Shotgun Groom (21 page)

Looking up from Nora who licked the snowbal , he grinned.

“I’m not exactly sure since I’ve never been married before.

My ma used to bring my pa a cup of hot chocolate in the

evenings while he rested in the parlor. When it was cold

outside, she’d bring him a blanket and tuck it around him. It

was smal things, but they made him happy.”

“Yes, but he fusses over her, too. Yesterday when I was in

the kitchen, he got the large china bowl she wanted from

the top shelf so she didn’t have to get on the stool to grab

it.”

“I don’t see how that’s fussing over her. It seems like a

logical thing for him to do since he’s tal er.”

Shrugging, she said, “It was nice that he did that without her

asking.”

“I’l tel you what. If I see that you need something and it’s out

of your reach, I’l get it for you.”

Pleased, she replied, “And I can bring you hot chocolate

and a blanket in the evenings when you sit in the parlor.”

Smiling, he kissed her again. “We’re going to be alright,

April.”

Understanding that he meant he no longer resented being

forced into the marriage, she smiled in return and nodded.

He turned his attention back to Nora. “I knew she’d like

snow. See? She’s eating it.”

April’s gaze went to her daughter who was taking another

bite from her snowbal .

“Want to build a snowman?” Joel asked.

Looking up at him, she replied, “Is that something else you

did when you were a kid?”

“Sure. Didn’t you?”

“No.”

“Didn’t you have any fun in the snow while you were growing

up?”

“I didn’t know snow was for playing in.”

“It can be. Some think it’s something you just shovel, but it

doesn’t have to be al work. Just like anything, you can find

a way to have fun with it.”

“Wel , then I see no reason not to make a snowman.”

“Good.”

He stood up and set Nora on her feet. April thought Nora

would protest since he was no longer holding her, but she

was too happy eating her snowbal to care.

“We’l start with a snowbal and rol it in the snow so it gets

bigger,” Joel told April.

With a glance at Sep who was stil resting in the sleigh, she

packed down the snowbal in her hand to smooth it into a

bal like the one Joel made. She took note of how he rol ed

his bal in the snow and did the same.

“You don’t have to get your snowbal as big as mine,” he

told her as he circled around Nora who was watching him.

“I’l make the bottom one. That’s the largest.”

“Alright,” April replied and rol ed her bal as it got bigger.

As they proceeded to make the snowman, April glanced at

Nora who went from tentatively eating the snow to happily

scooping up more of it and eating it as if it was candy.

Amused, she nudged Joel in the side as he rounded out the

snowman. “You’d think she can’t get enough,” she told him.

Smiling, he said, “That’s my girl.”

He finished smoothing the snowman out and then made a

face on it. “Usual y, I’d use something like a stick or buttons

for the eyes, nose and mouth, but we’l have to make do

without those things.”

She stared at the snowman that was almost as tal as her.

“It’s pretty big.”

“I see no reason to do anything halfway,” he replied as he

poked a hole to make the rest of its mouth. “If I’m going to

build a snowman, it’s going to be a tal one.” When he was

done, he stood back and nodded. “It’l do.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Sep lifted his

head to take a look at the snowman. Joel must have

noticed it, too, because he snickered.

“I suppose it goes against a fourteen-year-old’s pride to

admit he’s stil a kid at heart,” Joel said as he bent down to

pick up some snow. He packed it into a snowbal and shot

her a wicked grin. “Too bad for him, I’m old enough to know

that it’s alright to stil have fun.”

She opened her mouth to ask what he planned to do, but he

was already on his way over to the sleigh where Sep had,

once again, closed his eyes. When Joel closed in on him,

Sep brought his head up and pointed to the snowbal in

Joel’s hand. April wished she could hear what they were

saying because by the way Joel was grinning, she knew he

was playing around. Sep shook his head, Joel shrugged,

and then Joel threw the snowbal at Sep. Surprised, she

clasped her hands over her mouth so she wouldn’t laugh.

Nora, however, had no such control and giggled.

Sep stood up in the sleigh and shook the snow off of him.

Joel hurried to pick more snow up, and Sep bolted out of

the sleigh, grabbing some snow of his own. What ensued

was a snowbal fight as Joel and Sep ran across the field,

throwing and dodging snowbal s the other flung his way. As

April continued to watch, tears came to her eyes. Sep was

laughing. Not just a chuckle under his breath, but he was

laughing out loud for al to hear. She couldn’t remember the

last time he laughed like that, and it warmed her heart to

see him happy.

Brushing away the tears that slid down her cheeks, she

went to Nora and picked her up. She carried her daughter

to the sleigh and sat down. Nora continued to eat the snow

in her hands, oblivious to Joel and Sep as they ran across

the field, playing like little kids.

When they were done, they returned to the sleigh, their

faces red from exertion. They sat on either side of her, and

Joel took off his hat and ran his fingers through his damp

hair. “I didn’t know he had it in him, but Sep’s got good

aim,” he told her.

“I won,” Sep said, breathing hard.

Joel glanced at him and snickered. “Wishful thinking, Sep.”

“I did. I got you more than you got me.”

“But my snowbal s were bigger.”

“So?”

Joel undid the brake and lifted the reins. “So, it’s the size of

the bal that counts because the bigger the bal , the more

damage you do.”

“Oh please,” Sep replied, rol ing his eyes. “You’re just sore

because I run faster than you.”

