Then Clara said:
“I want to change the deed.”
His expression changed.
“Why?”
“I want my half to pass back to you if I die.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“No?”
“It passes however you choose.”
“I choose you.”
He stared.
Clara smiled faintly.
“Do you hear the difference?”
He did.
Slowly.
Yes.
“If I leave,” she said, “I want the right to keep what is mine.”
“You do.”
“If you hurt me, I want that freedom.”
“Yes.”
“But if I stay…”
She took his hand.
“…I want you to believe I stayed.”
Elias looked toward the water.
“You don't owe me proof.”
“I’m not proving anything.”
“I’m deciding.”
He squeezed her fingers.
The spring thaw came late.
With it came mud, work, and the first year in which Clara felt the cabin truly belonged partly to her.
She planted herbs near the porch.
Elias insisted nothing grew at that elevation.
Clara produced parsley purely out of spite.
He claimed the soil deserved credit.
They argued for three days.
Clara started a small sewing trade with women in town.
Not because Elias needed money.
Because she did.
Her own money.
The first time she earned five dollars, she put it into a tin beneath her clothes.
Elias saw.
Said nothing.
Two weeks later, he built a small locking box.
Placed it on her shelf.
No explanation.
Clara stared at the box.
“Elias.”
He was repairing harness.
“Yes?”
“Did you make this?”
“Yes.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“Why does it have a lock?”
He did not look up.
“Because your money is yours.”
She crossed the room.
Kissed his cheek.
Elias froze.
Clara smiled.
Then walked away.
He sat motionless for a full minute.
“Clara.”
“Yes?”
“That was unfair.”
“What?”
“You cannot do that and then start kneading bread.”
“Watch me.”
Their marriage changed after that.
Slowly.
Naturally.
A kiss while passing at the doorway.
His hand on her waist only after she leaned into him.
Her head against his chest during thunderstorms.
Then one evening in June, Clara closed the cabin door again.
Not because she was afraid.
Because mosquitoes had arrived.
Elias was washing at the basin.
She stood behind him.
“Elias.”
He turned.
Clara wore her nightgown.