She looked tired.
Her knees were troubling her, and a long morning had left her shoulders aching.
Elias approached.
"Let me finish that."
Loretta looked up.
"I've nearly got it."
He reached toward the papers.
She placed one hand over them.
"Elias."
He stopped.
She looked directly at him.
"I appreciate the help. But I need to finish the order myself."
For a moment, he looked confused.
Then he understood.
He had been treating her exhaustion as permission to take over.
He stepped back.
"I'm sorry."
Loretta's expression softened.
She sighed.
"I don't mind asking for help. I just need to know I'm still allowed to decide when I want it."
Elias nodded.
"You're right."
He moved toward the stove.
"Would you like tea while you work?"
Loretta smiled.
"That would be lovely."
He prepared it.
Then sat quietly nearby, carving a wooden handle while she completed the accounts.
When she finished, she looked toward him.
"Could you carry these to the office tomorrow?"
Elias grinned.
"Gladly."
She laughed.
And he realized that love wasn't making her dependent on him.
It was allowing them both to become more fully themselves.
The blue ribbon remained a part of their life.
Elias continued keeping it beneath his shirt, folded carefully inside a small leather pouch. Sometimes Loretta caught him touching it when he was thinking, and she smiled at the familiar gesture.
One evening, she asked whether she could examine it.
He handed it to her.
She studied the worn fabric.
The original knot remained.
The stitches she'd made twelve winters earlier had begun loosening, but the ribbon was still recognizable.
She looked toward him.
"You could've replaced this years ago."
He smiled.
"Wouldn't have been the same."
Loretta traced the thread with one finger.
Then she laughed softly.
"I remember being angry when I had to use it. It was the only nice ribbon I owned."
Elias stared.
"Really?"
She nodded.
"My aunt gave it to me for my birthday."
His expression changed.
"Loretta, I didn't know."
She smiled.
"Of course you didn't."
Then she looked at him.
"I thought a man's life was worth more than a ribbon."
Elias's eyes filled.
He took a slow breath.
Then he said, "I spent years trying to understand why you helped a stranger when you had so little yourself."
Loretta looked toward the window.
For a moment, she considered the question.
Then she answered simply.
"Because you needed help."
Elias stared.
She smiled.