Shotgun Groom

Shotgun Groom

Ruth Ann Nordin

Shotgun Groom - Smashwords Edition

Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at Smashwords

Copyright © 2011 by Ruth Ann Nordin

Al rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

information storage and retrieval system, without

permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and

incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination

or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual

persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely

coincidental.

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This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

This ebook may not be re-sold. If you would like to share

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Dedicated to April Mitchel . May God richly bless you!

Other Books by Ruth Ann Nordin

Nebraska Series (Historical Romances)

Her Heart’s Desire (coming soon)

A Bride for Tom (novel a)

A Husband for Margaret (novel a)

Eye of the Beholder

The Wrong Husband

Shotgun Groom

To Have and To Hold (coming soon)

His Redeeming Bride

Isaac’s Decision (coming soon)

South Dakota Series (Historical Romances)

Loving Eliza

Bid for a Bride

Bride of Second Chances

Virginia Brides Series (Historical)

An Unlikely Place for Love

The Cold Wife

An Inconvenient Marriage

Romancing Adrienne

Native American Romance Series (Historical)

Restoring Hope

Brave Beginnings

Bound by Honor, Bound by Love (coming soon)

Other Historical Romances

Fal ing In Love With Her Husband

Meant To Be (time travel: from present to past)

A Chance In Time (novel a that intersects Restoring Hope

and Meant To Be)

Omaha Brides (Contemporary Romances)

With This Ring, I Thee Dread

What Nathan Wants

Across the Stars Series (Contemporary Romances)

Suddenly a Bride

Christian Sci-Fi Thril er

Return of the Aliens

Chapter One

Omaha, Nebraska

December 1878

April Edwards bounced her thirteen-month-old daughter,

Nora, on her hip in hopes of settling her down. She took a

deep breath to calm her nerves. As if coming into town

wasn’t bad enough, her little girl wouldn’t stop crying.

Closing her eyes, she released her breath slowly. The

doctor would be done with the other patient soon. She

opened her eyes and paced the smal room which had two

chairs and a window.

“Hush, sweetie,” April whispered. “The doctor wil know how

to make you feel better.” She hoped. Oh how she hoped!

Nora quieted for a moment, but before April could breathe

a sigh of relief, Nora’s lower lip trembled and she let out

another wail.

The door opened a few feet from them and a young man

carrying a medical bag entered the room. He stomped the

snow off his boots on the rug. Glancing in her direction, he

put the bag on the smal table by the door and took off his

coat. “Is the doctor here?”

Rubbing Nora’s back, April nodded. “He’s almost done with

Rubbing Nora’s back, April nodded. “He’s almost done with

a patient.”

He put his coat and hat on the coat tree. “Mind if I see her?”

Shaking her head, she handed Nora to him. “Are you a

doctor?”

“No, but I assist him.”

“Oh.” She brushed a wisp of her dark brown hair from her

eyes. “I hear Doctor Adams is the best there is.”

“I won’t argue that.” He touched Nora’s forehead. “So,

you’re not feeling wel , huh? Usual y, I’d say that’s because

you’ve been around my brother Tom. He’s been known to

make people sick.”

April felt a smile tug at her lips from his joke. She watched

as he sat down and hummed to her daughter.

He turned his attention to April. “How long has your

daughter had a fever?”

Noticing that Nora quieted down, she lowered her voice,

relieved she no longer had to talk over the girl’s wails. “The

fever started last night. It was a minor one, and she wasn’t

fussing much. I figured it’d be gone by morning, but it

wasn’t.”

“Is she eating anything?”

“No. She’l take smal sips of water but that’s about it.”

He glanced back at Nora whose eyelids were growing

heavy. “Her breathing sounds fine. Does she have

diarrhea?”

“No.”

“I don’t think this is anything serious but to be sure, Doctor

Adams needs to look at her.”

Her gaze went to her daughter. Besides the wonderful

silence in the room, she was impressed with his ability to

calm Nora down. “You have a way with children.”

He shrugged. “My folks find a way to get the whole family

out to their place, so I see my nephews and nieces often

enough. Now, the little tykes can’t tel you I’m their favorite

uncle because that would make their other uncles feel bad,

but it’s true.”

At that, she chuckled. “That’s nice of you.”

“I do what I can to shelter my brothers from the harsh

reality,” he joked.

“You mentioned nephews and nieces. Don’t you have any

children of your own?” Sure, he looked young, but she was

nineteen and had a child. It stood to reason he might, too.

