"Ma'am."
I only heard silence for several long minutes, assuming they went outside. Then I heard footsteps. The door opened and I jumped, the light blinding me.
"Come on out, sweetheart. They're gone." Mason.
I gripped his hand and stood, blinking against the bright sunlight. I held onto him tightly not only because I had prickles in my legs from being sedentary, but because I needed the connection. Everyone was there and they were staring at me. Mason and Brody. Robert, Andrew and Ann. Rhys, Simon and Cross. MacDonald and McPherson. Emma with two men I assumed were her husbands, Ian and Kane.
"Laurel, would you like to introduce yourself?" Brody asked.
I glanced at him and then at everyone else. Although they weren't outwardly hostile, they certainly weren't happy. Swallowing, I knew I had no choice but to tell the truth. All of it. "I'm...I'm Laurel Turner."
"Why didn't you tell us that before?" Mason asked, his mouth a thin line.
"I was afraid, afraid if you knew who my father was you'd send me back."
"Send you back, to that bloody bastard?"
"I...I didn't know you. He has power and reach in this community and didn't know if you were friends."
"You brought danger to my door, to my family." Andrew frowned.
"Our wife as well," Ian added, his voice deep.
"For that alone, you will be punished," Mason said.
MASON
"Punished?" Laurel asked.
I nodded and led her to the same chair I sat in the night before. "You lied, Laurel, which put us all in danger. If you'd told us the truth from the start, we would have protected you."
I pulled her between my wide knees and held onto her thighs.
"I thought you would return me!"
"Have we given you any indication we are in any way similar to Nolan Turner?" Brody asked.
She shook her head.
"Over my knee, sweetheart." I patted my thigh.
"Why?"
"You're going to get a spanking."
"No!" she cried, trying to step back.
"You endangered everyone at Bridgewater and you must face the consequences."
If I let her, she'd stand in front of me and argue all day long. Instead, I easily maneuvered her into position. Brody knelt down and worked the length of her dress up over her hips. With her drawers dropped on our front porch, she was bare beneath.
"Everyone's watching!" she cried, shifting and squirming on my lap.
"They are."
Spank.
"They need to know you've learned how one person's actions can affect everyone else here on the ranch. They need to be reassured you will not do something like this again," Brody replied.