“What you have in speed, I make up for in strength.” Joel

urged the horses forward and put his arm around April’s

shoulders, pul ing her closer to him. “Tel him, sweetheart.

You saw the whole thing.”

“No fair,” Sep said with a laugh. “You can’t sweet talk my

sister and expect her to tel the truth. She’s a pushover.

She’l agree with you just because you’re loving on her.”

“I’m not so easily won over, Sep,” April argued, even though

she had the desire to back her husband up simply because

he was holding her again. Forcing the desire aside, she

said, “Both of you did good out there.”

Sep snorted and shook his head. “Typical. She doesn’t

want to pick a winner in case she hurts someone’s

feelings.”

“My ma and sisters are the same way,” Joel replied, giving

her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “It’s just the way women

are made. But I won.”

While they continued their good-natured dispute, April

settled against Joel and enjoyed the rest of the ride back

home.

Chapter Seventeen

After April put a sleeping Nora in her crib that night, she

went to the dresser and brushed her hair in the dim light of

the kerosene lamp.

Joel entered the bedroom. “Is Nora asleep?” he whispered.

“I think so,” she replied, glancing his way as he went to the

large blanket and peered into Nora’s part of the room. Her

eyes traveled the length of the rope that ran from one wal to

another. She had to admit it was sturdy since the blanket

remained hanging up by the clothes pins he used to keep it

in place. When he set the blanket back in place, she asked,

“Wel ?”

“She’s asleep.”

She turned her attention back to the mirror, ful y expecting

him to get ready for bed like he did every other night, but

tonight he walked over to her and smiled at her reflection.

“You sure are a pretty thing.”

Her skin grew warm under his intense stare, so she had to

look away from his reflection in the mirror. She couldn’t

recal a man studying her with a mixture of awe and

adoration before. How did a woman respond to something

so wonderful?

so wonderful?

He stepped closer to her and cupped her face in his hands,

tilting her head before his mouth claimed hers. Surprised,

she remained stil , unable to respond to him.

“Is something wrong?” he asked, pul ing slightly away from

her so he could look into her eyes.

She cleared her throat and shook her head. “No. Nothing’s

wrong. I just didn’t expect it, that’s al .” But she should have,

considering the pleasant day they’d had.

“Wel , maybe some things are good unexpected,” he

teased, his eyes lit with mirth and a slight smile on his lips.

“In that case, maybe you should surprise me again.” April

closed her eyes and waited for him to kiss her.

A chuckle rose up in his throat. “For some reason, I don’t

think you’l be surprised this time around.”

She thought to mention he could kiss her cheek or forehead

and surprise her that way, but his mouth descended on hers

and al thoughts of how he might kiss her differently flew out

the window. His lips were warm and gentle, just as al his

previous kisses had been.

She pushed aside her doubts about the impending event

and tried to focus on enjoying the kissing, for she did like

the way Joel took his time with that. He held her in his arms

in a way that made her feel protected from everything

outside in the world, and she liked that a lot. His mouth left

hers, and he kissed her cheek, her neck, and the skin

behind her ear. A tingle of delight shot through her, and she

wiggled closer to him. A low groan escaped his lips before

he brought his mouth back to hers, this time a sense of

urgency mixing in with the slow gentleness of his previous

kiss. But she didn’t mind this type of urgency. It didn’t speak

of force or a command. It was passion and protection rol ed

into one. How she wished this could go on forever!

His lips parted, and she opened her mouth to receive his

tongue which brushed hers. Again, he was stil gentle,

al owing her time to adapt to what he was doing. As he

deepened the kiss, he brought one of his hands to her

breast and lightly stroked it. Though she was ful y clothed,

her nipple hardened under his thumb. There was no

grabbing or tugging. He cupped the ful ness of her breast in

his hand and continued to brush the edge of it with his

thumb. Now this she also enjoyed, and as he continued to

caress her, she became aware of a strange feeling

between her legs. An ache was forming there, but it wasn’t

painful, exactly. She wasn’t sure what to make of it, except

that in a strange way, she liked it.

His mouth left hers and he whispered, “Wil you come to

bed with me?”

Even as he asked, he was kissing her neck and letting his

hands travel to the buttons of her dress. Unable to keep out

the humor in her voice, she said, “It seems you’ve already

made up your mind.”

“If you tel me to stop, I wil .”

“I don’t think you can.”

He let his hands fal back to her hips and stopped kissing

her. “I can. I wil . Just say the word and I’l stop.”

His breathing was heavy and fingers moving in circular

motions on the smal of her back. He was highly aroused,

and she suspected it would take a significant amount of

wil power to stop what he’d started. She felt his erection

pressing into her abdomen and knew what it meant. That

part of him would soon be in her, and as much as she

dreaded that part of making love, she was enjoying his

kisses and touches far too much to stop. Maybe it would

end up stinging her, but she knew it would give him

pleasure and she wanted him to enjoy her body.

“No, I don’t want to stop,” she softly said as she brought her

hands to her buttons and started undoing them. “Joel?”

“Hmm?” he asked as he brought his hands up to help her.

“Wil you hold me tonight, like you did last night?”

“Of course. I like holding you in my arms at night.”

Glad, she continued to help him undress her. If he’d hold

her, then she had that to look forward to as they proceeded

with what they started. Once she removed the last of her

clothing, she helped him with his clothes, and when her

hands went to his underwear, she traced his erection

through the fabric beneath her fingers. He let out a soft