She laughed through tears.
He continued.
"I came looking for the woman who saved my life."
His eyes filled.
"And I stayed because I love the woman she became."
They married in the first week of December, almost a year after Elias walked into the Copper Pot carrying an enormous quarter of elk.
The ceremony wasn't held in a church.
Loretta wanted it inside the cookhouse.
She said the place had witnessed the worst humiliation of her life and some of the greatest kindness she'd ever received. She wanted the room to become a memory of joy rather than a place that reminded her only of suffering.
Elias agreed.
Walter Boone helped build a sturdy platform near the wide front windows, decorated with evergreen branches and simple winter flowers. Thomas and Daniel arranged the tables, while Anna Mercer and the other women prepared food.
For once, Loretta wasn't responsible for cooking everything herself.
Her assistants insisted she remain out of the kitchen until the ceremony.
She protested.
They laughed.
Then Anna pointed toward the door.
"Today, you're a guest."
Loretta stared.
For a moment, she didn't know how to accept that.
Then she smiled.
"All right."
She wore a beautiful slate-blue dress made from soft, lightweight fabric, with a modest neckline and sleeves designed to move comfortably. It had been carefully tailored to her enormous body rather than forcing her into a style meant for someone else's shape.
Her brown hair was pinned loosely with small blue flowers.
She looked beautiful.
But what mattered most to her wasn't the dress.
It was the way she felt inside it.
She wasn't hiding.
She wasn't apologizing.
And she wasn't wondering whether the man waiting beside the stove would be disappointed when he saw her.
Elias wore a clean dark-brown suit with a simple white shirt.
His wolf-hide cloak hung near the doorway.
He'd refused to leave it at home.
Walter teased him.
"You're getting married, not hunting wolves."
Elias grinned.
"Never know what the weather might do."
The room filled with laughter.
Then Loretta appeared.
Elias looked toward her.
For a moment, he forgot how to breathe.
His eyes filled.
He stepped forward.
Then stopped, allowing her to approach at her own pace.
Loretta smiled through tears.
"You look handsome."
Elias laughed softly.
"And you look like the finest woman I've ever seen."
She blushed.
The preacher began.
The ceremony was simple.
There were no expensive decorations, elaborate speeches, or important guests from distant cities.