Clifton County Fireworks

The
Clifton County Fireworks

Joannie
Kay

Copyright
2008, 2013 Blushing Books and
Joannie
Kay

The Clifton County Fireworks

© 2010
Joannie
Kay & Blushing Publications

Originally
published on July 1, 2008 at Spanking Romance.

www.spankingromance.com

All rights reserved.
 
No
part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher.

ISBN:
 
978-1-935152-67-5

Published by Blushing Publications
Ò
, a subsidiary of
ABCD Graphics and Design
977 Seminole Trail #233
Charlottesville, VA
 
22901

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Ò
is registered in the

US Patent and Trademark Office.

This book is intended for adults
only.
 
Spanking and other sexual
activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for
adults.
 
Nothing in this book should
be interpreted as advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the
spanking of minors.

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Table
of Contents

Chapter One

“Ma!  Ma! MA!”
 
Eight-year-old Jeremy Tanner ran into the
dress shop where his mother was pinning up the hem on a new dress intended for
the Fourth of July picnic for one of her best clients, Miss Priscilla Bishop.

“Jeremy, I am not deaf!  I can
hear you.”
 
Abigail smiled at her
youngest child.  “Please say ‘good afternoon’ to Miss Bishop.” 

Jeremy knew his Ma was a stickler for
manners, so he took off his hat and smiled at the elderly spinster.
 
“Good afternoon, Miss Bishop.”

Priscilla smiled warmly.
 
“Good afternoon, Master Jeremy.  Now
tell us what has you so excited on this fine day,” she invited.  She loved
bearing the latest news to all her friends, and the little redhead was just
brimming with something exciting to tell Abigail.

“We got real trouble, Ma!”
 
Jeremy couldn’t restrain himself another
second, even though he was pretty sure this was one of those times his Ma would
call ‘personal’, and not for Miss Bishop’s ears. 

“What kind of trouble, Jeremy?”
 
Abigail asked calmly, used to his
exaggerated way of talking. 

“Guess who’s here!”
 
Jeremy demanded, his green eyes wide.

“Did Johnny get in early?”
 
Abigail finished pinning the hem and
stood up, looking around as if expecting to see her eldest son standing there
with a grin on his handsome face.

“No!  Ma, listen!  This is
important!  There’s gonna be fireworks!”

“We always have fireworks on the Fourth
of July, Master Jeremy.”
 
Miss
Bishop smiled at him, her eyes twinkling.

“Yes, ma’am, we do.”
 
Jeremy grinned.
 
“But I mean the other kind of
fireworks!  Jennie Rose Clifton just got off the stage!”

“What?”
 
Abigail’s hand rose to her chest in
distress.  “Oh,
noooo
!”

“’
Spect
we
ought to send Johnny a wire and warn him not to come home?”
 
Jeremy asked seriously.  “He
ain’t
gonna be happy to find Jennie Rose in town!”

“Jennie Rose won’t be happy to see
Johnny in town, either.”
 
Miss
Bishop predicted.  “Why, the last time those two were home at the same
time they almost destroyed the entire town!”

“I’m sure that nothing disastrous will
happen, Miss Bishop.”
 
Abigail
regained her composure, and prayed she was right.  The last time those two
squared off on each other, they nearly destroyed Mr. McCauley’s Mercantile, and
it had wiped out her savings to pay Johnny’s share of the damage, and while
he’d paid back every last cent, she didn’t want to go through the embarrassment
a second time.  She turned her attention to Priscilla, “You can change
now, Miss Bishop, and I’ll have this dress all ready tomorrow morning.”

“Abigail, you do such lovely work, and
so quickly, too.  I’m sure my friends will be envious at the Fourth of
July picnic.”  Priscilla was always ready with a compliment for the young
widow.

“Thank you, Miss Bishop.  I
appreciate all your business, and the clients you’ve sent to me.  You are
a good friend.”  Abigail’s smile was warm and genuine.  Priscilla
might be the town gossip, but she was a good-hearted woman and everyone loved
her.

After Miss Bishop went into the back
room to change out of the new dress, Jeremy looked up at his mother and asked
seriously, “What are we gonna do about Johnny, Ma?”

