Count This Cowboy In (26 page)

That
's how Grant found them when he got to them and Jeb when he got there a minute or two later.  Trevor very gently loaded the calf into the back of the pickup while Grant and Jeb kept the mother cow at bay.  She wasn't happy about them taking her injured calf.  Trevor climbed into the bed of the truck with the calf to try and calm it and hold it still during the trip so it wouldn't lose too much more blood while struggling.  Grant and Sam separated the mother from the other cows and herded it back to the barn.  It was a tough trip, as the pickup went via the ranch road and the mother couldn't see her calf.  She kept trying to go back to where her calf had been.  It took a lot of quick maneuvering of their horses, but Grant and Sam worked well together and were able to get the cow back, not too much after the truck got back with her calf.

They kept the cow away until the vet was done with the calf.  He cleaned the wounds and put an antibiotic on them, then put a few stitches in the bigger and deeper cuts.  They reunited the mother with her calf then and watched to see what the mother would do.  If she tried to lick off the ointment or stitches they would have to keep them separated.  Luck was with them, though
and the mother sniffed the injuries, then let them alone.  The calf calmed quickly once reunited with her mother, so they left them together. 

The vet gave them some instructions and said he
'd be out to check on her the next day.  If she made it through the night and regained enough strength to stand the next day she'd probably be okay.

When they got that news everyone collectively breathed out a sigh of relief.  Everyone on the ranch had been involved in the search and rescue
and everyone was looking relieved.  "We're going to call it a day, men.  Thanks for your help.  Everyone did a fine job!  Go get your showers and enjoy your Saturday night."  Sam was surprised when the ranch hands were telling her they were glad she was okay as they eventually headed back to the bunkhouse.

It wasn
't until the last of them were leaving that Sam started putting together in her head why they had all seemed so worried about her.  "Trevor, did you think I was the one hurt instead of the calf?"

Trevor had been able to put the anger part of his emotional roller coaster afternoon on the back burner until now, but that question brought it all to the forefront.  He turned to face her and said,
"Yes, we did. I love you like I've never loved anyone before, Sam and right now I'm so thankful you're okay I can't put it into words.  But you have a lot of answering to do once I calm myself down." 

He
'd had his arm around her or his hand latched onto hers from the moment they reunited the cow with her calf and he wasn't ready to let go of her yet.  He checked on the calf one more time before leading Sam to the house.

Still holding her hand tightly, he stopped at the kitchen first to let Consuela see that she was okay.  He
'd told Consuela about the broken up phone call he'd gotten from Sam so she would be prepared to help care for her if she were injured.  When she saw Sam she came over and gave her a big hug.  "Oh, Miss Sam, I'm so glad you are okay.  Don't scare us like that again!"

"
I'm sorry, Consuela.  I really didn't mean to scare anyone.  I called Trevor and told him what happened.  Why did everyone think I was the one hurt and not the calf?"

Trevor told her how much of her conversation he was able to hear
and she then understood everyone's fear.  Next he said, "Let me see your phone."

The stern, no nonsense tone of his voice told Sam immediately what he was going to check
and when he found out her phone was dead he was not going to be happy.  She looked up at him with pleading eyes, but he held out his hand and said, "Your phone, Sam."

She sighed, resigned to her fate
and handed her phone to him.  He did one quick check and said, "Just as I thought; the battery's dead."  She watched him reign in his temper and knew her immediate future looked rather bleak.

Consuela knew it, too.  As sorry as she felt for her young friend, she knew from experience that both young people would feel much better after this was dealt with.  She told the two of them,
"My work is done for today.  I will be in my rooms with the television on.  Loud."  Trevor hid a chuckle at her added extra word.  She turned to Sam and said, "Listen to Mr. Trevor, Miss Sam.  He is a smart man and he loves you.  Remember that." 

After she left Sam asked Trevor,
"You told her you love me?"

"
No, I didn't.  But I think she's known it longer than I have.  She is a smart lady."

"
Yes, she is," Sam agreed.

"
And she's right that you need to remember that I love you."

"
Is that your way of saying this spanking is going to really hurt?"

"
Well, let's review what we'll be talking about."

"
I know I messed up, Trevor and I'm sorry."

"
Why don't you tell me what we'll be talking about?  I want to see if you do realize you messed up."

"
I know I did and I'm sorry.  I haven't been able to think about anything but what Clay found."

"
I understand why you messed up, Sam, but I'm still waiting to hear how you messed up.  What should we be talking about tonight?"

She sighed as her shoulders slumped
and she slowly said, "I went off riding and forgot to tell you I was going and where."

"
Yes, you did forget.  When did you realize it?"

"
When I was ready to come home, but when I took my phone out to call I saw it was almost dead, so I saved it in case of an emergency."

Trevor
's eyes rose at that confession.  He might be disappointed in her and upset, but he was still proud.  She was thinking and had done the right thing in a bad situation.  "I'm glad you did that, but go on.  What else will we be discussing?"

"
Well, the fact I went out without charging my phone."

"
Yes.  What else?"

Sam looked at him, trying to think what else she did wrong. 
"You didn't hear my full message and were scared and I understand that and I'm sorry, but I already mentioned not charging my cell phone."

"
You're right, you already mentioned that, which is indeed what caused the misunderstanding.  What else?"

After several moments of thinking again, she tried,
"I caused the whole ranch to be upset and they were all out looking for me and I feel bad about that, but that was because I left without telling you where I was going and didn't charge my phone; right?"

