Danny and Elise Ch. 10

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.

"I didn't know you were so into rocks...I like learning new things about you," a small smile spread over his lips as he squatted next to her after taking his own pack off.

"Did you put sunscreen on this morning?" Danny suddenly asked awhile later. Elise had gotten so into looking at all of the rocks along the shore, she had lost track of time. She wasn't sure if it had been 10 minutes or an hour.

"No, why?" her brows furrowed.

"You might want to put some on," he stifled a laugh.

"Meh," she grumbled at him playfully. "I need some more color. I look like a red-headed ghost, still, for as much as we've been outside lately."

"You're getting some color alright. A nice shade of red," Danny indicated under his own eyes and the top of his nose. Maybe they had been out there longer than she realized. It was rather exposed this time of day. The sun was directly over them.

"Meh," she said again, waving a hand at him dismissively and turning her back to him.

"Suit yourself," he chuckled behind her.

After scouring the beach for an hour or so and soaking their feet in the cool river water, Danny finally convinced Elise to continue on the "day's adventure", whatever that entailed. It was barely past 1 o'clock and both of their stomachs were rumbling again.

They didn't spend too much time at the falls, though Danny did talk her into letting another visitor take a few pictures of them together on his phone. She wasn't crazy about pictures of herself, but would admit that she would like to have more of them together. Elise was normally too busy taking pictures on her phone of all of the beautiful scenery and cool things they came across on their woodland adventures. She felt a little selfish as the kind stranger snapped some shots of them with the falls in the background, Danny with his arm around her shoulders. Wasn't she supposed to be the sentimental one to want pictures of them together?

"What's wrong?" he asked, concern on his face.

"Nothing," she shook her head and forced a smile. "Just lost in thought. Sorry."

"Ok," Danny replied skeptically, taking her hand. "How about we eat a snack real quick before our next destination? I promise I'm going to properly feed you soon."

"Ok," Elise laughed.

They found an empty picnic table in the shade nearby and relaxed.

"Thank God," Danny said out of nowhere.

"What?" Elise felt more alarmed than confused for some reason.

"I was afraid if I didn't get you out of the sun soon you might burst into flames," he laughed a little as he ate his protein bar.

"Is it that bad?" she began feeling self-conscious. Her face was feeling pretty warm, even being in the shade now.

"Your face is pretty red, babe. Did you bring a hat, by chance?"

"Maybe. I don't even remember. I feel like I left it in the truck," Elise grimaced. "I'll put some sunscreen on in a minute. I'm starving," she continued eating her own power bar.

"Don't bother. The damage has already been done," he grimaced. "Besides, we shouldn't be outside much for the rest of the day," Danny smiled mischievously.

"Oh?" Now she was really confused.

"Come on," he reached for Elise's hand across the table. "You got a little more in you for a short walk up the road?"

"Do I have a choice?" she teased.

"No, not really. Just wondering how tired you are, though. Don't want us to be old farts and miss the entire thing we came down here for just because we fell asleep early," Danny laughed.

"No, I'm good," her laughter joined his. "Just really hungry."

"I've got just the thing for that," he held up his finger and trudged on.

Real food at the restaurant located inside of the state park's inn was surprise enough. Elise had gorged herself, though Danny had warned her not to, but gave no reason as to "why", of course. She couldn't help herself. She always ate like a horse after hiking.

The real surprise came next, though, when he led her a little ways further from the inn to the area with cabins nestled beneath the pines.

"Here we are," Danny flourished with one hand toward the closest cabin. It was small, but in a good way. What realtors would describe as "cozy". It certainly looked that way to Elise, anyways.

"We're staying here tonight?" she asked, disbelieving. He always made such a big deal, joking or not, about staying all night at inns while visiting state parks.

"Yah," he replied non-chalantly, retrieving a foreign set of keys from one pocket.

"But, it's not camping," Elise said, still shocked, unmoving as Danny started down the long sidewalk to the cabin.

"No, but I never said anything about cabins, now did I?" he winked at her before continuing down the path.

"Who are you?" Elise whispered aloud to herself before following him inside.

The little cabin was even more charming in the inside. A rustic-looking handmade quilt topped the double bed in one corner. The kitchen table, chairs, and couch in the living area were all made out of thick, polished logs, the chairs topped in the cushiest-looking seat pads Elise had ever seen. A surprisingly large bathroom was situated between the kitchen and bedroom area. She looked around, speechless.

"Please tell me you've never stayed in one of these here," Danny looked to her with a pleased look on his face.

"No," she paused, still taking everything in. "Are you kidding? My mom is somewhat of a tightwad. She never would have let my dad book one of these." Her own words seemed to take a minute to sink into her brain.

"Danny! You must have spent a fortune on this!" Elise looked to him, eyes wide.

"It wasn't too bad," he laughed. "Besides, you might be surprised by how much money you can save up when you don't have a house or car payment," he walked over to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

"At least let me help pay for it," she turned to him, inches away from his face.

"Elise, you're being silly. This weekend was my idea, remember? Tell me you like it and that's payment enough," Danny looked down at her expectantly.

"No, I love it. I just can't believe you did this," she shook her head slightly.

"I told you. I wanted to do something special," he paused, lost in thought briefly. "Be honest: Are you having a good time so far?"

"Yes," Elise placed a hand on his chest. She loved the feel of his heart beating beneath her hand, but it left her wanting to place her head there instead. It was one of her favorite parts of lying in bed with him and she had a sudden desire to do just that right this moment.

"Good," Danny finally kissed her on the lips. "Because I have a few more surprises up my sleeve today," he grinned.

"Do I have time to take a shower before your next big secret?" Elise asked hopefully.

"Plenty of time," he squeezed her shoulder before releasing her.

The cool water felt good on her skin, washing away the sweat and grime of the day from her body. Most of all, it helped ease the burning of her face.

Elise had made the mistake of looking in the mirror above the sink before climbing in the shower. It could definitely be worse, but she hadn't been careless enough to get a sunburn in quite some time. She found herself wishing she had packed some aloe vera.

"Can I join you?" Danny's voice came from inside the bathroom as she finished rinsing shampoo from her hair.

"Jesus," Elise jumped. "I didn't even hear you open the door."

"Sorry," he opened the door to the shower stall and stepped in.

"Well, hello," she said with a knowing smile. He was up to no good. He hardly ever got in the shower with her unless he was feeling frisky.

"Hi," Danny's voice deepened as he leaned in to kiss her neck.

"What the hell has gotten into you?"

"I think the better question is 'What's going to get into you?'" his voice came muffled between kisses.

"Gross. Don't be crude," she laughed in spite of herself and pushed him away.

"I still need to wash," Elise insisted.

"Why? You're just going to get dirty again...I hope," he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Just between my legs," she whispered in his ear before nibbling on it.

"Elise!" Danny feigned shock.

"What? I can be dirty too. If you had any idea some of the things I thought about before we had sex for the first time..." she trailed off, letting his mind wander as she grabbed the soap and a wash rag.

"Let me," he reached around and quickly snatched the items away from her. "So, what kind of things?"