Shotgun Groom (26 page)

At that, April and Sep chuckled.

“See what you started?” April asked.

“She’l only love me more if she learns that I come with

good things,” Joel said and patted her on the back.

“You plan to buy her affection with cookies?”

“Sure. Why not?”

“I hope you plan to do some disciplining while you’re at it.”

“Of course, I wil . I might be under her spel a bit, but I’m not

that far gone.”

“You real y do love your nieces and nephews, don’t you?”

“I do,” Joel replied. “I told you I was their favorite uncle,

though my brothers wil disagree.”

“Because you bring them treats as wel ?”

He shrugged. “I might have made a stop by the mercantile

a time or two on my way to see them.”

“You’re a good man, Joel,” she whispered and lowered her

gaze back to her empty plate.

“I do what I can,” he replied, touched by her words,

especial y in light of what she must think of Harvey. Clearing

his throat, he turned to Sep. “Want to help me with the

evening chores?”

Sep nodded and took his plate to the sink.

Joel gave April a kiss and told Nora to take care of her ma

before he headed on out with Sep.

Chapter Twenty

A half hour later, Joel sat across from Sep in the barn and

waited for Sep to answer his question.

Sep studied his gloved hands which were on his knees and

asked, “You want me to tear up the third bedroom?”

“I think it’d be good to get rid of it and start over with a new

one,” Joel replied, gauging Sep for any reaction. So far,

Sep wasn’t giving him any emotions to figure out the best

way to modify the conversation. “Of course, you don’t have

to do it. I could do it instead.”

“If you’re going to do it, then what do you need me for?”

“I thought you might like to let Harvey know what you think of

him.”

“But Harvey’s dead.”

“It wouldn’t be for Harvey. It’d be for you.”

Sep shook his head. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I saw that room, and April told me what happened in there.”

He shrugged and studied his boots. “So?”

“That’s not something you can easily forget, or forgive,” Joel

softly said, noting the way Sep’s mouth twitched.

“It doesn’t change anything.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t. Nothing can undo what’s happened.

But you have a future ahead of you, and you want it to be

free of Harvey.”

Sep closed his eyes for a moment and slowly exhaled.

When he opened his eyes, he made eye contact with Joel.

“What should I use to tear up the wal s?”

“I found a crowbar in the shed. Something like that wil

knock them out.”

“What wil you do after that?”

“After that, I’l get some use out of my brothers. We’l have

new wal s put up in no time, and we’l paint the room so it’s

like new.”

“Alright.” Sep slapped his knees and eased up from his

stool.

Joel stood up and went to the wal of the barn where he

picked up a crowbar. Then he picked up a large empty tin

container. “We’l need something to put the debris in. Then

we’l burn everything we can.”

As they made their way to the house, Sep didn’t say

anything. Joel thought this would be a cleansing experience

for him. Sep had a lot of pent up anger brewing under the

for him. Sep had a lot of pent up anger brewing under the

surface. The sooner he learned to get rid of his anger in a

productive way, the better.

“There’s nothing wrong with being angry,” Joel told Sep as

Sep opened the kitchen door and moved aside to let Joel

in. Sep shut the door behind them, and Joel continued, “You

just have to know how to direct that anger so you don’t end

up hurting the wrong person or breaking something you

want to keep.”

April entered the kitchen and watched them as they took off

their coats and boots. “What are you doing?”

“We’re destroying that third bedroom,” Joel replied,

hanging up his hat.

Frowning, she said, “But I thought you wanted to put Nora in

there.”

“We wil once we get rid of the old room and put the new

one in.”

“You’re not making any sense.” Nora came up to her and

peered around her dress, so she picked the little girl up and

moved out of the way so Joel and Sep could go into the

hal way. “You’ve got a crowbar?”

Balancing the container as he approached the steps, Joel

said, “We can’t rip the wal s out with our bare hands.”

Sep chuckled, and Joel grinned, liking that Sep enjoyed his

joke.

Fol owing them up the stairs, April replied, “I just don’t

understand why you’re taking out the wal s in that room.”

“Because we’re going to make a new room,” Joel said.

“But won’t you go right through the wal and end up tearing

down some of the house?”

Joel laughed. “I reckon that depends on how careless Sep

is with the crowbar.”

“You have to give me more credit than that, sis,” Sep said

as they reached the top of the stairs. “I won’t damage the

house. I’m just going to tear down the wal s.”

“See?” Joel asked. “You’re in good hands.”

“I don’t know,” she said, not far behind them as they entered

the third bedroom.

Joel set down the heavy container and looked at her.

“What’s wrong?”

She scanned the room, said she had to put Nora in the crib,

and then approached the doorway a few seconds later.

Clutching her hands together, she took a deep breath and

stepped into the room.

Noting her uncertainty, Joel walked over to her and held her

hand. “We need to remove the wal s. When we’re done,

we’l take this and everything else in here and burn what we

can. What we can’t burn, we’l throw out. We’re getting rid of

the old room. Then I’m going to bring my brothers out here

and make them useful, so we’re going to have a brand new

room for Nora. I figure in time, Sep wil take over the house

and have a wife and children of his own. When he does,

this room wil be ready.”

“Where wil we be?” she asked.

