Shotgun Groom (5 page)

most of it on his parents’ farm and then moved to downtown

Omaha to work for Doctor Adams. That was it. He didn’t

even save someone’s life, which had been one of his

secret hopes when he started working for the doctor. Then,

at least, he could say he did something important.

“You’re not getting away,” Sep said, using added pressure

on Joel’s back.

“Fine!” Joel barked. “You made your point.”

“Good.” Sep removed his foot so Joel could stand up. “Now

get back into the house before you get sick. I can’t have you

dying on me. You’re worth more to us alive than you are

dead.”

Rol ing his eyes, he moved forward, keenly aware that the

kid stil had the gun trained on him. Just wonderful. He was

being held hostage by a fourteen-year-old kid. He could

only hope word wouldn’t get back to his brothers about this,

especial y Tom who’d never let him hear the end of it.

Once they reached the porch, Sep told him to shake the

snow off his clothes. “I don’t want April to have to worry

about cleaning up a wet floor.”

“Fine,” Joel muttered as he stomped his feet and shook his

body the best he could.

Sep got the snow off his boots before he motioned to the

door. “You go in first.”

Joel did as instructed and sighed when Sep told him to

take his boots and coat off. He left his boots on the rug and

hung his coat on one of the hooks. “Alright. I’m official y your

prisoner. Now what?”

“Go upstairs.”

“Why? It’s not night.”

“That doesn’t matter. I need to make sure you don’t try to

run off again.”

Joel didn’t like the sound of this. “So you’re going to do

what?”

“Right now, I got to repair the barn. I can’t have snow

blowing into the hole you made. When I come back, we can

sit by the fire in the parlor.”

“What fun,” Joel replied in mock enthusiasm. “Can we play

cards and tel funny stories while we’re at it?”

“You keep talking like that and I’l keep you in the room until

lunch.”

“You’re going to keep me in a room?”

“What else do you think I’m going to do to make sure you

don’t pul another sneaky stunt?”

“Unbelievable.” Joel trudged up the stairs, thinking it was

going to be a long morning, but he’d rather spend time

alone than with the crazy people in this house. Sooner or

later, Doctor Adams would look for him, and at that time,

they’d have to let him go or else his brother-in-law, the

deputy, would set the law on them. When he reached the

top of the stairs, he asked, “Which lovely room is my prison

cel ?”

April came out of one of the rooms with a newly washed

Nora in her arms. “Prison cel ?” Her eyes grew wide. “Sep,

you’re not going to put him in
the room
!”

“I have to,” Sep said. “He crept on out of here like a rat

scurrying for a hole to hide in. He was going to take a horse

and ride to town. Not that he would have made it. The snow

and wind would have done him in halfway there.”

“I would have made it,” Joel argued. “I grew up on a farm

and know what a horse is capable of in the winter.”

“I know what a horse is capable of, too. Those

temperatures are dropping, and the wind and snow are

getting worse.”

“I could have made it.”

Sep smirked and shook his head.

Irritated, Joel pointed his finger at him, ignoring the gun.

“Look here, kid. I’m twenty-two. That makes me eight years

older than you. I think I know a little bit more than you do

when it comes to horses and snow.”

“Please, stop!” April interrupted, looking bewildered as she

glanced from one person to the other. “This is a tough

situation for everyone, and this useless bickering isn’t

going to make it any easier.” She took a deep breath.

“Sep, you can’t put Joel in that room.”

“But I can’t leave him free to leave this house again,” Sep

replied. “While you were up here taking care of Nora, he

tried to escape on a horse.”

“Ah ha!” Joel snapped his fingers. “You admit that I could

have made it to town.”

“I said ‘tried to escape,’” Sep said.

“Enough!” April shifted Nora from one hip to the other. “I’l

stay with Joel. We’l go to the parlor, and I’l give him one of

your old dime novels to read. Joel, you promise you won’t

try to leave again?”

Joel frowned and examined the three rooms around them.

Her bedroom door was open, and in there was her bed and

Nora’s crib. Another bedroom door was open, and he could

make out the end of a bed in it. That left the third room, and

the door to it was shut. He wondered what was in the room

that bothered April so much.

“Alright.” Sep’s voice broke the silence. “He can stay in the

parlor. But if he tries to leave the house, he’s in
the room
.”

Joel’s gaze went back to the closed door to the third

bedroom. Something in April’s tone warned him that the

room was connected with bad memories, which meant, the

room had been used for one of them in the past. The

questions were who was it for and what happened in it?

“You want the gun?” Sep asked April.

She grimaced. “No, Sep. I think we’ve put him through

enough. You should stop pointing it at him. How do you

expect him to relax?”

“I don’t expect him to relax,” Sep replied. “I expect him to

stay here and marry you.”

With a sigh, she brushed back the dark curls from Nora’s

face. “I’m taking her downstairs. She’s been cooped up

here long enough. Joel, we have plenty of dime novels if

you’re interested. There are stories about outlaws and

sleuths. Good stories that a man can enjoy. I’l be tending to

Nora and some sewing, so I won’t be in your way. If you

want anything to drink, let me know and I’l be happy to get

it.”

While she took Nora downstairs, Joel examined Sep to see

if he’d listen to his sister or not. At first, Sep remained

frozen in place, the gun stil raised and ready to go if he

needed to assert his authority in the situation. Then his face

softened and he lowered the gun. Joel’s shoulders relaxed.

