On a high after her adventures with the soap, Gia decided to cook something nice for Elijah. He’d taken care of her since she’d arrived, as well as doing all the heavy chores, so it was about time she contributed.

She poked around the pantry and settled on a vegetable curry. She’d make flatbread cooked in a pan instead of rice to accompany it. Elijah had said there wasn’t any fresh meat, so something vegetarian would be a good option. Plus, Gia was still sensitive from the lard discussion earlier.

She collected as many types of fresh vegetables as she could find at the bottom of the pantry. Potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, onions. She left behind things like parsnips and turnips, since they wouldn’t work with the dish. She went through the jars which took up most of the pantry space. They all had dates on them, which must be the date they were canned, not the best before date. She found a few labeled ‘tomatoes’, most of which looked crushed, but a few were whole. That would work for the base. One jar was labeled ‘green beans’, a perfect addition. Plus some other bits and pieces she could use. She also found a few more spices squashed at the back of the pantry, which was more than she expected.

Elijah didn’t keep many pots and pans, so she took the chopped vegetables to the pot over the fire and made the dish in there. Once it bubbled, she focused on the bread.

Pride welled in her. She wasn’t completely useless. She hadn’t needed a recipe, and had managed to put together something tasty with limited ingredients.

This world was different, yes. But she could make it work. She’d proven that to herself. And maybe, just maybe, Elijah would be proud of her, too.

And even ask her to stay.

The thought caught her by surprise. It shouldn’t have. She was happy here, and she could see herself now, living her life like this. Making soap and cooking meals and sewing by firelight. She’d make some improvements to the house—a bigger bed for one thing—but overall she was safe and happy here.

And it didn’t hurt that she wanted Elijah fiercely.

Her gaze was drawn out the window and into the darkening twilight, in time to see Elijah heft a huge chunk of wood onto the tree stump he used to chop wood. The display of strength made her core clench with need. What would it be like to have that much power surrounding her, thrusting into her? Her face flushed hotly.

He’d said he liked her soft skin. That had to count for something, right? Maybe her attraction wasn’t one-sided. Maybe he wanted to lift her onto the kitchen bench and fuck her senseless, as she wanted him to.

She fanned her face and focused back on kneading the bread. It wasn’t long before her mind drifted again.

Raising children here would be nice. They’d be away from all the technology, the dangers of the city. She’d have to home-school them, but she wouldn’t mind spending the time with them. And then their dad could teach them about hunting and tracking and gardening…

Her mind trailed off. What had she been thinking? She’d been so caught up she’d cast Elijah as the father of her future children. They hadn’t kissed, hadn’t had sex, had known each other for only a few days. How could she know him enough for that, trust him enough? She was being ridiculous, she knew. Caught up in the romance of this place, and of the man. Of being protected and cared for, for the first time she could remember. But that didn’t build a relationship or a life.

But maybe she wanted it to.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound near the doorway. As always, she hadn’t heard Elijah’s footsteps, but had become attuned to his presence.

She turned to him with a welcoming smile, pride overtaking her again at her small achievement of cooking him a meal.

Only for it to die the second she saw his face.

He glowered at her. Fists tight, eyebrows low. Gia stumbled back as she recognized the signs of anger, her chest seizing.

“What. Are. You. Doing?” he asked, pronouncing each word through gritted teeth.

“C…cooking dinner,” she said in a small voice.

“I—” he broke off. His gaze went over the mess she’d made chopping the vegetables, the open pantry where she’d grabbed the cans, the fire where it all cooked merrily.

What had she done wrong? Why was he so furious with her? She swallowed past the lump in her throat.

His gaze came back to her. He must have seen her fear, because his face emptied of expression. He took a deep breath, then another, until the tension had dissipated from his body. She could see the effort it cost him to control his anger. She didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad one. Was it bad his temper was so potent it cost a lot of energy to control it? Or was it good he could control his temper even when it was bad?

Maybe both.

Her heartbeat eased to a normal pace as he calmed.

And still, despite all this, she didn’t know what she’d done.

She straightened her spine. “What’s wrong?” she managed to ask. She refused to be afraid of him. She’d spent so long living that life and she wouldn’t go back, not for anything.

“I usually cook to a plan,” he told her.

Gia frowned at him. All that anger because she’d messed with his schedule? “Well, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have something a little different tonight.”

