Chapter 26 #2
“And I would really rather have not spent my entire morning worrying that my Little girl was lost in the woods somewhere,” Daddy says, his voice hard as stone. “So it seems we’re both doomed to disappointment.”
I shift again, the pressure in my bladder growing increasingly more dire. “Please, Colt. Not here.”
“Is that how you address me, little girl?”
The heat engulfing my entire body flares even hotter as I glance over at the sheriff, who’s watching us with a keen interest now. Dropping my gaze to the floor, I shake my head.
“Eyes on me, Tabitha Grace.”
There’s a snap to my Daddy’s voice I’ve never heard before, and it has me jerking my head up to meet his furious gaze. “Sorry, D-Daddy.”
“Better. Now, use your diaper and then Daddy will change you and then we will talk about why you were up on the goddamn roof.”
Tears blur my vision. “I’m sorry,” I whisper hoarsely.
“You can apologize after we finish here. I suggest you start doing as you’re told now, little girl.”
“Colt, maybe we should—”
“Stay out of this, Grayson.”
Auntie Gray’s mouth snaps closed, but her eyes are blazing with anger as she steps back into position beside Sheriff Donnelly, her entire body stiff as if she’s trying to keep herself from actually touching Reese.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I focus on the pressure in my abdomen. Even with my eyes closed, I am uncomfortably, painfully aware of the eyes on me as I force my muscles to loosen so I can pee myself right there on the couch.
A sob bursts out of me as my bladder finally releases and the familiar sensation of my diaper filling with urine presses against me.
“Let’s get you changed.”
That’s all Daddy says. No “good girl”, no telling me how proud he is, or what a good job I did. And the loss of his praise cuts even more keenly than the sharp edge of his voice.
Bringing my hands up, I cover my face as Daddy flips me on my back and peels the diaper from me. I try not to think about how exposed I am, how everyone, including the sheriff of all people, can see all my private parts while Daddy wipes me clean and wraps me up in a fresh diaper.
And it feels like my heart might shatter into a billion pieces when he sets me back on the couch instead of holding me on his lap.
“Look at me, Tabitha Grace.”
I force myself to lower my trembling hands and peek up at him through my lashes.
“Why were you on the roof?”
Even if I thought I could get away with not telling him the truth, there isn’t a good enough lie to get me out of the punishment I no doubt have coming, so I might as well be honest. “I was hiding.”
Daddy’s eyes narrow dangerously. “Hiding from who?”
“Everyone.”
“All right, I’ve heard enough,” Sheriff Donnelly snaps. “Everyone, out. I need to talk to Tabitha alone.”
Looking more furious than I’ve ever seen her, Auntie Gray whirls on Reese. “Absolutely the fuck not!”
But the sheriff doesn’t back down. If Auntie Gray is fire, Reese is a rock, immovable and unflinching. “You can either let me talk to her alone here, or I can take every single one of you down to the station for questioning. Your call, Grayson.”
Daddy lays a hand on Auntie Gray’s shoulder. “It’s all right. We have nothing to hide.”
For several long seconds, Auntie Gray doesn’t move, locked in a silent battle of wills with Reese. But then she turns, her movements stiff as she levels a hard stare in my direction. “We’ll be in the dining room if you need us.”
With that, she storms out of the room and the rest of our family follows, except for Daddy. He lingers, the weight of his disappointment settling heavy on my shoulders. “Be a good girl for the sheriff and tell her everything. You do not want Daddy to find out you’ve lied to her. Understood?”
“Y-yes, Daddy.”
“If you need me, just call for me and I’ll be right here.” Turning, he pins the sheriff with that stony glare. “I’m trusting you with the most precious thing in my life right now, Sheriff. Be careful with her.”
He leaves without kissing me or telling me he loves me, and my chest feels so heavy I can barely breathe.
Once my family is gone, Reese smiles, and some of the heaviness lifts. “Do you mind if I sit on the couch with you, honey?”
“No. I mean, no, I don’t mind.”
“Thanks.” Settling beside me, she turns her head, and I can feel the weight of her stare on me. “You really worried us today, Tabitha.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You said you were hiding from ‘everyone’. Can you tell me why you were hiding?”
Heat rushes to my cheeks and I jerk my shoulder up in a shrug. “Don’t really wanna.”
“I understand that. But this is really important.” She pauses, as if weighing her next words carefully. “Tabitha… are you scared of anyone here?”
“What? No, of course not!” Well, I am pretty worried about the spanking I have coming, but I’m not scared of anyone.
I don’t think the sheriff will really appreciate that distinction, however.
“Then tell me why you were hiding on the roof.”
“It’s embarrassing,” I whisper, tears once more welling in my eyes.
“Nah,” she says, a surprising grin stretching across her face. “Embarrassing is when your mom has to call the fire department because you were pretending to be a monkey and you climbed so far up in the tree you couldn’t get yourself down.”
“Did that happen to you?”
“Yup. Worst part was, the girl I had a huge crush on at the time was riding along with her dad that day and he happened to be on that call. Talk about embarrassing.”
A giggle slips free before I think to smother it, and Reese winks. “That is super embarrassing. I’m sorry that happened. Was your mom mad?”
“Oh, she was furious,” Reese says with a laugh. “I was grounded the rest of the summer.”
I’m gonna be way more than grounded when Daddy finds out why I was up on that roof. But I don’t see a way around telling the truth, so I might as well just get it over with. “I wanted to see if they’d come looking for me.”
Reese frowns. “Why wouldn’t they look for you, honey?”
“I…I didn’t have a mom like yours growing up.
I didn’t really have anyone. And now I have my Daddy and the rest of my family, and sometimes it just doesn’t seem real.
Like one day they’re all gonna wake up and realize I’m too much work and they’ll just pass me along to the next family like when I was little. ”
“Tabitha, I want you to look at me, right now.”
Sniffling, I turn to look in her startling green eyes. “Ma’am?”
“You may have noticed by now that the Thornes and I don’t have the most… amicable relationship.”
I can’t help but smile at that. “It’s come up a couple times.”
“Uh-huh. Well, despite how I feel about them individually or as a whole, there is one thing I know for certain. The Thorne family sticks together. And they protect what’s theirs with a ferocity unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
The only way you’re leaving this family is if you make that decision to walk out the door yourself. ”
“I want to believe that. I thought—” Just the thought of trying to explain my plan out loud has a fresh wave of humiliation flooding my body.
“You thought what, sweetheart?”
Dropping my gaze, I sigh quietly. “I thought if I made them think I’d run away, I could see how they reacted and it would finally convince my heart we’re safe here. Like, if they went looking for me and they didn’t send me away, I could finally believe they really love me.”
To my surprise, Reese tosses her head back and laughs, loud and long. “Honey, Grayson Thorne called me, the person she hates most in the entire fucking world, to come help them look for you. If that isn’t love, then I don’t know what is.”
Warmth spreads through my chest and I find myself smiling. “That’s a really good point, actually.”
Taking my hands in hers, Reese gives them a hard squeeze. “Look, Tabitha. I don’t know what kind of trauma you have in your past, but what I do know is those people in there love you, fiercely. So maybe just give them a chance to prove they’re gonna stick instead of trying to push them away. Okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, okay. I can do that.” I think.
“Good girl. Now, you sit right here and think about how worried and scared your family was when they couldn’t find you while I go let your Daddy know he has a very sorry Little girl waiting for him.”