Comanche Vow

Elaina stifled a laugh. “He’s trying so hard to be a tough guy.”

“Yeah, well, he’s a pain in the ass.” Nick reached into the wheelbarrow and filled Kid’s hay crib. “And if he doesn’t shape up, he’s going to end up as some spoiled little poodle’s dinner.” He sent the gelding a pointed look. “They make dog food out of rotten horses, you know.”

Kid sneered again, and Elaina gave in to the urge to laugh. Nick turned to watch her, to see the light dancing in those incredible blue eyes.

“His name certainly suits him,” she said. “Every kid I know makes that face at one time or another.”

“Even Lexie?”

Her laughter faded. “Especially Lexie.”

They stood in silence then, looking at each other. Her breath hitched, and he ignored complaints from a row of hungry horses. Nick didn’t know what it felt like to be a parent, but he knew how it felt to honor his dying brother’s last request, to promise to devote the rest of his life to Grant’s family.

“Lexie’s really sad, isn’t she?”

Elaina nodded. “Sad, angry, confused. Her father was murdered, her best friend moved and she’s battling puberty. That’s enough to send anyone over the edge.”

“I guess you’ve gone the doctor route,” he said, feeling useless.

In an absent gesture, she lifted a blade of hay. “Yes, but Lexie wasn’t very receptive to therapy. Antidepressants didn’t help, either.”

Nick frowned. “They gave her drugs? That sounds so severe.”

“Antidepressants work for some people, but Lexie experienced too many side effects.” She dropped the hay, watched it drift to the ground. “I guess it was too much to hope for. A pill that would make her happy.”

“Yeah. That doesn’t sound realistic.” And the idea that a twelve-year-old needed a happy pill made his heart ache.

Maybe it was time to talk to Lexie, to tell her that she had been in her father’s thoughts before he died.

“I’m going to help you with Lexie,” Nick said. “Whatever I can do.”

Her smile was soft, her voice a little broken. “Thank you.”

“Sure. No problem.” Feeling suddenly awkward, he reached for the wheelbarrow, sucked in a rough breath. “I guess we better get these animals fed.”

“I’ll fill the water buckets.”

She turned away, and he let out the breath he’d been holding.

So what about Elaina? When should he tell her about their pending marriage? Today? Tomorrow? Next week?

Take care of my family…the old way. Be the Comanche I should have been. Teach my daughter… protect my wife.

Your wife. Dear God, brother, you gave me your wife. The woman you held in your arms every night.

I can’t tell her today, Nick thought, catching sight of Elaina’s hair shimmering in the morning light. He could tackle only one obstacle at a time. And for now, he had a twelve-year-old girl to worry about.

Twenty minutes later, Nick and Elaina stood in the kitchen, discussing breakfast.

“We can have something here,” he said. “Unless you want to go out.”

“Here is fine.”

He opened the fridge. “I’ve got bacon and eggs.” Food he’d purchased with Elaina and Lexie in mind. Normally he started his day with a bowl of cereal and two cups of black coffee. “I’m not a great cook,” he admitted.

She turned to wash her hands. “I don’t mind fixing breakfast.”

“All right. Thanks.” He shifted his feet, feeling uncomfortable in his own kitchen. Nick wasn’t used to company, to having to consider someone else’s preference.

He pulled a hand through his shorn hair. This husband thing was going to take some adjustment.

“Are the pans in here?” she asked, pointing to the cabinet below the stove.

“Yeah.” He placed a carton of eggs and a pound of bacon on the counter, and found himself looking around, wondering if his house was too simple for Elaina. He’d designed the kitchen for practicality, but it wasn’t fancy. And neither was the rest of the place. The decor was sturdy, woodsy and Western. A far cry, he thought, from her city-slick condo with its creamy carpet and floor-to-ceiling windows.

Elaina set a pan on the stove. “Maybe I should wake Lexie first.”

“I can do that.” And it would give him an opportunity to talk to his niece in private. “I’d like to spend a few minutes alone with her.”

“That’s nice.” Elaina smiled. “She’d probably like that, too.”

“Okay. Good. Just call us when breakfast is ready.”

“No problem,” she responded, still smiling a little.

Elaina had a pretty smile, he thought as he turned and headed down the hall. A sexy mouth. Which, of course, wasn’t what a marriage was based on. Sometimes Nick wanted to forget the whole thing, convince himself that Grant had been in shock and didn’t know what he was saying.

But deep in his heart he knew that wasn’t true. Hadn’t they talked about it when they were kids? He could still hear their voices, two sixth-grade boys discussing their heritage, a year after their mother had left.

“All that old Comanche stuff is weird,” Grant had said.

“No, it’s not. I think it’s kinda cool that a man got to have more than one wife.”

“You would, Nicky. You’re a pervert.”

They both laughed. Nick had already kissed a girl. Not a wet kiss, but a lip lock just the same.

“I wish we could have lived back then,” he said, picturing his ancestors riding across the plains. “We would have been awesome warriors.”

Grant rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. I can see it now. You’d die in battle, and I’d end up having to marry all your wives and raise all your goofy kids.”

Nick frowned. “I’d do that for you.“

“Really?“

“Yeah.“

“Okay, but my kids aren’t gonna be goofy,” Grant said, punching his twin’s shoulder. “My kids are gonna be cool.”