Lusting For Elliot

:Part Two: Chapter Eighteen

We were all sticky and wet by the time lunch rolled around. Marigold, the housekeeper, had prepared the simplest lunch I'd ever tasted, and I loved it. Everyone ate up heartily. Jonny and I showed them places we could come up to, including the creek, the waterfall where we found most of our other friends, and we went jumping into the water pool below it.

Elliot had been stunned I'd done that, even more so when Jonny had no qualms about it.

"It seems prim and proper can get obnoxious and loud," he'd whispered as we stood out of the pool, attempting to dry against the cool weather.

I'd blushed, but leaned in closer to him. "We already knew that," I'd said, adding a wink in the end as I'd sauntered off.

That was something else as well. That feeling of 'done' loomed over us, I realised, and we tried to temper it down, but mixed with the 'complicated' feeling we both felt, it was stronger as the seconds went by.

We all rode to the town in horses, after a short, ten minute lesson for the novices, and I learned Elliot could be patient, ergo with a few dirty tricks. I showed them the honey fields where the ranch provided the local stores and some nationals with maple syrup. It was the sweetest thing, and I had to promise Elaine she could go home with a jar. We'd been a sight to all the other ranches as we'd passed their ranches. It was a short one-hour ride and we arrived rather early, early enough to find ourselves in the middle of a parade.

"I'd completely forgotten about this," I said, mouth tilting up in a smile.

"I didn't," Jonny said beside me, adjusting his glasses. He needed a tighter pair.

Elaine's brows were curious as she stared around her. "What is it?" Meredith asked. I knew when she saw it. "They have a carnival," her voice was full of excitement.

I laughed. "Yeah, it goes on during the whole pumpkin harvest," I said. "This is the last weekend so the shows will go on until tomorrow midnight. I think they have a dunking game if anyone wants."

Elliot turned to stare down at me, still tall even on his saddle. "Dunking game, huh?" he asked.

I blushed, but rolled my eyes. "And a nice strength game if you wish to try it." Elliot smirked.

"We could come tomorrow," Mathew said. "We'll be leaving towards evening, so why not push it back a little, enjoy the celebration until midnight?"

"Things always taste better when they're about to end," Elijah added, nodding his answer. Everyone gradually agreed to it, and we all moved to the town to get acquainted with it. Elaine went off with Mathew and Andrew to test out the qualities of a good wine as a store was pulling out samples. I shook my head at that.

Everyone else just departed, but I knew Jonny took Chris and Elijah down to the tech store. It was a new one we'd not seen a year ago. I stepped into the supply store and found many people in there already.

The list in my pocket, I took the time to calculate the numbers. So far they were of reasonable prices if compared to the quantity. The line moved slowly, and by the time I strode up to the counter I was sure I'd acquainted myself with every nook and cranny of the storehouse.

"I've got an order for Maple Grove," I said. The man on the other end peered over his spectacles at me. He nodded as his eyes rescanned the paper, noticing the adjustments I'd added in.

"Same as last year," he nodded. I frowned. No, it wasn't the same as last year. I'd just adjusted quite a lot of things in the paper. Considering the quantities our investors and consumers expected, MJ hadn't thought to expect a miss of yield and hadn't... my thoughts trailed off as I realised MJ had never made that mistake.