Danny's face healed quickly, thank God. It still made Elise upset every time she looked at him for the few weeks following the accident. She was especially glad his swollen eye went back to normal after a couple of days. Well, he could open it, at least. The bruise took weeks to completely go away. He was lucky he didn't break his eye socket. Or worse. Elise tried not to dwell on how much worse it could have been, but that proved more difficult than it sounded.
She didn't make any attempts at hiding her contempt for Bear at work a few days after the accident. He hadn't wanted to, but Danny had taken the first 3 days of the week off simply because he had no other choice, not being able to open his eye all the way. Thursday, as he and Elise sat in the lunchroom before clocking in, Bear approached them. His arm was in a sling.
"Hey, man. I just wanted to say again how sorry I am." Elise had never heard him speak so seriously. Still, she glowered at him.
"It could have happened to anyone," Danny shot a half-smile Bear's way.
"I guess. I just wanted to apologize again, buddy. I'll see ya around," Bear nodded to Elise, then paused, receiving the full brunt of her scornful look. From that day forward, according to Danny and from the few encounters she had herself, Bear, the big behemoth man that he was, was terrified of little ole Elise.
The next few months flew by. The winter storm disappeared just as quickly as it came and the temperatures started gloriously rising for good. Danny took her camping and kayaking, as promised in the beginning, which helped them grow even closer somehow.
They travelled all over the state on their weekends and one trip never seemed better than the other to Elise. They always had a good time, each excursion being special in its own way. They just enjoyed being able to unwind and spend time together. Paddling the same calm waters of a lake together or cooking a meal over a campfire together, miles from civilization, brought them each great joy, exponentially made better by doing it together. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but nothing was better than making love out in the middle of the forest in a tiny tent on a moonlit night, as far as Elise was concerned, either.
"Where should we go next?" Elise asked one Sunday night as they watched their favorite public access nature show. It had quickly become a ritual after she and Danny started spending more time at each other's homes instead of going out on dates.
"I was thinking somewhere special soon," he replied cryptically.
"Oh?" His simple sentence was all it took to pique Elise's interest.
"Yah. Maybe not next weekend, but what about, in a couple weeks, we go to Cumberland Falls," he paused for effect, "To see the moonbow?"
"Really?!" she responded a little too enthusiastically. She reminded herself of a school kid, promised a trip to the candy store.
"Yah," he laughed, clearly pleased with the fact that she was so excited about the idea.
"I've been wanting to go somewhere special for... A while. It seems like the perfect time. I even checked the moon cycle already. It will be a full moon on Saturday in two weeks." He let this information sink in.
"Wow, you've really done your research, it sounds like."
"Who knows what the weather will be like, being spring and all, but I think we should go regardless. We can stay at the," Danny faked a shudder, "inn, if we have to."
Elise laughed.
"You should know by now I don't care where we are as long as I'm with you," she leaned over and kissed him.
A little less than two weeks later and they were in Kentucky. Danny had planned a somewhat secretive trip for them. All Elise knew was that they were hiking to the falls at some point in time over the weekend.
She had a love/hate relationship with surprises. Most of which stemmed from self-admitted control issues. She got the sense that Danny enjoyed surprises, though, at least when it came to bestowing sweet ones upon her. Dinner at a new, high-class restaurant on Valentine's Day. A bouquet of flowers on their 6 month anniversary in April. (That one had really surprised Elise. How many men remembered things like that, let alone celebrate them in some way?) The occasional times he had woke before her and brought her breakfast in bed. Those surprises she didn't mind. If it had been anyone but Danny planning their weekend, she would probably acquire an acute case of anxiety over it. But she had come to trust him completely and could barely contain her excitement over whatever he had planned. Besides, he never had any bad ideas.
"So what are we doing first?" Elise couldn't help herself. She knew they were close.
Maybe he'll tell me as we go, right before we do things? One can dream.
"It's a surprise," he drew the last word out, amusement twinkling in his eyes.
"Alright, alright," she conceded. "I'm just really excited."
"I know you are," he placed a hand on her thigh. "And I'm glad," Danny glanced at her and smiled.
It was hard, but she managed to resist the urge to ask where they were going again a few miles later when Danny turned down a rough forest road instead of following the signs to the state park. They bumped and bounced along a few more miles until reaching a pull off next to the road. Though the main road wasn't that far, you could barely hear the distant whizzing of vehicles. They already seemed deep in the woods from their surroundings and they were just beginning.
Elise knew they would be backpacking at least part of the weekend, that much was obvious when Danny had lugged her pack and trekking poles into the bed of his truck. How far they would be hiking she had no idea. She tried to remember how many more miles to the state park the last sign she had seen said, but failed to recall. Not that it mattered anyway. Road miles were a lot different, usually more direct, than woods miles.
