Shotgun Groom (30 page)

right there, Lou Edwards,” Owen said.

Joel looked up and saw his brother-in-law, surprised Owen

had gone from the novice deputy who had to use a fishing

pole to get criminals to one who knew what he was doing

with a gun.

“Let go of the gun,” Owen ordered, leaving no room for

argument in his tone.

Lou glared at Joel for a moment before he obeyed.

Owen retrieved the gun and motioned for the men to stand

up. Joel gladly did, brushing the dirt and hay off his pants.

Though everything turned out alright, he realized he was

trembling. He’d never been close to being kil ed before,

and getting into skirmishes wasn’t his thing. After this

ordeal, he decided he wouldn’t participate in brawls ever

again, if he could help it. He certainly hadn’t asked for this

one!

“You’l be coming with me,” Owen said. “You alright, Joel?”

“I’m fine.” Remembering Sep, Joel went over to him and

untied him and undid the gag around his mouth. “I can take

care of that bul et wound. It’l sting, but it won’t kil you.” Joel

helped Sep up and led him over to Owen who was securing

the handcuffs on Lou. “Sep’s got a bul et wound I need to

tend to. Can I wait to tel you what happened?”

Owen glanced at Sep with a concerned look on his face. “Is

he going to be alright?”

“Lou got him in the arm. He’l be fine, but I don’t want to wait

to take care of him,” Joel replied.

“You can come to the jailhouse tomorrow,” Owen said.

As Owen directed Lou to head out of the barn, Sep cleared

his throat. “I have something to say, if I may?”

Stopping, Owen and Lou turned back to look at him.

Holding his arm, Sep winced. “I was recal ing some things

Harvey used to say. I didn’t understand why he thought it

was funny at the time, but I think I do now. He’d say, ‘The

mil er’s daughter had Rumplestiltskin spin gold three times,

but I got Nora to sleep on mine.’”

Joel blinked. “The gold is in Nora’s mattress?”

“I knew it was in the house,” Lou muttered.

“Let’s check it out,” Owen said.

Owen motioned for Lou to walk in front of them, and Lou led

the way to the house, shoulders slumped. Joel released his

breath, glad his racing heart was final y slowing down. Next

to him, Sep, stil favoring his arm, seemed equal y relieved

the whole ordeal was over.

“I wouldn’t want your job,” Joel told Owen as they neared the

house. “There’s too much anxiety involved.”

Owen’s eyebrows rose and he chuckled. “This coming from

someone who’s assisted the doctor in life or death

surgeries?”

“Wel , no one points a gun at me while I do that.” They went

up the porch steps, and Joel turned to Owen. “It might be

best if Lou stays out here. I don’t want to upset April by

bringing him into the house.”

Owen nodded. “We’l wait here.”

Joel opened the kitchen door and led Sep into the house

where April was placing the sandwiches next to the bowls

on the table. Looking up from the plates, her eyes grew

on the table. Looking up from the plates, her eyes grew

wide and she let in a sharp intake of breath. Nora stopped

playing with her dol and stared at Sep.

“It’s alright,” Joel quickly assured April as he led Sep to one

of the chairs and helped him out of his coat.

April rushed over to her brother and lifted the sleeve of his

shirt, making Sep wince. “How bad is it?” she asked Joel

while she inspected the bloody gash on his forearm.

“It looks like the bul et skimmed his skin,” Joel said, gently

moving Sep’s arm. “If your arms hadn’t been tied behind

your back, you might not have been so lucky,” he told Sep

who was gritting his teeth in pain.

She gasped. “A bul et? What happened?”

“It’s a long story, but Lou shot him. I’l tel you everything

later. Right now, Owen’s outside with Lou, and I have to

check Nora’s mattress. We think Harvey hid the gold in

there.”

“Nora’s mattress?” she asked.

“Have you noticed if it’s heavier than it should be?”

“I haven’t moved it, so I don’t know.”

If they had moved Nora to the third bedroom already, they

would have noticed if the mattress was heavy, but that was

a moot point. Patting the smal of her back, he said, “I’m

going to check on it. In the meantime, press a clean cloth to

Sep’s wound to soak up the blood. I’l be back in a moment

to tend to him.”

As she went to retrieve a clean towel, Joel hurried up the

stairs to his bedroom where he pushed aside the blanket.

He picked the mattress up from the crib and noted how

heavy it was. “There’s something in here, alright.”

He dumped the mattress on his bed and turned it over. He

separated the sheets that surrounded a bunch of feathers

and dug inside it until he felt cool coins. Pul ing out a couple

of the coins, he inspected them in the moonlight. Sure

enough, they were gold.

He slipped them back into the mattress and carried it

downstairs. On his way out the kitchen door, Joel cal ed out,

“I’l pad Nora’s crib with blankets tonight.”

April looked up from where she placed the towel against

Sep’s wound, but he left before she could respond. He was

glad to get rid of Lou. It made sense that Lou had to be

watching them at some point since he knew about the safe,

but he also liked to think most of the time he’d been living

out here, Lou had been somewhere else healing from the

grazing bul et wound Sep had given him. Even something

that scratched the surface needed time to heal. Comforted

by this reasoning and deciding he was better off not asking

Lou for details, he waited until Owen had Lou secured on

his horse before going over to him.

Once Owen was on his horse, Joel handed the mattress to

him. “Thanks, Owen.”

Owen smiled. “I’m just glad no one got seriously hurt. It

doesn’t always end wel .”

Joel waited until Owen and Lou left before he returned to

the house to take care of Sep.

***

The evening summer breeze wafted through the open

window in the third bedroom as April rubbed Nora’s back.

Nora’s eyes grew heavy. Shortly, she’d be asleep. April

scanned the light green room with the yel ow curtains that

blew gently in the breeze. It’d be comfortable in here

tonight. There were times when it was stil hard to enter the

room, but each day got easier and the cheerful look of it

helped a lot toward that end.

Turning her eyes back to the smal child’s bed, she smiled

at her daughter who had drifted off to sleep. In January,

Nora would have a little brother or sister who would sleep in

the crib waiting in this room. She sighed and brushed the

girl’s curls from her eyes. It sure didn’t take long for her

sweet baby girl to grow into a smal child. Soon enough,

she’d be too big for the bed and they’d have to move her

into a larger one.

The sound of footsteps made her look up, and her lips

turned upward as Joel softly walked into the room. “How’s

Mrs. Peabody?” she whispered.

He knelt beside her and kissed her cheek. “She’l be fine

as long as she stays off her ankle for a few weeks.”

“That’s easier said than done for a mother with three

children.”

“Thankful y, her sister is helping her out.”

She nodded and stood up. “Nora missed having you here

to tuck her in. I had to promise her you’d be here in the

morning when she woke up.”

He grinned and patted Nora’s back. “It’s nice to be

missed.”

Giggling, April wrapped her arms around his neck and

kissed his cheek. “I missed you, too.”

With a sly look in her direction, he asked, “Yeah?”

“Yep.”

He lifted her in his arms. “Wel then, I’l have to make

coming home worth your while.”

“Don’t you mean ‘my’ while?”

“That’s what I said,” he teased.

Snuggling in his arms as he carried her to their room, she

giggled again. He took her to bed, and indeed made it

worth her while to have him home before he held her in his

arms. And she slept straight through the night, safe and

sound.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Shotgun Groom - Smashwords Edition

Dedicated to April Mitchel .

Other Books by Ruth Ann

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-Two