“I suppose I should say goodnight,” Paul smiled. He brought Elena’s hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles lightly. “I’ll see you after breakfast.”
“Goodnight Mr. Broche,” Elena said, blushing.
“Paul,” he replied. “Goodnight Elena.”
Paul headed home with a familiar flutter in his gut. He’d only felt that sort of reaction for one other woman and she’d lost her life bringing their son into the world. Melancholy rode hard alongside the good feeling. He’d struggled in those first years after Cassie’s death. So much so that he’d sworn never to go down that road again. He wouldn’t risk another woman’s life for his own selfish needs. He was finding that oath hard to stick by when his mind wandered to Elena.
“Please God help me. I swore I’d never take another woman as my wife. I can’t, won’t risk another woman. I don’t pretend to know every reason you brought Elena Elroy into my life. I know she needs answers that I can help her find. I also know she can further the cause to get the land her people once had back into their hands, but this man finds it difficult not to dwell on the other aspects of her arrival. She’s stunning Lord and I am a simple and weak man.”
Paul prayed all the way home over Elena. He prayed for the meeting with her siblings to go well, he prayed for her presence and testimony to go well and to further the case that he’d present to the Supreme Court, and then he prayed that God would help him resist the temptation to ask for permission to court her. Of all three, the latter was the hardest to squeak out as he didn’t want to pray it. It was a plea of desperation. Desperate times, desperate measures.
***
The next morning Paul picked Elena up just after nine o’clock. She’d been raring to go since six and Cecelia had laughingly told him to hitch her to the wagon and she’d get them there faster, such was her intense energy level. Paul had chuckled, but hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off the young woman who was now sitting beside him. “You look lovely today.”
“Thank you,” she returned, obviously nervous by the way she folded and unfolded the napkin in her hands. Paul reached over and gave her hands a gentle squeeze.
“They’re going to love you,” he smiled. The ride went smoothly as Paul and Elena talked, learning more about each other’s pasts. Paul opened up to Elena about losing his wife and son.
“It crushed me for a long, long time. I went through a million emotions and still didn’t feel better about it. I denied it, then I loathed the loss and my own lack of ability to save them. I hated God for so, so long afterward. I just couldn’t wrap my mind around a deity who’d proclaim to love His children and then let terrible things like death and disease rob me of my happiness. One day the preacher came to see me and asked if we could take a walk. During that time with him I realized that God was grieving my loss as well, because it was just as much His loss. While I’d lost my wife and son, He’d lost two of His children and that wasn’t His fault. It was the fault of mankind because we chose a sinful nature over our relationship with God. In the Garden of Eden, it was sin that Adam and Even chose when they ate the apple. They were given a test and they failed miserably. Now we pay the consequences of that sinful choice.”
“I understand your doubt,” Elena grinned. “I too have questioned God’s love for me. I wondered often how a God who loves me could leave me without a husband and family of my own when I so wanted that path. I watched my younger sisters wed and raise their families while those in my parent’s society looked at me with disgust. Hiding behind their fans as if I couldn’t hear what they were saying. Some women even had to audacity to question whether or not I could even understand them. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling then what I thought about their facades. Part of the reason I was able to come out here is because God hasn’t brought my husband and subsequent family to me as of yet. So now I can sit back and marvel at the workings of His hands and how wonderfully He’s ordered my steps. I can meet my brother and sister, because He saw fit to keep me single thus far.”
Paul felt as if someone had punched him in the gut. Here was a stunningly gorgeous woman who fit the path of his life perfectly and he’d sworn not to court or marry again. Was God truly that interested in seeing him settle down and raise a family? Thankfully Paul didn’t have time to dwell on the subject as he pulled up to the border of the Choctaw Indian Reservation.
“Who is she?” a tall Choctaw warrior asked nodding his head at Elena.
“Her name is Elena Elroy. She’s here to see Bennet and Deborah Duboise. She’s there sister and was born, The One Who Turns.”
Recognition flashed in the man’s eyes before he smiled. Saying something in the language of their people he grinned. “Come with me,” he said, holding out an arm for Elena. When she looked back at him Paul nodded slightly before slowly following them. He knew that the warrior liked women and would see Elena as a prize to tote on his arm. Paul only hoped that he could spare her from the man’s heartless activities before she fell prey to his charms.
A man and woman stepped out of their home as Elena approached and Paul watched as three siblings, one who was presumed dead, greeted each other with tears and words of love. “You are once again alive my sister,” Deborah said, tears flowing down her cheeks. To stand the two women next to each other, Paul couldn’t believe the similarity. About the same height, with Elena being only slightly taller, the women shared an almost exact coloring. Their hair was done in nearly the same style and both wore a smile that must have belonged to one of their parents. Bennett, while decidedly taller and masculine, still resembled his sisters and Pauls’ heart swelled at their reunion.
When the warrior who had greeted them at the entrance turned to Paul to dismiss him, Elena stepped over to him. “I’d like him to stay please,” she said, her brown eyes warm when they met his. “He is the sole reason I even knew about my siblings. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have even known my heritage or that I had a brother and sister who were still alive.”
