Shotgun Groom (16 page)

comfortable, and when Sep returned with the items from the

mercantile, she was disappointed that her time with Jenny

and Sal y had come to an end.

Joel arrived shortly after Sep did, so April picked Nora up

from where she was playing with the other children. “It was

nice being here,” she told Sal y and Jenny.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Joel began as his nephews

surrounded him, “because Doctor Adams needs me to

come in for the next three days.”

“Oh good!” Sal y said, turning to April and Sep. “Then you’l

be coming over here again this week?”

“Al three days,” Joel clarified.

Sep grimaced, an action no one else seemed to notice.

April cleared her throat. “Sep could help you and the

doctor.”

“Taking care of sick people, gathering supplies, and

managing the paperwork aren’t jobs for a boy,” Joel

replied, not bothering to look in Sep’s direction.

Sal y groaned. “Wil you listen to yourself? When you were

fourteen, you could gather things for the farm and took care

of sick animals. I think Sep should go along and help you.

Otherwise, he’l be stuck with us women and the children.

Imagine how bored you’d be if you were in his shoes.”

Letting out one of the long, drawn-out sighs April dreaded

listening to, Joel shrugged. “Fine. But only to spare him the

fate of being lul ed to sleep around here.”

Though Sep didn’t seem any happier about being around

Joel than Joel seemed to be with taking him along, he

didn’t say anything. April knew it was better than Sep

having to stick around this house, but she didn’t know what

else Sep might do while in town. He couldn’t spend al day

picking up things from the mercantile for her.

Not knowing what else to say or do, April got Nora and

herself ready to leave. Sep, who hadn’t bothered taking off

his coat and hat, waited for her, stil holding the box of

mercantile goods in his arms. When she was finished, she

thanked Sal y and Jenny for a wonderful afternoon and said

she looked forward to seeing them again.

After they left the house, Joel took them to the jailhouse.

“Jenny’s husband is the deputy. I want you to tel him

everything you can about Lou.”

This time, Joel made eye contact with Sep, and April

debated whether or not to ask him why he bothered when

he had pretty much ignored him for most of the morning.

Sep deserved to be treated better than that. Final y, she

decided she’d better do it when she and Joel were alone.

There was no need to involve Sep in what might turn into an

argument.

April carried Nora and fol owed Joel and Sep into the

jailhouse where a blond man was sorting through a stack of

papers, some of which contained drawings of men on

them. He looked up from what he was doing and laughed. “I

can’t believe it. Sal y said you got married, but I thought for

sure she was wrong. After al that talk about how you knew

better than to tie yourself down to a woman who’d only

make you miserable with her unpredictable moods and

need for control ing your life—”

“I get the point, Owen” Joel interrupted, rol ing his eyes. “Do

you want to help April and Sep or not?”

Owen straightened in his chair, his face turning serious.

“What is it?”

“Rick said you were familiar with the name Lou Edwards.”

“The name rings a bel . Why?”

“Lou Edwards was the brother of Harvey, and Harvey was

married to April before his untimely demise.”

Owen drummed his fingers on the desk and then snapped

his fingers. “Now I remember! Yes, we are interested in

him. He might have had a hand in the murder of Randolph

Hil s. This happened at the same time a large sum of

Randolph’s gold went missing.”

“Gold?” April asked.

“Randolph kept his gold stored in a safe,” Owen replied.

“Shortly before his death, someone stole the safe. It’s not

hard to conclude that the two events are connected. Most

likely, he found the man or men who stole his money.”

“Did anyone find the safe?” Joel asked.

“Nope. Not yet.” Owen motioned to the two chairs in front of

his desk. “Go on and have a seat, and I’l write down what

you know about Lou. Maybe it’l help us find him. If we do,

we might find out where the safe is at. We think Harvey shot

the bul et that kil ed Randolph because there were

witnesses, but someone said they heard another gunshot

but didn’t know who shot it. That could have been Lou.”

It made sense, April thought as she sat down. Nora fussed

on her lap, so Joel picked her up and held her, bouncing

her in his arms to keep her quiet. Sep looked between April

and Joel and sat in the other chair. Owen got his fountain

pen and paper ready and proceeded to take notes as April

and Sep relayed everything they knew, minus the incident

where Lou tried to rape her. Some things were best left

unsaid.

After they were done, Owen said he’d take a look out at

their place in the next few days. “Maybe Harvey left a clue

somewhere that might help us discover what Lou might

know.”

Thanking him, April and Sep left with Joel and Nora. On the

ride back home, they didn’t say much. April’s thoughts kept

rol ing over everything Owen said. Was it possible Harvey

hid the safe somewhere on their property? Maybe even in

the house? She didn’t see anything in the house that would

suggest he was hiding something, so it had to be outside

the house, especial y since she made sure that door to the

third bedroom was locked before the safe was stolen.

Shivering, she held Nora closer to her and kissed her

daughter’s forehead. Nora let out a contented sigh and

drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Thirteen

Joel let out a frustrated sigh and gave up on the notion of

sleep. In her crib, Nora slept, as content as a little girl could

get, and beside him, April slept, just as peaceful. Dawn

would break soon, and through the lingering moonlight

filtering through the window, Joel could see April perfectly.

