Harmony paced the floor of the Sheriff’s Office, worried sick about where Ben was, and if he was all right. Of course, she was worried about the other men who’d joined in the posse, but she was more worried about her husband, since he led them.

They’d ridden back to town in forty-five minutes, pushing their horses as fast as they would go. By the time they got there, a crowd had already gathered at the Sheriff’s Office. No one questioned why the sheriff was out of town. Instead, they banded together, forming groups to go in three different directions.

Win told them there were five men, ranging in age from teens to mid-twenties. “They’re well armed,” he said.

“And they’ll use them, if they feel threatened,” Ben replied. “Everyone needs to be careful, and to make sure they watch their surroundings carefully. I’ve sent a wire to the Marshall’s Office in Denver. They’re sending out several men to help. But if we wait much longer, they could be to Texas before we find them.”

The crowd nodded their assent, and then Ben sighed. “Don’t approach them. If you find them, send for me. Watch them carefully, but wait until we outnumber them before you try and capture them.”

Now, several hours later, Harmony was worried sick. She’d tried to talk Ben into letting her go with him, but he’d refused, saying a posse was no place for a woman. She’d narrowed her eyes at him, and tried to argue. But when he’d held up his hand and gave her a look she’d never seen before, she stopped.

“No. Absolutely not. You will stay in town with the ladies, and we will be back. I promise.”

The more Harmony thought about his refusal, though, the madder she became. She let him help her with her work, didn’t she? She’d allowed him to lead her into writing a spanking scene in her latest book. If she’d let him help her, then he should let her help him. It seemed only fair.

“Don’t,” Ruby said, coming up behind her. “We have to stay here.”

“Why? Because we’re women? That stinks.”

“Yes, it does,” said Dawn, Rob’s wife. “But what else can we do? If we all left, then they could come back into town and attack the store, and other places in town. Think of it that way. We’re here protecting the things in town.”

“We’re waiting around doing nothing,” Harmony said. “I want to ride out there and see what I can find. I want to be doing something instead of just pacing the floor.”

“You want to be here for your husband when he comes back,” Sarah said.

“I want to be by my husband’s side,” Harmony replied. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. You guys can sit here, but I’m riding out to see if I can help.”

She looked down at her dress. “As soon as I stop by the house and change my clothes, that is.”

“You’ll get spanked,” Vanessa said softly. “I know my husband, and I’m sure Ben is the same. Win would redden my bottom if I disobeyed him, especially in something so serious.”

“So will Ben,” Harmony confirmed. “But I don’t care. I’m going to go, now.”

She hurried out the door before anyone could stop her, going to the house and changing back into the pants and shirt she’d been wearing last night. Then, she saddled Miss Priss and headed out on the road to Denver. She knew that was the way Ben had gone. He’d said the marshals would be coming that way, and he wanted to be able to talk to them when they arrived.

Plus, he thought that was the likely road the robbers had taken, since it led to the biggest city in the area, and there they could allow themselves to get lost in a crowd.

Harmony looked at the ground, to where hoof prints had gone off in three different directions. She knew which group Ben wanted to be in, and decided he would take the one that led northwest, and would curve toward Denver. She went that way, traveling by herself and finding no one. After several hours of riding, she decided it was time to head back to town. She’d found nobody, either friend or foe, and she knew she’d probably wasted her time. But at least she wasn’t sitting around, waiting. That had almost driven her insane.

She’d traveled a few miles when a noise in some bushes caught her attention. She pulled Miss Priss to a stop, then stared toward the noise. A man stepped out, someone she’d never seen before. He smiled at her, and then a second man stepped out. She recognized him as the man who had been in the store the day she and Ben had been there.

“Well lookie here. It’s the sheriff’s wife. What a stroke of luck for us.”

“She did what?” Ben stood in the Sheriff’s Office, his anger rising with each word Sarah spoke.

“She said she was tired of sitting around and waiting. She saddled her horse and she left. That was hours ago.”

Ben turned toward one of the bandits, who sat in his jail cell. According to the man, they’d split up after robbing the bank, saying they would meet in Denver when things had cooled down. He had five hundred dollars on him from the robbery, but he’d been alone. Plus, Win had been wrong about the number. There were not five of them, but seven.

“You’d better hope your friends don’t hurt my wife,” Ben said. “’Cause I’ll take it out on all of you. Tell me where they might be.”

The man swallowed hard, then moved to the back of the cell when Ben took off his gun and handed it to Mark.

“Hold this.” He opened the cell door and went inside. “Where have y’all been hiding? Tell me now, and I might not beat the holy hell out of you.”

“There’s an old abandoned farmhouse about thirty miles from here,” the man said, holding up his hands against Ben’s upraised fist. “Far enough away from town that people just wouldn’t happen upon us. If they have her, they might take her there.”

