Legends

CHAPTER SIX: Saint Charles, Idaho

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The Coopers held their annual garden party on a sunny Saturday afternoon. It was always a lot of fun to see the entire town cramped up in one yard. Well, there was no fence that bordered the property, so even the middle of the street was used as part of the bar.

For the Hunters, there was no point in coming by car – or even by bike. After just two minutes walking, they had joined the town on the Coopers' property and were enjoying the festivities as well.

No one knew how or why the garden parties had started. Most didn't even remember the first party. But it had been a family thing that the current Coopers still lived up to.

Kay hadn't come with Elena, Emily and their parents. He had been visiting Stephen, his boyfriend of two days, and invited the man into town for the garden party.

Julie was lucky to have the nightshift at the hospital so that she could join the beginning of the party.

It didn't take long for Elena to find Asher. She groaned inwardly when she saw he was with his father and another man, but shook off the cold feeling that rushed through her bones.

With careful steps, she sneaked up on her boyfriend. When she was near enough, she held back a chuckle, then jumped on his back.

Asher almost fell over from the sudden weight that landed on top of him, and they stumbled forward, just avoiding Asher's father.

He set Elena back on the ground and turned to her, but she could not look away from his father's irritated face.

"I am- sorry," she stuttered to the man while trying not to bite her lip in shame and fear.

"You don't have to say sorry to my dad," Asher commented with a serious face. Then he grinned and added: "you should apologize to me!"

He moved closer and started tickling her. Finding it the opportune moment to rid herself of Asher's dad's presence, she ran away with the pretense of running from her tickling boyfriend. When she was far enough from the man, she did allow her fun with Asher to take over the cold feeling she had felt before. He had tackled her onto the ground and loaded her with tickles and kisses and many, many smiles.

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The hallway of the Hunters' house was silent as all eyes were on Mia and Carl Hunter. Their eyes were wide, but both faces carried different expressions.

Mia's was happiness and joy. Her open mouth was a smile, her hands were clasped together in front of her in a movement of joy.

Carl's expression was horror.

His daughter was gay. His daughter had taken her girlfriend home to meet her parents.

Elena could not deny she found her father's expression funny. How could the man not have seen that Emily fell for women instead of men? Wasn't it obvious from the moment she was born that Emily was not like Elena?

Without a word, Carl Hunter took his coat, opened the front door and walked out of the house. The door slammed shut behind him, making all the walls of the house shiver like an earthquake happened.

Before an awkward silence could fall, Mia's expression turned even happier than before as her eyes met Julie's.

"We should not let the food get cold," Mia said.

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Another walk by the lake. Another great time with Asher.

They would often do the same things, see the same things, feel the same feelings. But just like always, they liked it. They might walk by the lake they knew by heart. They might be able to tell just how many steps before the next tree. They might be able to name everyone who waved at them or greeted them with a nice: "hello Asher, Elena."

But Asher and Elena didn't know the words that would make them laugh. They didn't know when they would walk back home. They didn't know what the future would bring.

And still, in between all that familiarity and that uncertainty, they felt amazing. Just being with each other, forgetting their worries for a while – or venting about them – was all they needed. If only they had the time, Elena would do this every day with him.

Nightfall was her favorite time of day to walk by Bear Lake. But if Asher invited her for a walk during the daytime, she wouldn't say no!

On some walks, Asher would take his camera. He had found his passion for photography by taking pictures of the environment. Bear Lake was a very common occurrence on his social media. But then he had discovered that pictures had more feeling when a person was in it. And in the end, he had bought a backdrop so that the focus lay solely on the model.

Although he had many reasons for it, Elena was his favorite model. He repeated again and again that it was not only because he loved her, but also because she had something about her that made her splash when on the screen.

"You should make me your personal model," she offered as a joke, though she wasn't really joking.

Asher did not take it as one as he looked up from his camera.

"As long as you are 'my personal' I am happy."

She chuckled and shook her head.

"But seriously," she pressed, hanging on his arm in a way of begging more obviously. "Put these pictures on a website. Who knows, maybe we can get some money out of it."

He shook his head, his serious demeanor back on him.

"They're not good enough for that."

He lifted the camera to take another picture of the lake, but Elena wasn't persuaded that fast.

"Since when are you not confident?" she asked in exaggerated disbelief. Asher wasn't perfect, she knew that. And he had had many doubts. But overall he was the man with confidence, and Elena was usually the one who needed convincing.

He ignored her and turned his back to her. Like the road is more interesting.

"Asher," she pressed again, walking in front of him so he couldn't take the picture. "Just give it a try. For me?"

She batted her eyes, hoping it would persuade him like it did in the movies. Her hands rested on his arm. Maybe her touch could convince him?

Eventually, the gorgeous man sighed. "Fine."

Elena's smile was wide and satisfied when she gave Asher a grateful kiss on his lips.