He stared at her for a long moment, sighed, then turned and walked back outside. When he didn’t immediately return, Gia took the ready-to-eat food off the fire and then followed him into the darkness.

She found him at the edge of the clearing, staring out into the darkening wood. He didn’t turn at her approach, but he knew she was there. She stood beside him, searching for what, if anything, he saw in the darkness beyond.

He didn’t say anything. “I only wanted to do something nice,” she explained.

He sighed heavily. “I know. I’m sorry I got mad. I’m used to doing things my own way and not having to explain them to anyone else.”

Tentatively, Gia asked, “Why did you get mad?”

Elijah was silent for a long minute. Then, he turned towards her, running a hand through his hair. “Out here, my resources are limited. You know that.”

She nodded.

“To make sure I don’t run out, to make sure I always have a range of foods in the pantry, I plan what I eat, when, very carefully.”

“Oh,” Gia said, beginning to understand.

“I can’t use what’s in there when I feel like it,” he explained. “Because then I’d be left with turnips and asparagus and not much else. If I get stuck with that because I get sick or the snow comes in and I can’t hunt or get to town, then I’ll get more sick living off a too-small variety of food.”

“Turnips I understand, but you don’t like asparagus?” she asked, aghast.

The corners of his mouth twitched and he shook his head.

She threw back her shoulders and raised her chin as if he’d presented her with a challenge. “Well, you haven’t eaten them the way I cook them,” she told him, even though it had been years since she’d done much cooking at all.

“If you can find a simple dish that’ll make me enjoy asparagus, you’ll have changed my life.”

Gia relaxed at the easy banter. His anger had faded, and he must have forgiven her.

“It’s not only the schedule,” Elijah admitted after a moment. “There are other things to think about. How to prepare each vegetable so I can maximize its uses. For example, I want the rinds of the pumpkin to feed the chickens.”

“Yes, I didn’t think of that,” Gia admitted.

“And how will we store that much food in the pot? How long will it last?”

“Okay, I get it.” Tears gathered at the back of her eyes. She’d really messed up, and he was driving the point home quite well enough.

“Next time, maybe ask before making anything?” Elijah suggested.

Gia’s jaw worked to hold back her hurt. “I will.” He wasn’t being mean. She had no reason to be upset. But she still felt like a chastised child.

“I’m not angry. I was just surprised,” he told her, shuffling awkwardly.

“I understand,” she said. And she did. She’d been careless. She hadn’t considered he needed to be strict about what he ate, when. Though given the careful way he was with something as simple as salt, it should have occurred to her.

She’d thought she’d been getting the hang of this whole ‘living in the wilderness’ thing, but it was clear she still had a lot to learn. There were no safety nets out here. One wrong move and it could all come crumbling down.

“You know,” she said carefully. “If you sold your leatherwork at a better price, you could afford more supplies. Then you wouldn’t have to be so careful.”

Elijah snorted. “I appreciate your optimism, but I doubt anyone wants them.”

Gia grabbed his arm. “I’m serious. You don’t know what the world is like out there anymore. There’s this huge movement about handcrafted goods. They’re status symbols. Believe me, I should I know. I had them all.”

She could barely see his expression in the darkness, but his eyes were intent on her.

“You think so?”

“Why not?” she said. “Isn’t it worth a try?”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s not only that. If I get more goods from the store, I have to haul all them two days up a mountain to bring them back. It’s not like I can drive them to my door and make two trips to carry them to the kitchen. And then once they’re there, I only have limited space. Where will I store all this food you imagine I should have. Plus, there’s only one of me to feed. I don’t need a lot, Gia.”

Gia’s face twisted. His words were more than clear. He didn’t see her as a potential partner. “Well, if you had someone to go with you and help you carry it, you could get twice as much. Or what if you moved your cabin closer to town?”

He tore his arm from her gripped and stepped back. “I can’t do that.”

“I know it would mean starting over,” Gia persisted, “But then you wouldn’t be so isolated out here. You could socialize with your friends regularly, and it wouldn’t be so dangerous. You could go into town more, and—”

“Gia…”

“It wouldn’t be as dangerous. If something happened you could have a friend come and help. You could get to the store easier. And—”

“No, Gia.” His voice was hard like the mountain beneath them, freezing Gia’s words in her throat.

“Sorry,” she whispered. But she didn’t understand his stubbornness. What kept him out here? His refusal to consider making his own life easier both baffled and hurt her. Though why it caused her pain she couldn’t quite understand.

