Shotgun Groom (20 page)

that. She just wished it didn’t have to hurt the woman. If she

was wise, she’d let him take what he wanted. Maybe then,

he’d be wil ing to hold her again. To ask him to just hold her

instead of going further might make things go back to how

they were before yesterday, and that was something she

didn’t want either.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes while he kissed

her again. At least he wasn’t a sloppy, wet kisser like

Harvey had been. Sometimes it’d taken al her wil power

not to gag when Harvey kissed her, especial y when there

was alcohol on his breath. With Joel, she didn’t mind the

kissing so much. His lips were soft and she didn’t feel

rushed to open her mouth to accept his tongue. In fact, the

kiss lasted a few seconds before he rol ed onto his back

and he encouraged her to settle her head on his shoulder.

She wanted to ask what he was doing but then thought

better of it. If he wasn’t going to go further, she wasn’t going

to suggest it. With one arm around her shoulders, he gave

her a light squeeze that could only be interpreted as a hug.

With his free hand, he took her hand and held it over his

chest.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked, his voice quiet

in the stil room.

“Uh…” She took her attention off of the way he caressed

the palm of her hand with his thumb and said, “I don’t know.

Do you go back out to your parents the day after

Christmas?”

“Liked being there that much?”

She shrugged. “I might stil have trouble knowing who is

who, but it was nice over there.”

“I’m glad you think so.” He kissed the top of her head again

and sighed. “I thought if it’s warm enough, it might be nice

to go for a sleigh ride. It looks like it’l be cloudy so the

sunlight won’t hurt our eyes. Right after my family moved to

Nebraska, my parents would take us on sleigh rides around

Christmas. We didn’t have the land to do that back in New

York.” He laughed and rubbed her arm. “Sometimes they’d

stop so we could build snowmen, and sooner or later,

there’d be a snowbal fight.”

“Did you start it?” she asked.

“Only when I was old enough to know I had a good chance

of winning. Before that, I learned to be close to our mother

because no one ever threw a snowbal in her direction.”

“I bet they didn’t.”

“Nope. No one ever messed with Ma. She’d have our

hides.”

She chuckled.

“So, what do you think? How about going on a sleigh ride?

If we bundled Nora up, she could play in the snow.”

“Oh, but it’s so cold.”

“That’s the point of snow. It’s supposed to be cold.”

“I don’t know. She’s only a year old.”

“She’l be fine. As long as we bring lots of blankets and

have the foot warmer going, she won’t get nasopharyngitis.”

Startled, she lifted her head so she could look at him. “She

won’t get what?”

“Nasopharyngitis.” With a sly grin, he added, “It means a

cold.”

“Why, that is the strangest term I ever heard for it.”

“I know. That’s why I said it.”

She nudged him in the side and laughed. “You’re using that

fancy doctor talk on me.”

“What good are the terms I had to memorize if I can’t use

them?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her before he kissed

her again. “As much as I’d like to spend al day in bed

talking to you, I don’t feel right letting Sep take care of al

the chores by himself.” He brushed her cheek with his

fingers, the action a mere whisper across her skin. “We’l

take that sleigh ride after lunch when it’s warmer.”

She nodded, surprised that he wasn’t going to do anything

else with her. He kissed her and held her and didn’t

demand she have sex with him. She wondered if she

should thank him for being tender with no expectations on

his end, but she wasn’t sure how to adequately express it

so she didn’t.

As he slipped out of bed, Nora stirred in her crib. With a

gleam in his eye, he whispered, “I think Nora heard us talk

about the sleigh.”

Amused, she got out of bed and moved the blanket aside

so she could reach the crib. Nora yawned and opened her

eyes. Picking her up, April smoothed her daughter’s

disheveled hair and kissed her cheek. She waited until Joel

was dressed before she emerged from Nora’s side of the

partition.

“I’l get a pot of coffee going and then head out,” Joel said.

“Alright,” she replied as she went over to grab a new cloth

diaper from the pile on the edge of the dresser.

Joel patted Nora’s back. “If you’re good, I’l let you eat

some snow.”

April grimaced. “Eating snow?”

“Sure. Al kids like to eat snow. Didn’t you do that when you

were a kid?”

“I don’t remember doing it.”

“Hmm… I suppose we’l have to let you eat some, too.”

She highly doubted that she’d be eating snow later today,

but he stepped out of the room before she could voice her

opinion on the matter. “I think he’s a strange man,” she told

Nora. With a smile, she added, “But in a good way.”

Listening to him whistle as he headed down the steps, she

grinned and shook her head. “In a very good way.”

Turning her attention back to her daughter, she grabbed the

diaper and got her ready for the day.

Chapter Sixteen

April stood by Sep while Joel pul ed the sleigh up to the

house. Nora pointed to him and cal ed out, “Joe, Joe!”

“Yes, honey. That’s your pa,” she replied, figuring the

sooner Nora got used to referring to him as her father, the

better.

“Why does he want to go for a sleigh ride again?” Sep

asked.

“To do something fun as a family,” she said.

Joel got out of the sleigh and headed toward the porch.

“It seems like a waste of time to me,” Sep mumbled.

“He’s trying, Sep. He wants to be part of our family, and this

is his way of showing that. I think it’s sweet.”

He rol ed his eyes. ‘Sure you do. You’re a woman.”

“Wel , he’s a man, and it was his idea.”

Sep shrugged but didn’t comment.

With a grin on his face, Joel bounded up the porch steps.

“Are you ready?”

“No,” Sep began, “we’re just standing here because we

want to stay home.”

