CHAPTER10
Ellis couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so excited to go on a picnic or to spend time alone with a woman. Not since Arianna and he had secretly met at the waterfall. With a sigh, he pushed the thoughts of her out of his mind.
She was gone. For just a moment, the old ache centered in his chest. She would want him to move on.
“What a gorgeous day,” Daisy said, sitting between the two of them on the bench of the wagon.
Her thigh was snug against his own and with every bump on the road, he could feel her bouncing against him. It felt good. Too good.
“Wait until you see the falls,” Lee said. “They’re beautiful.”
“You’re taking me to a waterfall?”
“Yes, it’s where we get the name Treasure Falls,” Lee told her.
The road out to the waterfalls was lined with pine trees reaching to the sky. Birds flitted from the branches, calling out to one another. This was what he loved about his home. It was such a peaceful place unlike any of the cities he’d seen in the south.
“There is a legend about the falls. If you look into the water, some days you can see the reflection of someone you love who has passed this world.”
Sometimes Ellis wondered if he could see Arianna. He’d glanced in the water several times, but so far, he had yet to see her face. And maybe that was for the best.
“Have you seen anyone,” Daisy asked, glancing at each man.
“No,” Lee said.
“No,” Ellis said. He would have even liked to have seen his parents’ faces, but so far nothing.
The wagon wheel hit a rut, and Daisy bounced against him and then Lee. It was going to be a long day if he kept feeling her body slam against his. Every time, his cock seemed to perk up and say please, again.
“Is that why it’s called Treasure Falls? Because you sometimes see people in the reflection of the water?”
Lee picked up her hand and held it in his. “Once, there was an Indian warrior who loved the chief’s daughter. But the chief didn’t think he was the right brave to marry her. So he told the warrior if he could find the lost treasure of the Absaroka Range, he could marry his daughter. The old chief didn’t believe in the treasure.
“The warrior loved the girl and he searched for months, finally, he came back and told the chief that the treasure was in the falls near Helena. The chief didn’t believe him and refused to let the warrior marry his daughter. The two ran off. The chief had the warriors in his tribe go after them. When they were about to be captured, the couple confessed their love for one another and dove into the falls together. They died in each other’s arms. Now you can sometimes see the faces of your dead loved ones there. The legend of Treasure Falls.”
For a moment, they were all silent as they thought of the two young people dying together.
“That’s sad and brave,” she said.
“Yes,” Lee told her. “But today, we’re going to have a delicious lunch prepared by Aunt Grace’s cook and spend the afternoon getting to know one another.”
She smiled. “That sounds like fun.”
Ellis turned the horses down the road that led to the falls and immediately the water splashing down over the mountainside into the pool below was heard. When he pulled the wagon to a stop, he glanced around to make certain they were alone.
Wildlife liked this area and he didn’t want to startle a bear or a mountain lion or even an elk or a deer.
Lee stepped out of the wagon and reached back to help Daisy alight. With his hands around her waist, he lowered her to the ground.
“Thank you,” she said, glancing around. “I want to peer into the water.”
With a little skip, she ran to the water’s edge and glanced in.
“What do you see?”
“A blonde woman staring back at me,” she said with a laugh. “She’s such a lucky woman. She has not one but two men courting her. But she’s not dead.”
They grinned at her. Ellis liked this playful side of Daisy and hoped they would see more of it today. They had much to talk about.
A fish splashed in the pond not far from her and she giggled. “We should have brought fishing poles.”
“People don’t fish here, not at this pond. Someday we’ll go to another pond, but not now,” Ellis said, taking the blanket and the picnic basket out of the back of the wagon. He walked to where they weren’t close enough to get splashed by the waterfall but could enjoy the scenery.
“Do you like to fish?” Lee asked.
“I’ve never been,” she said. “That was not an activity that a young society woman participated in.”
She walked away from the pond and sank down on the ground on the blanket that Ellis had spread. One could see from her movements, her mannerisms, and even her speech, that she had been brought up to be a southern belle. Why would she come here?
“What made you decide to become a mail-order bride?” he asked.
Opening the basket, she pulled out plates, napkins, silverware, and the food. “Oh, look she sent us apple pie. Maybe we should start with that.”
Then she opened the other containers and dished out cold fried chicken, corn, and potato salad.