“It’s too late to wire him,
honey.  We’re just going to have to pray that both he and Jennie Rose have
grown up some in two year’s time!”

********************

Jennie Rose stomped her foot
angrily.  “It isn’t fair!  This is the first time I’ve dared show my
face in Clifton in two years and that despicable Johnny Tanner is coming home,
too!  Why didn’t you warn me, Daddy?”
 
She demanded.

“I just found out a couple days ago,
Jennie Rose, and you watch that tone of voice!  You’re not so big I can’t
turn you over my knee!”

“You’re no better than he is, Daddy!”
 
Jennie Rose felt her temper rise and she
struggled to control it.

“I expect you to remember that you are
a
lady
, Jennie Rose.  Stay away
from Johnny Tanner.  I’ve said all I’m going to say on the subject except
for this: if you cause another public scene with that boy, I’m going to leave
you to settle the damages yourself.  I won’t pay your way out of a mess
and send you east to live with your Aunt Caroline for two years so you won’t
have to face folks here.”

“I am sorry to hear you are so ashamed
of me, Father!”
 
Jennie Rose stood
up and flipped her skirts as she walked from the room, her head held
high.  Her composure lasted only until she was positive he couldn’t see
her.  Then she ran upstairs to her bedroom and threw herself on her bed
and burst into tears. 

Didn’t her
parent realize how much she’d missed him the last two years?  Missed her
home, her friends?  Missed living where she could go riding every day… and
put on a pair of pants without shocking every man, woman, and child within ten
miles?
  Apparently
not. 
And, why did her father
blame her for the trouble
Johnny Tanner
caused?
  The man
embarrassed and humiliated her in front of the entire town.  Jennie Rose
felt her face turn a burning red as she remembered two years earlier at the
annual Fourth of July picnic…

“Now listen up everyone,” the mayor
called out in his deep voice, “We have this pretty basket lunch up for bids,
and since the ribbon tied on the handle matches the one in Miss Jennie Rose’s
pretty red hair, I reckon we all know who the lovely lady is who will be
joining one of you lucky gents for the right bid.  Remember, the money
goes for a good cause, our new schoolhouse, so open up those wallets and start
the bidding at a dollar!”

“Two bits.”
 
An older man called out. 

Jennie Rose frowned just a tad. 
She wanted the handsome Johnny Tanner to buy her basket, and made sure to tell
him hers would have a blue ribbon tied to the handle.

“We have a bid of two bits.”
 
The Mayor said. “Who will give me fifty
cents?”  Another man, who Jennie Rose didn’t know, offered the asked for
amount, and she was pleased when Adrian Murdock offered a dollar.  While
she didn’t want to have lunch with Adrian, the bank teller was preferable to
eating with a complete stranger.  To her surprise, the bidding continued,
but not one of the bids was from Johnny Tanner. 

“We have a bid of four dollars for Miss
Jennie Rose’s basket, going once, twice, and…”

“Ten dollars!”
 
Johnny Tanner’s voice carried across the
crowd of onlookers, who immediately gasped in shocked surprise, and then burst
into applause as they realized the generous bid would go a long way toward
helping with the new schoolhouse.

“Sold to Johnny Tanner for the sum of
ten dollars!”
 
The Mayor rapped his
gavel before the young redhead could recant his bid.  “Thank you,
son.”
 
He said gratefully as Johnny
stepped forward to pay him for the lunch.  “Miss Jennie Rose, I hope you
put a whole pie in this basket!”
 
He
teased just a bit when she stepped forward to join Johnny.

Johnny smiled at Jennie Rose and
offered her his arm, which she accepted with a smile of her own.  “Let’s
enjoy our lunch, Jennie Rose.”
 
He
said.  They walked off together and found a quiet spot under a tree, still
in sight of everyone else at the gathering, but one that was fairly private.

“I thought you’d forgotten all about
bidding on my lunch basket.”
 
Jennie
Rose pouted just a bit.

“
Nawww
, I was
just letting the guys all have some fun.”
 
Johnny grinned boyishly, showing his
white teeth.  “You look right pretty today, Jennie Rose.”

“Why, thank you.  Your Mama made
this dress for me.”
 
She said.

“Ma is great.”
 
He said with pride.  “She hasn’t
had an easy time of it, but she’s worked hard to raise me and Jeremy since Pa
died.”

