Shotgun Groom (14 page)

prostitutes, and he was good to Nora. Maybe it wasn’t

ideal, but it was certainly bearable.

“Doctor Adams says he understands,” Rick said. “He

agrees it was the best course of action, given the

circumstances.”

Though a slight grimace crossed his face, Joel replied, “At

least I haven’t lost my job. Wel , I suppose I better unpack.”

Sal y shook her head and placed one of her hands on her

hips. “You needn’t mope, Joel. Your life didn’t come to an

end. In fact, a man’s life doesn’t real y begin until he settles

down with a good woman.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Joel muttered, not bothering to

look back as he sauntered out of the room.

“I should help him,” Rick said before he fol owed him.

When the two men reached the stairs, Sal y asked April,

“Has he been acting like this the whole time he’s been out

here?”

April would be lying if she said no, so she nodded.

“I’m sorry,” Sal y replied. “Joel’s not so bad once he

understands something is good for him.”

“It doesn’t matter.” She shrugged. “I probably wouldn’t be

happy either if the same thing happened to me. Would you

like to come to the kitchen? I can get us something to eat

and drink.”

Sep went to the window and pushed aside the curtains. “I

could take care of the horse,” he told Sal y. “That is, if you

could take care of the horse,” he told Sal y. “That is, if you

plan to stay for a while.”

“I’m sure Rick would appreciate it,” Sal y replied.

“Can I go?” Greg asked.

Letting go of the curtains, Sep shrugged. “It’s fine with me.”

April shifted Nora to her other arm. “We’l have something

warm for you to drink when you come back.” The boys

nodded, so April offered a smile to Sal y. “Would you like to

come to the kitchen?”

Sal y nodded, put her coat on the coat tree by the front

door, and joined her as she strol ed down the hal way to the

kitchen. “You know, we heard Joel went missing and feared

the worst. With the blizzard and al , we thought he might’ve

gotten stranded out in the snow and froze to death. We

were so relieved when Tom told us what happened.

Marriage is just the thing Joel needs. Real y, every man

needs a wife. A wife gives a man stability and a place to

cal home.”

As they entered the kitchen, April couldn’t help but grin at

Sal y’s cheerfulness. It was such a strange contrast to

Joel’s sour mood. “Are you sure you and Joel are related?”

“Oh, Joel was such an odd boy. He didn’t seem to have a

sense of purpose while we were growing up. He spent

most of his time hiding to avoid any kind of work, and when

we did catch him, he’d be staring off into the distance. We

worried he’d go around drifting from one thing to another,

unable to commit to anything. Of al the men I’ve known, he

needs a wife the most. At least now he has someone to pul

him back to Earth.”

Unable to hide a sly grin, April said, “Sep caught him

staring at nothing in particular yesterday in the hal way

upstairs.”

With a groan, she rubbed her forehead and shook her

head. “You see how much he needs a wife? No one was

meant to have their head in the clouds their entire life.” April

pul ed out the highchair to put Nora in, but Sal y asked,

“Can I hold her?”

“Sure.”

Sal y took Nora into her arms and gave the baby a slight

tickle. Nora laughed and snuggled into her embrace. “I miss

holding Greg when he was a baby. Lately, he’s been tel ing

me he’s not a baby anymore. He wants to spend more time

with his pa or cousins. The only time he comes running to

me is if he’s hurt or wants something to eat.”

“I think motherhood is something people take for granted.”

“You’re tel ing me!” Sal y sat down and smiled at Nora. “It’d

be nice to have another one, though. This time I’d like a girl.

You know, someone I can cook and sew with, someone I

can take to the mercantile to look at pretty things like

ribbons. You and Nora wil get to have wonderful

adventures together.”

April hadn’t thought about doing things like that with Nora,

but she supposed Sal y was right. Her pa and brother

became closer as Sep grew older. She had hoped Harvey

might be like a second father to Sep. Things hadn’t turned

out as she hoped, but she had believed Harvey would be a

good husband, too. Sometimes a woman just couldn’t tel if

she was marrying the right man or not when she said her

vows.

With a tentative look at Sal y, April grabbed the bucket of

wel water Sep retrieved for her that morning and poured

some water into the coffee pot. “Your brother is a good

man, isn’t he?”

With a laugh, Sal y clapped Nora’s hands together, and

Nora giggled. Looking up at April, she said, “Joel’s a good

man. You don’t have to worry about him.”

April relaxed and got the coffee ready to boil on the cook

stove. She thought so, but it was nice to have the

reassurance. As she retrieved some cookies from her

container on one of the shelves, she noted Sal y’s

enthusiasm for holding a baby. “You real y want another

one, don’t you?” She motioned to Nora.

“I always thought I’d have more than one child.” She

shrugged. “I assumed sooner or later, it was bound to

happen, but it’s been eight years since Greg was born. It

could stil happen. Not everyone has children right away.”

Though Sal y tried to appear nonchalant about the issue,

April sensed the frustration and sorrow beneath the

surface. Not sure of what to say, especial y since she didn’t

know Sal y wel enough to be her confidante, she chose to

be quiet. April could spout off some trite words people

used to try to make others feel better, but she knew it

wouldn’t fit. So she kept silent while she got the hot

chocolate ready for the children.

Joel and Rick came down the stairs as Sep and Greg

came in through the kitchen door, stomping their boots as

they did so. Rick removed his coat and hung it next to

Greg’s and Sep’s by the kitchen door before he sat next to

Sal y at the table.

“Joel’s al settled in now,” he told Sal y who was bouncing a

giggling Nora on her leg.

