Comanche Vow

The girl lifted the front piece of the larger cowboy boot. “Should I stamp your name on it, Uncle Nick?”

Gathering supplies for Elaina’s project, he looked up. “Sure.”

“Uncle? Nick? Or both?“

“How about ahpi? It means uncle in Comanche.”

“Ahpi.” Lexie tested the word the way he had pronounced it. “That’s cool. How do you spell it?“

“A. P.” He smiled at her. “That’s easy. Not too many letters.“

“Yes.” She was still holding the boot, watching him with awe. “Can I call you that?“

“Of course you can.” He stood near his workstation, his expression mirroring hers.

Elaina sat quietly. This was only their third day in Oklahoma, yet Lexie’s relationship with Nick was blossoming already.

“Ap means father, too,” he said.

“Really?” Intrigued, Lexie scooted to the end of her chair. “So a Comanche kid called their dad and their uncles ap?”

Nick nodded. “Let me see if I can explain why.” He glanced at Elaina, then back at his niece. “It had to do with a marriage exchange. In the old days, brothers were potential mates to each other’s wives.”

“I don’t understand.” Lexie turned to Elaina. “Do you, Mom?”

“I’m not sure.” She had an idea what potential mate meant, but she didn’t want to say it out loud, not with her husband’s twin just a few feet away.

Nick settled onto a chair, and Elaina’s skin warmed. His legs were spread, his hands resting on his thighs. Typical male posture, she thought nervously, as a silver buckle glinted at his waist. He was going to detail the marriage exchange, something Elaina wasn’t sure she wanted to hear.

“In the old days, brothers lent each other their wives,” Nick said. “The gesture was considered a gift from one to the other. But there wasn’t supposed to be any jealousy between them. And the wife couldn’t go to the other man on her own. Her loyalty remained with her husband.”

Lexie made a face. “That’s weird. I’d be mad at my husband if he did that. Especially if he had like ten brothers or something.”

Nick chuckled, and Elaina sat like a pillar of salt, her heart banging against her breast. If she had been Grant’s wife in an earlier century, would he have lent her to his twin? Would she have become Nick’s gift? His occasional lover?

“I doubt they were that free with this exchange,” he said to Lexie, addressing her comment. “And sure, it sounds strange, but it wasn’t meant to dishonor the woman. One of the brothers might become her husband someday.”

“How?” the young girl asked.

“If her husband died, a brother would take his place. He would protect her and the children.”

Children who might have been his, Elaina noted. The wife could have borne the brother’s babies as easily as those of her husband.

Nick left his chair and brought a box of supplies to Elaina, placing it on her bench. He was standing too close, she thought. She could smell his cologne—a deep, rich spice. Now the image wouldn’t go away, the forbidden curiosity about making love with her husband’s brother, of being given to him as a gift.

Nick bumped her arm as he leaned over, and she kept her eyes on her lap, on the wedding ring that shone on her finger. Shame coiled its way into her belly. How could she even think such immoral thoughts?

“In a sense, the Comanche used to form a marriage group,” he said, still talking to Lexie about their ancestors. “Sisters were often married to the same man. It wasn’t uncommon for a warrior to have more than one wife. So a child’s mother and her sisters were all called pia. There’s no separate word for aunt in the Comanche dialect. At least, not within a marriage group.”

“Just like there’s no separate word for uncle.” Lexie searched through the alphabet stamps, setting aside an A and a P. She dampened the leather with a sponge, then picked up her mallet. “And that’s why Daddy asked you to teach me about my heritage. Because you’re my other ap.”

Ap, Elaina thought. Her daughter was accepting Nick as a second father, but Lexie craved a paternal bond. She still cried for her daddy, still fell asleep with tears in her eyes.

Emotion swirled around the room, the only sound the gentle tap of Lexie’s hammer. Elaina glanced at Nick and saw that he watched her.

“We should get some work done, too,” he said. Unable to draw herself from his gaze, she studied him. Brothers lent each other their wives; they became fathers to each other’s children. But that was in another century, she told herself as he brushed a lock of hair from his forehead.

His eyes had gone from brown to black, the pupils catching a glimmer of light. Elaina took an unsteady breath. He looked dark and erotic, a man who would kiss a woman in soft, secret places.

Why are you doing this to me? she wanted to ask. Why are you slipping into my subconscious? You’re my brother-in-law, and I shouldn’t be attracted to you.

“Elaina?“

“Yes?“

“Are you up for this?”

No, she thought, staring at the scatter of leather stars on her bench.

“Yes, of course,” she responded. Her involvement in this project was important to Lexie. It was Christmastime, and the stars were for the tree Nick had promised Lexie they would buy tomorrow. “Just tell me what to do.”

As he moved closer, his shoulder brushed hers. “There are a lot of different ways to decorate them.”

He reached into the box and withdrew samples of completed ornaments. Some were stamped with traditional Western patterns, and others displayed vibrant Native American designs, the points trimmed in suede lace. No two were alike. Instead, each creation reflected the level and skill of the artist. She didn’t have to ask if his students had made them.

Reaching for one that caught her eye, she held it up to the light. An intricate beaded design covered the entire star, shimmering as if it had just fallen from the sky.

“This is beautiful,” she said, looking from the ornament to Nick.

He looked back at her, and an unwelcome, unnamed heat filled her veins. He was beautiful, too. But unlike the glittering star, her brother-in-law was dark and dangerously forbidden.

Later that night, Nick couldn’t sleep. He got out of bed, slipped on a pair of jeans and boots, then shoved his arms into a jacket. Nothing calmed a restless night like the outdoors. Humidity, rain, snow, brisk winds. Nick didn’t care. No matter what mood Mother Earth was in, she managed to soothe him.

