Free Heartfield Ranch (Communities of Discipline Book 2) by Fiona Wilde Page A

trying to tamp down the voices that rose in agreement.
    “I didn’t invite her to stay permanently,” he said. “Just a little longer.”
    “But why?” Mike Stoltz spoke up. “Damnit, Clay, she’s a cop. She came in here with the express purpose of destroying what we built..”
    “No, she came in here to investigate us, Mike.”  Clay threw up his hands. “Are we so naïve to believe that this wasn’t going to happen sooner than later? Personally, I think this woman came to us for a reason!” He paused. “I have a confession.”
    The men in the room fell silent and looked at one another. Heartfield residents shared everything – labor, money, resources. And they shared their feelings and motives as well, although this was much harder for the men than it was for the women. If a man had a confession to make to the others, it was taken seriously.
    Adam stood. “Let’s hear it, Clay.”
    “I have feelings for this woman,” he said. “I think Karen Patterson may be the one I’ve been waiting for.”
    A murmur went up. Some of the voices expressed shock, others doubt. But Adam now took the floor.
    “Now listen,” he said. “What have we agreed about when it comes to relationships? What is it that was despised about the outside world? Don’t you remember how casual relationships were? How we men disdained commitment to the point women no longer respected or obeyed us? How we became feminized and afraid to go after what we want? We all know Clay here has probably been the most thoughtful among us, and the most disciplined, given the willingness of females to pair with him.”
    When some of the men laughed, Adam smiled wryly. “Yeah, you know what I’m talking about. He’s been here for us, giving us advice that’s pretty on point for a guy with no woman of his own. I can’t tell you the number of times my own wife has said that it’ll be a lucky lady whose chosen by Clay Sanders. But he’s been selective, and if he feels this little lady cop is the one the least we could do is hear him out.”
    The room became quiet again, and Clay turned gratefully to his friend. “Thanks, Adam. Let me start by asking forgiveness from all of you for inviting Karen to stay on without coming to you first. But I feel a real connection with this woman, and I feel that she’s drawn to our community. I don’t think it’s easy for her to admit, but I believe it’s true.”
    “It’s true until she realizes how serious we are about order here, Clay,” Ray countered. “If she stays, sooner or later she’s going to break a rule and you’re going to have to deal with it. Once that happens she’ll be hotfooting it back to the police station, screaming about how we abuse women here. And the next thing you know we’ll be on the six o’clock news.”
     
    “That won’t happen,” Clay said.
    “How do you know?” Adam asked.
    “Because I’ve already corrected her.”
    The silence returned. “What?” someone said.
    “I already corrected her. Yesterday afternoon. For running away during the storm instead of going to the hall with everyone else. I blistered her backside good. That’s how I found out she was a cop.”
    Some of the men laughed.
    “And she didn’t threaten to turn you in?” Adam asked.
    “Oh, initially she was so mad that’s exactly what she did. But then she calmed down after a bit and admitted she shouldn’t have done what she did. And hearing what the community had to say really made her think. So when her bosses asked her to stay on a little longer, she asked me and I said she could. Now, admittedly I should have come to you first, and I was wrong not to. But now I’m asking you to let her stay.”
    “So she can turn us in?” Mike Stoltz asked.
    “If she were going to do that, she’d have done it already, Mike,” Clay replied. “She had the opportunity, but I heard her tell her boss that nothing out of the ordinary is going on.”
    “So why is she staying?” Mike was still