“In town. You know I don’t want to run a farm, and I can do

my job better if I can be closer to where people need me.”

She nodded.

Turning to Sep, he said, “I figure you have a year or two

before you can manage this place by yourself. You’l be

sixteen in almost a year. When you’re ready, we’l move out.

So, you keep al that in mind as you tear down the wal s. If

you make another window, as April fears, then it’s up to you

to repair it before I bring my brothers in, and if you don’t,

we’l put Nora in your room and stick you in here.”

Sep smiled at Joel’s teasing tone. “You don’t have to worry

about me.”

“I know, but I thought I’d make the threat on April’s behalf.”

Squeezing her hand, he told her, “Take Nora downstairs.

It’s going to be loud up here for a while.”

April glanced at Sep who indicated that he’d be fine and

then left the room.

Joel made his way over to the chair and table. “Feel free to

smash these things, too.” He picked up the items on the

table and threw them into the container. “I’l take care of the

rubbish as you create it.”

Sep stared at the crowbar for a moment before he turned

his gaze to the wal s. Joel could only guess what memories

went through his mind as he took in the evidence of the

pain he endured in here, but the only indication that it upset

Sep to look at the wal s was his clenched jaw. Gripping the

crowbar in his hands, he lifted it and struck the first blow.

***

evening, and afterwards, Joel had Sep and April burn the

debris. He knew Sep felt better after the whole thing, not so

much in what he said but by the way he handled himself.

Sep seemed to have drawn his shoulders a little further

back and walked with his head a little bit higher than

before. No more slouching, no more looking at Joel with

uncertainty. It seemed that Sep final y understood that Joel

was working with him instead of against him, and Joel felt

good about that.

What Joel wasn’t sure about, however, was April who

remained unusual y quiet through the whole day and held

her daughter longer than normal. That night, after Sep and

Nora were asleep, Joel put the crowbar and container away

and went up to his bedroom. As he entered his bedroom

and realized April was stil up, brushing her hair like she did

every night, he took a deep breath. The worst was behind

them. Al they had to do was move forward. He cleared his

throat to indicate he was about to speak, and she glanced

his way before putting her brush down on the dresser.

“You’re not mad at me, are you?” Joel asked, studying

April’s face for any clues that he could use to figure out how

she was feeling.

She shook her head as she sat on the bed with her hands

in her lap. “No. It needed to be done. It was painful, but I

think it had to be done.”

Relieved, he walked over to her. Kneeling in front of her, he

took her hands in his and waited for her to look at him

before he spoke. “I’m sorry about the pain it caused. I don’t

want you or Sep to go through anything like that ever

again.”

She squeezed his hands and nodded. “I know, Joel. Even

when you were at your maddest, you never did anything

close to what Harvey did.”

Bowing his head, he kissed her hands. “I love you, April.

You’ve given me a place to cal home. I never realized how

empty my life was until you entered it. Though I’l never

admit it to my brothers, marrying you was the best thing that

ever happened to me.”

She laughed and lowered her head so her forehead

touched his. “You and your brothers have the funniest

relationship I’ve ever seen, what with you teasing each

other al the time and al . But you don’t have to worry about

me saying anything. Your secret is safe with me.”

His lips turned up into a smile before he kissed her. She

responded to him and not because he was her husband

and it was her wifely duty to al ow him to kiss and touch her.

She responded to him because she wanted to. It was of her

own free wil , and he appreciated that, especial y after

everything he learned about her first husband.

Her lips parted, and he accepted her silent invitation and

slipped his tongue into her mouth. She let go of him so she

could cup his face in her hands, pul ing him closer to her.

She scooted back on the bed, and he got off of his knees

so he could join her on the bed. He settled between her

legs and nestled his erection against her. She wrapped her

legs around his waist and shifted against him, creating a

wave of pleasure that coursed through him.

Ending the kiss, he left a trail of kisses from her cheek to

her neck. “We need to get out of these clothes,” he

whispered in her ear.

“Yes,” she murmured as she ran her fingers through his hair

and moved her hips seductively against him.

She kissed his jaw and worked her way back to his mouth.

This time, she was the one who traced his lower lip with her

tongue, and when he parted his lips, she interlaced his

tongue with hers. The fact that she continued rocking her

hips under him even though their clothes were stil on struck

him as highly erotic, so he delayed getting up to remove his

clothes.

Resting his weight on one elbow, he brought his free hand

down to her breast and cupped it. She moaned and held

his face again while she deepened the kiss. He brushed

his thumb along the area where he knew her nipple was

and was rewarded by the feel of it hardening from his

stimulation. His mouth left hers and he went back to kissing

her neck and then went to her ear where he alternated

between leaving butterfly kisses on her earlobe and

brushing his tongue along the sensitive skin. She moaned

and arched her back, an action that delighted him to no

end.

He had to get out of his clothes, especial y his pants. His

erection was demanding to be freed from the material that

was far too restrictive. Before he could get up, she urged

him onto his back. Intrigued, he obeyed and she kept her

legs wrapped around his waist so she went with him.

Straightening up, she gave him an aroused smile in the soft

kerosene light as her hands moved over his chest.

He shifted his hips, thinking the adjustment would calm the

ache between his legs, but it didn’t. The action only teased