Sadie held her embroidery project still in her lap and gazed out the window at Wade and Grace working together in the garden. It had been weeks since Grace’s punishment, and by all appearances, it had been effective. Grace no longer snuck out at night and instead remained at the cabin after the sun set.

Wade and Grace spent time together often like they had as children. There was never a cross or awkward word between them, and their affection for each other was evident. Wade spent time with the twins too and had taken up fishing again. Ada didn’t struggle with her homework as much with Wade there, since he made it his mission to sit with her every evening and explain arithmetic problems that used to confuse and frustrate her to the point of tears. There was no denying that Wade’s presence had improved everyone’s life.

Sadie picked up her stitching and resumed the butterfly pattern she was creating for new matching handkerchiefs for Grace and Ada. Though she had every reason to feel content, she felt oddly melancholy. Before Wade’s arrival, she hadn’t entertained many thoughts of courtship, instead finding comfort in her familiar, unremarkable life. But the presence of Wade was bringing forth new desires, not least of which was a desire to be pleasured by someone other than herself.

Grace stumbled through the door, interrupting Sadie’s thoughts with her laughter. Wade appeared behind her and closed the door. The lighthearted expression on his face turned into a frown when he looked down. “Grace, you tracked in mud all over the floor. Sadie just mopped it yesterday.”

She looked at her shoes and exclaimed. “Oh! I’m sorry, Sadie.”

Sadie smiled and shook her head. She wasn’t overly bothered.

“You can show her you’re sorry by cleaning it up,” Wade said firmly.

Some of Sadie’s melancholy lifted. It felt good that Wade had noticed her trouble. Grace was thoughtless often, not because she was uncaring, but because she always had a million other thoughts running through her unfocused mind.

While Grace obeyed and fetched the mop with no complaint, Wade rubbed the back of his neck and frowned, appearing like he wanted to say something to Sadie.

“What is it?” she asked him, concerned.

Wade dropped his hand. “I’m going to take a walk to Pa’s grave. I was wondering if you might join me.”

Sadie forced herself to appear nonchalant, though she was very pleased by the invitation. She set her embroidery aside on the small table next to her chair. “Yes, of course, Wade. I’d like that.”

It was a lovely fall day, and the hike to the gravesite was an easy one. The family had elected to bury Clyde a short distance away from the creek on the other side of town. During the spring, wildflowers bloomed in abundance. It provided a modicum of comfort knowing their pa rested somewhere so peaceful.

“Do you go to Pa’s grave often?” Wade asked, as they strolled side by side at a relaxed pace.

“No, not really,” Sadie replied. “Haven’t been at all this year actually.”

“I’m glad you’re coming with me then,” Wade replied.

“Me too.”

They walked the rest of the way, mostly in silence, though Sadie distinctly felt his presence next to her the entire time. She tried not to think about how handsome he looked, with his light-blue button-up shirt and new wool trousers. His clothes were dirtier than usual on account of having just worked in the garden, but somehow that only added to his appeal. He was like Grace in that way. They both carried a certain easy attractiveness that every activity seemed to enhance.

Sadie was glad Wade had chosen this day to request her company because she felt she looked more attractive than usual. She’d attended a picnic earlier with the Campbells, and she still was wearing her Sunday best, a green satin dress with lace around the wrists and a black velvet sash tied about her waist. Grace had braided her hair so that three plaits were loosely coiled around her head, and the length of her normally flat hair had been brushed and teased until it was wavy and shining.

Grace had leaned back to study her and clapped her hands together with glee. “Sadie, you look positively radiant! Doesn’t she, Wade?”

Sadie had blushed and demurred. “Radiant might be an exaggeration.”

“It’s not,” Grace insisted, handing her a mirror.

“Your hair is lovely like that,” Wade agreed, causing Sadie to blush even more deeply.

Still, she hadn’t reveled in her vanity for long. Her looks on her best day still paled in comparison to Grace’s looks on her worst day.

“Here we are,” Wade said, as they approached the white cross that shadowed their pa’s resting place. They settled on the grass next to it and remained quiet for some time.

Sadie nearly jumped out of her skin when Wade reached over and took her hand in his. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said with a smile, squeezing her hand gently.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as the sensation of his warm hand over hers overtook every thought in her head. She was so overwhelmed by the tender touch that her body started to shake, which Wade noticed.

“Are you cold?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Yes, just a little,” she lied, not wanting to admit the true reason for her quivering. She had never held hands with a man. The effect on her body was a surprise even to herself.

Wade couldn’t have known how unhelpful he was being when he said, “Here, come closer,” and wrapped an arm around her, pulling the side of her body up against his chest.

Her breath hitched, and every muscle inside tensed. She could hear his heartbeat, or was that hers?

