Mary Quite Contrary by Amelia Smarts
Chapter Five
After a night of fitful rest, interrupted by frequent wakefulness, Mary overslept. So much had happened the night before, she hadn’t been able to turn off her mind until after two o’clock in the morning, and the hours that followed were her only real sleep. She awoke with a start. She knew by the way the sunlight streamed boldly through her window that it was well past dawn.
It was Tuesday, a slow day at the restaurant, but usually she had a few customers stagger in for breakfast, and she was late. There was no time to meet Ben at the live oak tree, even if she had made up her mind about courtship, which she hadn’t. She couldn’t wrap her head around her feelings over being spanked soundly like a naughty little girl, and then kissed just as soundly.
While cracking eggs over a skillet, she decided she absolutely did not want to be courted by the bold new deputy. Who did he think he was, coming into her restaurant and ordering her to keep her money hidden? She was a Thorndale businesswoman, worthy of respect.
As the eggs scrambled, so did her mind. Ben had been watching out for her. It was nice to have a man care about her well-being. And that kiss… oh, that kiss. She touched her lips, conjuring up the memory of his mouth pressed against hers, stroking her tongue so intimately. It had felt like pure bliss, and how many more kisses like that were in her future if she agreed to courtship?
Her thoughts went back and forth like that all morning. She tried to forget about them briefly while sitting in the back to eat some toast. She’d just placed her plate in front of her when Willow McAllister opened the back door and slouched against the door jamb. “Howdy. That toast smells mighty good.”
The moment Mary saw Willow, the memory of Ben threatening her with a strapping flooded her mind. So much for taking a break from thinking about him, she thought. To Willow, she said, “Have some.” She tilted her head toward the counter where the sliced bread lay.
“Thanks.” Willow walked to the counter and wolfed two pieces of toast down before Mary had finished her first slice. “I’m sorry about stealing the pies,” Willow said in between bites. “Put me to work. I’ll do whatever is helpful.”
“You know you can always ask me for food if you’re hungry,” Mary said. “No need to be proud.”
Willow shrugged. “Pride is about all I got left.”
“I can understand that. It’s important for a woman to keep her honor and dignity.” She was speaking more to herself than to Willow, trying to convince herself that becoming involved with Ben was not worth losing her self-respect. Being spanked was just about the most undignified position a woman could find herself in, though she knew it wasn’t fair to blame Ben completely. She’d agreed to the spanking—if not in words, certainly by her actions.
As expected, only a few people came to the restaurant for eggs and toast. Willow helped her throughout the morning with cleaning and lugging a few buckets of water from the well to the kitchen. In the early afternoon after giving her lunch, Mary said, “You can take off if you want. I’ll tell Deputy Gray you helped me out a lot today.”
Willow shrugged her shoulders as she walked to the door. “Whatever. I don’t care what that man thinks. He’s ornerier than a heifer stuck in mud.”
“He seems agreeable enough to me.”
“Ha! Yeah, as long as you do what he says, he’s agreeable as pie. But I know his type. He’s the kind that has to be in charge. He couldn’t stand to have a woman holding the reins for a single cotton-pickin’ second.”
For a long while after Willow left, Mary thought about what she’d said. Mary decided it would be wise to visit her friend Victoria, who was more knowledgeable in the ways of men. Perhaps she would have some advice to give. And Mary was more apt to take the advice of a successful businesswoman like Victoria than a wayward girl like Willow.
Mary felt uncharitable, having such thoughts about Willow. Victoria, Willow, and Mary had all been friends as schoolchildren, and the directions they’d gone in life had diverged drastically. It wasn’t Willow’s fault her whole family was dead and she was poor, but that’s what had happened, and Victoria and Mary simply had little in common with her now.
The door’s bell rang as Mary walked into Victoria’s fabric shop. “Yoo hoo!” she called cheerily.
Victoria glided to the front to greet her. She was a small, prim woman, always immaculately put together with the latest fashion of dress. Her face was powdered, her hair coifed, and a green-feathered hat was placed diagonally on her head. “Hello, Mary,” she said, in her clipped accent, which many thought snooty. Though she’d lived in Thorndale all her life, she had the voice of someone from the east, where all her fancy clothing styles came from. She brought a little glamor to the ladies of Thorndale, though, so people grudgingly respected her.
Mary was different. Mary actually liked Victoria and thought she was one of the best friends anyone could have.
“I met a man, Victoria,” Mary said. “I need your advice.”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows lifted. “Oh? You have my attention.”
“It’s the new deputy. He, well… he asked to court me.”
Her eyebrows shot impossibly higher. “Deputy Benjamin Gray? He just arrived in town, and he’s already asked to court you?”
There was a bit too much shock in Victoria’s voice for Mary’s liking. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“Well, no, no, of course not,” Victoria stammered, literally taking a step back as she backpedaled. “It’s no surprise at all. You’re a most charming person, and of course you own a restaurant. They say food is the way to a man’s heart.”
“My parents own it,” she corrected.
“Same thing,” Victoria replied, waving a hand. “My parents owned this store, and now that they’re dead it’s mine. It’s the way of things.” She fell silent for a moment. Victoria was always very careful not to betray her emotions, but Mary knew she missed her parents terribly and felt lonely. Victoria cleared her throat. “But anyway, tell me what advice you need. Tell me all about the deputy. Come, sit down.”
As they sat, Mary considered how much information to give Victoria. She would die before admitting the handsome new deputy had actually punished her like a naughty little girl. She decided to give her the most watered-down version she could while still revealing the crux of her dilemma. “The thing is, he’s very bossy. He came into my restaurant, demanded that I lock the money in the register so it won’t be stolen, and scolded me something fierce when I resisted his overbearing nature.”
“Hmm,” Victoria said, frowning. “Continue.”
“But it was nice to have someone looking out for me, I suppose. He was clearly only trying to help. He also kissed me and…” Mary sighed. “I’m not going to lie, it felt mighty good.”
Victoria’s frown deepened. “Very forward of him.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s not like I did anything to stop him, and it’s not like he just rushed in. It was slow. I had plenty of time to tell him I didn’t wish to be kissed.”
Victoria tapped her chin. She gazed into the distance for a while, then said, “I advise you to be careful. Some men only want sex. After you give them that, they care nothing for you.”
Mary frowned, more confused than ever. Surely that wasn’t the case with Ben, was it? He didn’t seem to have a conniving bone in his body.
“Besides that,” Victoria continued, “I suppose you have to ask yourself if he makes you feel more good than bad. If you get mostly good feelings, it seems like an easy choice. It’s not marriage, after all. It’s only courting. You can change your mind if things go left.”
Mary thought about that. If she used that gauge for whether or not to accept courtship, the answer would be clear. Yes, absolutely. He certainly made her feel more good than bad. The problem was, she thought she should feel much less good about the spanking.
But that was not something she could discuss with Victoria. She would have to figure it out for herself, and she was no closer to making the decision after than before she walked into Victoria’s shop.