After the first three names, everything became a blur. All she knew for sure was that there were six siblings total, and all of them were now married since Joel was the last to tie the knot. And every last one of them had children. When Sally finished listing off all the names, birthdays, and summary of everyone’s personalities, she handed Nora back to April, looking as if she did her duty to welcome April into the family. It wasn’t that April didn’t appreciate Sally’s intent, but her head was swimming too much for her to let out an appropriate thank you.
“We should get going,” Sally said. “I look forward to seeing you, Sep and Nora again on Christmas!”
“Nice of you to include me in that list, Sally,” Joel dryly commented.
Sally didn’t bother to look in his direction as she hugged April. “Try not to let him get to you,” she whispered. “Sometimes if you act like he’s not around, it drives him crazy enough to be nicer.”
April had yet to see proof of that but decided it worked for his sister, so for Sally, this was true. “Thank you for coming.”
“I’ll get the sleigh ready,” Rick, who’d been quiet up to that point, said and headed for his coat.
Sep and Greg joined him, but to April’s surprise, Joel followed Sally, her and Nora to the front door. Sally glanced over her shoulder at him and asked, “You like to hear women talk so much that you’re willing to tag along?”
“I want to make sure you really do leave,” Joel replied with a smirk. Pushing by them, he hurried to the front door. “Now, this is what Christmas should be about. Saying good-bye to sisters who don’t know how boring they are to listen to. Next time I can’t get to sleep, I’ll have you come over and list off everyone in the family. Even April’s eyes glazed over during that whole spiel.”
April’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment. Surely, her eyes hadn’t glazed over!
“To you, it’s boring,” Sally told him, not in the least bit disturbed by his words. “You know who is who. But April hasn’t met anyone but Tom, me and Rick. To her, it was exciting. Just think of everyone who’ll be ready to give her sympathy because she ended up with you.”
He pretended to laugh. “You’re almost as funny as Tom. What did you two do, exchange notes when he was in town yesterday?”
“Yes, Joel. You found us out. We spent a whole hour working on the right things for me to say just so you’d be annoyed.” She shook her head and grabbed her coat from the coat tree. “I don’t know what is wrong with you. All I wanted to do was welcome April to the family.”
“Lucky me.” He opened the door and motioned to the porch. “Well, don’t come back in the near future.”
“You’re all heart, Joel.” Turning to April so her back was to Joel, she mouthed, “When he was seventeen, he wanted to get married in the worst way.” She tapped Nora’s nose and in an audible voice said, “You are the cutest little girl, yes you are.”
Nora laughed and tapped Sally’s nose in return.
April smiled. “I look forward to seeing you on Christmas.”
Joel groaned, and Sally slipped on her coat. “I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone, April,” she said. “They’ll adore you.”
April didn’t know how Sally could be sure of that but didn’t argue with her. Rick pulled the sleigh up to the front with Greg and Sep. Sep jumped out and waved good-bye as he bounded up the porch steps. Sally said good-bye and headed toward the sleigh.
“I thought she’d never leave,” Joel muttered as he shut the door. “The only thing she knows how to do is talk. Christmas is going to be a long day.”
April rather liked that Sally could talk as much as she did. It meant April didn’t have to think up something to say, but she decided not to voice her opinion. Joel offered to take Nora to the parlor so April could clean up the kitchen. Nodding, she handed Nora to him and went to the other room. If nothing else, Joel was good with Nora, and for that, she was thankful.
That night, April fully expected Joel to insist that she act on her wifely duty, but he was already asleep by the time she settled into bed and he didn’t wake her up in the middle of the night. Tomorrow marked the time of her flow, so she wouldn’t have to worry about her duty for a week. If he tried to get her to be with him that way, she’d claim the woman’s time was upon her, and he’d leave her alone. Relieved, she went to sleep.
Chapter Twelve
Two days later after another tense breakfast, Joel cleared his throat so April and Sep knew he was about to speak. They stopped clearing the table and looked at him.
Taking that as his cue to talk, he said, “I’m going into town today.” Sep opened his mouth, probably to protest, so Joel beat him to it. “I’ll come back. You don’t need to worry about that. I need to talk to Doctor Adams. I know Rick said he’d do it, but I need to talk to him myself, especially since I don’t want to lose my job. I will need to keep working. I can’t stay in this house all the time, and farming isn’t for me.”
He’d spent his entire childhood avoiding the chores on his parents’ farm so they would be happy when he chose another job. He worked too hard to give up all those years of sloth just to get stuck being a farmer. It wasn’t easy to perfect the art of laziness. Now, as he studied April and Sep, he didn’t detect anything in their expressions that indicated they thought he should pick up farming, and that was a relief. However, there seemed to be something that worried them.
“What is it?” he demanded.
April turned to wipe Nora’s hands clean from where she sat in the highchair but glanced at Sep with an unspoken question in her eyes.
Joel let out an irritated sigh. “All this secretive looking back and forth you all keep doing has got to stop. You dragged me into this family, and now that I’m a part of it, I expect you to tell me anything I need to know. I told you I’m coming back, so what’s the worried look for?”
