Chapter 10
B en was up early Christmas morning before Dottie was even out of bed. He’d decided he would surprise his wife with a simple breakfast of French toast with syrup, butter, and powdered sugar options. And some Clootie Dumpling for a chaser. They still had a few of those from the party at Neamh day before yesterday.
Humming to himself, he started a pot of coffee brewing and grabbed a non-stick pan from the cabinet. The things Poppy showed him had opened up a whole new world that he was enjoying exploring. He’d had no idea how easy and quick some things were to fix. Even pancakes weren’t difficult, especially if you just used a box mix and added eggs and milk. He especially loved French toast though, because he liked the egg coating.
He slapped two pieces on the pan and waited for them to brown on one side.
They would be having Christmas dinner at Thistlewind with his dad and Poppy today. He was glad because he wasn’t up to preparing a full holiday meal yet, and he didn’t expect Dottie to. Poppy said she was keeping it simple though, because she was about burned out on holiday foods after all the family visits and get togethers. He had to agree. He’d settle for a nice big pizza if he had his choice.
“What are ye doing up so early?”
Ben whirled and spied his lady love walking towards him with sleepy eyes, mussed hair, and nothing but one of his t-shirts on. A certain part of his body saluted her.
“I wanted to surprise ye with breakfast, but ye are awake now,” he teased.
Her eyes lit up. “Is that French toast I smell? I love French toast.”
“Aye,” he agreed, flipping the toast over to brown on the other side.
“Have I told ye how much I love ye?” Dottie asked, slipping her arms around his waist as he took the two toasts off and laid them on a plate.
He turned around in her arms and ran his hands up beneath his t-shirt. “Aye, but I never get tired of hearing it.” Then he turned her around, slapped her bare bum, and pointed her towards the hall. “Get dressed and be quick about it. I have a surprise fer ye this morning.”
Dottie grabbed her abused cheeks and started backing away. “Another one?”
“Aye, ye deserve to be spoiled. Especially at Christmas.”
“I have a few surprises fer ye too,” she purred. “And one surprise is a really big one.”
“Get moving then. I have plans before we go to Dads fer lunch.”
“Aye, aye, SIR!” She saluted smartly, then turned and ran when he started towards her with the pancake turner.
Smiling, Ben turned back to the business of finishing breakfast. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t added the dimension of spanking to their relationship before now. She could have used a few before this, but it had never seemed like the right time. Now it was and he couldn’t be more pleased with some of the changes in her attitude. It improved their sex life and they both slept better. A win all the way around.
***
D ottie was beyond excited . She couldn’t wait to tell Ben her good news. He seemed pretty excited too, and she wondered what he had in store for her? How could anything top the party though? His announcement had absolutely shocked and delighted her.
As she showered, she thought about everyone’s reaction to her Clootie Dumplings. She’d received lots of compliments, but so did everyone who brought something. The entire meal was raved about by all. The expected excessive adulation for her dumplings never came about. She’d been so relieved; it had taken the spotlight off and she didn’t feel like anyone was judging her.
Dottie still felt like a fraud when she thought about it, but Ben said the few people who knew about it understood and they were family. There was no need to make a public apology, which she’d thought she would need to do, because she didn’t owe anyone anything. She brought a dish as promised and that was all that mattered. It was no one’s business but his how much she paid for it.
Her mangled thumbs had been thanking her ever since.
Happily, she dressed in her new Christmas sweatshirt with a white snowman on a pretty pink background and slipped on her new jeans. Then she padded to her office where she picked up the envelope from her desk drawer and headed to the kitchen. She hesitated a moment, then put the envelope back. This would trump everything else and could quite possibly change some things in their lives. Mayhap it would best to leave it out of the normal Christmas gift exchange for now. She headed for the kitchen.
“Breakfast is ready,” Ben caroled and she smiled as she came out of the hallway. “Good, I’m starving!”
After breakfast they sat in front of their Christmas tree to the left of the warm fireplace and exchanged gifts. They were simple gifts, things that were needed, some new clothes, the Cinnamon Red perfume she liked and so on. They hadn’t had a big budget for personal spending this year. It hadn’t helped that she’d siphoned off 400 pounds for her biggest mistake ever.
“Thank ye, Ben,” she said, planting a kiss on his lips. “I dearly love this perfume and it’s rather expensive. It’s very thoughtful of ye to get it fer me.”
“So is this cologne ye bought me,” Ben enthused. “I know it’s not cheap either.” He set the bottle down and took her in his arms. “I’m sorry we’ve had a small budget since we’ve married, but it will get better, I promise. The demand fer beef is slowly increasing and I think running cattle is going to pay off. It just takes time.”
“We aren’t poor, Ben, we have plenty to eat and the best place on earth to live. We will build our lives together.”
Bens eyes suddenly twinkled down at her. “Now fer my surprise. I’m afraid I went over budget a wee bit myself, but I couldn’t pass it up, not when the price was perfect.” He jumped up and pulled her to her feet. “Come on.”
“Where are we going,” Dottie asked, following his long stride as he pulled her to the door. Then he stopped and took both her hands in his.