“The McClone place,” Mark said. “Nobody’s lived there for years. It’s west of here.”

Ben nodded, his eyes still fixed on the man in the cell. “How many do you think will be there?”

“I’m not sure. There are seven of us, as I said. So, there’s six still out there. Some of them probably already headed to Denver, though. Some of us, like me, lit out by ourselves.”

“Yeah, look where that got ya,” Ben replied. He lowered his fist then sniffed. “If one hair on my wife’s head is harmed, I’m holding you responsible. I hope you understand that.”

The man didn’t answer, and Ben looked him up and down. They were about the same height and weight. He narrowed his eyes and held out his hand. “Give me your shirt.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Give me your shirt. Now.”

Ben could tell the robber was thinking about saying no. Then, he decided against it, and quickly took off his shirt, handing it to Ben.

“What’s your name?”

The man looked like he wasn’t going to answer, so Ben pushed him against a wall, his hands digging into the man’s shoulders. “Answer me.”

“Jimmy. My name’s Jimmy Mangus.”

“You’d better not be lying to me, Jimmy Mangus. Because if you are, when I come back, I’m going to take away an important part of your anatomy, if you get my meaning.”

Ben loved the look of terror on the other man’s face. He deserved it for what he’d done to his brother, hell to the whole town, especially his missing wife.

Ben exited the cell, then took his gun back from Mark. “I’m taking a few of my brothers with me. You stay here and guard him. If he moves, shoot him.”

“With pleasure,” Mark replied.

It took them several hours to find the McClone place. Ben thought about it as they rode along. The McClones had been farmers, who picked a bad spot for their farm. The area wasn’t conducive to growing anything, and they’d finally given up and gone back home. The place had been empty ever since.

For his rescue mission, he’d brought Rob and Corbin with him, leaving Win and Josh at home to guard the women and children. Several of the town folk, including Harmony’s father, Marvin, were also with them.

His plan was simple. It would be dark when they got to the farm. He would wear Jimmy Mangus’ shirt, plus his hat, and head toward the front door. He hoped the man’s fellow thieves would recognize the clothing and not open fire.

While Ben was going to the front door, the other members of the posse would go around back, and break in once Ben was inside, and had secured Harmony, who he hoped was there.

When it had grown dark, and she still wasn’t back, he thought his heart would stop beating. He wanted her back in his arms, safe and sound. At the same time he wanted to spank her harder than he’d ever spanked her for running off by herself, thinking she could help. He appreciated her spunk at not wanting to sit at home, but she should have known better. He would make sure she knew better before it was all over.

Now, they were standing in a clump of bushes, watching the house. There were lamps on inside, so they knew someone was there. Smoke curled from the chimney, so someone was cooking, since heat wasn’t needed at this time of the year.

“Is everyone ready?” Ben looked around at the men who surrounded him. They all nodded. Marvin Watkins looked especially grim. “All right then, spread out. I’ll fire a single shot when I’m inside. When y’all hear it, storm the house. And be quiet until then. We don’t want to give ourselves away.”

They all left except Marvin, who stood rooted to the spot.

“Let me go in with you. She’s my daughter.”

“I understand that, but she’s my wife. I failed at keeping her safe, but I’m going to take care of that right now. Besides, if more than one of us goes toward the front door they’ll know something’s wrong.”

Marvin nodded. “Don’t feel like you failed her, Ben. I’ve tried my whole life to get her to follow my instructions, and it just hasn’t worked. I don’t think it ever will. Harmony has a mind of her own. She always will.”

“Win told me one time I’d have to lock her in a jail cell to keep her from running away from me.” Ben almost choked on his words. Tears filled his eyes. If something happened to her, he wasn’t sure what he would do.

“No,” Marvin replied. “She loves you. She wants to be with you, she just doesn’t want to follow the rules. One of these days it will get her into trouble.”

“It already has,” Ben replied. He stopped talking when Rob came up.

“I found Harmony’s paint horse hobbled out back, along with several others. Three of them, to be exact.”

Ben swallowed hard. “Okay. Then we go in, now. Maybe, if we’re lucky, two of them will be asleep and we can capture them before they know what’s hit ’em.”

Harmony’s hands were tied together in front of her. She’d tried several times to work at loosening the ropes, but had failed each time. She was lucky, she supposed, that none of the men had tried to touch her. Instead, they’d sat at the table and talked quietly amongst themselves.

She figured they were trying to decide what to do, or where they should go next. Somehow, somewhere, she knew she’d come into play for them. She just wasn’t sure where.

A noise outside caught the attention of Peter, the biggest of the three of them. He moved to the door and pulled back an old burlap sack they’d put over the broken window.

