“Strongly?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Samuel handed Ellie an envelope.
“Boarding house sent this.”
Ellie recognized Mr. Barnes’s handwriting.
She opened it.
Read.
Then read again.
Jasper watched her.
“What?”
Ellie folded the letter.
“Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.”
Samuel leaned closer.
Ellie glared.
He backed away.
Jasper waited.
Ellie sighed.
“The town clinic board met.”
“And?”
“They terminated my position.”
Silence.
The stove cracked.
Jasper’s voice became dangerously calm.
“For going to save me?”
“Officially, for abandoning my assigned post during severe weather without physician authorization.”
Samuel swore.
Ellie folded the paper smaller.
“There was no physician in town.”
“I know.”
“The physician is why you had to come.”
“I know.”
“And they fired you?”
“Yes.”
Jasper stood.
Ellie pointed.
“Sit down.”
He remained standing.
“Jasper.”
He sat.
Furious.
Ellie almost smiled.
“You look like a child.”
“I feel murderous.”
“Don’t.”
“I’m considering it.”
“No.”
Samuel took the letter.
He read.
“This says Mercer testified you behaved recklessly.”
Jasper’s jaw tightened.
Ellie took the paper back.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters.”
“No.”
Jasper stared at her.
Ellie gathered the plates.
“I was planning to leave Copper Falls eventually.”
“Were you?”
“Maybe.”
“That isn’t the same.”
She stopped.
Jasper continued.
“They threw you out because you saved my life.”
“They threw me out because they’ve wanted a reason.”
“Then let them find another nurse.”
Ellie laughed bitterly.
“They will.”
“Good luck.”
She turned.
Jasper watched her.
“What will you do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stay.”
The word came too quickly.
Ellie looked back.
Jasper’s expression changed as if he had surprised himself.
Samuel suddenly became very interested in the woodpile.
Ellie said carefully, “You don’t need a nurse forever.”
“I didn’t say nurse.”
Her pulse stumbled.
Jasper looked away first.
“Forget it.”
Ellie could not.
The following week changed them.
Jasper regained strength rapidly.
Ellie no longer needed to help him stand.
Then he began walking outside.
First to the porch.
Then halfway to the woodpile.
Then farther.
He was stubborn.
Ellie was more stubborn.
Their arguments became routine.
“Ten minutes.”
“Fifteen.”
“Twelve.”
“Twenty.”
“Back to bed.”
“You negotiate terribly.”
“I negotiate while holding your medical future.”
“Abuse of authority.”
“Absolutely.”
Jasper grinned.
Ellie discovered that he smiled more than his reputation suggested.
He also cooked surprisingly well.
He made venison stew.
Biscuits.
Coffee strong enough to dissolve a spoon.
Ellie ate freely around him.
At first she waited for the look.
The one she knew.
When she took a second biscuit.
When she buttered bread.
When she ate until full.
It never came.
One evening Jasper placed the last biscuit on her plate.