“Are ye ready?”
Dottie was so excited she started dancing on her toes. “I’m ready,” she giggled.
Ben grabbed the doorknob and flung it wide open. “Ta-da,” he announced eagerly watching her face.
Dottie was stunned. There in front of her sat her dream machine with a huge white and pink striped bow attached to the chassis. “Oh. My. Gawd.” She slapped her palms to her face and turned to stare at him. “Ben, how can we afford this?”
“It’s not brand new, honey, but it’s like new. My cousin bought it and then never really used it. He was going to sell it and he gave me a great discount because we are family. I squeezed it out in payments. Maybe I can find one fer me some time, but fer now, I’ll just use the Artic Cat of Dads.”
Dottie danced on her tiptoes. “It’s beautiful, Ben. I love it...I love it...” She jumped up into his arms and started kissing his face all over.
Ben supported her with his arms crossed under her small butt and enjoyed her gratitude. “I’m glad ye like it, honey,” he said when she leaned back for air. “We can take a ride whenever ye want to go. There’s new snow out and we can try it out.”
Dottie felt the time was right for her surprise. She slid out of his arms. “I have one more surprise fer ye, Ben. Wait right here.”
He closed the door behind him with a big grin. “Okay...waiting right here.” He folded his arms and stood perfectly still.
“Crazy man,” she said with a giggle. “Ye can move around the room if ye want, just wait fer me.” She ran down the hallway and into her office. Grabbing the envelope out of her desk, she rushed back to where Ben had decided to sit by the Christmas tree again to wait for her. She dropped down beside him on her knees and handed him the envelope. “This came in the mail earlier this week and I wanted to wait until Christmas to show ye.”
“Ye mean ye kept a Christmas secret this long?” he teased.
“Hey, I kept how much those dumplings cost a lot longer than this.”
One eyebrow shot up. “That was one secret ye shouldn’t have kept, brat.”
“Just hurry up and open it,” she urged. “My discretions have been dealt with, lets get to the fun stuff.”
She watched as he took the paper out of the envelope and she could barely contain her excitement. Watching his eyes widen as he read, she could tell when he got to the bottom line because he looked up at her with a stunned expression.
“Is...is this fer real, Dottie?” he asked hoarsely.
“Aye, it’s fer real. I’ve already asked my lawyer about it and he verified that it’s an authentic offer.” She clapped her hands together, bouncing on her knees.
Ben whooped and jumped up, drawing her up with him. He picked her up and whirled around with her in a circle. “Dottie, ye are amazing. Ye sold one of the programs ye wrote. I’m so incredibly proud of ye.”
Dottie laughed with delight as she slid down his body. “Aye, the potential to make a lot of money is there, I just need to get a professional to help me with the contract. But this company wants to market my design and I’ll get royalties on every sale. Not to mention the original purchase price. If this all goes through, I can get ye a snowmobile next Christmas! I’m so excited, Ben. We can do some of the things ye have been putting off. Like repairing, or even building a new barn. Together we can make Thistlewind grow and prosper.”
Ben frowned suddenly. “But this is yer money, Dottie. Ye earned it.”
She folded her arms and tapped her foot. “Okay, then the money ye earn is yours. Ye shouldn’t be spending any of it on me.”
“That’s not the same thing,” he argued stubbornly. “It’s my responsibility to take care of my wife and family.”
“And it’s not mine to take care of my family?” She pointed a finger at his chest and poked. “Is that what ye are telling me, Ben Sangster?” She poked again. “I thought we were in this together.” She poked harder this time.
He looked conflicted as he grabbed her hand. “Stop that,” he growled. He rubbed his chest with his other hand. “When ye put it that way I can see yer point,” he added ruefully. “I’m just old fashioned, Dottie.”
Her gaze softened. “Times have changed, honey. Women are no longer dependent on their husbands to take care of them financially. Most women today work and contribute to the household income, as they should.” She held up the letter he’d dropped. “This is my contribution. It may be my only contribution, so we better make it count. Not every deal works out and the program might be a complete flop and never make a single sale. So, guard that lump sum with yer life,” she added with a giggle.
He smiled then. “Well...if it does work out, ye need to talk to Poppy about investments. She’s very good with business.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I have to admit, Dottie, this is the best Christmas secret ever.”
Dottie slid her arms up and around his neck. “Nay, it isn’t. The best Christmas secret is ye deciding to help me with cooking. Ye have no idea how much that means to me, Ben. That ye would do something that ye never wanted to do just to make me happy tops every other gift this year. Ye are the best husband ever and I love ye fer it.”
Ben leaned down to kiss her. “Ye are my wife, Dottie Sangster. I would do anything to make ye happy.”
When Ben finally lifted his head, Dottie was almost limp in his arms and her heart was racing like a steam engine.
“Do ye want to go fer a ride on yer new snowmobile?” he asked thickly.
“Oh, aye. I want to go fer a ride, but not on the snowmobile. I have something else in mind.”
Ben picked her up and carried her into their bedroom, then kicked the door shut behind him. “I have just the ride,” he purred into her ear.
“I was hoping ye’d say that.”