SIGNS OF SPRING... and better times (Part 32e)

The one thing that I did know and that was that I was very cold. The ambient temperature by the lake was probably around 70 but, the further up the stream (we were actually walking up a gorge by then) we walked the cooler it got. Of course, when you have wet clothes on and a breeze blows by it makes you even cooler, and that was my state at that time. I would’ve gladly gone back to the lake at that time but Elle really wanted to see the waterfall. We walked about 10 minutes and by then the walls of the gorge were closing in on us. The path got narrower and there was definitely a breeze blowing past us. We could hear the roar of the falls and the girls said they felt like a fine mist on their arms and legs. The path made a jog to the right and got very narrow. It looked like a boulder had fallen on the path. At that point we knew the falls were right there. But, the mist could now be visably seen blowing past the boulder and the girls stopped, not sure if they wanted to get wet. Already wet, I volunteered to go out to look. The water was falling about 130 feet and landing into a natural pool. The force of the water from the falls hitting the pool was what created the mist. I called the girls to come out to take a look. Elle’s friends wanted to get closer but Elle wanted no part of it. That surprised me. The two of us ducked back behind the boulder and I asked what was wrong. Because the path was so narrow there we were actually semi blocking the path either to or from the falls. Elle led the way back to a place where we weren’t in the way. I was still curious as to why she didn’t want to go on. She, using her eyes, got me to look at her crotch. I knew immediately.

We made our way back to the lake with me trying to block anyone from seeing what was, this time, obvious. When we had stepped out from behind the boulder and seen the action of the water it triggered a reaction on her part. When we got back to about the place where I had my issues with Lois we were able to step off the path and had a little privacy. As opposed to the situation earlier, this time the wetness was obvious and, with enough light, you could actually see the yellowish tinge to it.

My mind was constricted at that point. I was cold enough to be shaking and very uncomfortable yet I was concerned about Elle and her potential embarrassment. When we got back to the picnic area I was surprised to see that many of the people had left. I knew I wanted to get my shirt off and into the sun to get warm but I also knew we better get a ride locked up before it was too late. I hated to have Elle walking around like that but I didn’t really know that many people, especially those with cars. She wasn’t happy about it but was a “trooper“ and secured us a ride. What was interesting about that was the girl who offered the ride noticed Elle’s ”spot“ and commented (to Elle) that she’d also been ”caught short“ that day. I was sort of upset with Elle because she didn’t tell me about it until later that evening. At least, for Elle, hearing the other girl admit she too had a problem helped temper her embarrassment.

Other planned Sorority activities that evening prevented me from discussing my Summer plans with Elle. I wanted to be alone with her and wanted her complete attention when I told her. That meant I had to do it on Sunday. Because we’d been doing Sorority activities on Saturday we hadn’t studied at all. Elle had it in her mind that we’d spend most of our time together on Sunday, studying. That made my task even more difficult. I’d gotten it in my mind to go to ”The Pines“, the treed area next to the football stadium to talk with her. Elle would have none of it, knowing how easily it was to be tempted by things other than studying. We compromised and settled on the stadium itself. She knew there would be people coming and going all the time to keep me/us from getting ”off topic“. Worst case was that I'd get a couple of "free shows".

Even though I was turning pages in one of my texts I wasn’t concentrating. I kept going over my ”pitch“ to her on why staying and working with the horses was really a smart thing to do. When Elle said she wanted to go to the SU to use the bathroom I started talking. (Now I don’t want you to think that the subject had never come up. I just never focused on it. Ever since our ”close call“ during the Winter where I’d contacted my Grandfather’s trainer about a job, it was a topic that lay just beneath the surface. I’d mention it, on a very casual basis, and we’d end up ”dancing“ around it.) Elle stood up and I grabbed her hand and told her I needed to talk to her. She sat down and I started in. I’d pretty much polished my ”speech“ so it flowed rather easily. I watched Elle’s eyes the whole time and had expected a negative reaction. When I pretty much finished up she said something along the lines of ”What took you so long to tell me?“ and with a smile on her face. That blew me away.

The long and short of it was that she had pretty much figured it out on her own. We had a very good talk and everything was positive. She agreed with my thinking and said it was far better to find out if training and racing horses was my ”thing“ before we got married. When the subject of marriage came up I told her I thought it was time to make our engagement public. She, faithfully, wore the ring every time we were together and I figured this would be a good time to do it and bring it out in the open. We decided to do it as soon as we got home.

To be continued...