He made it as far as the living room before he saw Elaina. She sat on a sturdy recliner, her feet tucked beneath her. The television flickered with black-andwhite images, the volume barely audible.

Her hair cascaded in loose waves, and she wore silky white pajamas. In profile, her features were classically feminine, with a sweep of dark lashes and a slim nose. Her lips were neither strained nor relaxed. She stared at the TV in an almost trancelike state.

“Elaina?” He said her name, knowing he couldn’t slip out the front door unnoticed.

She turned, and then blinked when she saw him. “Nick.”

They gazed at each other for a moment, and he realized how often they got caught in one of those quiet, awkward stares.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“No.” He shifted his stance. She looked ghostlike in the flickering light, her pajamas shimmering against creamy skin.

“The horses aren’t sick?“

“No.” He glanced at the scuffed, turned-up tips of his boots. He was dressed to go out, yet he hadn’t told her why. But running into Elaina at this hour stunned his senses, dulling his brain. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and he could see the faint outline of her nipples. He hadn’t meant to look, but his eyes had strayed in that direction. And now he was examining his feet like a tongue-tied teenager.

“I’m having trouble falling asleep,” he said finally, lifting his gaze. “So I’m going to sit on the porch awhile.”

“Can I join you?” She pushed a wave of hair off her shoulder. “I can’t sleep, either.”

He wanted to say no, that he preferred to be alone. She was an elegant, silk-clad distraction. He was sexually attracted to his brother’s wife, and that made him uncomfortable, even though he had vowed to marry her.

“It’s been cold at night,” he warned. “And windy.”

“I don’t mind. I brought a winter coat.“

“All right.” Why argue the point? She must need a gust of fresh air, too.

He leaned against the wall while she darted into her room. When she returned, her silky pajamas were covered with a big, bulky sheepskin coat. Nick couldn’t hide an amused smile.

“You expecting a blizzard?“

“You said it was cold.“

“Yeah, I guess I did.”

Once outside, they sat in weathered pine chairs, the sky a vast shade of midnight. A maze of trees landscaped the yard. Some were shedding leaves and others were bare, tall and gray in the moonlight. The porch light cast a shallow glow, and Nick turned to look at Elaina.

Her collar was turned up, and her hands were tucked snugly in her pockets. The wind blew with a furious howl, tousling her copper-tinted hair.

Nick inhaled the chilly December air, and to keep himself from staring at Elaina, he focused on the sky. “There’s a few stars out.”

“Yes, just a scatter.” She angled her chair toward his with the scrape of wood against wood. “Do you do this often?”

He shrugged. “Often enough, I suppose. Sometimes my mind just won’t shut down, and that makes sleeping impossible.”

“I know the feeling.”

Her face was a blend of shadow and light, her voice quiet. She removed her hands from her pockets, and he glanced down and saw the diamond on her finger. Was he supposed to buy her a new ring or suggest she continue to wear the one Grant had given her? There were no rules to follow. Nothing he could count on to make this situation easier.

But Nick realized he had to do it tonight. He had to ask Elaina to marry him. Two years had passed, more than enough time for him to fulfill his vow.

They gazed at each other in the silence, and the moment turned soft and quiet. Moonlight shone in her eyes, tiny flecks of gold in all that impossible blue. He imagined touching her cheek, her hair, the delicate column of her neck.

Nick frowned. If he lost himself in lust, in the heat she made him feel, this proposal would be even more difficult.

“Elaina, there’s something important I need to discuss with you.”

She watched him, waiting for him to continue.

He did, after another second of nervous silence. “You know that my brother asked me to take care of Lexie, to teach her about being Comanche. But before he died, he talked to me about you, too.”

The light in her eyes flickered, and Nick saw a flash of pain, a woman missing the man she had loved. “What did he say?”

“Grant wanted me to protect you.” Pausing to breathe, he let the words settle. “The way a Comanche brother would have done in another century.”

Her voice quavered. “I don’t understand.”

Yes, you do, he thought. Deep down you do. You know what a Comanche marriage exchange means.

Nick glanced at the sky, at the scatter of stars. “When Grant was dying in my arms, I vowed to take his place, to become your husband and Lexie’s father.” Shifting his gaze, he looked directly into her eyes, felt his own sting with the memory. “I’m proposing, Elaina. In the name of my brother, I’m asking you to marry me.”

Four

Elaina couldn’t breathe, couldn’t get air into her lungs, couldn’t still her runaway heart. “I…” She twisted her wedding ring, felt her fingers tremble. “Are you sure that’s what Grant meant? I can’t believe he would…” Expect me to marry his brother, she thought, live with a man I barely know.

“He was dying, but he knew what he was saying.” Nick leaned forward. “I vowed to follow the old way, and that means you’re my potential mate. You were my brother’s wife, and now he’s gone. It’s my responsibility to take his place.”

“This doesn’t make sense,” she said, fighting the confusion. “I thought Grant loved me.”

“He did. And that’s exactly why he couldn’t bear for you to be alone. He needed to know that there would be someone in your life after he was gone. Someone he trusted.”

Battling the heaviness in her chest, Elaina couldn’t grasp a response. She couldn’t think clearly.

As she twisted her ring again, Nick continued. “Our union won’t be based on love. I don’t expect you to love me. That’s not what this is about.”

“It’s based on an ancient tradition that doesn’t fit into a modern world,” she countered, struggling with the idea that her husband had given her to his twin. “Marriage is sacred.”

“And so is this vow. I promise to treat you with kindness and respect. And that’s all I expect in return. That’s all Grant was asking of us.”

She moistened her lips, wishing she had a glass of water. Suddenly her mouth had gone dry.

“I can’t force you to marry me, but I implore you to consider it,” he said.

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