Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“Cheyenne, I’m always going to try to back you up whenever I can, and not step into your marriage or your decisions, but you need to rethink this.
Quinn can toe the line pretty hard and if he was very specific, and he was about this, it just would not do to go against him.
Honey, I’d hope a little self-preservation would kick in here.
You and I both know what Quinn will do if you leave early against his expressed wishes.
You know that his choice to plan this so carefully was because he had seen Liam and Jocelyn’s problems. He didn’t want that to happen to you. ”
“I know, Mom, but listen. I know Quinn might be upset a little bit, but he’ll be so relieved that he doesn’t have to do anything except learn his new job. And we are already loaded. It’s just a matter of giving them a new date and going.”
“Cheyenne, that’s not how it works, and you know it. You just want to defy Quinn, test him while getting what you want. Unfortunately, I think you’re doomed to learn from your mistakes. But I’m going to have to call Da and let him know.”
“Why do you have to do that?”
“Because, my dear, he’s my husband and I don’t want the retribution that would come if I didn’t tell him before you left so he had an opportunity to talk to you. That’s how I’ve learned to keep peace in my home.” She hugged Cheyenne.
Sean came home at lunch as normal and tried to change her mind. After a few moments, he seemed to make a decision within himself.
“Cheyenne, if you think this is going to make Quinn happy, to move everything without him you’re sadly mistaken and need to probably learn your own lesson.
You need to learn that your husband says things because, in most cases, he stopped and thought them out and he’s protecting you.
I don’t know why you think a couple of days are going to make a lot of difference in moving but it sure can make a huge difference in how Quinn deals with that decision.
I have no problem telling you that if you were mine, sitting would not be something you would be comfortable with for quite a long time.
And I’m pretty sure we both know Quinn well enough to say that you might not be sitting for quite a while after every Friday night.
” Sean let the reality of that set in for a while.
“I’d think hard before I’d make a decision you’re undoubtedly going to regret.” Sean reached over to kiss his wife, depositing his typical kiss on the crown of Cheyenne’s head, gathered his gear and walked back out to the ranch.
Cheyenne was intelligent enough to know that she would not be allowed to go alone if Da knew that she was going to leave for certain.
She also knew that if Sean called Quinn and told him of her plans, Quinn would have made it impossible for her to go without him.
So, she did the only thing she could. She played it as if she had been convinced to stay.
Come first light, she was up putting her bags by the door of Quinn’s childhood bedroom that they’d shared after the apartment was completely packed up.
She waited for Sean to leave and Siobhan to get busy with household work.
Slipping out the door with her bags when Siobhan went to take her morning shower, she left a note that said, “Ran to get a little work done at Jacquie’s. Be back in a couple of hours.”
She followed that note with a phone call at 11:00 a.m., before Da came home for lunch, and said she was having lunch and catching a movie with a friend and would be back by dinner.
Sean saw right through the subterfuge and called her two minutes after coming home for lunch.
Reaching to answer the phone call that she had expected, Cheyenne braced herself for the chastisement from the man she truly loved as her own father.
“Hello, Da.”
“Hello indeed. Are you driving, cailín beag?”
“No, sir. I mean yes, sir, but I have my Bluetooth on. I wouldn’t be on my phone and drive.”
“Well, after this stunt, young lady, I would not be sure of anything. And you do not ‘hello Da’ me when you’ve snuck out of my house and disobeyed your husband. Where are you, cailín beag dána?”
Feeling like the naughty little girl Sean had called her and the shame she was sure he meant her to feel, Cheyenne took a deep breath and said, “Mmm, almost to Bozeman.” Cheyenne rushed on, “Da, don’t be angry.
I needed to do something and it’s a clear day.
I’m very safe. I’m sorry, just please, please don’t be angry with me. ”
Sean tried to keep his voice gruff, but he was a softie when it came to the women in his family, like all the O’Connor men.
“You need your bottom spanked really good my cailín dána, but I expect Quinn will handle that when he gets his hands on you. You need to apologize to Mom for deceiving her.”
Cheyenne waited for the voice of the woman she had grown to love unreservedly. With a hitch in her own voice, she apologized.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. I didn’t think of how you might feel. I’m inconsiderate. Please forgive me.”
“Oh, darlin’, I know how you feel. That won’t be saving your bottom, I’m fair sure, but I love ya. Now you’ll be very careful on that road and the pass, understand.”
“I will. Love you too.”
Da grabbed the phone back and added, “And you call us when you get to the ranch. I expect you to call your husband once you’re there.
Promise me you’ll be respectful because he isn’t going to be happy with you.
Not one bit. Remember you don’t complain when he’s taking off his belt.
Do you understand me? You’ve earned this. ”
Cheyenne had a moment of doubt, and she sniffled before asking, “Da, this will be all right, won’t it? I mean...”
Sean heard the uncertainty and quickly relieved it, “Yes, sweetheart. This will be all right. Your husband’s going to be angry and you’re going to feel the result of his discipline, but he loves you and only wants the best for you.
That, thankfully, is never going to change.
You daughters are so very spicy at times.
” Sean roughened up his voice just a bit, “Now, if I don’t hear from you by the time I come in this afternoon, I’ll have the boys paddle you in my stead. Do you understand me?”
Cheyenne smiled. She knew everything would be okay now.
She loved and trusted Quinn with her life, and she suddenly realized that she would trust any of the O’Connor men with it as well.
It also helped that she knew they would not do as Da suggested with Quinn soon home.
They would leave it up to him, no matter how much they might have palms itching to meet her bottom.
“Yes, sir. I understand. I love you both. I’ll call soon.”
She arrived at Katie’s house to an unexpected response.
To those who had been in the O’Connor family for a while, it was an expected reaction to her coming without Quinn after everyone heard him tell her she was to wait until he came home to get her.
After admonitions from Liam and Ciarán about there being a mere two-week difference between when Quinn had them arrive with furniture and today, they turned her over to her new sisters.
They knew their wives had done much the same things in their own way and probably would do them again.