Stranded On Christmas (8 page)

I
cried and slowly walked down the stairs, holding onto the railing
tightly, so I wouldn't fall. I was dizzy, and my heart still hadn't
quite settled down. I slipped into my boots and was reaching for my
coat when the door opened. Gideon and Pumpkin came in.

This
time he didn't hang up his coat. Instead, he knelt down and dried off
Pumpkin's paws. “Basket,” he said, and the dog immediately obeyed
him.

I
was finished buttoning up my coat in the meantime.

“
Good.
We can go now.” He took hold of my hand and started stomping off.

“
Wait,
I can't go that fast.”

“
Life
is easier without a soundly spanked bottom, isn't it?”

I
nodded. It sure was.

I
felt a swat to my backside again. “How did I tell you to answer
me?”

That
swat wasn't as bad as the others because of all the layering I had
on, but it hurt because I was already so sore. “Yes, sir,” I
whispered.

I
felt guilt-ridden about how I had played him. I honestly thought that
he knew that what we had wasn't a forever kind of thing.

That
was an excuse. I should have been clear, and not so hot in the seat
to go to bed with him.

Now,
I literally had a hot seat.

He
went into his barn and stopped in front of his tractor. “I normally
walk to church but now that I have a wife,” he looked at me
pointedly, “I think the weather calls for a tractor ride. Climb on
up.”

He
unhooked it from my car, and when he saw that I still hadn't moved
towards the tractor, he pulled his hand back ready to deal out
another blow.

My
hands quickly moved to cover up my backside. “There's no ladder.”

He
actually smiled then. “Come here. I'll help you.” He grabbed onto
my upper arm and told me where to put my feet, so I could get up.

Once
I was, I saw that there was only one seat. I didn't know what to do.

He
swung up and into the chair like a monkey. “Hold on tight, baby.”
He started the tractor, and it moved forward with a jerk.

Gideon
pulled out of the barn, and then he jumped down to close the barn
doors.

He
had left the tractor running. I had no clue how to drive it, or I
might have taken off on him. I held on tight, scared that I could
fall under the heavy machine.

He
was back, and we jerked forward again.

We
went to church on plowed roads. The snow crunched under the weight of
the heavy tractor wheels. It was too loud to try to talk to him.

I
was trying to decide if I wanted to press charges or not. I just
wanted this over and done with so I could go home.

Did
he actually think that we were heading off to church to get hitch?

Jessica

I
was surprised to see that we weren't the only ones to arrive at
church by tractor.

Gideon
took hold of me again, and we hurried in. He sat down in practically
the last row. We weren't the last ones, but I could tell that he
would have wanted to be here sooner.

I
stood next to him and shook my head. There was no way I could sit.

He
reached up and yanked me down by my arm. I yelped as I made contact
with the hard wooden bench.

Every
eye in the room turned to look at me then. No one seemed overly
concerned with the yelping. They just noted that I was with him.

The
doors opened again, and everyone looked at the last ones to arrive.
It was a family with three little kids. They sat down right behind
us. The kids sat quietly. That kind of impressed me. I was fighting
my own battle to be quiet and trying to sit still.

The
pastor entered the room from the back, and the service began. I was
pleased that an opening hymn meant that I got to stand up.

Gideon
was holding the hymnal. I tried to move away from him, but he grabbed
onto the sleeve of my coat. I was forced to go through the whole
service at his side. We even went forward for communion together. I
knelt down when he did and copied him.

This
church was different from mine. The pastor seemed to be speaking just
to the men in the congregation. He was saying things like Gideon did,
about men taking care of their families. I was starting to get
nervous.

Would
the Pastor be on my side?

What
would I do if I couldn't get away from him? I looked around at the
very simple church. It was full, but there was room for more if
people squeezed in together. Most churches were packed on Christmas.
The town couldn't be large.

I
was inching away from Gideon again. I didn't think that I could
really make it anywhere before he pulled me back, but I needed to
take the pressure off of my backside. My mother would have accused me
of having ants in my pants if I were still a child.

Everyone
was praying and thanking God for sending his only son when Gideon
grabbed onto me and slid me back over to him.

I
whimpered loudly, and he made a happy sound at the back of his
throat. I glared at him as mean as I could.

The
man behind us poked me in the shoulder hard and shh-ed us. That was
so unfair. I wanted to turn around and protest, but I had a feeling
like this whole town was anti-women. Canadians were supposed to be so
nice.

