Maintenance
The teal mud-caked Rubicon sat parked next to the equally muddy F150 in the driveway, Carina could now make it in and out of the estates without Matt's help. He wasn't sure how to feel about this, on one hand, he'd brought a smile back to her face with the quirky colored jeep and at the same time, he was giving her freedom. Matt preferred it when his little needed him, and after watching her for the next few days he realized Carina still wasn't herself.
"You two are something else," Esme stood at the marble-topped kitchen island drinking her coffee, "You're too afraid to apologize and she's too damned stubborn to tell you what's got her in a million little pieces."
"So, she was a good pick then?" Matt tried to smile, but his concern for Carina only deepened.
"You oughta spank her," Esme replied nonchalantly before taking a sip of her coffee. Tucking a loose strand of graying hair behind her ear.
"Are you fuckin nuts woman? I do that she'll wanna end the contract long before I'm ready," Matt let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. Grabbing the mug of coffee Esme made for him he leaned against the adjacent marble countertop.
"Well, that's a first. YOU'RE usually the one that wants to end the contract early, not trying to beat the expiration date off with a stick," Esme smug in her observations.
"You didn't answer me," Matt was gaining control of his voice before Esme told him just 'what was what' about his tone, "Look, I'm just not understanding how that's gonna work."
"I'm not talking about punishment; I'm talking about maintenance spankings," she looked at Matt incredulously
He still looked like a deer in headlights.
Esme sighed heavily, "It's obvious Carrie doesn't know how to handle her feelings. She bottles them up. So, maybe the spanking will be cathartic for her. She'll be able to cry it out and feel better."
"No Es, you're not understanding me," Matt's frustration apparent, "Carrie HATES being spanked."
"Don't spank her like she's in trouble Matthew," Esme put her cup down, "Do you want me to do it because last I check Carrie was YOUR little and not mine."
"Naw," Matt held his hands up in mock defeat, "I'll give it a go, before her bath."
"I oughta put you over my knee," Esme mumbled, not quite under her breath.
"Don't threaten me with a good time," Matt smiled and left the kitchen in search of Carrie.
***
Later after dinner when he watched his beautiful little rub her eyes filled with sleep. For a change he almost felt guilty for what he was about to do, he looked at Esme and she gave him a nod of encouragement.
It was roughly eight o'clock and he knew Carina was wearing thin, he watched her intensely not remembering a time when he thought someone was so beautiful.
"C'mon Pretty Girl," Matt stood from the table and walked towards Carina, "before you put your elbows on the table and fall asleep."
Carina nodded and grabbed hold of his hand; Esme watched as Matt stilled looking down at Carina's rainbow-colored nails.
Esme cleared her throat, "Matthew, why don't you bathe Carrie tonight. I have plenty to do in the kitchen and I don't think she'll be able to wait for me."
Matt jerked his head up at the woman a slight frown to his face, "C'mon Little One, let's get you upstairs."
Carina carefully, and barefoot, leaned again the banister as she walked up the stairs towards her room and as she went to reach for her brass doorknob, he stopped her.
"Not that way yet Carina," Matt nodded his head towards his door and Carina froze at the sound of her formal name now wide awake.
"C'mon, in here," he opened the door for her, guiding her in with a hand at the small of her back.
Carina paused her worry momentarily to take in all of the details inside his room, she'd never once set foot in there and never asked. He had a large sturdy four-poster bed covered in a deep navy duvet, no game heads hung on the wall just a few pictures of him and Esme. On the floor was a large cowhide rug and she gasped and backed up.
"Calm down," Matted let out a small laugh, "I didn't buy it. This was from one of the ones off the ranch not too far from the house. It was a steer and it wasn't an unnecessary killing, seeing as how he was used for meat. And before you ask, no, his head isn't anywhere on my walls."
She visibly relaxed but still tried not to step on the rug, Matt found her aversion amusing.
"You know that everything you eat here is sourced from here, right? From the meat all the way down the fruit and cheese? I buy nothing from off this property that isn't equipment or animals and even then, I'm fairly selective about where my goes," he watched her delicately run her fingers across his few trinkets.
"What about my Jeep?" she looked up at him.
"That Jeep came from a family-owned business. Greg is Esme's nephew, albeit he's obnoxious as all hell, he's supporting his family and I gave him the money to start that business," Matt leaned against his sharply lined and sparsely decorated dresser, crossing his arms, and his ankles as he watched Carina move about his room like a ghost.
"Oh," she stopped to look at him pieces of her braid falling loose into her eyes.
With that, he could still the smog in her eyes, those dim clouds of hurt and he knew why Esme had suggested what she had. When he was little Esme had done the same to him once or twice and it seemed to do him some good, hopefully, she'd feel the same way. Matt pushed himself off the dresser and put his hand out for her.
"Come here," he sat on the edge of the bed. She looked at him stunned and wild-eyed, Matt knew she had better sense than to run. It was almost as if he were looking at a doe through his rifle scope and he didn't like it, he decided it was best to calm them both.
"Come here Little One," and he reached his hand out further to her, "when have I ever intentionally hurt you."
Carina paused and the fact that she didn't answer with an immediate 'yes' caused a pain in his chest.
