Her Old-Fashioned Husband Read Free Page B

before.
    “Why are you so mad? He helped you, Frankie. Doesn’t sound like anyone else tried to.”
    “It was humiliating,” she admitted.
    “He take your jeans down?” he asked.
    “No,” she gasped, horrified.
    “Touch you inappropriately? Hit you anywhere other than your butt?” Heath asked calmly.
    “No,” she snarled.
    “You hurt?”
    She sighed. “No.”
    “You realize I’m going to spank you hard, don’t you?” he said softly, his voice gentle as he continued to rub his hand over her back.
    Yeah, she’d figured that. Tears welled in her eyes.
    “I’m not a child, Heath.”
    “You’re barely sixteen, sweetheart. You’re a baby. You’ve got no business sneaking out of the house to go off with kid’s years older than you. Then there’s the drinking. How old is this Rick?”
    “Nearly twenty.”
    “Still too young to buy alcohol, I’m guessing he’s got a fake ID.”
    She nodded, chewing her lip. “Are you really angry at me, Heath?” He was the brother she adored most. Heath had the most patience of all her brothers and he’d always had time to answer her questions or push her on the swing when she was little. Even once he’d left home, whenever he visited , they’d do something together, just the two of them.
    Heath sighed. “When I was seventeen, my best friend’s older brother got a fake ID.”
    “Really?”
    He nodded. “He bought a stash of beer and hid it in the trunk of his car. My friend Mac and I found it one day. We stole a box then took off into the woods. Drunk ourselves silly. Mac’s old man found us a few hours later and hauled us home.”
    “What happened then?” she asked in disbelief. Heath was so sensible, so mature; it was hard to ever believe he did this.
    “He took me home. I was so drunk that Dad had to put me to bed. The next day, though, boy did I pay the piper.”
    “He punished you?” She didn’t remember this at all. But then she’d only have been around six or seven at the time.
    “Oh yeah. You and Mom were away in the city shopping. He hauled me up early in the morning, told me to shower and get into the study. I stood just where you were standing earlier, hung over , feeling real sorry for myself while he lectured me on responsibility, on looking after myself. Jeez, by the end of it I was ready to beg him just to punish me so I could lie down and feel sorry for myself.”
    “How’d he punish you?”
    At seventeen, Heath would have been nearly as big as he was now. He’d filled out more, but he would have been taller than their father.
    “He told me I was too big for a whipping, which I was relieved about, foolishly. After breakfast, he sent me to the barn to clean out all the stalls. I had to shovel shit with my head throbbing and my stomach heaving. I’d have gladly taken some licks of the belt by the end of the day. Damn, he worked me all weekend. I never touched alcohol again until I hit legal age and then never at home.”
    “That was rough. Did you resent him for it?”
    “No, baby. You know how punishment works in this house. Once you’re punished all is forgiven.”
    “You going to make me muck out stalls tomorrow?” she asked.
    He chuckled. “Probably should. But no.” He ran his hand over her head. “I am going to punish you, though, you know that right?”
    She nodded.
    “You’re so much more vulnerable than I am. That bastard could have really hurt you. What were you thinking, baby? Don’t you know how devastated we’d all be if something happened to you?”
    She shrugged.
    “Frankie,” he warned.
    “I-I...I just miss Mama and Daddy so much, Heath,” she cried, burying her face against his chest. “I’m so sad all the time and lonely. I just wanted to do something to forget.”
    “Ahh, honey. I miss them, too, we all do. Why didn’t you come to me and tell me you were struggling?”
    “Because you’re so busy with the ranch. I didn’t want to bother you.” She held back the threatening tears through sheer