The
pastor made the announcements, and then he walked right down the
aisle to Gideon and I. “I see we have a visitor this morning.” He
looked right down at me.

“
She
isn't a visitor. She’s staying,” Gideon told him.

“
Actually,
I have to be on my way.”

Gideon
grunted and shook his head.

“
I
was just passing through on the way to my aunt and uncle's. It was a
lovely stay, but now it's over.” I was looking at the confused
pastor, but I clearly heard the tired sigh behind me, coming from the
man behind me who thought we were engaged.

“
We
need to get married, today yet.”

I
turned and looked back at Gideon. “Need?”

“
Yes,
need.”

“
Need
is too harsh of a word.”

“
Really?
You want to start a discussion here in front of everyone? You know
how they end.” He was mad. I was embarrassing him in front of his
friends.

I
moved away from him again thankful that no one else was sitting in
our pew. I moved over to the pastor. “He's kidnapped me, and he
won't let me go,” I whispered to the pastor, who looked very
surprised.

He
looked behind me at Gideon, who had scooted right up behind me. I
looked over my shoulder and scowled at him.

“
We
have already consummated our marriage. We just need the actual
wedding,” Gideon told the pastor.

“
You
can't tell people that,” I scolded Gideon as quietly as I could,
but the soft chuckle that was going through the crowd told me that
most people had heard him.

“
He
proposed. I declined,” I summed everything up for the pastor.

“
You
promised.” Gideon was fuming behind me. His lips were were pressed
together.

“
Under
duress.” I wasn't about to marry spanker guy. I was glad that I had
seen his true colors in time.

Gideon
stood and forced me to my feet too. He dragged me up to the altar,
while I slapped at him and tried to free myself.

The
pastor followed us up too.

I
was in shock when the pastor actually started in with the marriage
ceremony.

“
No,
wait, stop. I clearly said no to this.” I couldn't speak any
clearer. Why didn't they understand me?

Gideon
grabbed hold of me and walked me over to the first row of pews. I was
over his knees in seconds. I couldn't believe it. He was spanking me
in church in front of all of these people.

“
Stop
it. What are you? Crazy? Let me go.” I slapped at his leg.

“
I’ll
continue until you learn how to behave properly.”

“
But
there are other people here.”

He
laughed and spanked on. “Then I suggest that you knock it off.”

“
Okay,
I stopped.” I had been moving my rump around in a very unladylike
way, trying to avoid his hand.

He
was still chuckling when he stood up and walked us back to the
pastor, who didn't look at all shocked by what was happening.
He went right on to the part
where he needed my name.

Gideon
gave it to him in full, middle name and all.

I
just had to say
'I do'
, but I couldn't the words just simply
wouldn't come out. My mind raced. There had to be a way out of this
somehow.

I
turned to the congregation. “Won't anyone help me?”

They
looked at me confused. It was clear that they thought I was the
problem. These people took the no sex before marriage thing way too
seriously.

Gideon
grabbed hold of my forearm again and back we went to the pew. He
spanked a lot harder this time.

I
just cried, feeling lost and helpless. The only good thing was that
he hadn't bared my bottom for the spankings. Thank God for small
favors, I thought to myself, sarcastically.

What
I needed was a big favor, a knight in shining armor who would save me
from myself. However, I had gotten that wish already once this week
when Gideon saved my life. I couldn't expect another rescue in the
last second.

Besides,
how had I treated the man who saved my life? First, I whined about
being mistreated by Jamie, and when Gideon swore that he would never
do something like that, I acted just as bad as Jamie had.

“
Will
you behave?” Gideon inquired.

I
noted that he sounded worried. Not enough to be nice to me but enough
to ask. I couldn't speak at all anymore, so I nodded. I figured I was
in shock. I felt so guilty, but still, this couldn't really be
happening.

He
let go of my hands and helped me to my feet. I swayed once I was on
them. I was so sore and red-faced with embarrassment. I had given up,
figuring that he had saved my life. I should be thankful for that. I
was now his.

Gideon
grabbed hold of me again, so I wouldn't fall. He was shaking his head
at my stupidity. He yanked me back to the altar.

I
said
'I do'
the second I got there, just wanting to get this
over with.

The
crowd laughed a little at that.

I
looked over them. How could they do that? How could they just sit
there and watch someone spank someone and force her to marry him. I
knew that I looked awful, but I tried to meet as many eyes as I
could. They all turned away from my piercing looks.