“Well,” he said at last, “you did the shooting.”
“I know that.”
“And the first dressing?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.“But if Ella helped with the carrying, sorting, wrapping, and deciding what would sell best, then she did more than lend a hand at the edges of things.”
Lula folded her arms.“Exactly.”
“Katie agreed with her that twenty-five percent was her share.I couldn’t argue anymore.”
Sebastian glanced at Lula, and a smile tugged at his mouth.“Then I’d say you’ve both done exactly what I’d expect of you.”
Lula frowned.“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” he said, “that you are trying to give away more than you must, and Ella is trying to take less than she’s owed, and between the two of you, perhaps the truth lies somewhere in the middle.But if the matter is already settled at twenty-five percent, then I advise you not to reopen it unless you enjoy freezing in the path while arguing with one another.”
Lula laughed.“You make me sound impossible.”
“No,” he said, and now his smile was clear.“Just determined.”
Lula moved to the stove and lifted the lid to see if the water inside was near boiling.The cabin felt different this evening—warmer, though the fire was no larger than usual, and fuller somehow, as if the success of the day had come in with them and settled itself on the walls.She had gone out hunting many times in her life, had sold meat before, had carried game home on aching arms, and counted out hard-won coins.But this felt different from those other days.Back then, every rabbit or deer had meant survival.A little more time.A little less fear.Today had been work, but it had also felt like the beginning of something.
“She put the amount to my account,” Lula said over her shoulder.“Most of it, anyway.And she made a separate note for Ella’s portion.She said she liked an arrangement that could be written down.”
“That sounds like Katie,” Sebastian said.
“It does,” Lula admitted.“And she bought enough that I think we may actually do well at this.”
“Lula,” he said, and there was something quieter in his voice now.“You already are doing well at it.”
She was surprised for a moment at how much his approval meant to her.She’d rarely received it.But Sebastian gave it freely.
“I mean it,” he added, as if he had seen at least some of that cross her face.“You’ve built this with your own hands.The hunting, the cold house, the arrangement with Katie.You saw what could be done and then went out and did it.I don’t know why that should surprise me anymore, but somehow you still manage it.”
Lula lowered her eyes briefly, pretending to fuss with the kettle, though it needed no fussing.“Well,” she said, because the warmth in her chest made her voice feel unsteady, “I did not do all of it alone.”
“No,” he said.“And that’s a good thing too.”
Lula told the story of Katie’s inspection in fuller detail—how she had untied each parcel, how she had approved the cuts, how briskly her pencil had moved over the ledger page.Sebastian listened with an attentiveness that made the tale feel worth telling.
“We should bring Katie more next week,” she said, half to herself and half to him “Not everything at once.Enough to keep the account growing, but enough left back for winter.”
Sebastian lifted his own cup.“Then I suppose I’m married to a woman with a proper enterprise.”
Lula glanced at him over the rim of her tea.“You say that as if you’re pleased.”
“Iampleased.”
“With the enterprise?”she asked.
He held her gaze.“With all of it.”
Lula smiled and looked down.But the smile stayed with her all through the rest of the evening.