Her eyes were closed, her rosy lips were slightly parted,

and one of her hands rested against her cheek. It was the

prettiest sight he’d ever seen. And sleeping next to her for

the past week was kil ing him.

He’d managed the first couple of nights just because he

was so exhausted that he couldn’t keep his eyes open as

soon as he settled into the bed. The sorry excuse for the

bed that had belonged to her father was almost impossible

to get a good night’s sleep on. At least the bed April had

was comfortable. But comfortable didn’t help when he was

caught up on his sleep and al -too-aware that the woman

sleeping in the same bed with him felt good. Too good,

actual y.

She kept the covers up to her col arbone, so it wasn’t like

he was tempted to look at her. Wel , alright, so he was

tempted to look. What man wouldn’t be? Even if he hadn’t

sought out marriage, he was stil intrigued by the female

body. But he’d been able to keep his curiosity in check in

the past.

With April, however, this was getting to be impossible. He

wanted nothing more than to peel back the covers, take her

nightgown off, and take his fil of her body. He gritted his

teeth and cursed his weak wil . Granted, he was married to

her. He wasn’t so naïve as to think they wouldn’t come

together as man and wife at some point in the marriage,

but he was stil a bit miffed that he’d been forced into it. Not

necessarily miffed at her. More miffed at Tom and Rick who

felt it prudent to gang up on him while a fourteen-year-old

kid pointed a gun at him.

But he was annoyed, and rightly so, that she had wanted to

find another man but couldn’t, and so she settled for him.

What kind of compliment was that? She would have

married Tom or Rick if they’d been single. Lucky him, he

just happened to come along without a wife. Maybe it

meant something was wrong with him because he didn’t

take what he had every right to in the marital bed, but he

just didn’t feel like being intimate with her.

Now, his body had other ideas, but he wasn’t going to let a

simple thing like an erection be his undoing. He knew if he

caved in and acted on his urges, he’d be tel ing her that he

was perfectly alright with being the man she settled for.

Nope. Until she admitted she wanted to be with him, he

wasn’t giving in. And if he went back to sleeping on her

pa’s thin mattress, she’d know how weak he was, and he

could only imagine how she might think of him then. What

woman had respect for a spineless man?

With a heavy sigh, he pul ed back his covers and eased out

of bed. The sooner he got this day started, the sooner he

could forget about how aggravating it was to sleep with

April. Today, they had to go to his parents’ house to

celebrate Christmas. He wasn’t in the mood to be festive,

but he knew he’d get nothing but grief if he didn’t go along

with it. It was unbelievable that his life was being run for him

by his parents and siblings even though he was an adult.

Grumbling, he got dressed and left the bedroom. As he

slipped on his boots, coat and hat, Sep came down the

stairs.

“Get the coffee started,” Joel told him as he put his gloves

on. “We have a long day at my family’s house, and the

sooner we get going, the sooner we can come back.”

“I’l do it after I take care of the animals,” Sep replied, barely

looking in Joel’s direction.

Joel put out his arm to stop Sep from reaching the coat

tree. “I’m feeding them. It’s too cold for a kid to be out there

this morning.”

His face turning red, he narrowed his eyes at Joel and said,

“I’ve done it plenty of times in cold weather.”

“That’s because you didn’t have a man here to do it. I’m

here now, and you don’t need to be out in freezing

temperatures. It’s enough we’l be taking the sleigh out to

temperatures. It’s enough we’l be taking the sleigh out to

my family’s place. I won’t have you exposed to these

temperatures any more than you need to be.”

“I’m not a kid!”

“Yes, you are.”

Joel struggled to keep his temper in check. Sep assumed

he could do things a fourteen-year-old wasn’t mature

enough to handle, like carrying things that were too heavy

or trying to put medicine bottles away before Joel had a

chance to make sure they were properly labeled.

“You’re not my pa!” Sep snapped and tried to shove his

arm away, but Joel didn’t budge. “I’m tired of you tel ing me

what I can and can’t do!”

“You need someone to tel you what you can and can’t do

because you’re taking on too much! You’re only fourteen.

You don’t know anything.”

“I know plenty!”

“You think you know plenty, but trust me, kid, when you’re

twenty-two, you’l come to realize just how little you real y

understand right now.”

Joel saw the punch coming before Sep’s fist made it

across his jaw. He had to admit Sep was stronger than he

looked. As he stared at Sep, he rubbed his jaw and

opened and shut his mouth to make sure no teeth came

loose. Sep stood his ground, though he was visibly

shaking. Joel wasn’t sure, but he thought Sep was daring

him to retaliate, even though it was apparent that Sep was

frightened of what that retaliation might entail.

Straightening his shoulders, Joel pointed to the kitchen and

spoke in a low, control ed tone. “Go to the kitchen and get

the coffee started.”

This time Sep didn’t argue. Joel shook his head and

muttered under his breath that it was just his luck he got

stuck with a kid who didn’t know his limitations. From

upstairs, Nora cried. He winced. He wouldn’t be surprised if

April heard the whole mess between him and Sep.
Just

great.
He flung the door open and slammed it behind him

before he headed down the porch steps.
This Christmas is

getting off to one terrific start.
First April and now Sep. How

was a man supposed to get peace around this place?

***

close together to stay warmer in the sleigh. Nora rested in

April’s arms and drifted off to sleep within ten minutes.

Granted, the little foot heater did some good, but with the