“Who’s there?” This came from Charlie, who was skittish, and always had his hand on his gun, even when it was holstered like it was now. Harmony had wanted him to accidentally shoot his foot, but that hadn’t happened, yet. The third one of the bunch, Travis, was quiet and looked very mean. He was the one who had threatened her when they’d first come across each other, telling her she could go back to her husband in one piece, or in a box. It was up to her.

She’d been quiet and behaved herself after that. Peter continued to look out the window, his gun in his hand.

“It’s Jimmy,” he said. “I recognize that ugly old hat of his.” He flung the door open and walked out onto the porch. Harmony sighed to herself, wondering how many of them there really were, and when Ben would find her, for she had no doubt that he would.

She heard Peter call out to Jimmy, then heard a loud thunk, like someone had been hit, and then fell. A shot rang out, and then all hell broke loose. She dove for the floor as Charlie pulled out his pistol and started shooting. She heard footsteps coming from the back end of the house. Men were yelling, and the smell of gunpowder filled the air.

Harmony looked up to see Ben slam through the door, his gun aimed at Charlie, who hit the ground next to her, and didn’t move. Travis put his hands in the air, screaming at Ben not to shoot.

Ben ordered him to lie on the floor, then quickly crossed the room and pulled Harmony into his arms.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes.” Her voice was wobbly, and she pushed herself against her husband, who held her in a death grip.

“I thought I’d lost you. Harmony, what were you thinking?”

“I don’t know.” She put her head on his shoulder. “I just didn’t want to be sitting around.”

He pushed away from her long enough to untie her hands. She noticed Rob, and Josh in the room, along with her father, who stood in the doorway, staring at her.

“Daddy.” She held out her arms and he crossed the room, holding her close. When the hug broke, he kissed her forehead, then handed her back to Ben.

“She’s lucky she’s going home with you,” he said. “If I took her home right now, I might just whale the tar out of her.”

“So might I,” Ben replied. “So might I.”

Two days later, Harmony felt as if she were normal again. Despite his words, Ben hadn’t spanked her when they’d arrived home. He’d held her close, kissing her gently. Then, they’d bathed together, washing each other’s hair and bodies until they were clean. When it was over, they fell into bed and immediately fell asleep in each other’s arms.

Ben had a lot of work to do, she knew, with the marshals who were there, so he stayed away from home quite a bit. She tried to write, to no avail. Everything she put down on paper sounded very wrong to her. She’d torn up page after page, and had finally given up.

She’d been surprised that Ben hadn’t said anything about her bad judgment yet. She’d expected it, along with the spanking, way before today. She’d wanted to talk to him about it, wanted to ask him what he was thinking. But she was afraid if she did, he’d decide that she did need punishing, and she didn’t want that to happen.

So, she’d stayed quiet, and waited for him to bring it up, which he hadn’t. By the end of the third day, she thought she’d grow crazy. She felt on edge, waiting for the shoe to drop, waiting for him to say something.

There was a huge part of her that worried he would decide she was too headstrong, that her mistake had proven her unworthy of being a lawman’s wife. She prayed he wasn’t considering an annulment, or worse yet, a divorce. He’d only kissed her gently the last few days, and hadn’t made any move to make love to her.

She knew he was angry because she’d gone out on her own, but she didn’t know exactly how angry. And that made her very nervous.

That night she made him fried chicken for dinner, with mashed potatoes and green beans, his favorite. She’d gotten up early that morning and made yeast bread, which was still fairly warm when he arrived home for dinner.

“It smells good in here.” He sat his hat on the counter and kissed her forehead.

“Thanks. How did things go today?”

“Not bad. The marshals have taken all their statements, and they’re taking our friends to Denver with them for trial on bank robbery charges. Three of them are also facing kidnapping charges, because of what happened with you.”

She nodded, then fixed him a plate of food, which she set on the table. She sat down as he prepared to eat.

“Aren’t you eating?” He took a bite of his chicken, then murmured his thanks about how delicious it was.

“I’m not hungry.”

He took another bite, then put down his chicken. “Is there something you want to talk about?”

“Are you going to punish me?”

“Do you think I should?”

“Yes. I was worried that you thought you’d made a bad choice, by marrying me.”

When Ben took her hand, her heart swelled. “Never. I might worry about your judgment, yes, but marrying you wasn’t wrong. I told you I loved you, Harmony, and I meant it. Didn’t you mean it?”

“Yes. Very much so.”

“Then let’s enjoy our dinner, and we’ll discuss this later tonight. Go and get you some food.”

She did as he asked, then sat down and started eating. They discussed their wedding, which was now two days away, and talked about how things were getting back to normal since the bank robbery. They talked as they cleaned, with Harmony washing dishes and Ben drying.

“The whole thing has made Vanessa a little skittish,” Ben said. “She was worried when they showed up at their house, since they live outside town. Win’s tried to convince her that everything’s going to be fine, but I don’t think she really believes it, not yet, anyway.”