April straightened up and rubbed her fingers along the wet cloth in her hands. “You’re right. You deserve to know the truth.” Ignoring the warning look on her brother’s face, she continued, “Lou might come around, and if you’re not here, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
Sep relaxed and nodded.
Joel wondered what it was they weren’t telling him. “Is Lou the one who fired a bullet into that wall and the table leg?” He motioned to the two bullet holes in the room.
“I did one and he did the other,” Sep said before April could answer. “And that’s all. He went running on out.”
Finally. Now they were getting somewhere. “Mind if I ask why you two ended up in a shooting match?” Joel asked.
“Because he barged in here like he owned the place,” Sep quickly answered. “We told him to go and he wouldn’t, so I had to convince him to go.”
“Which one is your bullet?”
“The one in the table leg.”
“So he was under the table?”
Sep swallowed and shrugged in what Joel thought might be a nervous manner. “I almost got him.”
“And the one up on the wall is his. Is he a lousy shot?”
“He was drunk.”
That explained the awkward angling of the bullet. “I saw blood on the railing the other day. Since I don’t see any wounds on you, I assume it was Lou’s blood?”
“I shot again as he was leaving. I don’t know what I hit.”
Joel nodded. “So, what does he want?”
“We don’t know,” April inserted. “We suspect there’s something Harvey might have left here.”
Sep seemed relieved by her answer, and though Joel suspected there was more to the story than they were willing to tell, he decided it wasn’t wise to press them for more information at the moment. They’d disclosed enough where he got an idea of why they’d been terrified enough to want him with them in the house.
“You think Lou might come here while I’m in town?” Joel softly asked.
“We have no reason to think he won’t,” Sep replied.
“Then there’s only one thin
g to do,” Joel said as he went to the highchair and unlocked the tray. “We’ll have to go into town together. That way everyone stays safe.”
He wasn’t sure what to do when the doctor wanted him to resume his duties. Maybe Sally would be willing to entertain them while he was working. Since she made it a habit of sticking her nose into everyone’s business, he might as well make it easy for her to find out everything she wanted to know about April and Sep.
He picked Nora up from the highchair. “I’m sure my sister will love seeing this little one.” Oddly enough, it seemed Sally had been interested in seeing babies more than usual for the past year. Whatever Sally’s reasoning, it didn’t concern him. All that mattered was that April and Sep could be somewhere safe while he worked.
“Alright, we’ll go to town,” April replied as she gathered the plates and put them in the sink.
“I’ll get the horses and sleigh ready,” Sep said.
“It’s too soon to do that,” Joel argued. “Why don’t you gather the blankets we’ll need for the trip instead. When April’s done, I’ll get the horses and sleigh ready.”
Sep’s eyebrows furrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, but April said, “Just do it, Sep.”
Though his jaw clenched, he stormed out of the room and went up the stairs to obey her. Joel shook his head. The kid couldn’t let the horses stand out there while everyone got ready to head out. On a day this cold, it wasn’t right to leave the animals exposed to the elements that way. Maybe Joel should have explained all of this to Sep, but Sep should know that already since he grew up tending to animals. At least April had the sense to step in and support him. He didn’t know if Sep would have gone to look for blankets if it hadn’t been for her input on the matter.
Joel glanced at April and said, “Thanks for backing me up,” before he carried Nora out of the room.
***
Joel took April, Nora and Sep to Sally’s house and knocked on the front door. “I’m only going to be gone for an hour,” he said. “But we have to get something established with my sister so you can come here when I’m working until I take care of Lou. After I come by to get you, we’re going to the sheriff and deputy to see if we can get help. If Rick’s heard about Lou, then I’m sure they will be interested.”
April couldn’t help but notice that even though Joel directed his words to her and Sep, he maintained eye contact with her. Glancing at Sep who shook his head and stared straight ahead at the door, she said, “Alright.” What else could she say? It was a good idea.
The front door opened and Sally gasped, a wide smile crossing her face. “Why Joel, you look good as a family man! Come on in. I’m so glad you came.”
April probably shouldn’t have been surprised that Sally was ready to be with them after just seeing them the day before. Sally, after all, seemed to thrive off of interacting with people. Stepping into the house, April put Nora down so she could take off her coat while Sep followed her inside the entryway.
“I need to talk to the doctor,” Joel told Sally. “I can’t explain right now, but I’ll be back in an hour.”
“There’s no rush,” Sally said, waving her hand in a manner that indicated she was happy to see him go. “April, Sep, Nora, and I have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, Jenny’s here! Have a good time.” Before Joel could answer, she shut the door and called out, “Jenny! April and Sep are here!”
By the time April got Nora’s coat off, a blonde woman carrying a boy who looked close to Nora’s age came out of the parlor. She shared Sally’s good looks and welcomed them with a smile. “Sally was just telling me Joel got married. I’m glad to see he’s settling down.”
“Even if it was at gunpoint,” Sally added with a wink.
Jenny giggled. “I’m sorry, April. I know it’s not funny, but I wish I could have seen Joel at a shotgun wedding. He was so determined to never get married.”
