Chapter 5 - ELIAS
They waited twelve days.
Ruth would not allow Abigail to travel sooner.
“You nearly delivered those children in a snowbank. You can survive twelve days of my bossing.”
Abigail complained.
Ruth ignored her.
Daniel built a proper cradle.
Jacob helped badly.
By the time they left for Durango, Abigail could walk without trembling.
Ruth stayed with the twins at an inn near the infirmary while Abigail and Daniel went inside.
“You don’t have to come,” Abigail told him.
“I know.”
“Then why are you?”
“Because you look like you might run.”
“I might.”
“Exactly.”
Elias was thinner than she remembered.
His left arm was bandaged.
A healing cut crossed his forehead.
He sat near a window reading when she entered.
At first, he did not look up.
Then Daniel cleared his throat.
Elias turned.
The book fell from his hand.
“Abby?”
She stopped breathing.
For months, she had imagined this reunion.
In those fantasies she slapped him.
Screamed.
Turned away.
Instead she stood frozen.
Elias rose too quickly.
Pain crossed his face.
“Abigail.”
“You wrote.”
He almost laughed from disbelief.
“Every week.”
“My father hid them.”
Elias closed his eyes.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“You came back.”
“Yes.”
“He said I sent you away.”
“I didn’t believe him.”
“Then why didn’t you find me?”
The question came out sharper than she intended.
Elias absorbed it.
“Because three days later the survey crew left for Silverton.”
“I know about the avalanche.”
He nodded.
“When I woke up, I had been here nearly two weeks.”
He looked at Daniel.
“Who are you?”
“Daniel Mercer.”
Elias waited.
Daniel said:
“I found Abigail during the storm.”
Elias’s face changed.
“What storm?”
Abigail told him.
Not every detail.
Enough.
Samuel.
The wagon.
The snow.
Labor.
The cabin.
Elias sat down slowly.
“He left you?”
“Yes.”
“And the babies?”
“Alive.”
His face broke.
“Babies?”
Abigail almost smiled.
“Twins.”
Elias cried before seeing them.
When Ruth brought them in, he seemed afraid to touch either child.
The little girl was named Clara Ruth.
The boy, Benjamin Elias.
“You used my name?”
Abigail looked at him.
“I chose before I knew you were alive.”
That almost broke him again.
He held Benjamin first.
The baby immediately started crying.
Elias panicked.
“What do I do?”
Ruth answered:
“Give him to someone competent.”
Abigail laughed.
Eventually Elias held both.
The room became warm in a way no fire could produce.
But happiness did not erase reality.
Later, when they were alone, Elias asked:
“What happens now?”
Abigail stared.
He immediately corrected himself.
“No.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“I was about to ask you to marry me.”
She went still.
Elias continued.
“And maybe one day I will.”
He looked toward the twins.
“But everyone has been telling you what your life must be for nearly a year.”
Abigail said nothing.
“So I’m not doing that.”
He swallowed.
“When I can work again, I’ll support them.”
“Our children.”
“Yes.”
“Even if I don’t marry you?”
“Yes.”
That answer mattered more than a proposal.
Abigail sat beside him.
“I loved you.”
“Loved?”
She gave him a look.
He smiled faintly.
“Fair.”
“I don’t know what I feel now.”
“Fair again.”
“I thought you abandoned me.”
“I know.”
“I hated you.”
“You had reason.”
“I also wanted you every day.”
Elias’s eyes filled.
“You have time.”
Abigail looked at him.
“For what?”
“To decide.”
No one had ever given Abigail time.
May you like
She realized then that love might feel less like being claimed and more like being allowed to choose.
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