"
Right and you've mentioned those.  But what else, that you haven't mentioned yet?"

She thought again, but nothing came to her mind.  He took her hand in his again and took her into the living room, made sure his curtains were all closed and the door was closed.  He sat down on the couch, standing her in front of him.  Without saying a word he unfastened her jeans and pulled them down before laying her over his left thigh.  As her upper body was resting on the couch he handed her a pillow once again and said,
"You may want this later."  His fingers went into the waistband of her panties and she moaned, but didn't object as he pulled her panties down to join her jeans at her knees.

"
Have you thought of what else we'll be discussing yet?"

"
No.  I'm sorry, Trevor."

"
I'm sure you are sorry.  But I'm also sure you'll be sorrier in a bit.  Keep thinking," he said as he started spanking.  He gave her about 20 good whacks before he started talking.  When he did start talking the spanking continued.  He talked about her rules if she wanted to go riding by herself on the ranch.  He reviewed them all and why they were important.  They'd been over them a couple times before, but he meant for her to remember them this time.  He spanked her bottom until it was red, as were her sit spots.  She really complained, using her pillow to scream into when he spanked her there.  She hated it and he knew it.  But he also knew he didn't want her mistake today to be repeated.

She was sobbing and gasping for breath when he finally stopped spanking.  He held her in place with his hand on her bottom.  When she had caught her breath a bit he asked,
"Are you going to remember the rules for going riding alone now?"

She was still struggling for breath a bit, but quickly answered,
"Yes."

"
Good.  Now, did you come up with the other thing we're going to talk about tonight?"

She started crying anew
and he knew that was a no.  He stood her up and led her gently to a corner in the living room.  He positioned her with her nose in the corner, her hands to her sides.  "Samantha Louise Simmerly, I want you to stand right where you are and think about what happened today.  Keep your hands right where they are.  If I see you rubbing your sore bottom we'll repeat the spanking and you'll be right back here.  Do you understand?"

"
Yes."

"
Good.  Now, you stand there and think about what happened.  I'm going to go upstairs and get my frat paddle."  Her head whirled around to look at him.  "Samantha Louise, did I just tell you to stay right where you are?"

She nodded. 
"Yes, but you said you're getting your paddle."

"
Yes, I did.  And I don't think you really want to argue with me right now."  He gave her three more solid swats on her sore butt and she started sobbing again.  "I'll try telling you what's going to happen again and hopefully this time you won't interrupt me."  She nodded.  "I'm going to go upstairs and get my frat paddle.  You keep thinking while I'm gone.  When I get back I'm going to use the paddle on you.  If you can tell me what else we're going to be talking about you'll get five swats with the paddle.  If you still don't have any idea, you obviously haven't been listening to me any of the other times we've discussed this and I'll be giving you ten swats with it.  Either way, I hope this will be the last time we have to address this issue."

She started sobbing harder.  She hated disappointing Trevor like this
and she was scared of that paddle.  She was so scared she couldn't think.  Then Consuela's words came back to her.  Listen to Mr. Trevor.  He is a smart man and he loves you.  She thought about that.  He had just sent every man he had available out to look for her and hired his neighbor to take him up in his helicopter.  This was going to cost him a lot of money and it was all to find her. 

As that was sinking into her brain she knew he wouldn
't really harm her.  Hurt her butt, yes, but she knew he would never do any real harm to her.  She wasn't kidding herself, she knew a paddle would really hurt, but she also knew he wouldn't go too far.  So what she was afraid of was a sore butt.  He'd never do anything more than that to her and she knew it.  She could trust him.  And she did.  She trusted him completely.

Then it finally occurred to her.  That
's what he wanted, was her trust.  And he deserved it. 

She was sobbing harder than he
'd ever seen her sob when he walked back into the room.  He stopped at the door, watching her, concerned.  But as he watched her he realized she was crying now for a different reason.  It wasn't because of her sore butt, although he knew it was sore.  He hoped it was because she finally figured out what she hadn't done. 

He took another look at her.  She really was a beautiful lady, both inside and out
and he really hated to do this.  His heart swelled every time he heard her declare her love for him.  But he considered it his responsibility to take care of her and he intended to do just that.  With that resolve, he went and sat down on the couch, his frat paddle in his hand.

With a strength
-gathering sigh, he said, "Okay, Samantha Louise, come over here."

Trevor watched as she turned and saw the paddle in his hand and momentarily froze.  He then watched his brave little firebrand gather her own strength and walk slowly to him.  She stood in front of him, looking scared.  He didn
't like that scared look, so he gently pulled her back over his knee and made sure she was reasonably comfortable.  He handed her the pillow again and asked, "Did you figure out what we're going to talk about now, Honey?"

She started crying as she said,
"I didn't come to you when I needed help."

He released the breath he
'd been holding.  At least he only had to give her five whacks with the paddle.  "That's right, Sweetie.  Why didn't you?"

"
I thought it was my dad, my problem.  I've been so confused, Trevor."

"
I know you have, but I might have been able to help."

"
But it's my dad."

"
Which means you're too close to the situation to see some things.  And even if I can't do anything, if you talk about it you'll feel better.  We could have talked your feelings out.  We will talk your feelings out now, I hope.  I really think you'll feel better if you just talk to me about it.  But you didn't give me the chance to help you.  Again."