.  He was glad. 

He stopped in the living room and sat down on the couch, pulling her to sit down beside him. 
"Sam, I take it you know what's about to happen?"  She nodded.  "First, I want to tell you I'm sorry that we had to wait so long for this spanking to happen."  She looked up at him with questioning eyes.  "I much prefer to take care of a spanking as soon as it's earned.  Unfortunately, today that wasn't possible and I apologize for that.  I didn't mean to make you fret about it all day."

"
I understand.  It wasn't your fault."

"
I know, but I still don't like that it happened.  Now, that being said, that doesn't excuse you from what happened.  Before we begin, do you understand that you've earned a spanking?"

"
Yes."

"
Do you feel you've earned a spanking?"

"
Yes."

"
Good.  Tell me why."

"
What?"

"
Tell me why you deserve to be spanked."

"
Because I didn't listen to you when you told me not to walk on the log.  Then I was rude – I told you –  Trevor, I'm really sorry."  She started crying, even though he could tell she was trying her best not to. 

He wanted to take her in his arms, but he knew that would be wrong.  They were just starting out in this relationship
and he meant to be the head of the relationship.  In his opinion part of that was to protect her.  He meant to do that to the best of his ability, but in order to protect her she had to listen to him.  It was important that he showed her right from the start that there would be consequences for not listening to him. 

It was also important to him that she not only respect him, but trust him
and know she could count on him.  Knowing she could count on him to correct her dangerous mistakes was part of that.

With those thoughts in mind he helped her stand, directly in front of him. 
"Samantha, I need to know what you're thinking.  How were you rude to me today?"

"
By saying it wasn't any of your business to look at my wrist.  It is your business.  I know that.  I didn't know you're an EMT, but it's still your business because you were trying to protect me and take care of me.  I'm sorry, Trevor.  I'm just not used to that.  I've thought about it a lot today, though.  I'm going to try harder.  I see now that everything you said was for my own good.  I'm sorry."

"
Thank you, Sam.  I think now you do see it.  I'm glad to hear you gave it some thought today.  Let's get this done now, get it over with."

"
Okay.  Trevor ––"

She
'd started trembling again, which bothered him.  He hoped it was just nerves from the upcoming spanking.  "Yes, Sweetie?"

"
Earlier, when you looked at my hairbrush ––"

"
Sshh, I won't ever use your special brush, Sam.  I know it's special to you."

"
I know and thank you.  But will you – do you ever –

"
Will I ever use a hairbrush on you?"

"
Yes, or anything else."

Trevor sighed and ran his hand through his hair.  This was putting him on the spot.  He looked into her eyes and said,
"Sam, I can't honestly answer that.  I can tell you that I don't plan to today."  He watched her exhale and could see some of the stress leave her body.  He filed that information in the back of his mind to consider later.  For right now he said, "I can't say with certainty what will or won't happen in the future, but I can say that you have obviously given this a lot of thought today and have convinced me that you're sincere in your thoughts.  Therefore, I feel sure I can teach you the lesson you need to learn tonight using my hand only."