She pulled away. “I think it’ll help if I stand and walk around a bit,” she explained, jumping to her feet.

“Ah, yes, good idea,” Wade agreed. “That’ll warm you right up.”

She paced, taking giant breaths of air. When she thought she’d recovered, she returned to sitting on the grass, this time outside Wade’s reach.

“I miss him,” he said, gazing at the grave. “I miss seeing him pin the badge to his vest every morning. I felt proud to have a pa who was a lawman.” He gave her a wan smile. “That’s a strange thing to miss, isn’t it?”

Sadie shook her head. “I don’t think so. I miss his prayer before supper every evening. Not a day goes by when I don’t miss that. And I miss the smell of his tobacco. Sometimes I light his pipe so I can pretend he’s there for a bit.”

Wade smiled at her sadly and picked up a twig from the ground in front of him. He absentmindedly cracked it in two. “Clyde was a good father to me. Don’t know where I’d be if he hadn’t taken me in. Probably out robbing banks like my real pa instead of depositing hard-earned money into them.”

Sadie winced, remembering how she had pointed out his real father’s crime when she’d framed him for theft. “Pa would be awfully proud of you,” she said softly. “Look how well you’ve done for yourself, how strong and successful you’ve become.”

Wade tossed the broken sticks away. “He would be proud of you too. You’re the strongest out of all of us.”

“Ha!” Sadie said with a laugh. “I didn’t do anything impressive. I just continued on doing the same thing as before he died. Pa would have expected that.”

When Sadie looked over at Wade, he was regarding her with a strange expression on his face. “You don’t think taking on all you did with minimal support was impressive?”

She gave another short laugh. “I never thought of it that way. To me the path was clear. There was no other choice.”

“Well, I think it’s impressive,” he said firmly.

“Thank you, Wade,” she said, smiling at him. “That’s a mighty nice thing for you to say.”

“No, it’s the truth,” he said, his voice still firm. “I wish you could see it from my perspective. You’re like Pa, you know. Steady as a rock, unselfish, always helping people.”

Pain gripped her then. She shook her head, and her voice conveyed distress when she spoke. “I’m not like him, Wade. Don’t say that.”

“Whoa,” he exclaimed, his eyebrows lifting. “It was a compliment. What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she said, her voice cracking. She couldn’t believe how strongly she was reacting to his statement.

“What’s the matter, Sadie?” Wade repeated, his voice gentle.

“You’re wrong is all.” She sniffled and furiously wiped away a tear streaming down her face. “I never wanted to help anybody, not like my pa. I didn’t want Miles, Luke, or Grace to join the family. And I certainly didn’t want you.”

“Honey, that doesn’t change the truth of what I said. You help people you care about every day, just like Clyde did. It takes you longer to warm up is all.” He scooted over to her and took her into his arms. She stiffened and tried to pull away, but this time he wouldn’t let her go. His grip tightened around her. “Listen to me, listen to me.”

She continued to try to pull away, struggling against his vise-like grip. “I just wanted my pa to myself. I was afraid he would love you all more. And he did!” She was mortified. All her pain was pouring out of her, but she couldn’t seem to stop it.

“No, Sadie,” Wade said. “That’s not true. You’re his firstborn child, the daughter of the woman he loved. None of us could have replaced you.”

“I wish I could believe that,” she said, giving up the struggle to pull away, defeated. She slumped against him. “But when my ma died, he filled his house with other children who made him much prouder and happier.”

Wade took her by her arms and held her away from him. Giving her a small shake, he said, “Look at me, Sadie.”

With difficulty, she met his gaze.

“Do you know that your pa talked about you all the time?”

“No.” She wanted so desperately to believe that, and the hope must have shone in her eyes.

“He did,” Wade confirmed. “He was always bragging about you, saying how sweet you are, how he was lucky to have you, how he wouldn’t have survived your ma’s death if you hadn’t been there. He told me when you were a little girl, you used to pack his pipe full of tobacco so it was ready for him to smoke by the time he got home. He noticed that you liked blueberry pie, so he made us boys skip fishing and join him in picking the berries over at Gil’s Bluff when they ripened. He mentioned to me that you look just like your ma too. He showed me a photograph of her to demonstrate.”

Sadie sniffled. She stared deeply into his eyes. “He said all that to you?”

Wade nodded. “Yes, honey. And he instructed me to help you however I could. He was paying me to make your life easier. That was essentially my entire job description.”

She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

“I’ll tell you something,” Wade continued. “Maybe you didn’t know how much your pa loved you, but I certainly did. And because of that, it scared the hell out of me how much you disliked me. I knew if he’d ever been forced to choose, he would’ve chosen you over me.”

Sadie gasped. “He never would have gotten rid of you, Wade, no matter what I said.”

Wade shrugged. “Perhaps not, but I lived in fear of that.”

