Everyone Ignored the Quiet Cook—Until a Mountain Man Asked About Her Cornbread
Chapter 12
Winter returned.
Elias asked Clara to visit his cabin.
She had been there before.
But this time, something was different.
There were two chairs beside the fireplace.
Two cups on the shelf.
Two blankets folded on the bed.
Clara looked around.
“You changed the house.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I got tired of one chair.”
She laughed.
“You are terrible at this.”
“At what?”
“Courtship.”
He looked genuinely confused.
“I thought I was doing well.”
She stepped closer.
“You are.”
He touched her hand.
“Would you stay?”
“For how long?”
“As long as you want.”
She smiled.
“That sounds familiar.”
“It should.”
“You said that the first night.”
“I meant it.”
Clara looked at him.
“I am afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“Of being happy.”
Elias understood.
“You don’t have to decide today.”
She leaned against him.
“That is why I trust you.”
He kissed her forehead.
Nothing more.
Outside, snow began falling.
Inside, the fire burned.
For the first time in her life, Clara did not feel like someone waiting for the next thing to go wrong.
She felt home.