“Very well,” the warrior said. “You must know that now you are part of the Choctaw Nation again. You must become familiar with our customs and things that are forbidden among our people.”
“Such as?” Elena asked, her eyes going dark with a fierce determination.
“Such as the right of a warrior to claim a single Choctaw woman as his bride. The laws which govern our people are written for the advancement of our people. We will welcome you with open arms One Who Turns.”
Elena didn’t waste a breath before she rebuffed this warrior’s obvious interest. “You’ll have to give me time to learn these customs and you’ll also have to understand that while I am immensely pleased with my Choctaw heritage, I am also an Elroy and I won’t bow down to any law that dictates how my life should be. God gave me breath in my lungs and a mind to think with. He guides me and I will always follow Him. If a warrior wants to take me as his wife, then I would suggest he take it up with the Almighty.”
***
Elena heard Paul’s sorry attempt to squelch a chuckle and turned back to her siblings. “Is there somewhere we can go and talk? I have so many questions, so many things I need to know.”
“We can talk here,” Bennett said, helping both Elena and their sister up the steps. Paul sat back, giving respect to Bennett as the sole male heir of their family. “Tell us of your life in Maine.”
Elena went into an animated and lively tale of growing up with the Elroys. She explained when she knew things were different between her and her family. “It doesn’t take long for a child to realize when they’re being ridiculed. My parent’s tried to shelter me, but I realized early on that the only thing they did was keep me from knowing the truth. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that I am not in any way physically like my sisters. Then we grew older and debutante season came for them. They were quickly paired off and now each has children whom I miss dearly. I was given a much smaller debutante season, which I dreaded. When it became apparent that I would have no
suitors ask for permission to court me, I found myself increasingly reclusive, refusing to attend events with my parents. Try as they might, they couldn’t fix the color of my skin and hair, or the culture I came from. That’s about the time I made Paul’s acquaintance through my local newspaper. I wrote him and told him of my birth and subsequent adoption. He found our parent’s names and then found you two. When I told my parents what I wanted to do, they agreed, knowing that I needed to find my past. I can say with a whole heart that I am eternally grateful I came here.”
“You look so much like mother,” Bennett said, a note of sadness in his voice. As the oldest Duboise child, he remembered their parents the most. “She would have raved over you and Deborah.” I’m assuming you take more after our father?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“He was a handsome man,” Elena said, sharing a smile with her siblings. “What can you tell me about them and that time in all of our lives?”
“Mother used to carry you everywhere as you were so little. You came early, that much I remember,” Bennet started. “I remember looking at you with your big eyes and easy smile. Mother said she named you One Who Turns, because you didn’t like to sit still, even in her womb. You were constantly moving and I think, especially when you came early, she wanted a reminder of that time. When we were forced to leave, Mother strapped you to her chest with a long wrap. She alternated between carrying Deborah and letting her walk. Dad carried me on his shoulders and would alternate with Deborah as well. At first they tried to make it a game, something fun that we were doing as a family. Before long though, I knew things were bad. My feet ached so badly that I couldn’t walk. Dad and mother were alternating between carrying all three of us and it was taking a huge toll. Mother was still nursing you and I could tell she wasn’t getting enough for you. You’d cry almost constantly, even after eating. We reached the Mississippi River before things got terrible. Father was hanging on, but mother was extremely sick. On the ferry boat ride across the river, mother passed away. Father was so bad that when we reached the other shore they separated us. Deborah and I were shuffled along with the rest of our people and thankfully a couple took us in. We never saw you again.”
“I never stopped thinking about you,” Deborah said. She was smaller than both Elena and Bennett, with a smaller, much more feminine voice. In the looks department though, she and Elena were nearly identical. Elena stayed with her siblings into the night, enjoying getting to know these two wonderful additions to her life.
“We need to head back if we’re going to make your curfew,” Paul said, hating to interrupt their reunion.
“Can we come back tomorrow?”
“Sure,” he smiled. Helping her down the stairs, he waited while she hugged her brother and sister. On the way home Paul listened as Elena gushed excitedly about her family.
“I don’t know how to thank you for this,” she said, her voice choked by unshed tears. Paul pulled the buggy to a stop. Fixing the reins so the horses wouldn’t move, Paul turned toward her in the seat.
“You don’t need to thank me for this Elena,” Paul said, finding himself more emotional than he’d have thought. “God brought us together so that you could find a vital part of your past. He brought you here so that together we could forge ahead with hopefully returning your ancestral land back to its rightful heirs. And I hope I don’t sound too forward in saying that I hope you’ll stay, as your leaving would turn my world back to the dull existence I took for living before I met you.”
***
Elena was speechless as she took in what Paul was saying. Was is possible that God had brought her here for more than just finding her siblings? Was it possible that Paul could come to mean more to each other than friends? Examining her own heart, she realized that honesty required her to say exactly what she felt. “When I first started this journey by writing to you, I hoped I’d find my past. I hoped I’d have some ties to people who were a part of me. I have found a passion for returning my people to the land that was theirs and I’m ever grateful for all of that. The one thing I found on this journey that I wasn’t expecting, was you. I never imagined finding a man who could understand me in ways my family doesn’t, not for their lack of trying. God has blessed me with a best friend and a man I hope to get to know on a much deeper level.”
