When she pulled away, Jasper looked dazed.
Ellie smiled.
“You can be wrong and still be kissable.”
“Best news I’ve had all week.”
She laughed.
“Don’t get comfortable.”
“I wouldn’t dare.”
Three days later Ellie packed.
Jasper hated every minute.
He did not say so.
He helped.
Her medical bag sat near the door.
Her winter cloak hung beside it.
Jasper stood in the main room fully dressed for the first time since the attack.
His wounds remained bandaged.
But he was strong enough to ride short distances.
Ellie looked around the cabin.
It had become familiar too quickly.
The chair where she had slept.
The stove where she sterilized tools.
The widened doorway.
The table where Jasper had given her a building as casually as most men offered flowers.
“You’ll change the dressing tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Tomorrow morning?”
“Yes.”
“No lifting.”
“Yes.”
“No chopping firewood.”
He hesitated.
“Jasper.”
“No chopping.”
“Samuel promised to return.”
“He usually does.”
Ellie fastened her cloak.
Jasper watched.
The silence became unbearable.
Finally he said, “Don’t leave me.”
Ellie stopped.
The words were exactly the same words he had whispered while dying.
But now there was no fever.
No delirium.
Only a fully conscious man standing six feet away looking more frightened than he had while bleeding.
Ellie’s chest tightened.
“Jasper.”
“I know.”
“You said you wouldn’t ask.”
“I’m failing.”
She almost smiled.
He stepped closer.
“I’m not asking because I can’t manage.”
“I know.”
“I’m not asking because I need a nurse.”
“I know.”
“I’m asking because every part of this cabin feels wrong when I imagine you gone.”
Ellie looked down.
Jasper continued.
“I want to wake up and hear you criticizing the coffee.”
“It deserves criticism.”
“I want you taking up the whole table with medical books.”
“Those are important.”
“I want your cloak on that hook.”
His voice roughened.
“I want your boots beside the stove.”
Ellie’s eyes burned.
“I want you.”
She looked up.
Jasper stood perfectly still.
“But wanting you isn’t enough reason to ask you to abandon your work.”
“No.”
“So go.”
The word hurt both of them.
Jasper swallowed.
“Figure out the clinic.”
“Jasper…”
“Figure out whether you want the deed.”
He stepped aside from the door.
“Figure out what kind of life you want.”
Ellie stared.
“And if it isn’t here?”
He forced a smile.
“Then I’ll survive.”
Her throat tightened.
“You almost didn’t survive the first time.”
“This’ll hurt worse.”
Ellie laughed through tears.
He continued.
“But yes.”
His voice softened.
“I’ll survive.”
Ellie crossed the room.
She placed both hands against his chest.
Jasper looked down.
She kissed him.
Slowly.
Tenderly.
Then she rested her forehead against his.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“Neither do I.”
“That isn’t comforting.”
“I’m learning.”
She smiled.
“So am I.”
Jasper touched her cheek.
“Come back.”
Ellie whispered, “Ask me differently.”
He understood.
His thumb moved once beneath her eye.
“Will you come back?”
That was better.
“Yes.”
Jasper closed his eyes.
Ellie kissed him once more.
Then she left.
Copper Falls looked smaller when Ellie returned.
Nothing had physically changed.
The same muddy main street.