She rubbed her aching chest as he spoke.

“This was my father’s cabin. It’s all I have left of him. This is the place and the life I know. There’s no reason to change it. Not when I know how to manage it.”

“Not when you have silly city girls coming in and messing things up, you mean?” she asked, bitterness lacing her words. The tears were back, more insistent now.

“Gia…” he murmured placatingly.

“You know what, I’m sure you’re right. What do I know?” Hot tears burned at the back of her eyes. She’d been so proud of herself, but she’d only made everything worse. “I keep messing things up.”

“You don’t. You’re just not used to it,” Elijah said.

Gia swiped at tears. “Right.”

“Please don’t cry. Don’t be sad.”

“I’m not sad,” she lied. “But now that I’ve made the food, we should eat it. Don’t want my mistakes to go to waste.”

She turned and hurried back to the house. She had a few minutes to do some deep breathing to control her tears before Elijah followed her inside. By then she’d dished the cooling curry into bowls and was adding the flatbread.

She perched on the edge of the bed and Elijah eased himself into the chair across from her. He needed a table and chairs inside, too, though it would be difficult in the cramped space. There were lots of things he could do differently, improvements he could make. Some wouldn’t even cost any money.

A new bed, one that fit his size and allowed for a companion in it. He could make that, she was sure. A table and chairs for inside and out. An extension of the house for proper storage, so he could have his own bedroom, maybe by having the fireplace open out on both sides to warm both rooms at once.

He could make a greenhouse, so he could have more variety of food year-round. Though, she wasn’t sure he’d need to bring sheets of glass up the mountain. That might cause problems. He’d know more about it than her.

Plus, he could get himself electricity. The hydroelectric thing his friend Aaron had suggested. Then, Elijah could have more light in the evenings, and even better he could store foods for longer in a fridge and freezer.

For whatever reason, Elijah made life unnecessarily difficult for himself. Denied himself anything he perceived as a luxury. It could be that he’d decided his life was good enough as is and didn’t want to change anything because he was used to it.

But Gia suspected there was something deeper going on. Her curiosity had erased her sadness and frustration at feeling so silly and useless, so she took a bite of her food. It was tasty, at least, after all that fuss. She would have put a pinch more salt in it, but didn’t want to risk Elijah’s ire after their disagreement a few minutes before.

“It’s good,” Elijah told her, both surprised and sincere.

Gia scowled at him. “I’m a good cook,” she protested. Or, at least, she had been. She’d been inventive in her mother’s kitchen as a teen, creating delicious dishes out of whatever food they had left in the cupboards. A skill that would be useful out here, since Elijah did something similar. Gia and her family hadn’t been on a mountain, but they’d been unable to run to the shops for more ingredients because they hadn’t had the money.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” He sucked in a breath. “I don’t eat stuff like this. I don’t even know how to cook it. Lots of flavor.”

Gia beamed. Maybe he was only saying it to cheer her up, but she appreciated it all the same. “You’re a meat and two veg, kinda guy. Did your dad raise you that way?”

Elijah scrunched his face. “Yeah, I guess he did. We’d catch meat, grow vegetables, and eat them together. Even before we moved out here, our life was simple.”

“There’s a whole variety of stuff out there,” Gia told him. “Indian, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Ethiopian. You’re missing out if you only stick to meat and vegetables with no spices.”

He frowned down at the curry. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have more options.”

“Don’t you ever get bored of the food you eat?”

He shrugged, glancing at her. “I guess. But like I said, I have to stick to the schedule. It gives me the nutrition I need to keep going.”

Gia scoffed. “There must be a compromise. Add new things to the schedule.”

“Hard to experiment making new dishes when I don’t want to waste food.”

“That’s true. But I could teach you a few recipes while I’m here. If you’ll let me use some of the food.”

She gave him a hopeful look and he chuckled. His deep laugh tugged at something in her. He didn’t do it often, but it affected her when he did.

“Yeah,” he said. “Whatever you want. I’ll figure out the rest later.”

Gia’s heart swelled. On that companionable note, they finished dinner, and cleaned up together. She was intensely aware of him the whole time, but she was a little too raw and vulnerable from her upset earlier to think about the way he made her body react. There would be time for her to puzzle out what to do about it—about whether he felt the same—tomorrow.

Instead, they spent the evening as they had before. She with her sewing, him with his leatherwork. She’d have to learn to knit, she mused.

Provided Elijah let her stay.