“Then I am in good company, because God has blessed me in abundance with your presence in my life,” Paul said, smiling. “Let’s get you home.”
The next morning, when Paul came to collect her Elena could tell something was off. “You’re quiet today,” she said, her brown eyes imploring him to open up to her. It would be the first real test for them, to see if he could share his heart with her.
“I had a dream last night that’s left me a little shaken.”
“Oh?” Elena asked. She knew that her people put a lot of stock behind dreams, finding meanings in even the most commonplace of dreamscapes. “Is it a dream you can share with me?”
“I dreamt about you I think, only you were a tiny little girl. I dreamt of the night you were taken from your parents. Whoever took you was related to me somehow. My parents have passed on so I can’t ask them, but I can feel it in here.” Paul touched his chest where his heart lay underneath. They had sat down on the blanket they’d spread out and Elena waited while Paul set out the food Cecelia had packed for them.
“And you thought that because you’re related to someone who took me from my parents that I’d hold that against you?”
“It was a thought, yes.”
Elena grinned, knowing full well what it was like to have doubts, doubts that loomed so large in the mind that a person could easily be convinced of the worst outcome before anything had ever transpired. Reaching over, Elena touched his hand and waited for those beautiful blue eyes to meet hers. “How could I blame you for something you had no control over? Whether or not someone related to you took me from my parents, God has watched over both of us to bring us here for such a time as this. I have sent word to my parents to let them know of my decision to stay here at least until the hearing with the Supreme Court. I want to see that chapter of our journey finished before I make any further decisions.”
“I suppose I should tell you now that I also sent word to your parents. I inquired whether or not they would be agreeable to me courting you. If you’re agreeable to it that is.”
Elena could barely breathe as a smile and a blush spread across her face. “You want to court me?”
“Yes,” Paul chuckled. “I could never figure out as I was growing well into my thirties, why God hadn’t brought a woman along in my life. Then you stepped off a train in my town and I realized that God in his infinite wisdom was just waiting for the right time. I suspect, Miss Elena Elroy that God was saving you for me and preserving me for you as well. Why didn’t the men in your town turn their heads your way? Because you weren’t meant for them. I fully believe that God will move us steadily toward a deeper relationship with each other as we seek Him.”
Epilogue
Oklahoma 1861
Elena beamed as she walked the isle toward the man that she loved. God had worked a miracle in her life by bringing Paul into her existence. The Supreme Court had refused to hear the case that Paul presented and after two more tries, they’d laid the issue to rest, having been assured by the Choctaw Nation that for them it had been settled during the Trail of Tears.
Elena had stayed on in Oklahoma after that as well, feeling in her heart that it was where she belonged. Now she was bringing the two parts of her life together as she stepped into the lovely and bright future God had placed in front of her and Paul. Eight months after she’d arrived, Paul had invited her parents out and asked them in person for their permission to marry Elena. She’d happily and brilliantly given her acceptance.
Now the day was here and she was beyond excited. Looking up as the piano player started the Wedding March, Elena found Paul’s face and she never looked anywhere else. She held those blue ey
es in her sight the whole time until the preacher asked, “Who give this woman to this man?”
“Her mother and I do,” Richard Elroy said, kissing Elena on the cheek. “I love you peanut.”
“I love you too daddy.” Elena took Paul’s arm and they stepped closer to the preacher. As he started the ceremony in earnest, both Paul and Elena thought back on all God had brought them through. Elena had gone from a next to starving infant, into the arms of Richard and Clarissa Elroy. She was raised in a home with a loving family and eventually found her past with Paul’s help. Now she had a brother and sister who would always be in her life. She and Paul planned to settle permanently in Oklahoma and continue working for the rights of the Choctaw and other Indian Nations who suffered under the Indian Removal Act.
Before she knew it Paul was kissing her soundly and everyone was cheering as she became Mrs. Paul Andrew Broche. The reception lasted well into the night as family and friends of Elena and Paul mingled, congratulating them on their marriage. “Shall we go home, sweetheart?”
“I’d love to,” Elena smiled.
`***
Paul took Elena home and showed her the land he owned. He introduced her to the staff that helped him. He showed her the horses and cattle and told her the story of his parents and how the ranch had passed to him when they died.
“I’ve added some of my own touches since then, but truth be told it’s in desperate need of a woman’s touch.”
“Lucky for you, I love decorating,” Elena smiled. “I promise not to go crazy though. Simple is much better, especially when our family starts growing.”
“Then let’s go inside and you can tell me your ideas of turning my bachelor pad into a home,” Paul said, taking Elena’s hand.
They enjoyed a lifetime of happiness, saw each other through sickness, stuck by each other in both the good and hard times, and raised four beautiful girls into adulthood. When asked on his death bed what his favorite part of life was, Paul had smiled and said without hesitation, “Elena of course.”
[2016] A Wanting Bride Page 47
