"I wasn't searching because I expected you to belong to me. I didn't even know whether you were married or had a family."
Loretta looked up.
He held her gaze.
"I wanted to thank the woman who reminded me that being alive still meant something."
Her eyes filled.
Elias folded the ribbon.
"At first, I hoped to find you quickly. Then the station closed, the trails changed, and years passed. Eventually, looking for you became something I did whenever the mountains carried me near people who might remember."
He smiled faintly.
"Then I heard about Red Dog."
Loretta was quiet.
He continued.
"A driver told me there was a cook who fed men who couldn't pay. He said she was a big woman with a gentle voice who'd once worked near Alder Pass."
He looked toward her.
"I knew I had to come."
Loretta swallowed.
Then she asked, "And now that you've found me?"
Elias stared toward the dark trees.
For a moment, he seemed uncertain.
Finally, he answered.
"I don't know yet."
Loretta felt her heart tighten.
He turned toward her.
"I came to thank you. I didn't expect to find you being treated like this. I didn't expect to want to stay."
Her eyes widened slightly.
Elias continued carefully.
"But I do."
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then he added, "That doesn't mean you owe me a place in your life."
Loretta looked toward him.
He smiled gently.
"I'd like to earn one."
Her eyes filled.
For a moment, she couldn't speak.
Then she whispered, "You already have."
Elias became very still.
Loretta looked down.
She'd never spoken so openly to a man before.
But the moonlight, the quiet, and the way he listened made her feel brave.
She took a slow breath.
"Would you sit with me a little longer?"
Elias smiled.
"Gladly."
They remained beside the cookhouse until the cold became too sharp.
For the first time in twelve winters, the blue ribbon was no longer only a reminder of the night Elias nearly died.
It was becoming a reminder of two lives that had somehow found their way back to one another.
The mine collapse happened three mornings later.
It began with a deep, unnatural sound beneath the frozen ground.
Loretta was preparing breakfast when the plates on the counter began rattling. The iron stove vibrated, a lantern swung slightly from its hook, and a low rumble rolled through Red Dog like distant thunder.