About preserving vegetables, stretching a roast across several meals, and making bread without expensive equipment.
Elias listened.
Really listened.
That was new.
Most people heard her speak about cooking and immediately assumed she loved food because of her size.
Elias asked questions about technique.
How did she soften tough beef?
Why brown onions before adding liquid?
How did she know when bread was ready without a proper oven thermometer?
She answered each question with increasing confidence.
Eventually he leaned back.
“You could feed my ranch hands with food like this.”
Lara smiled.
“I expect I could.”
“There are twelve men here during winter.”
“Then we'd need more potatoes.”
He laughed.
It was deep and unexpected.
Lara stared at him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You're laughing at me.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“I'm laughing because you just solved a problem I've been complaining about for three months.”
“What problem?”
“The men are tired of salt beef and hard bread.”
She glanced toward the pantry.
“I can understand why.”
He smiled again.
And something shifted between them.
The morning after her arrival, Elias returned from checking the horses to find breakfast waiting.
Warm bread.
Coffee.
Beef fried with onions.
He stopped in the doorway.
Lara stood near the stove.
“Good morning.”
He removed his hat.
“Morning.”
“I hope you don't mind.”
He looked toward the table.
“Mind what?”
“I made breakfast.”
He studied her.
“You're going to spoil me.”
She laughed.
“Hardly.”
He sat.
For the first time, he asked a personal question.
“What would you have done if I hadn't brought you here?”
Lara lowered her eyes.
“I don't know.”
“Gone back to Boston?”
“No.”
He frowned.
“Why not?”
“My brother doesn't want me.”
Elias set down his coffee.
“That's a cruel thing to say about yourself.”
She looked up.
“It isn't my opinion. It's his.”
She told him about Thomas.
The insults.
The constant criticism.
The letters.
The way her brother had made her feel like a financial burden despite the fact that she worked and paid for much of her own food.
Elias listened without interrupting.
When she finished, he looked toward the fire.
“Your brother ought to be ashamed.”
Lara lowered her eyes.
“I suppose he was ashamed. That's why he sent me away.”
“No.”
She looked up.
Elias met her gaze.
“He ought to be ashamed of himself.”
The words left her speechless.
Nobody had ever defended her that way.
Not a stranger.
Not a man.
Not someone who had no obligation to care.