The Strange Healing (5 page)

Heather slowly looked up into Phil's eyes, and the dam broke.  Through her tears she said, “I'm sorry, Phil.  It was all my fault.”

Phil knew she had to make a full confession before they could effectively deal with it and rid her of the guilt she tended to carry with her.  He kept his arms around her and quietly asked, “What was all your fault, Heather?”

She sniffled a couple times, trying to calm herself down.  Finally, she explained, “We were looking at some new blue jeans and I found a couple pairs I wanted to try on.  Sara told me what time it was and asked if we had time, or suggested maybe we should come back the next day I didn't have to work.  I thought about it, but was afraid they'd be sold out if I waited, and so I told her I'd hurry and we'd be okay.”

“
And did you in fact have time when you told her that?”

“
No, not really,” Heather admitted quietly.  “But they were really neat and I didn't want to risk not getting them, so I thought I could hurry and maybe we'd just be a few minutes late and nobody would notice.”  She buried her head in his shoulder and sobbed, “I'm sorry.”

Phil kept his arms around her, and let her cry on his shoulder.  In the grand scheme of things, causing Sara to be twenty minutes late for her date with Heath was not one of her major crimes.  He knew the reason she felt so bad about it
was because she thought so much of both Heath and Sara.  She had a heart of gold and hated to see anyone hurt, especially the people she loved.  She would do anything for her brother, and she seemed to have developed strong feelings for Sara very quickly, as well.  He knew hurting both of them was where the guilt came into play.  He truly loved the little lady in his arms, and knew what he had to do.

“
What was so special about those blue jeans, Heather?”

“
They're made out of some neat kind of material that fits snug so they look good on you, but they're supposed to be really comfortable, not feel tight.”

“
Did you get a pair?”

“
Yes.”  She sobbed again and repeated, “I'm so sorry.”

“
So, you got your jeans that fit tight and look good on you; right?”  When she nodded her head, he said, “I hope you really like them, honey.  We'll find out in a little bit.”  She looked up at him questioningly.  He kissed her forehead and said, “I love you, but it's time to pay the piper.  Go on into our bedroom and I'll be in shortly.”

She looked at him again, trying to understand what he meant, until he turned her toward the hallway and gave her a good swat as he said, “Get going, Heather.” 

He gave her five minutes to think about what he'd said, knowing it would seem like at least half an hour to her, before going into their bedroom.  As always, he smiled when he saw Heather standing in the corner, her jeans and panties lying on the end of the bed, neatly folded.  His wife was the most beautiful lady he'd ever laid eyes on, but there was something about how submissive she looked standing in the corner, looking at the floor, waiting for him that always touched his heart.

He sat down on the bed and said, “Come here, Heather.” 

He watched her hesitantly turn and look at him, tears still filling her eyes.  She slowly walked over to him, stopping in front of him, lowering her eyes back to the floor.  He reached out and took her hand in his, guiding her over his left knee.  He watched as she squirmed a bit until her upper body was supported on the bed and her gorgeous bare bottom was draped conveniently over his knee.

He laid his hand in the middle of her bare bottom and watched the shiver go through her.  It amazed him that although she obviously knew a spanking was coming, the first contact with his hand on her bottom always brought that shiver.  He was reminded once again how fortunate he was that this beautiful lady was his.

Shaking his head to clear it, he reminded himself of the task at hand.  “Why are you getting this spanking, Heather?”

She drew in a deep breath and whispered, “Because I was selfish.  I was worried more about myself and getting some new jeans than about two of the most important people in my life.” 

Phil was a little taken aback by her statement.  Now he realized why there were so many tears.  She wasn't viewing this as simply forgetting to watch the time; to her it was hurting two people she cared very much for.  Knowing now that there was more guilt to rid her of than he'd realized, he began his task.

The first swat landed solidly on her right cheek, and she gasped, but didn't cry out.  He followed with a matching whack on her left cheek.  Again a gasp, and he could tell she was trying to be stoic and accept the spanking.  He knew it wouldn't be long, though, until she was yelling and fighting his hold on her.

He started a rhythm of swats, back and forth, and watched her squirming, trying to lie still.  She was also doing her best not to yell out.  He respected her for the attempt.  However, when he started varying the speed and location of the swats, so she couldn't anticipate when and where the next one would land, all bets were off.  She was soon very vocally letting him know she was not happy, and doing everything she could to escape from his lap.

“
Phil, ouch.  Stop!  Okay, okay, I get the message.  Please let me up now.  Oh, it hurts!”

“
Does it hurt enough that you'll remember this the next time?”

“
Yes!  Yes!  Phil, please stop!  I promise I won't be that selfish again!”

“
And will you apologize to your friends?”

“
Yes!  Please, Phil, it hurts!”

Phil slowed down the swats as he said, “I'm glad it hurts.  That means it might actually get through to you.”  He stopped the spanking, but kept his hand on her bottom as he said, “Okay, Heather, if you really think you've learned a lesson, we'll stop now, but there are two things you are going to agree to do first.”

She looked back over her shoulder at him and saw the determination in his eyes, and warily asked, “What two things?”

“
You're going to apologize to them when you see them again.”

“
Okay,” she readily agreed.  “I was planning on doing that.  What's the other thing?”

“
You're going to wear your new jeans tonight when we go out to eat.”

Heather knew he had some ulterior motive for this, but she couldn't figure out what it was.  She hesitated, trying to read his mind.  She knew she'd paused too long when he gave her two more solid swats and warned, “Heather, I'm waiting.”

She quickly resigned herself, saying, “Okay, but why?”