“I can imagine,” Harmony said. “It’s strange to have something like that happen to our peaceful little town.”

“Things always happen,” Ben replied. “Which brings me to the discussion we need to have.”

He put the last dish in the cupboard and turned to his wife. “You know, as the sheriff that there is always a huge possibility that I’ll face situations like that, don’t you?”

“Of course I do. I don’t like it, but I know it.”

“Then we need to talk about how you react to the situations. You have to let me do my job, Harmony. You can’t go off and try to help. Your job is writing, mine is policing the town, and its citizens and unwelcome guests, as the case may be.”

“I know. It won’t happen again.”

“No, it won’t. You being taken hostage like that is a huge punishment in itself, but I think you still need spanked, just so you remember what I’m saying. I’m going to give you twenty swats with a switch. The next time something happens, I hope you’ll think about that, and will do what you’re supposed to do, and that’s not going off half-cocked thinking you can do things on your own.”

Tears leaked form Harmony’s eyes. “Please, Ben, not a switch. I hate being spanked with a switch.”

“I know. I talked to your father about it. He told me that’s the implement he’d use on you when you were bad, and he said it got him the results he needed. That’s what this is for, Harmony. Not so much to punish you for what happened, but to reinforce the fact there are rules about such things. I told you to stay with the ladies, and you didn’t.”

She wiped at her tears. “I’m not the type of lady who just sits around.”

“I know, and I love that. But when you’re told to stay put, that’s what needs to happen. Understand?”

She nodded.

“I don’t want to dwell on this. I just want to get it over with. So I want you to go into the bedroom and bare your bottom for me. I’ve already got the switch cut and ready. It will be quick, and then we won’t talk about it again.”

Harmony got up and went to the bedroom, doing as he told her. Like Ben, she wanted to get this over with. She knew she’d done wrong by going out to hunt the robbers on her own. Independence had its perks, like going without bloomers and having your husband laugh about it, but putting yourself in dangerous situations wasn’t one of those perks.

She was standing near the bed, bent over and grasping the railing when Ben came in. She’d lifted her skirts, and that was all it took to bare her bottom. His chuckle made her respond in kind.

“You and your bloomers,” he said. “You need to wear them more often, darling.”

“I hate them.” She tried to laugh, but when the switch was rubbed against her bottom, she inhaled sharply. The first swat stung, and by the time he got to the sixth, she was crying. He didn’t linger between swats, or draw it out, something she was grateful for. The twenty were delivered in quick fashion, and when he was done, he gathered her in his arms and let her cry, stroking her hair and reminding her how much he loved her, and how he wouldn’t want to live if something happened to her.

Then he took her to bed and made sweet, tender love to her. When she fell asleep in his arms, Harmony reminded herself she was the luckiest woman in the world, and all she had to do was learn to mind, even if it was just a little bit.

“I think the whole town’s in there.” Harmony’s eyes widened as she stared into the church.

“I think you’re right,” Vanessa said. She and Win were standing up for the couple again, and the ceremony was about to start. Harmony stepped back inside the room, her nerves on edge. Her palms were sweating and she felt as if she might go crazy before the day was over.

The door opened and Ben walked in.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” Vanessa said. “It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”

“We’re already married, technically,” he replied. “I’d like a moment alone with her, if I may.”

Vanessa shrugged her shoulders and left. Ben closed the door behind her and put his hand on his hips.

“What?” Harmony shook her head in confusion.

“Are you wearing bloomers?”

She blushed, then shook her head.

“Harmony, you’re going to be in front of the whole town.”

“Nobody will know but you.”

“You’re right, I will know. And I’m thinking that after the ceremony we might have to slip away for a little spanking. I told you to wear bloomers today.”

“This isn’t one of those independent moments you love about me?”

“Not today.”

“Liar. I can see you’re laughing. You were hoping I wouldn’t wear them. That’s why you mentioned it.”

“I think you know me too well already,” Ben replied. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not going to get spanked tonight.”

“On my honeymoon?”

“You’ve already had a honeymoon,” Ben said with a laugh.

“I think two weddings needs to equal out to two honeymoons.” She giggled and put her hands in front of her face. “Please?”

“Fine. I booked us a room in Denver. Mr. Willis wrote me back that he’d be glad to give us the honeymoon suite, but he was concerned, seeing as how we were already married the last time we stayed there.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I wrote him back that every day with you was like a honeymoon. Always new and fresh, and you never knew what was going to happen next.”

“Now, shall we go get hitched again, Mrs. MacAllister.”

“Yes, Mr. MacAllister, I’ll agree with you on that point one hundred percent. Just don’t expect it to happen again.”

“That’s good. By the time our anniversary rolls around, I’ll be an expert at spanking.”

“You already are, darling. Trust me on that.”