Shotgun Groom (24 page)

and I’m glad it’s you.”

“You missed something, April.”

“What?”

“My lips. I don’t want a kiss on the cheek. My ma used to

kiss me on the cheek when I was a kid. What I want is a

kiss from my wife.” With a wry grin, he brought his mouth to

hers. She expected him to make it a quick one, but he

deepened the kiss.

The front door opened and Sal y giggled. “I’d ask how

things are going with you two, but the answer is right in front

of me.”

Blushing, April ended the kiss and took her daughter from

Joel. She cleared her throat. “Good morning, Sal y.”

“Things are going very wel ,” Joel replied before he brushed

his lips against April’s neck.

“Joel!” April protested even though her skin tingled with

delight.

“Don’t fret over what Sal y thinks,” Joel said. “I had to watch

her and Rick hold hands and kiss when they were first

married. She was giggling al the time and everything. It

was disgusting.”

Sal y put her hand on her hip and shot him an amused look.

“You don’t seem to think it’s disgusting now.”

“Wel , April’s my wife. Nothing’s disgusting when it comes

to her.”

“You haven’t been married that long, Joel,” Sal y teased.

“Just wait until she has a little habit that gets on your

nerves.”

He waved his hand as if to dismiss her warning. “We’ve

already covered that. My sighing bothers her, and she’l

even imitate me to make her point.”

April shifted Nora to her other arm and shook her head.

“Joel, you shouldn’t be tel ing her about those arguments.”

“Those were arguments?” Joel asked. “I thought you were

having fun giving me a hard time.”

April couldn’t tel if he was serious or not, but she said, “No.

I did it because I was losing my patience with you.”

Sal y burst out laughing. “Joel, you have a lot to learn about

women. You’l have to forgive him for not picking up on that

one, April. Joel and Tom argue most of the time, and for

them, it’s how they play together.”

“Play?” Joel grimaced. “I do not play.” Looking at April, he

added, “It’s cal ed having fun.”

Sal y smirked. “Which is a lot like playing.”

Sal y smirked. “Which is a lot like playing.”

“Men don’t play. We’re not little kids.” Joel sighed, an action

which made Sal y laugh harder. He rol ed his eyes. “It’s a

habit. I can’t help it.”

“I don’t mind al of your sighs,” April replied, unable to hide

her grin. “Sometimes you sigh when you’re happy.” Nora

pushed at April to get down, so April set Nora’s feet on the

floor of the entryway.

“Go on and see the doctor,” Sal y told Joel. “We’ve got

women talk to do.”

“I’l be back at four,” he told April.

April nodded to indicate she heard him while she took

Nora’s coat off.

“I can’t wait to see you again,” he added.

April looked over at him, her face warm from the pleasure

of his words, and smiled. “I can’t either.”

As he left, Sal y shut the door. “Who knew Joel had it in him

to be a romantic? I mean, my other brothers, sure. But they

wanted to get married. That just goes to show you that any

man, no matter who he is or what he says, is better off with

a good woman.”

Greg came down the stairs with a box in his hands. “I got

the toys for Nora.”

“Thank you, Greg. Put them in the parlor and then you can

help me with the hot chocolate.”

“Yes, Ma.”

As he went to the other room, she turned to April and

winked. “I snagged a couple of toys from my mother so

Nora has something new to play with.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to go through al that trouble,” April said

as she finished removing Nora’s boots and hat.

She took the items from April and put them in the closet. “I

wanted to. Besides, my mother didn’t mind. She’s planning

to come by later today to visit with you more. I hope that’s

alright.”

“It is.”

“Are you nervous?”

“Not much. I met her on Christmas, and she seems nice.”

“She was happy to meet you, but with everything going on,

it was hard for her to get more time to talk with you so she’s

been anxious to get to know you better. She loves talking to

her daughters-in-law, and she especial y loves to hold her

grandchildren.”

April glanced between Nora and Sal y. “Nora took a liking

to her when we were out there.”

Sal y held her hand to Nora who waddled over to her and

accepted it. As they strol ed toward the parlor, Sal y

giggled. “My mother has a way with children, so I’m not

surprised.” Stopping in the doorway, Sal y encouraged

Nora to play with the toys Greg laid out on the floor before

she turned her attention back to April and whispered, “I

can’t wait for her to get here. Yesterday I found out I’m

expecting another child.”

“That’s wonderful!”

Sal y took her hands in hers and squeezed them. “I couldn’t

sleep al night because I’ve been so excited. Jenny and

Jessica just had another child last year, and Mary wil have

her second one in February. I was beginning to think I’d

never have another one. Rick and I didn’t conceive Greg

right away. It took us three years, so I thought it might be a

couple years before we had another one, but Greg turned

eight this year, and I figured we’d only have him. I’m grateful

to have him, but I’m looking forward to having another child.

Does that make sense?”

April chuckled since Sal y was rambling on in a way that

Joel said was typical for Sal y. “Yes, it makes perfect

sense, and I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you, April. Thanks for listening to me last week.”

“You listened to me, too. It was only right to do the same,”

she said, recal ing how she’d admitted that she sometimes

wished her mother hadn’t died when Sep was born

because it was hard to see women her age with their

mothers.

Sal y let go of her hands and sighed. “I knew your mother

had passed on to the next life, but I didn’t realize she died

when you were so young. Was it hard for you at Christmas

to be surrounded by us Larsons and our mother?”

