Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 73013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
I looked at Florence and returned her smile.
“I’m sure you’re right, Florence,” I said. I turned back to Mandy. “Dee, sweetheart, I want to be clear. The next time you’re rude, you’ll have another trip across my knee.”
Mandy
For a moment I thought I couldn’t have heard Rick correctly, because he simply couldn’t have said that in front of the horrible Mrs. Purdy. He couldn’t have implied, so casually, that he had already put me over his knee and spanked me for disobeying him.
My face couldn’t get any hotter, after what Mrs. Purdy had said about manners. I felt tears spring up in the corners of my eyes and I had to look down at my hands, folded in my lap, desperately pushing down a sob of abject humiliation.
“Amanda,” I heard the older woman’s voice say, the tone seemingly one of genuine sympathy, “I know how hard this is. You’re going to find that here in Rocky Falls, though, that people talk quite openly about family discipline. It’s embarrassing, yes, but it’s also a fact of life. Let me tell you a little secret that isn’t really a secret, because I know Mr. Purdy told his friends at the coffee shop this morning… I got punished last night myself.”
I raised my eyes in disbelief, to see that the woman’s smile had lost a little of the super-sweetness to become actually compassionate.
“What…” I started. “Why did…?”
I didn’t even know how to put the question together.
“Never you mind,” Mrs. Purdy said, her tone becoming a little severe. “I should tell you that we consider it impolite to ask that sort of question.” She looked over at Rick. “Don’t you punish her for that, though, Mr. Williams, since she didn’t know.”
I looked from my husband to the counselor, confused and embarrassed—grateful for Mrs. Purdy’s advice to Rick, because fear had thrilled through my belly at the word impolite—but at the same time feeling strangely let down.
Mrs. Purdy had looked down at her tablet, and begun tapping on it. She looked up at Rick.
“I’ve just sent you all the information about the house where you two will be staying. Your phone will open the door. I’m sure you’re very tired, and we’ve stocked the fridge and the freezer so Amanda will be able to get something ready for you quickly once you get there, I’m sure. Your loaner car is right outside, and your phone will start it up.”
She turned to me. “Amanda, this probably won’t make complete sense to you right now, but you’re probably going to try very hard to be a good girl tonight, and you’re going to find it’s a lot more difficult than you thought. Remember that there are folks like me who are here to help you think it through. When Mr. Williams is on his men’s outing tomorrow, I’ll come take you to the country club for lunch with some other wives, including April Dennison—whom you met on your honeymoon if I understand correctly. You’ll be able to ask any question you want—even impolite ones.”
I couldn’t keep myself from asking, though I tried to close my lips around the word and keep it inside my body. It came out anyway, sounding more like a squeak than actual speech.
“Tonight?”
It didn’t mean anything. She meant, like, tonight and the rest of the week… she wasn’t talking about… or she meant that since it’s our first night here, I might have second thoughts… she didn’t mean anything about… about…
My mind whirled as it looked for something to add—some way to put the alarming idea that had come immediately into my head to explain the older woman’s saying be a good girl tonight.
About the… the… bedroom. Of course, this proper midwestern lady didn’t mean that I’m going to try very hard to be a good girl in the bedroom.
In the bedroom. During… intimacy.
While Rick… While he… without his clothes on…
My skin felt scalding hot, from my neck to the roots of my hair, as I realized I couldn’t even think about this shameful subject without fear and deep embarrassment. I had supposed, before the wedding, that I would get over all that. Despite having had my wedding night, though, and despite my husband’s having deflowered me—despite my having ‘become a woman’ in the marriage bed—the thought of the bedroom, of the bed, of my strong, gorgeous bridegroom naked confused and terrified me.
Mrs. Purdy looked at me intently, her face suddenly full of sympathy.
“Amanda,” she said, “I don’t want to embarrass you any more than I know I already have.”
I looked across her neatly ordered desk, feeling my forehead crease deeply. My mouth twitched to the side in an involuntary little gesture of, I supposed, minor skepticism and defiance.
“But when a young woman who’s had the kind of upbringing it seems you did comes to Rocky Falls with her husband, I’ve found she often has trouble trusting that he knows best when it comes to intimacy. I’m guessing that Mr. Williams is going to start to assert himself properly tonight—as we recommend, though of course in the end the decision lies with him. I want to make sure you remember that you’ll have the chance to talk about it with other wives tomorrow. I know that helped me, when Mr. Purdy first began to train me in the bedroom.”