By then, most of the miners had returned to their cabins, the tables were clean, and the last pot had been washed. Loretta sat on her reinforced bench, looking around the room she could finally call her own.
Elias stood beside the butcher's table, carefully sharpening a knife.
He'd been quieter than usual all evening.
Loretta noticed.
At first, she assumed he was tired. The past several weeks had been exhausting, and the difficulties with the company had placed more demands on everyone than they'd expected.
But when he began folding his wolf-hide cloak, she felt something cold settle in her stomach.
"Are you leaving?"
Elias looked up.
He seemed surprised.
"Not tonight."
Loretta swallowed.
Then she tried to smile.
"Of course."
He studied her face.
For a moment, he looked confused.
Then he set the cloak down.
"Loretta?"
She lowered her eyes.
"Yes?"
"What's troubling you?"
She shook her head.
"Nothing."
Elias waited.
He had learned that Loretta sometimes said nothing when she was afraid the truth might make someone leave.
He didn't force her to speak.
Instead, he pulled out a chair opposite her.
"May I sit?"
She nodded.
For several seconds, they looked toward the stove.
Then Loretta spoke.
"You found me."
Elias smiled.
"I did."
She looked toward him.
"You gave me the ribbon. You helped with the kitchen. You stayed when the mine collapsed."
He nodded.
She continued.
"And now the trouble is mostly settled."
Elias became very still.
He was beginning to understand.
Loretta looked down at her hands.
"You've done what you came to do."
For a moment, the room was quiet.
Then Elias said gently, "Is that what you think?"
She swallowed.
"I don't know."
He looked toward the worn blue ribbon beneath his shirt.
Then back at her.
"Loretta, when I came through that door, I wanted to know the woman who saved me was alive and safe."
She nodded.
He continued.
"I didn't know what kind of life she'd built. I didn't know whether she was married, happy, or wanted nothing to do with me."
Loretta glanced up.
Elias took a breath.
"But after I found you, I began learning who you are now."
He looked around the kitchen.
"The woman who kept fifty miners fed when the company wouldn't provide proper help. The woman who stayed beside frightened families while men worked underground. The woman who refused to change her books simply because powerful men wanted different numbers."
Loretta's eyes filled.
Elias continued.
"And the woman who can somehow make potatoes taste better than anything I've eaten in twelve winters."