Shooting him an amused look, Joel said, “Very clever joke,

Sep.” He held his arms out to Nora, and Nora was more

than happy for April to hand her over so she did. “I know

you’re ready,” he told Nora and tapped her nose. “April?”

She accepted the hand he extended to her and went down

the steps, careful to avoid the smal patch of ice to her right.

Sep fol owed and stopped when they reached the sleigh.

April got in first and Sep sat beside her. Stil carrying Nora,

Joel went to the other side of the sleigh and sat next to

April.

“I have to give you back to your ma,” Joel told Nora.

April took her and bundled her under the two blankets Joel

and Sep spread out over their bodies. The foot warmer

was close to her feet, taking the edge off the cold around

them. Joel glanced at her and winked. Blushing, she turned

her gaze to Sep who pul ed the top blanket up to his chin

and stared straight ahead.

“It’l be fun,” she whispered to her brother.

He shrugged.

Turning her attention to Joel, she said, “You’re right about

the cloudy sky making it easier to be out here. You know,

so we don’t have to squint so much.”

Smiling, Joel put his arm around her shoulders and drew

her to his side. His body was solid and warm, just as it was

at night. She loved the way she felt when he held her. Safe,

protected, cherished. She also experienced a strange

fluttering sensation in her chest. She wondered if he

noticed something similar when he held her. If she was

comfortable enough with him, she’d ask him. But as it was,

this was al brand new, and since he was wil ing to adapt to

their marriage, she’d do what she could to work with him.

Nora sat up on April’s lap and watched the scenery as Joel

drove the sleigh along the flat land. They spotted a few

animals along the way, but April hardly paid them any mind.

She was acutely aware that Joel’s thigh touched hers and

that her arm was tucked nicely into his side. At one point,

he even kissed her cheek. She glanced at Sep to see if he

saw it, but Sep had his eyes closed and had slouched

down so his head rested against the back of the seat. She

didn’t mind. It al owed her a moment of privacy with her

husband.

Ten minutes passed before Joel removed his arm from her

shoulders and pul ed back on the reins. She sat up and

Sep straightened in the seat. Examining the endless miles

of snow around them, Sep said, “I thought we were home.”

Joel chuckled and set the brake. “Half the fun is the sleigh

ride. The other half is getting out and playing in the snow.”

Sep grimaced. “Playing in the snow?”

“Sure. Nora here needs to experience the joys of being a

child.” Turning his gaze to April, he asked, “Is she bundled

up enough?”

April nodded.

He took Nora in his arms. “Ready to get out?”

“Yes,” April replied and fol owed him off the sleigh.

“Come on, Sep,” Joel cal ed out.

Sep, who remained in the sleigh, shook his head. “I’m too

old to play in the snow.”

“I’m going to play in it, and I’m older than you,” Joel replied

as he knelt down to pick up some snow which he molded

into a snowbal before he handed it to Nora.

Nora took it in her hands which were covered with mittens

and stared at it as if she wasn’t sure about it.

“Live a little, Sep,” Joel said. “Life’s too short to be an old

man before your time.”

Sep’s response was to rol his eyes, pul the blankets up

around him and shift so that his head was resting against

the back of the seat.

April lifted the hem of her dress and went over to Joel who

broke off a smal piece of the snowbal and ate it. Nora

wrinkled her nose but lifted the snowbal to her nose and

sniffed it.

“Do you real y like to eat snow?” April asked him as she

knelt beside him.

“Sure. It’s cold.”

“And?”

He shrugged and picked up a bit of snow which he held up

to Nora’s lips. “That’s it. It’s cold.”

“Does it taste like anything?”

“Nope.”

“So, you’re tel ing me the only thing you like about it is that

it’s cold?”

“Wel , if you pack it down, it crunches when you eat it.”

Though she had to admit it was strange, she decided to

give it a try. She didn’t think he’d tel her he liked it if he

didn’t, and if he liked it, then it stood to reason it couldn’t be

bad. She dug up a handful of snow and packed it down

between her hands so that it formed a nice round bal like

the one he made. Bringing it up to her mouth, she bit into it

and, sure enough, it didn’t real y taste like anything, but it

was fun to eat something that cold.

“What do you think?” Joel asked, watching her.

With a smile, she said, “It’s not bad.”

“See? I told you. It’s a treat on a cold, winter’s day. I used to

grab cups of snow and take it into the house while I was

growing up.”

“I take it your brothers did that, too?”

“And sisters. We al had fun eating it. It was one of the best

parts of winter. I think it’l be one of Nora’s favorite

memories, too, when she’s al grown up and looking back

on her childhood.”

“Oh, don’t say that. I like her as a baby. I don’t want to think

of her growing up.”

“It’s just the way of things, April. But don’t you mind it. We’l

have more children, and then they’l have grandchildren.”

“Wel , even so, I’m in no hurry for her to grow up.” April

brushed back a curl from Nora’s face and tucked it under

her hat so her hair would stay out of her eyes.

Joel chuckled and encouraged Nora to try the snow she

was stil holding in her hands. “I reckon a mother can’t help

but fuss over her children.”

“I just want her to be comfortable, that’s al .”

“Exactly. Fussing.”

She caught the teasing gleam in his eyes and laughed. “I

admit it. I fuss over her. I can’t help it. It comes natural y to

me.”

Leaning closer to her, he said, “I wouldn’t mind it if you

fussed over me.” Then he kissed her and turned his

attention back to Nora.

April’s lips tingled and a bolt of excitement shot straight to

her toes. She hadn’t thought of fussing over a grown man

before, but in this case, she rather liked the idea. She bit

her lower lip and then asked, “How would I fuss over you?”