Joel sat next to Rick, sighed, stretched his legs under the

table and crossed his arms. “Yes, I’m al settled in.”

Once again, he was doing the dreadful sighing. April hoped

he’d moved beyond the dramatic suffering, but she

guessed he did it for Sal y and Rick’s benefit rather than

hers.

“Are those cookies?” Greg asked as he plopped into the

seat next to Sep which happened to be across from his

parents.

“Yes, they are,” April replied and set the plate of cookies in

the center of the table before she gave everyone their

drinks.

“Joel was tel ing me he’s been fixing the place up,” Rick

said as he picked up a cookie and handed it to Sal y who

split it in half and offered it to Nora.

“Real y?” Sal y’s eyes widened in interest.

“I was bored,” Joel said.

Rick leaned closer to Sal y and softly said, “Or so he

claims.”

Joel rol ed his eyes and drank his coffee.

Greg and Sep grabbed a couple of cookies, and Greg

said, “Sep let me take the bridles off the horses!”

April’s lips turned up at Greg’s enthusiasm. It reminded her

of the day Sep figured out how to put a bridle on and off a

horse by himself. Their pa had been proud of him, which

added to his excitement.

“Christmas is coming up next week,” Sal y began after she

swal owed her part of the cookie. “We’d love it if you came

out.”

“That’s what this trip is real y about,” Joel muttered to no

one in particular. “Sal y can’t resist the temptation to

introduce the new person to everyone in the family.”

Holding Nora against her chest, Sal y leaned forward and

glared at Joel. “I hope you do a better job of minding your

manners when I’m not around.”

He didn’t bother looking in her direction. Instead, he stared

at the shelves lining the wal in front of him and sipped more

of his coffee.

“I see you’re being a delight at al times,” Sal y quipped

before she settled back in the chair. “April and Sep, I hope

you don’t think the rest of us are like him. Some of us can

be quite pleasant.”

“That’s a matter of opinion,” Joel mumbled.

“You know, when Joel was seventeen, our brother David

got married, and al Joel could talk about was—”

“For goodness’ sakes.” Joel straightened in his seat. “I’l

stop, alright Sal y?”

Pleased, she nodded and turned the conversation back to

Christmas.

April almost wished Sal y had finished the sentence.

Whatever it was she was going to say embarrassed Joel to

no end, if his red face was an indicator of his feelings. April

glanced at Sep, but he and Greg were whispering about

the horses out in the barn. Returning her attention to Sal y,

she spent the next half hour listening to Sal y tel her al

about her brothers, sisters, and their children.

After the first three names, everything became a blur. Al

she knew for sure was that there were six siblings total, and

al of them were now married since Joel was the last to tie

the knot. And every last one of them had children. When

Sal y finished listing off al the names, birthdays, and

summary of everyone’s personalities, she handed Nora

back to April, looking as if she did her duty to welcome

April into the family. It wasn’t that April didn’t appreciate

Sal y’s intent, but her head was swimming too much for her

to let out an appropriate thank you.

“We should get going,” Sal y said. “I look forward to seeing

you, Sep and Nora again on Christmas!”

“Nice of you to include me in that list, Sal y,” Joel dryly

commented.

Sal y didn’t bother to look in his direction as she hugged

April. “Try not to let him get to you,” she whispered.

“Sometimes if you act like he’s not around, it drives him

crazy enough to be nicer.”

April had yet to see proof of that but decided it worked for

his sister, so for Sal y, this was true. “Thank you for

coming.”

“I’l get the sleigh ready,” Rick, who’d been quiet up to that

point, said and headed for his coat.

Sep and Greg joined him, but to April’s surprise, Joel

fol owed Sal y, her and Nora to the front door. Sal y glanced

over her shoulder at him and asked, “You like to hear

women talk so much that you’re wil ing to tag along?”

“I want to make sure you real y do leave,” Joel replied with a

smirk. Pushing by them, he hurried to the front door. “Now,

this is what Christmas should be about. Saying good-bye to

sisters who don’t know how boring they are to listen to. Next

time I can’t get to sleep, I’l have you come over and list off

everyone in the family. Even April’s eyes glazed over during

that whole spiel.”

April’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Surely, her eyes

hadn’t glazed over!

“To you, it’s boring,” Sal y told him, not in the least bit

disturbed by his words. “You know who is who. But April

hasn’t met anyone but Tom, me and Rick. To her, it was

exciting. Just think of everyone who’l be ready to give her

sympathy because she ended up with you.”

He pretended to laugh. “You’re almost as funny as Tom.

What did you two do, exchange notes when he was in town

yesterday?”

“Yes, Joel. You found us out. We spent a whole hour

working on the right things for me to say just so you’d be

annoyed.” She shook her head and grabbed her coat from

the coat tree. “I don’t know what is wrong with you. Al I

wanted to do was welcome April to the family.”

“Lucky me.” He opened the door and motioned to the

porch. “Wel , don’t come back in the near future.”

“You’re al heart, Joel.” Turning to April so her back was to

Joel, she mouthed, “When he was seventeen, he wanted to

get married in the worst way.” She tapped Nora’s nose and

in an audible voice said, “You are the cutest little girl, yes

you are.”

Nora laughed and tapped Sal y’s nose in return.

April smiled. “I look forward to seeing you on Christmas.”

Joel groaned, and Sal y slipped on her coat. “I can’t wait to

introduce you to everyone, April,” she said. “They’l adore

you.”

April didn’t know how Sal y could be sure of that but didn’t