“No. It was nice, and to be honest, it was the best thing

that’s happened to me in a long time. I don’t know what it

was about being around your family that made Joel

agreeable to our marriage, but when we came back home,

he just said that it was time we put the past behind us and

start fresh.”

“Wel , I can’t remember ever seeing him as happy as he

was just now. Between you and me, I don’t think Joel was

ever opposed to marriage. Like I said the first time we met,

when he was seventeen, he wanted to get married. For

some time, that’s al he could talk about, and then his heart

got broken because Abby fel in love with someone else.

You and Sep did him a favor.”

“Is it wrong for me to be glad Abby broke his heart so I

could have him?”

Sal y laughed and shook her head. “Heavens, no. I’m

grateful Michael decided to court someone else so I could

be with Rick. I ran into Michael the other day, and I couldn’t

remember why I was ever interested in him. The man is so

boring. Al he ever talks about is making paper where he

works. There’s only so much of that a person can take.

Thankful y, Rick can get his mind off his job.” She paused to

check on a happy Nora and Greg before adding, “Time has

a way of easing our heartaches, and it makes you

appreciate the right man a lot more. Rick and I might have

our problems, but I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.”

April thought of how much more she appreciated Joel

because he wasn’t anything like Harvey. “I couldn’t ask for a

better husband than Joel.”

“He has his good points, even if he did like to give me grief

when he was younger,” she joked. Glancing at Nora, she

asked, “Can I hold her? Even if I’m final y expecting again, I

stil love to be around babies.”

April laughed. “I have an idea. Why don’t you hold her while

I make the hot chocolate this time?”

Sal y hugged her. “I’m so excited to have you in the family. I

think we’re going to be good friends.”

April suspected Sal y was right and nodded her agreement

before she headed for the kitchen.

***

office, Joel and Sep had just finished labeling the

medicines and putting them on the shelves. Looking up

from the last bottle Sep set beside the others, Joel asked,

“Did you get enough rest?”

The doctor nodded. “Yes. It’s a good thing you were able to

come in today. I thought for sure we were in for another

snowstorm when I saw those clouds rol ing in yesterday

evening.”

That was the one thing Joel missed about living in town. He

was stil able to show up for work even if the weather hadn’t

been good, but living further out of town, he was back to

checking things on a day by day basis. It was partly why he

hated farming. Everything was dependent on the weather.

Taking a look at Sep, he was comforted in knowing that

Sep would inherit the farm and take over the running of it in

a couple years, and then he and April would take their

children and move to town. He thought she might like to live

close to Sal y since the two seemed to get along and Sal y

missed having Jenny close by to go see on a moment’s

notice.

Turning his attention to the doctor as he placed his medical

bag on his desk, Joel asked, “How is Phil ip McCormick?”

“He’l survive,” the doctor replied. “That knife wound wasn’t

pretty. It took a good hour last night to clean it and then

stitch it up.” He turned his gaze to Sep. “Whatever you do,

son, don’t make it a habit of going to the saloon. No doctor

likes to be cal ed out in the middle of the night because

drunk men lose their temper.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Sep said.

“Sep’s a good—” he stopped himself from saying

“kid”—“young man. Got his head on straight.”

The older man nodded. “That’s good to hear.” As Joel and

Sep got their coats from the coat tree, he added, “Oh, I

almost forgot. I wanted to speak to you for a moment, Joel.”

Joel looked at Sep. “Wait for me in the waiting area and

then we’l head on out.” When Sep stepped out of the room,

Joel lowered his voice, “What is it?”

He hoped the doctor hadn’t decided to hand his job to

someone else because the weather might one day prevent

him from making it to town. He couldn’t live in town again

until Sep was ready to take care of things out at the farm by

himself. Sep might be able to handle the crops and

animals, but there was more involved in running a house

than even he could manage.

“I heard Lou Edwards was at the saloon last night,” the

doctor said softly so Sep wouldn’t overhear.

Joel’s immediate response was relief since his job wasn’t

in jeopardy, but then he realized his employer mentioned

Lou and stiffened. “Did you see him?”

“No. He was gone before I showed up. Must’ve taken off

once the brawl broke out. But Phil ip said he heard one of

the men talking about how Lou better find some money or

else there’d be one less man in the world.”

“Lou owes someone money?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but some of the men who

frequent a saloon aren’t the best types to be doing

business with, if you know what I mean.”

Joel nodded. That explained why Lou was after the gold

Harvey stole. Perhaps they even stole it together and

Harvey was supposed to give him some of it.

“Your brother-in-law thinks Lou shot someone, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. Owen says someone else fired a shot at Randolph,

but no one saw him. If he was working with Harvey, it could

very wel have been Lou since they were brothers.”

“Wel , from the sound of it, whoever Lou owes money to is

getting impatient. I suspect if Lou’s going to search for it, it

won’t be too long from now.”

“I understand.”

The doctor nodded. “Don’t forget to take your medicine bag

home with you. Lou might be getting desperate, and

desperate men do desperate things.”

Joel grabbed his medical bag and headed for the waiting

room, thinking that, very soon, life would get a lot more

room, thinking that, very soon, life would get a lot more

complicated. He just hoped he and Owen were prepared to

nab Lou before he hurt anyone.

Chapter Nineteen