“I’l get to that barn,” Sep told Joel and fol owed April down

the steps.

Joel resisted the urge to check out the room with the closed

door and went down the stairs, noting each creak and the

wobbly banister. He shook his head. Someone real y

needed to come in and fix the place up.

“The parlor is this way,” April said, motioning to the room by

the front door. She put Nora down. “The dime novels are on

the shelf over the couch.”

Since Sep was watching him, Joel decided to fol ow her.

His steps were slow since Nora took her time as she made

her way to the parlor. When he entered the room, he noted

the shabby curtains, worn-out rug, and old furniture. The

fireplace was in good shape, though he could tel it’d

recently been repaired. So Sep probably took care of the

items that needed to be fixed while letting the things that

didn’t need immediate attention go.

It’s not my problem. Once the weather gets better, I’m

finding a way out of here.

Joel watched as April sat in her rocking chair by the

window and started mending a dress. Nora giggled and

walked around the room, seeming to be fascinated with

everything she came across. Joel gave a slight shake of his

head and went over to the shelf with a stack of dime novels

on it. There was no sense in noticing everything that

needed fixing around the place. They’d have to find another

man to force into marriage and let him take care of the

house. With nothing else to do, he picked up one of the

dime novels and sat on the couch to read it.

Chapter Five

April looked over at Joel as she worked on mending her

dress. He was hunched over on the couch with one hand on

his forehead while he read a dime novel. At least, he

appeared to be reading it. For al she knew, he was

pretending just so he wouldn’t have to talk to her. And who

could blame him? If it hadn’t been for Lou, she wouldn’t

want to keep Joel with them as much as she did. Harvey

was bad enough. Who knew just how bad Lou was?

Glancing at Nora who was trying to pul down the curtains,

she got up and went over to her. “Don’t do that, honey.

Come on over here and sit with Mama.”

She took Nora’s hand and led her to her chair where some

blocks and a dol were, but Nora shook her head and went

back to the curtains. Sighing, April put her dress on the

chair and went back to the window.

“No, honey,” she whispered and picked Nora up. “Would

you like something to drink?”

Nora wrapped her arms around her neck and said, “Drink.”

With a tentative look in Joel’s direction, April asked, “Would

you like me to get you something to drink? We got more

coffee. I could make tea if you prefer.” She waited for him to

answer, but he didn’t look up from the dime novel. Taking

her chances, she added, “I can also get you a snack. I can

make whatever you’re in the mood for.” Or she could make

a close approximation to it. She didn’t exactly have a whole

kitchen’s worth of groceries, but she could make what she

had go a long way.

After a ful minute, he final y let out a heavy sigh and looked

at her. “I want to go home.”

She blinked at his bitter tone. Of course, he was bitter. He

had every right to be. She and her brother were keeping

him here against his wil . Swaying from side to side so

Nora wouldn’t get impatient with her, she quietly said, “I’m

sorry. I can’t let you go.”

“So you keep saying.”

“Wel , it’s the truth. If you knew what Lou was like, you’d

understand.”

“I get it. Some old and disgusting man wants to marry you,

so you decided to kidnap a handsome, young man to fil in

for him.”

She blinked, surprised that he should refer to himself in

such a lofty way. Even if he was handsome, she didn’t think

he had a right to brag about it.

“Look, I’m not interested in getting married. I’ve decided

long ago that I wil not be tied down to a wife. So you’re

wasting your time.”

Taking in the smug expression on his face, she snapped,

“You’re not good looking.” Sure, it was an outright lie, but

the haughty air he had about him rubbed her the wrong way.

He stared at her for a long moment as if he thought she was

referring to someone else. Then he asked, “Do you mean

me?”

“Is there another man in this room?”

Narrowing his eyes at her, he said, “I’l have you know

women flirt with me al the time. I could have a wife. I just

don’t want one.”

“That only shows what bad taste some women have.”

With a knowing smirk, he said, “You were flirting with me

yesterday.”

She gasped. “I was not!”

“And today when I came here, you have your brother hold

me at gunpoint to force me to marry you.”

“For your information, it wasn’t my idea to keep you here.

Sep thought of that one al by himself.”

“Probably because he saw how you were flirting with me.”

“You’re a real blowhard, aren’t you?” Before he could

answer, she continued, “It’s not that I want to marry you. It’s

that I have to. I assure you if there was anyone else who

was available, he’d be the one I’d be marrying. But as luck

would have it, I’m stuck with you. I suppose al I can do is

make the best of it for my child and Sep’s sakes. I’d do

anything to keep them safe, even if it means bearing with

the likes of you.”

He threw down the dime novel and stood up. “Nice try, but I

know better. There are plenty of men in town, and yet you

chose me.”

“I didn’t choose you. The doctor did.” When he frowned in a

way that indicated he realized she had a valid point, she

added, “I wil suffer, but it can’t be any worse than what I

went through with my first husband.”

She stormed out of the parlor, her cheeks warm with anger.

The nerve of him! Tel ing her she was flirting with him and

then acting as if women fel at their feet al the time to be

with him! And to think she believed he was a nice person.

She was so wrong. But then, she’d been wrong about

Harvey and look at where that got her. As she entered the

kitchen, she wondered if she should reconsider marrying

Joel. She gritted her teeth and set Nora down on the floor.