“I had no idea. I’m sorry,” Sadie said.

Wade touched her cheek with his palm. “I think we’ve apologized enough, don’t you? We were children. We were allowed to think childish things.”

She leaned her face against his hand and covered it with hers. “Yes. And I didn’t dislike you. Not the whole time anyway.”

Wade smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. And now? How do you feel about me now?”

“I’m beyond grateful for you, Wade,” she said earnestly. She lowered her eyes to the ground. “I wouldn’t have been able to deal with the Grace situation without you.”

“Ah, yes,” Wade said, squeezing her hand before letting go. “She was headed down the wrong path, but it seems like one little spanking sent her in the right direction.”

Sadie snorted. “I wouldn’t call that a ‘little’ spanking. You were downright terrifying, and that strap looked painful.”

“Yeah, I was hard on her in the hopes I wouldn’t have to repeat the lesson, but I was very afraid she would hate me after.”

“Nah,” Sadie said, shaking her head. “She would never hate you. She was glad you went looking for her. It made her feel like you cared.” She sighed, and her next words sounded wistful. “It must be a wonderful feeling, having proof that someone cares enough to make sure you’re behaving right.”

Wade’s eyes narrowed, and he stared at her in a way that made her feel as though he was reading her mind. “Surely you must know how it feels to have someone make sure you’re behaving. Didn’t Pa ever spank you?”

She shrugged. “If he did, I can’t remember. And besides, I’ve always been so darned good. He wouldn’t have had much of a chance to set me straight.”

Wade raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t say you’re that good.”

She laughed nervously, aware of where the conversation was heading. She couldn’t think of what to say in response.

“Do you need a spanking to know someone cares about you, Sadie?” He asked the question like one might ask about the price of grain—factually and entitled to a straightforward answer.

“Goodness, no!” Sadie exclaimed. Her cheeks heated, and her stomach tightened as she heard her fantasy spoken out of Wade’s own lips.

“See? You’re not that good. You just lied to me, and lying is very bad,” he said, his lips twitching slightly and his eyes twinkling. He stood and walked to a nearby stump, where he sat. “Come here and lay yourself over my lap, Sadie Shaw. I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time.”

She gasped and sputtered. “No, that’s all right, Wade. No need for that, really.”

“It wasn’t a question. Come here. Lickety-split, or I will spank you longer and harder than I plan to right now.”

Oh God, Oh God. Her mind raced. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She felt frozen in place. His threat of further punishment did nothing to commission her obedience.

“I’m waiting,” he said, tapping the toe of his boot.

She let out a moan. “Are you serious? I can’t even believe you’re serious.”

“You’d best believe it, darlin’, and right quick. I’m running out of patience.”

With difficulty, Sadie finally summoned the strength to rise to her feet and walk to him. He took her hand and guided her over his lap. She squirmed until she felt like she was in a comfortable position, and had hardly found the right spot before Wade lifted her skirts and placed them over her back.

She squeezed her eyes shut, embarrassed and surprised. No man had seen her in just her drawers before. What happened next shocked her even more. In one swift movement, Wade untied the ribbon holding her drawers in place and parted them around her bare bottom.

“Oh, no!” she cried, squirming as the cool air kissed her skin.

He ran his hand over the slopes of her twin cheeks and leaned forward to growl in her ear. “Oh, yes. Naughty girls get spanked on a bare bottom, and you’ve been very bad, haven’t you?”

“I-I don’t know,” she panted, arousal coiling in her stomach.

He continued to rub his large hand around her bottom. “I think you do know,” he said. “Shall I list your sins?” He stroked down to her thighs, opening the seam there too to expose her sensitive legs to his touch.

She groaned, wondering if he could see her aching sex. She thought she might die of embarrassment, or pleasure, she wasn’t sure which, but surely one of those would cause her heart to stop.

His hand suddenly fell against her right cheek, and a sting bloomed against her skin. He struck the other cheek in the same place. “Are you falling asleep on me, Sadie?”

“No,” she whimpered.

“Then you might want to answer my questions.” He spanked her several more times. The swats weren’t gentle by any means, but they didn’t cause her true pain. They inflicted sharp bursts of heat, which concentrated between her legs.

“I’ll only punish you for today’s sins, how about that?” he purred, bringing his hand down in a splat across both cheeks. “And we’ll go backwards. First, your refusal to come over my lap when I first asked. Ten for that.”

He delivered ten firm swats, and Sadie bore them stoically, her mind still barely caught up with what was transpiring. When he finished punishing her for that, he rubbed out the sting in firm circular strokes around her bottom.

She let out a moan of pleasure, having never felt anything so wonderful in her life. She found herself wishing he would stroke lower and touch her between her legs.