“No,” he replied. “I don’t have children or a wife.”

A woman and a young boy with a bandaged arm came out

of the other room. “Thank you, Doctor Adams,” she said.

“Anytime,” the doctor said with a wide smile. Looking at the

boy, he continued, “Streets aren’t a safe place to be

playing.”

“Yes, sir,” the boy replied, his cheeks pink.

Ruffling the boy’s hair, the doctor laughed. “I remember

what it was like to be young, but you needn’t worry your

mother.”

The boy nodded as he and his mother left.

The doctor walked over to April and the man holding her

child. “What’s wrong with this little one?”

April cleared her throat. “Nora got a fever last night, and

she’s not any better today.”

The doctor held out his arms. “Let me see her, Joel.”

Joel careful y placed the sleeping child into Doctor Adams’

arms.

The doctor motioned for April to join him in the other room,

so she did. As he examined Nora, she glanced out of the

room and saw that Joel was straightening the picture on the

wal . His dark blond hair fel partly over his eyes so he

brushed it back. He was a handsome young man. Broad

shoulders, slender, half-a-foot tal er than her, blue eyes, ful

lips that curled into a wonderful smile… Perhaps he wasn’t

lips that curled into a wonderful smile… Perhaps he wasn’t

married because he wanted time to sow his wild oats?

That’s what al men did before they settled down, after al .

She sighed in disappointment.

“I think your daughter wil be fine,” the doctor said.

Dragging her attention away from Joel, she looked at her

sleeping child.

“I’l give you something to make her more comfortable so

she can rest,” he continued. “You live out at your father’s

farm, correct?”

“Correct.”

“I’l have Joel come out to your place tomorrow morning to

check on you.”

“Alright,” she replied. “He was real good with Nora. I

couldn’t get her to settle down, but he held her and it did the

trick. I can’t remember seeing a man that good with a

child.”

Doctor Adams chuckled. “Yes, he’s good with children. It

makes my job easier.”

“I’m sure it does.” She cuddled her daughter to her chest.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Anytime.”

As she headed for the front door, Joel hurried to it and

opened it for her. “I can help you into your wagon.”

“Oh, my brother said he’d be back once he picked up some

supplies from the mercantile.” Looking at the empty spot in

front of the smal building, she sighed. “I suppose he’s stil

there. I’l just walk down there and find him.”

“It’s awful y cold out today.” He glanced at Nora as April

wrapped her coat around her so she could hold her closer

for extra warmth. “The doc’s buggy is right out there. Let me

take you over.” He grabbed a folded up blanket on the table

and motioned for her to go to the buggy.

She hesitated for a moment, but she took a good look at

Joel and knew she was safe with him. “Alright.” She

stepped through the doorway and waited for him to join her

so they could walk to the buggy.

With one arm cradling Nora, she held her hat down with her

free hand so it wouldn’t blow off her head. When they

reached the buggy, Joel took her by the elbow and helped

her into the seat. He wrapped a blanket around her legs.

She watched as he went to his side of the buggy and

hopped in. Clearing her throat, she said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Despite the cold air, her skin warmed when he glanced in

her direction before he picked up the reins and urged the

horse forward. “I see Nora is stil asleep.”

“Yes,” she replied as she glanced at her contented child.

“It’s a relief. Not just for the quiet but also because I hope

the rest wil be what it takes to get rid of the fever.”

“I hear you there. You know, when my brothers and sisters

had a fever, our mother would give us a lukewarm bath. I’m

not saying medicine doesn’t have its place, but I prefer to

try more natural remedies if I can.” He motioned to the

overcast sky. “I suspect we’re due for snow. Do you stil

have snow out there where you live?”

“Parts of the land are stil covered with snow. The wind blew

some snowdrifts. Once that wind gets started, it doesn’t

know when to quit.”

With a laugh, he nodded. “That’s why I like living in town.

The buildings help buffer places from the snow. My parents

built a shelter belt around their farm, but sometimes the

wind blows in the opposite direction so the trees do no

good.”

“My pa never saw fit to make a shelter belt. Said it was a

waste of time.” She shrugged. “Guess he knew what he

was talking about.”

“Did your family come out here because of the Homestead

Act?”

“Yes.”

“Mine did, too. My parents thought al of their boys would be

farmers.” He rol ed his eyes. “I had to purposely do a poor

job to get them off that notion.”

She chuckled. “That’s a wicked thing to do.”

“It was either be lazy or get stuck building a sod house I’d

be living in while tending to a farm I didn’t want to manage.”