A tentative sort of excitement creeps up my spine as I watch my cousins hurry toward the entryway as fast as they can without actually running. “Can I come, too?”
Auntie Gray blinks down at me. “Of course you can come, honey. You’re my niece too, aren’t you?”
Heat blossoms on my cheeks. “Yes, but I just got here and I wasn’t sure…”
Crouching down in front of me, Auntie Gray grips my chin between her fingers the way Daddy sometimes does when he wants my full attention. “You listen to me, little girl. It doesn’t matter one lick how long you’ve been a part of this family. Youarea part of it, and that is all that matters to me and everyone else. Am I understood?”
“Y-yes, Auntie.”
“Good girl. Go get your shoes on before I have to spank you for making us late.”
I scramble to my feet and rush to the front door to put on the white Mary Janes Daddy bought to go with my dress. Auntie Gray insists on us all wearing coats, which Lanie whines about until our auntie pops her bottom a couple times.
My coat is a pretty pale-pink peacoat that matches my dress perfectly, so it doesn’t bother me at all to wear it, and Auntie Gray beams approvingly as I slip it on without complaint. Once we’re all appropriately attired for our trip, Auntie Gray ushers us outside to a large black SUV.
“Shotgun!” Josie calls, dancing beside the vehicle.
But Auntie Gray shakes her head. “You know the rules, Josephine Elise. Little girls in the back. You’re too little to sit up front.”
“Oh come on, Gray.” Josie’s voice pitches up to a whine. “The Daddies aren’t here, we can do whatever we want.”
Taking Josie by the arm, Auntie Gray spins her around and lands several hard swats to the backs of her thighs while Josie yelps and dances in place. “First of all, you know how to address me, little girl. Second of all, just because your Daddies aren’t around doesnotmean you can do whatever you please. You still have Auntie Gray to answer to and I will be enforcing every single one of your Daddies’ rules. Am I making myself crystal clear, girls?”
“Yes, Auntie Gray,” we all chorus together, though Josie sounds significantly sulkier than Lanie and myself as she rubs at the backs of her bright-red thighs.
“Good.” With a sharp nod, Auntie Gray opens the back door for all of us to climb in. “And just so you know, I have my hairbrush in my purse and I will not hesitate to take a naughtyLittle girl to the bathroom and redden her bottom if she needs it.”
“Do you really think she’d spank us in public?” I ask in a low whisper when Auntie Gray shuts the door behind us.
Lanie shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I’m not going to test her, either. Daddy swatted my butt right in front of the sheriff one time and I thought I might actually die of embarrassment.”
“In front of the sheriff? And he didn’t get arrested?”
Rolling her eyes, Josie snorts derisively. “The sheriff and Auntie Gray have a weird ‘enemies to lovers’ thing going on. She talks a big game but I don’t think she’d actually ever arrest any of the Thornes.”
“Really? That’s so?—”
Auntie Gray opens the driver side door and Lanie shakes her head at me, signaling me to hush. In the review mirror, our auntie narrows her eyes at us. “What are you girls plotting back there?”
“We were taking bets on how much chocolate we can talk you into buying as at the candy store.”
The lie slips so easily from Josie’s lips,Ialmost believe her.
And clearly, so does Auntie Gray. Shaking her head, she puts the car in reverse and backs out of the driveway. “You can each have a quarter pound of candy and that’s it.”
Judging by the smug looks Josie and Lanie share, we’ll all be coming home with more than a quarter pound of candy.
I can’t wait.
Tabitha
Forbidden Pines is the kind of small town I’ve always seen depicted on TV but never actually seen in real life. Rows of cheerful buildings line the streets, and the sidewalks are dotted with people either walking from one place to the next or simply standing and chatting with a neighbor.
A bright, colorful awning catches my attention and I sit up straighter, craning my neck to see the candy store Lanie talked about the whole way into town. But to my disappointment, Auntie Gray drives past it to another building.
“Okay, girls. First things first, Josie needs to go talk to Poppy about this signing thing they’re setting up since Poppy can’t seem to do anything without making it an entire production.” Despite the eyeroll that accompanies Auntie Gray’s remarks, there’s a note of affection in her tone when she speaks of Poppy that makes me wonder if there’s something…morethere. “And then I need to swing by the post office to drop off a couple packages. Once those two chores are done we can go do a little shopping. Everyone wait right there for me to come let you out.”
As soon as Auntie Gray climbs out of the car, Josie reaches for her seatbelt. “Josie!” Lanie hisses at her. “Do you wanna get your butt popped right in the middle of Main Street?”