“You have such a beautiful bottom, Sadie,” Wade remarked. “Perfect for spanking, unfortunately for you.” He let out a low chuckle.

Sadie’s stomach fluttered happily. Knowing that Wade appreciated the sight of her bottom was flattering. She almost forgot she still had more punishment coming until he reminded her. “Next round is for your lie. I asked if you needed a spanking, and you said no, when clearly it was exactly what you needed. Twenty swats for that,” he declared, and resumed spanking her.

The swats were harder than before, and Sadie couldn’t suffer them quietly. By the time he was halfway finished, her bottom felt like it was on fire, and she yelped while twisting in his grip. He carried on as though she hadn’t made a sound, ensuring that every inch of her bottom was warm and toasty.

“Good girl,” he murmured when he was finished, and resumed stroking her bottom.

She slumped down over his lap and enjoyed his touch. She thought she could lie forever in his lap getting her bare bottom rubbed. The spanking was more painful yet even hotter than her fantasies. She clenched her legs together, feeling on the brink of exploding with pleasure. The physical part of discipline mixed with the scolding was a combination that brought her need and desire straight to the surface.

“Now, darlin’, this last set is for your worst sin of all today. Can you guess what that might be?”

She wouldn’t have been able to guess the color of the sky. “No,” she moaned.

“All right, I’ll tell you. These final swats are for thinking, even for a moment, that people don’t care about you. We all care about you, and if a spanking is what will prove it to you, I’m more than happy to smack your delectable bottom every day. Fifty swats, and they’re going to hurt. Are you ready?”

Her eyes stung with tears at hearing Wade’s words. She couldn’t help but wonder how much he cared about her. As much as he cared about Grace and the others? “I’m ready,” she whispered.

True to his word, the last fifty swats hurt like the dickens. He ignored her shrieks and pleas for mercy, and if anything spanked harder the more she complained. Halfway through she decided she must be off her rocker to have longed for a spanking from Wade. It hurt! And he didn’t spare her tender thighs, making sure they felt his punishing hand as well.

When it was over, he carefully tied her drawers together and gave her aching bottom one final gratuitous swat before smoothing her skirts down and setting her upright on his lap.

He placed his hand on her back and grinned at her. “Do you feel cared for now?”

Her chest rose and fell from the exertion of withstanding such an event, and she let out a breathless giggle. “Yes, I suppose. Thank you, Wade.”

“I like hearing you laugh like that. It’s cute. You should do it more often.”

She shifted her sore bottom on his leg. “I feel happy right now, but usually I don’t.” When she saw his expression of concern, she rushed to explain. “It’s not that I’m unhappy. But my days are predictable. I certainly couldn’t have predicted this!”

“I see,” Wade said, frowning. “It’s true, your days are predictable and full of work, while everyone else does as they please.”

She shrugged and looked down at her hands in her lap. “I know it probably doesn’t make sense to you, but I prefer it that way. Ever since Pa died, I’ve been thankful for every day that passes where nothing terrible happens. I like for everything to be as expected.”

Wade wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. “I do understand,” he said. “That’s been your way of coping. But I want more for you. Will you let me lay down the law a bit at the house?”

She laid her head on his shoulder, marveling over the closeness of him. It felt so good to be in his arms, feeling like she had someone on her side who cared about her. “I don’t think you need my permission to lay down the law.”

“Sure I do,” he insisted. “It’s your house, but I want to make some changes. Call it even distribution of workload.”

She giggled again. “That sounds fancy. Did you learn it in California?”

“Yes, actually,” he said. “Working at the paper—we all had to pull our own weight. If one person didn’t, he wasn’t allowed to stick around for long. At the house, I’m prepared to enact consequences for the thoughtless, lazy behavior I’ve witnessed from everyone but you.”

Sadie wasn’t used to someone taking up for her, and it felt nice. “Sure, Wade, whatever you think.”

“Good,” he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “And the first change I want to make is to get you out of the house. Will you accompany me to the barn dance next Saturday?”

She lifted her head and studied him. Was he requesting courtship? Even though they were wrapped in each other’s arms in a way that was distinctly not brotherly or sisterly, she still felt taken aback. “I-I don’t know how to dance,” she stammered. She had never been asked to a dance before, and she wondered about his motives. She hoped he didn’t feel sorry for her.

“I didn’t ask if you knew how to dance, I asked if you’d go with me,” he said teasingly.

She smiled. “All right. I’ll go.”

He grinned at her so broadly that Sadie couldn’t help but return a big smile of her own. He seemed genuinely pleased to spend a romantic evening with her. She couldn’t remember ever having smiled so much in one day. It had been the most eventful afternoon of her life, and it filled her with joy to think that the excitement wasn’t going to end that day. She had a dance to look forward to, and what if that was only the beginning of Wade’s courtship?