Shotgun Groom (17 page)

wind blowing, it didn’t do enough. So the three huddled

together, with April in the middle. And even with the bitter

wind nipping at his nose and cheeks, al he could think

about was being alone with April in bed. He shifted under

the blanket but couldn’t get away from her. There was no

doubt about it. Being near her al the time was going to be

his undoing.

He sighed in aggravation. Why did his body have to keep

bugging him?

Beside him, April rol ed her eyes. “Must you keep sighing

as if you’re suffering?”

“I am suffering,” he replied, shooting her an accusing look.

She was the reason for it, so why hide his irritation?

“Wel , no one’s forcing you to go out to your family’s house,”

she said, completely misunderstanding his foul mood.

Deciding that was a safe topic, he replied, “You don’t know

my family. Tom wil recruit the other men to haul me over

there with you three. I have to go if I want them to leave me

alone at—” he gulped—“our house.”

“When are you going to stop complaining about marrying

me?”

“Who said I was complaining about that?”

“Al you ever do is sigh as if you’re going to die. Being with

me is not going to kil you.”

“That’s what you think,” he muttered.

“What?”

“Look, it’s Christmas. Can’t we get through this day without

arguing?”

“I’l tel you what. I’l leave you alone if you stop sighing,” she

said, her leg brushing against his in a way that she couldn’t

possibly understand how much it bothered him because it

felt too good. “Alright?”

He gritted his teeth. “I’l try.”

She glanced at Sep who refused to look at Joel. Joel

started to sigh, thought better of it, and cleared his throat.

The rest of the ride passed on in silence. By the time he

reached his parents’ farm, he noted al the other sleighs

around the barn and the horses in the stal s. It looked like

everyone was already there, and several children ran

around the front yard, throwing snowbal s at each other.

Joel parked the sleigh next to Dave’s and turned to April.

“Go on in. I’l take care of the horses and carry the gifts in

when I’m done.”

“Come on, Sep,” she said.

Joel wondered if Sep would be dumb enough to insist on

taking care of the horses when it was obvious he needed to

be warmed up inside the house, judging by how red his

cheeks and nose were. But Sep got out and helped April

and Nora down. Relieved that Sep was no longer fighting

him, Joel hopped out of the sleigh. “Sep, Richard and

Amanda’s boys are twelve. You’l like playing with them.”

“I don’t play,” Sep said with a grimace. “Playing is for little

kids.”

“Wel , those little nephews of mine who are twelve are

running around throwing snowbal s at each other with the

younger kids.” Joel pointed to the children who were

laughing. “Sounds to me like they’re having fun.”

“I don’t need to have fun,” Sep grumbled as he turned his

back to Joel and walked with April to the house.

Now that April was out of hearing distance, Joel sighed. He

didn’t know who gave him a worse time: April or Sep. If it

weren’t for Nora, the situation would be unbearable.

Forcing his attention off of the cute way April walked, Joel

brought the horses into the barn where they could eat. He

remained in the barn for a couple of minutes. He had to go

into the house and face his family. There was no way he

could stay out here the whole day. Too bad Christmas

wasn’t celebrated when the weather was warmer. If it

weren’t for the threat of frostbite, he would’ve stayed out

there until it was time to go home. Home. He remembered

when that meant going back to the boarding house in town.

But those days were long gone.

Shoulders slumped, he returned to the sleigh and gathered

the gifts. There was no sense in putting off the inevitable.

Maybe he could get lost in the group of people crowding

the house. As he trudged up the porch steps, Tom and

Richard came out the front door.

Joel paused, his foot on the next step, and debated

whether he wanted to proceed or not. They were bound to

give him grief. Since the stack of gifts in his arms was

getting heavy, he sighed and stepped forward.

“I can’t believe it,” Richard said. “Joel got himself married

after al .”

Tom snickered and nudged Richard in the arm. “Too bad

you weren’t there. He cried.”

Joel’s face warmed and he snapped, “I didn’t cry.”

Richard’s eyes grew wide. “Someone’s a little touchy.”

“Someone needs to put these gifts under the tree,” Joel

growled, making a move to pass them.

Tom jumped in front of the door and held his arms out. “I’l

help.”

“No thank you. You’ve done more than enough to help out,”

Joel said, refusing to let Tom grab the gifts. “Get out of my

way or I’m cal ing for Dave or…” He almost said Rick, but

Rick had been part of his forced marriage so he couldn’t be

trusted.

“Or who, Joel?” Tom asked, mirth in his eyes. “You’l cal out

for Ma to make us go away like you did when we were

for Ma to make us go away like you did when we were

younger?”

“No!” Joel shifted the gifts to help distribute the weight.

“Look, do you want me to dump al of these out here? Your

wives won’t be happy if their gifts are ruined.”

“The only person you buy gifts for is Ma,” Richard began,

“and she thinks anything you give her, no matter how poorly

thought out, is the best gift she’s ever received.”

Tom laughed. Using a high-pitched voice, he said, “Oh

Joel! How thoughtful of you to give me this pocket knife. It’s

just what I wanted.”

Joel huffed. “I can’t believe you, Tom. A pocket knife is

practical. She can use it on many things.”

“It’s only practical if you’re a man. What is a woman going

to do with a pocket knife?”

Joel shrugged. “I don’t know. Ma can do the same stuff that

Pa does.”

“Your problem is that you don’t understand women.”

“You got that right. I’l never know why Jessica married you.”