"Are you ready?" Danny asked 10 minutes later once they were both situated with their backpacks and everything else they needed for the next few days.
"As I'll ever be," Elise gave him a sideways smile, waiting with trekking poles in hand.
"Let the adventure begin," Danny replied grandiosely with a big grin on his face.
"This is truly the best," Elise said, taking in her surroundings. Currently, they were soaking their feet in the creek at the bottom of a multi-tiered cascade. Evergreens lined the shores on the steep rock faces that rose up around them.
It was a typical May day in Kentucky: Partly cloudy, upper-70's. Almost on the brink of being too warm, but the path had been mostly under tree cover, making it feel 10° cooler. The cool air rising from the falls made it that much more temperate. A cold chill ran up Elise's spine.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Danny asked, neck craned as well, looking around.
"I can't believe we're the only ones out here."
"It's a Friday afternoon, Elise," he finally looked to her, chuckling.
"Right, right, right," she spoke quietly, as if she would disturb her surroundings in some way if she spoke too loudly. She was happy Danny talked her into skipping work completely that day, taking their time to drive down instead of fighting rush hour traffic and getting there just as it got dark.
She'd never told him, but Elise did not look forward to the prospect of possibly hiking in the dark someday. Maybe she worried too much, but there were so many things that could go wrong. Falling down a hillside. Getting attacked by a startled bear. Getting lost. Nope. She had no desire to do any of those things. Another shudder passed through her body.
"You ok?" Danny furrowed his brows at her.
"I'm fine," she smiled. "Better than fine."
He scooted closer to her anyways and put an arm around her shoulders.
"We can stay here as long as you want, you know? We have plenty of time," he kissed her temple.
"Don't tell me that. I think I could stay here forever," Elise kissed him back on the mouth.
Danny and Elise took their time ambling to and finding a good spot to set up camp for the night. Mostly their decision was made by their chorus of growling stomachs.
Although they couldn't do much stargazing through all of the conifers, they sat on their sleeping bags outside of the tent after dinner, hand in hand next to each other, just listening to the water of the river rushing by a mere football field away as darkness settled over the woods around them. Elise wanted to stay in the moment forever.
She laid her head on Danny's shoulder, closing her eyes, and breathed a deep, highly contented sigh. After a while, she lifted her head and turned to kiss him. Breaking away after a long moment, he looked into Elise's eyes as if he were going to say something, but kissed her again instead. No words were needed anyway and Danny recognized that. He knew what she wanted.
She wanted to thank him for the day and the beautiful sights they had seen so far. She wanted to thank him for bringing her. She wanted to thank him for being him. She wanted to thank him for living her the way he did. There was only one way she wanted to show her gratitude in that moment and he knew it.
Any thoughts of bears, other woodland critters, or random passersby in the dusk flew from her mind as Danny laid her down and made love to her in the quiet chirpings of night and nothing else.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?" Elise asked innocently as they looked to each other, ready to head out in the morning.
"I hope you're ready for a big day. That's all you're getting out of me," Danny smiled, a twinkle in his eyes.
"Big day hiking or..." she trailed off.
"You're incredibly persistent when you want to be, aren't you?"
"Hey. A girl can try, right?" she smirked back at him.
"Come on," he reached for her hand. "We've got some miles to cover, first and foremost."
6 warm miles later and they were at the gravelly, coal-strewn beach below Cumberland Falls. It proved to be an even muggier day than the previous, their hike in alongside the river not as shaded. Their two saving graces had been the sun behind the hills to their left for most of the morning and the cool, misty air rising up from the river to their right. Still, they were getting warm. Elise absently wondered and hoped a shower was in today's plans or if she would have to resort to baby wipe baths as she had on some of their past trips.
"What's the matter?" Danny turned around, finally realizing Elise had stopped walking behind him.
"I wanna hang out here for awhile. This was one of my favorite spots here as a kid," she paused. "That's not going to ruin your big plans, is it?" she teased, exaggerating her words.
"No," he drew out, laughing good-naturedly, "But don't you wanna see the falls?"
"Of course. They'll still be there later, though, won't they?" she grinned slyly at him.
"Ok," Danny put his hands up in surrender.
"Come here," Elise motioned with her finger. "I want to show you something," she turned and headed toward the edge of the rocky beach.
"See?" she pointed to the partial view of the falls from their vantage point on the beach. "There they are. Have you never been out here before?"
"I guess not," he shook his head.
"Your loss. I could spend hours out here looking at all of the rocks," Elise set her pack on the ground and squatted down, picking up a flat, reddish one. She held it up for Danny to admire.
"What?" she laughed softly, seeing the strange look he was giving her.
