He looked down at the wood in his hands.“It’s a rabbit in mid-hop.”
“I can’t wait to see it when it’s done!”
“I can’t either.I never know exactly how something will look until I’ve finished it.”
“We need to find a way to display your animals.You are truly gifted.”
He shrugged.“I never thought so, but thank you.”
“I wonder if there’s somewhere we could sell them.”
“No one would want to buy them.Besides, I like to have them all here.I feel like Noah, surrounded by animals.”
She laughed.“Imagine how big that boat must have been.”
“I’m not sure I even want to think about it.”
They passed the day with him carving his rabbit, and her working on the gown for Belle’s baby.When she grew tired of sewing, she worked on crocheting a hat.With winter upon them, she was certain some of the men around town would need new hats.
“I have some rabbit for supper tonight,” she said when it was time to start supper.“I can fry it or make it into stew.”
“Stew sounds better.With as cold as it is outside, I like to have soups and stews a lot.”
“Stew it is.”She got up and started supper.While she was working, he checked the wood pile and decided to bring in a few more armloads of wood.It would have to dry before they could burn it, so it would be best if it was in the house for a while.
When supper was ready, he carried his own bowl of stew to the table.“I don’t think I realized how much I missed good home cooking until you started cooking for me.It’s nice to have a break from hardtack and jerky.”
“If I live to be a hundred, I don’t ever want to have to eat hardtack and jerky again,” she said.“I had more than enough of it on our journey here.If I hadn’t been so hungry, I would have stopped eating altogether.”
He laughed.“It’s been my main diet for years.”
“And I don’t know how it didn’t make you crazy,” she said.“I must confess to being spoiled.We had someone to cook for us at the hotel, and we had a good variety of meals.”
“Are you glad you don’t work there anymore?”he asked.
She nodded.“I don’t think I would have left if I hadn’t been fired, but I’m so glad I did.I’d rather be married to you than work for that place any day.”
“But I think you must still work as hard as you did there.”
“I do.But...I get to choose what I’ll do each day.I bake in the mornings, and then I have the rest of the day free to forage, or cook, or clean, or sew...I feel truly free in a way I never felt free at the hotel.”
“I can understand that.I work hard all week, and then I work on the weekends as well, but on the weekends, I do the work that I want to do.It’s nice to have choices.”
“I feel bad that I wasn’t able to take anything to the store today.The men count on the food Belle and I provide.”
“They can have hardtack and jerky for a few days.It won’t hurt them one bit.”
“I guess not,” she said.“I shouldn’t feel responsible for all the men in town.”
“No, you really shouldn’t.You’re responsible for feeding me and no one else.”
She smiled at him.“You are my first priority.The other men don’t matter at all when I compare them with you.”
“Then why do you work so hard to feed them?”he asked.
“Because I need to always be productive.I’ve been employed for a number of years, and I don’t think I’d be satisfied not working.And there’s a need here.I feel like I’m doing something good for people.”
“And doing good makes you feel better about yourself?”he asked, knowing that’s how he’d always been.