“Now, now, Jenny,” Sally began, “you and I both know he didn’t mean it. He wanted to court Abby, but she decided to accept another man’s offer instead. He was so upset, he vowed to never get his heart broken again.” Looking at April, she added, “Oh, he never told us what happened. I heard it from Vivian who heard it from Millicent who heard it from Abby’s sister.”
Jenny groaned and rolled her eyes. “Sally, that’s ridiculous. We can’t be sure that many people can keep track of the real story.”
“I trust Vivian to make sure it really happened that way.”
“If Vivian never talked to Abby herself, how could she be sure?”
“Because Vivian has a good sense about people and when they’re telling the truth.”
April grinned in amusement as she slipped off her coat and hat. Hanging her and Nora’s things on the coat tree, she realized this wasn’t going to be the kind of visit a boy would enjoy. “We could probably use more flour, butter, and oil,” she whispered to Sep while Jenny and Sally continued to argue over the validity of the rumor.
Sep breathed a sigh of relief and hurried back out the door.
Sally and Jenny stopped talking and turned to April. “Did we scare him off?” Sally asked.
Laughing, April shook her head and picked Nora up. “No. I just thought being around a bunch of women would put him to sleep.”
“You’re probably right,” Jenny replied.
“He’ll be back soon.” April motioned to the boy in Jenny’s arms. “What’s his name and how old is he?”
“His name is Carl, and he’s sixteen months old.”
“She has a six-year-old son named Jeremy. He’s playing in the backyard with Greg. It’s good exercise for the dog,” Sally said.
Jenny smirked. “Because the dog runs away from them.”
Amused, Sally shrugged and motioned for them to go to the kitchen. “Ever since Jenny and Owen moved further out of town, I don’t get to see her as much as I used to, and that means Greg doesn’t get to play with Jeremy as much as he used to either.”
“Greg has friends at school, so he manages just fine.” As they entered the kitchen, Jenny waved to April and pointed out the window. “There they are.”
April shifted Nora to her other arm and peered out the window where two boys laughed as they threw the ball for the dog to catch. “The dog seems to be enjoying himself.”
“So he is. Sally, it looks like they’re playing with the dog today instead of terrorizing the poor thing.”
“That dog loves any kind of attention, but he loves to play ball more than anything else.” Sally went to the cook stove and picked up the coffee pot. “April, yesterday you let me sit back and relax. Today, it’s your turn. Pull up a seat and tell us all about yourself.”
April found a chair and sat down.
Jenny set Carl down and left the kitchen. When she came back, she placed a box of toys next to the table. “There. Now the children won’t get bored.”
As Jenny sat across from her, April realized that even if she wasn’t sure about Joel, she adored his family. She couldn’t remember a time when she felt more welcome to be at someone’s house. Shortly after Sally got the refreshments ready, Greg and Jeremy came inside with the dog, so April got to meet Jeremy. She could only imagine how busy Christmas day would be with the whole Larson family in one house, but at least she was familiar with Sally and Jenny so she wouldn’t feel overwhelmed.
During the course of the hour, she felt more and more comfortable, and when Sep returned with the items from the mercantile, she was disappointed that her time with Jenny and Sally had come to an end.
Joel arrived shortly after Sep did, so April picked Nora up from where she was playing with the other children. “It was nice being here,” she told Sally and Jenny.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Joel began as his nephews surrounded him, “because Doctor Adams needs me to come in for the next three days.”
“Oh good!” Sally said, turning to April and Sep. “Then you’ll be coming over here again this week?”
“All three days,” Joel clar
ified.
Sep grimaced, an action no one else seemed to notice. April cleared her throat. “Sep could help you and the doctor.”
“Taking care of sick people, gathering supplies, and managing the paperwork aren’t jobs for a boy,” Joel replied, not bothering to look in Sep’s direction.
Sally groaned. “Will you listen to yourself? When you were fourteen, you could gather things for the farm and took care of sick animals. I think Sep should go along and help you. Otherwise, he’ll be stuck with us women and the children. Imagine how bored you’d be if you were in his shoes.”
Letting out one of the long, drawn-out sighs April dreaded listening to, Joel shrugged. “Fine. But only to spare him the fate of being lulled to sleep around here.”
Though Sep didn’t seem any happier about being around Joel than Joel seemed to be with taking him along, he didn’t say anything. April knew it was better than Sep having to stick around this house, but she didn’t know what else Sep might do while in town. He couldn’t spend all day picking up things from the mercantile for her.
Not knowing what else to say or do, April got Nora and herself ready to leave. Sep, who hadn’t bothered taking off his coat and hat, waited for her, still holding the box of mercantile goods in his arms. When she was finished, she thanked Sally and Jenny for a wonderful afternoon and said she looked forward to seeing them again.
After they left the house, Joel took them to the jailhouse. “Jenny’s husband is the deputy. I want you to tell him everything you can about Lou.”
This time, Joel made eye contact with Sep, and April debated whether or not to ask him why he bothered when he had pretty much ignored him for most of the morning. Sep deserved to be treated better than that. Finally, she decided she’d better do it when she and Joel were alone. There was no need to involve Sep in what might turn into an argument.
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