Phil smiled as he asked, “Can't a husband want to see his sexy wife in nice, tight jeans?”

Not buying it for a second, she answered, “Yes, but I know there's something else to it.”

Phil just smiled and helped his wife to stand as he said, “Come here, sweetie.”  He pulled her down onto his lap and into his arms again, loving the way she wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.  He ran his hand through her hair gently and reminded her how much he loved her as they sat there, absorbing each other's love.  Finally, after several minutes, he said, “Okay, come on, honey, go get dressed.  I really am getting hungry.”

Heather reluctantly stood and said, “Yeah, I guess I am, too, although I really don't want to sit on those hard chairs.  Can't we go someplace else tonight, please?”

Although he thought she was adorable standing there rubbing her bottom, he said, “Heather, you know better than to rub.  Am I going to have to warm it back up before we go?”

She immediately pulled her hands away.  “No!  I'm sorry.  I didn't even realize I was doing it.”

Phil believed her, and had to smile as she went to get dressed.

It wasn't long before Heather realized what his ulterior motive was for making her wear the new jeans.  He couldn't stop the smile on his face as he heard her come to the realization.

She came walking out of her walk-in closet complaining.  “Phil, I can't wear these new jeans tonight.  They're so tight they're holding all that heat in.  My butt literally feels like it's on fire.”  She looked up and saw the smile on his face, and stopped dead in her tracks.  Her shoulders slumped as she asked, “You knew that would happen, didn't you?  That's why you wanted me to wear them?”

Phil held her by her shoulders and gave her a tender kiss on her forehead before looking into her eyes and saying, “Sweetheart, I'm not going to lie to you.  Yes, that was my thinking.  Since you were in such a hurry to buy the jeans, I'm hoping that making you wear them right away, too, will make a lasting impression on you.  Sometimes it's better to have some patience and wait for things.”  He gave her several moments to absorb that information, then said, “Now, are you ready to go?  Those hard wooden chairs are waiting for us.”

She sighed, but accepting her fate, said, “Yeah, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be.”

“Good.  I love you, Sweetheart.”

She slipped her hand into his outstretched hand he offered, and said, “I love you, too.”  Reaching back to quickly rub her bottom, she added, “Sometimes I think maybe you love me too much.”  They both laughed as he pulled her hand back around and replaced it with a quick swat.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sara looked a bit overwhelmed as she looked at the huge menu at the restaurant, so Phil tried to help.  “I don't know what kind of seafood you prefer, but all of them with an asterisk in front of them are caught fresh locally.  Their crab stuffed flounder is delicious, and the crab and flounder are both local.  Their lobster is very good, but it's not local.  I'm not a big fan of mussels, but people say this is the best place to get them, and they're local.  I personally love their shrimp scampi.”  Looking at her expression, he asked, “Does that help, or did it make it worse?”

He was rewarded with a big smile as she said, “It definitely helped.  Thank you.  I love crab stuffed flounder, so I think I'll try that, since you said it's all fresh.”

“
I don't think you'll be disappointed.  Heather swears it's the best she's ever had.”

“
Now that you're talking about how good it is, I'm getting hungry.”

Heath smiled as he asked, “Did you go to Wally's today for lunch?”

He could easily see the excitement in her eyes as she exclaimed, “Yes, we did, and you were right.  The atmosphere there is great, just like the food.”

“
Good.  I'm glad you liked it.  Maybe if we can show you all our great restaurants here we'll be able to convince you to stay.” 

The waiter came to take their order, and after he left Heath turned a bit more serious.  “Have we convinced you to stay for
a while, at least, Sara?”

Her smile warmed his heart, and he watched as she took a deep breath.  He could tell she was thinking, perhaps picking her words wisely, so he let her have the extra time.  Finally, she said, “You and Heather and Phil have made me feel so welcome here, I'm going to stay at least a couple weeks, give myself a chance to feel more at home here.”

Heath was happy, but he could tell she was still hesitant.  She only committed herself to a couple weeks.  He didn't want to push too much too soon, but he couldn't let the comment go unchallenged.  “I'm glad you're giving us a couple weeks to convince you, Sara.  I hope you stay a lot longer than that, though.  I'm really hoping to get to know you much better and spend time together.  And I've never seen Heather allow herself to become friends with anyone this quickly.”

“
Heather is great.  She's so easy to like, to be friends with.”

Heath smiled
. “Actually, I've wondered about that.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Well, she's not usually this willing to open herself up so quickly.  It normally takes her longer to trust someone enough to allow them into her life and become friends.  Once you're her friend, though, you're her friend for life.”

Heath could tell Sara was deep in thought.  After a few moments she said, “That's interesting, because I was kind of thinking the same thing about me.  I don't open up to people easily, so I don't tend to have a lot of friends.  But I really do feel like Heather and I have been friends for
a while.  That's kind of strange.”

Heath chuckled
.  "Phil told me this evening that to see the two of you together you'd think you'd been best friends for years.  He knew that was unusual for Heather, too.”

“
It's really odd that we're both acting outside our norm.”

Trying to lighten the mood a bit he said, “I think it just shows how much you two were meant to be friends.  I think if you decide to make this your new home you'll find you and Heather becoming increasingly close, true best friends.”

She smiled as she said, “I'd like that.”  Her expression turned rather sad as she added, “I've only ever had one best friend, and since she got married we hardly ever see each other.  We don't even talk on the phone all that much any more.  She's got a busy life now.”

Heath put a hand gently over one of hers as he said, “See?  That's just one more reason you should stay here.  You've already got a new best friend.”  When she looked up at him with a smile that fully reached her eyes, he said, “Heather and I would both be very disappointed if you left.”