Just as Tom was ready to protest, their mother shooed him

aside. She pushed by him, ran over to Joel, and cupped

Joel’s face in her hands. “My baby boy is al grown up. It

seems just like yesterday I gave birth to you, and now

you’re a married man. Where did the time go?”

Since her back was to them, Tom and Richard pressed

their hands to their hearts and mouthed the words “my baby

boy”. Joel resisted the urge to grit his teeth. He hated big

brothers! They were nothing but trouble.

“April is such a lovely young woman,” their mother

continued. “Tom told me that you married her because she

reminds you of me. It’s so nice of you to say that you

wanted someone as sweet as your mother to be your wife.”

Joel glared at Tom and Richard who bent their heads

together and chuckled softly into their hands.

Their mother kissed Joel’s cheek. “Just think of it. My baby

boy is al grown up and has his own family now. Why, April

could be bringing out two children next Christmas instead

of one!”

Joel blanched. “Isn’t it enough that Mary’s going to give you

another grandchild in February?” It was ridiculous that the

woman couldn’t be satisfied with eleven grandchildren and

one on the way. Actual y, since he married April, she

technical y had twelve grandchildren already. Then in

February, she’d have thirteen. Inspired, he said, “Unless, of

course, Mary doesn’t have a boy. You could probably use

another grandson, especial y since Tom couldn’t seem to

do the job.”

His ploy worked. Tom stopped snickering and crossed his

arms in defiance. “I’l have you know I’m very happy with my

four daughters.”

“I suppose that’s the only way you don’t feel like a woman

when you ride in that pink buggy your wife bought right after

you got married,” Joel replied.

“There’s nothing wrong with the color pink,” Tom argued.

“The girls love it.”

Their mother groaned. “Must you boys fuss? Seriously,

you’re al grown up with families of your own, and you’re

acting like you were stil children. Now, it’s time for you to

be an example and be nice.”

“Wel said, Ma,” Richard agreed.

“That’s my boy,” their mother replied, going over to Richard.

“You had enough sense not to get caught in their

squabbles. Now, come on in so we can set those gifts

down, Joel.”

“Here. I’l get the door for you, Ma,” Richard said, giving

Joel and Tom a smug look.

“Thank you, Richard,” she replied and headed into the

house.

“You’re welcome.”

Tom shook his head. “Unbelievable.”

“You’re tel ing me,” Joel told Tom.

“Your problem is that I’ve always been smart enough to get

on her good side,” Richard teased. “Why do you think she’d

let me sneak in a cookie before supper?”

“You got what before supper?” Tom asked.

With an amused smile, Richard went into the house.

“You know, if he didn’t come in handy whenever we needed

to build something, I’d kick him clear back to New York,”

Tom said.

“If both of us did it at the same time, it might actual y work,”

Joel agreed.

Tom opened the door for Joel, and Joel reluctantly went into

the house, wondering what other ribbing he was going to

get now that he was married.

Chapter Fourteen

April was overwhelmed by the large number of people in

Joel’s family. There were his parents, his oldest brother and

wife and three children, Sal y and Rick and their son Greg,

Tom and his wife and their four daughters, another brother

and his wife and one son, and Jenny and Owen and their

sons Jeremy and Carl. That was twenty-three people total,

and that number went to twenty-seven if she included Joel,

Sep, Nora and herself. She tried desperately to remember

who was who, but once again, her mind spun so she gave

up. She was doing good to figure out how large the family

was. Maybe one Christmas she would come here and

know everyone’s names.

After she did her part to help Sal y set the table and get the

tables and chairs ready, everyone assembled to sit at

either the adult table or the children’s table. She held Nora

and stayed close to Sep as people decided where to sit.

Joel appeared through the mass of chaos in the dining

room which seemed large before everyone came into it.

Even if things hadn’t improved much with Joel, she was

relieved to see him because he was a familiar face.

“Sep, you should go to the children’s table.”

“No, I won’t,” Sep replied, a scowl on his face.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” April said, not wishing to sit

apart from her brother in this unfamiliar place. “Sep is old

enough to sit with the adults.”

“Richard’s kids are twelve, and they’re sitting over there,”

Joel replied, motioning to the oldest children who helped

the younger ones into their seats. “Nora wil sit in the

highchair next to you.”

“But Sep wil be fifteen next month,” she argued. “I don’t

think a fifteen-year-old has much in common with them.”

Joel sighed, once again, and April closed her eyes so she

wouldn’t lose her patience. The more he sighed, the more

the sound resembled nails down the blackboard, and that

was one of the most annoying sounds she’d ever heard…

until she met Joel and learned that sighing could be just as

irritating, if not more so.

“There’s not that much room at the big table,” Joel said.

“We’l make room,” she insisted.

“We’l be cramped,” he replied.

“That’s your fault for having so many family members.”

Beside her, Sep let out a slight chuckle, and she felt a smile

tug at her lips. Joel stopped arguing with her, and the side

of his mouth twitched up.

“Are you going to eat or are you just going to stand there

“Are you going to eat or are you just going to stand there

and watch?” Sal y cal ed out as she settled next to Rick.

Joel glanced at the big table where everyone was already

seated and sighed. “Fine,” Joel told April. “Sep can sit with

us. I’l put Nora in the highchair.”

Imitating Joel’s sigh, April handed Nora to him. “Alright. If it

must be done…”

This time Sep chuckled and fol owed her to one of the

empty chairs. Once they were seated, Joel’s father led

them in saying grace and they began passing the large