“You work hard, too.”
 
Jennie Rose acknowledged.  He worked
at the lumber mill, and had done so even when he was still in school. 
“You didn’t need to spend a whole ten dollars for lunch…”

“Yes I did.  I wanted everyone to
know that I consider you my girl, Jennie Rose.”

She laughed happily, and then opened
the basket and took out a nice, new tablecloth she’d hemmed herself, and once
it was spread on the ground, she took out napkins and dishes and then laid out
food.

“This looks good.”
 
Johnny’s green eyes were bright. 
“You fixed enough for several lunches.”

“I enjoy cooking and baking.”
 
She insisted, serving him a plate heaped
with fried chicken, potato salad, pickled beets and eggs, and a small portion
of slaw.  She took much smaller servings for herself.  “Do you like
the fried chicken?”
 
She asked,
fishing for a compliment when he took a bite and put it back on his plate.

“It’s crispy on the outside.”
 
He said, trying to be truthful without
complaining that it was raw inside.  He wasn’t about to eat it and get
sick.

“What is wrong with it?”
 
Jennie Rose could tell he was hedging.

“I’m used to Ma’s fried chicken.”
 
Johnny smiled at her.  “Are you
going to enter the talent contest?”
 
He asked, trying to change the subject while he choked down a bite of
potato salad.  The potatoes weren’t done, and the dressing was
salty.  The pickled beets were too sour, and the slaw was the only thing
edible on the plate.  “This slaw is wonderful, Jennie Rose!”
 
He said sincerely.

“And you don’t like anything else,
right?”
 
She was insulted.

“Well, I’m sure you’re still learning
to cook, and when you get to be Ma’s age, you’ll have it perfected.”
 
Johnny tried hard to be diplomatic. 

“Tell me what I did wrong!”
 
She ordered angrily.

“Well, taste it, Jennie Rose. 
Your chicken is raw inside.  The potatoes aren’t done in your potato
salad, and the pickled beets are too sour.  But, you did a great job on
the slaw.”
 
He assured her.

“I didn’t fix the slaw!”
 
Jennie Rose got to her feet, took the jar
of lemonade she’d brought to share and dumped the contents all over Johnny’s
red head.  “I’d rather not go to the dance with you tonight, Mr.
Picky!”  She started to walk away, only to have him jump up and grab her
and whirl her around.

“You’d best apologize for that stunt,
young lady.”

“I will not!  You insulted my
cooking!”

“I told you the truth.  If you eat
that chicken, you’ll get sick.”

“Then don’t eat it!  I don’t
care!”
 
She yelled at him, drawing
the attention of everyone sitting close by, enjoying their lunches.

“You didn’t need to dump lemonade on
me.”
 
He growled, his own temper
flaring.

“I’ll do as I damned please!”
 
She retorted.

“You need a spanking!”

“I do not!”
 
She indignantly denied.  The look in
his green eyes warned her he was seriously considering doing just as he
said.  “You wouldn’t dare!”
 
She
hauled off and kicked him on the shin, just as hard as she possibly could.

Johnny immediately released the little
redhead to jump on his other foot while he grabbed his leg and groaned in
pain.  “You little hellion.  Your Daddy should have tossed up your
skirts a few times instead of babying you!”  He glared at her, and then
announced, “Maybe it’s not too late for someone to do just that!” 

He reached for her and Jennie Rose
turned tail and ran.  She could see his intentions clearly in his snapping
green eyes, and she was positive it would go badly for her if he got his hands
on her.  Her only hope was to get to her father, who would never let
Johnny touch her.

The problem was that Johnny Tanner ran
as fast as she did…maybe even faster!  She was having a terrible time
staying out of reach, and with all the people about, she was forever bumping
into someone.  She decided to duck inside the Mercantile and hope that he
wouldn’t see her.  She quickly hid behind a table laden with yard goods,
but the horrible redhead followed her inside.  Jennie Rose did the only
thing she could and shoved the table over on him and ran behind the candy
counter.  Johnny jumped up, only to duck when she heaved jar after jar of
candy at his head.  She grabbed canned goods, boots, nails, hammers, and
anything and everything she could lay her hands on while people screamed and
tried to avoid being hit with something.