Donners Bend (6 page)

“Look,
Marcelle,
”
Ellie
said, trying to calm her down, “I’m sorry I lied, but I only did it to protect you.”

Marcelle
tried to interrupt, but
Ellie
stopped her:

“I knew you’d be angry, and I didn’t want you to assume anything
. 
I know you believe right now that I’m in love with
Jon
also, but I’m not
. 
He’s a very nice man, but we’re only friends
. 
He’s all yours,
Marcelle.
 
Go ahead and take him
. 
I’m not stopping you.”

Marcelle
looked at her suspiciously, “You aren’t lying again, are you?”

Ellie
shook her head.

“Good,”
Marcelle
breathed a sigh of relief, “So everything’s okay
? 
There’s no ill will between us anymore.”

“No, everything’s just fine.”

Marcelle
smiled, “Well, we’d better return to the parlor, shouldn’t we
? 
I’m sure
Jon
’s been waiting long enough.”

Ellie
nodded, and they returned to
Jon
with towels at hand.

Marcelle
took
Jon
up on that dinner offer, and
Ellie
had to sit through the whole night watching
Marcelle
act like the little coquette she was and flirt madly with
Jon
. 
Once or twice she got
Jon
out of it for she knew he wasn’t comfortable, but if she stopped
Marcelle
too often, she knew
Marcelle
would become angry.

The whole weekend ended up going the same way
. 
Marcelle
pleaded every morning that they go see
Jon
and
Ellie
reluctantly agreed
. 
She knew
Jon
didn’t want to see
Marcelle,
but she couldn’t let
Marcelle
know this; her spirit would be crushed
. 

Of course,
Ellie
never really knew if her idea that
Jon
wasn’t very fond of
Marcelle
was true
. 
Until Sunday afternoon, that is
. 
The threesome were over at Ol’
Smith
’s, helping
Jon
set up some
new items in the back and talking casually as they worked
. 
Marcelle
soon became quenched with thirst and left to get a glass of lemonade at a store down the road.

Jon
waited a few seconds, making sure she was really gone, before he spoke.

“Can I ask you something, Ma
e
?” he asked.

“Of course
, w
hat is it?”

He scratched his head uncomfortably, “It’s about
Marcelle.”

“Yes?”

“Well,” he paused, “Is it just me, or does she seem really desperate
? 
Desperate for a man, a sweetheart, I mean.”

Ellie
sighed, “No
. 
It’s not just you.”

“She seems to always be coming on to me, and it’s really starting to get awkward,” he said as he sat down on the counter Indian-style
. 
Ellie
came to sit beside him, but she let her feet hang off the edge.

“I mean, she’s a nice girl and everything,”
Jon
continued, “And if she weren’t always trying to be such a flirt, I think I might be interested in being friends with her
, but
with the way things are right now, I’m afraid we’ll never be able to become friends
. 
Not with her always interested in something more than that.”

“I’m sorry
Jon
. 
I’ve noticed that to, but
Marcelle
is a very determined person and it’ll be quite hard to change her
mind
so soon into the game
. 
The only way I can think that we could change her mind is if we found someone she was more interested in than you
. 
Or,” she paused, “I suppose if she knew that you were in love with someone else, she might consider you a hopeless cause.”

“I’ve got it!”
Jon
exclaimed, “I’ll just tell her I’m in love with you.”

“With
me?”

“Yes!”
Jon
said with a smile, “I’ll tell her I’m madly and desperately in love with you and that no one in the world could ever take your place in my heart.”

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?”
Ellie
asked, “She might become angry at me because I’ve stolen the attentions from the man she wanted so badly.”

“Surely not,”
Jon
promised, “I’ll make sure she knows that nothing and no one could ever deter me from lusting after my wonderful
Ellie
Ma
e
, but that if I did she would have been the perfect candidate
. 
I’ll ask for her help in winning your affections and she won’t be able to deny assisting me
. 
I promise you, Ma
e
, nothing will go wrong.”

At that very moment
Marcelle
returned with a tray of three glasses of lemonade and a smile upon her face.

“Sorry it took so long,” she apologized, “But I thought I’d get each of you a glass too.”

“How very thoughtful of you,” said
Jon
, taking his
glass
.
 
He gave
Ellie
a mischievous smile and said, “But you know what goes great with lemonade
? 
What we’re missing?”

“No, what’s that?”
Marcelle
asked innocently.

“Chocolate chip cookies
, t
hey make the best over at the bakery just across the lane,” he said, giving
Ellie
a wink.

Ellie
nodded, catching his intentions, and slid off the counter saying, “I’m awfully hungry
. 
Why don’t I go pick us all up some cookies?”

“Sounds like a plan to me,”
Jon
agreed
. 

Ellie
left to pick up the cookies, and on the way she made sure to walk as slowly as she could, so as to give
Jon
lots of time to talk with
Marcelle.
 
She returned to the shop about ten minutes later with a box full of hot cookies
. 

As she and
Marcelle
sat at home that evening,
Marcelle
confessed that she had some “wonderful news” to share.

“Yes, what is it?”
Ellie
asked, though she knew quite well what the news was.

“While you were gone today, and
Jon
and I
we
re
left alone, he confided in me to keep a secret for him.”

“Well, what’s the secret?”

Marcelle
smiled knowingly, “I know why
Jon
has always been so oblivious to my advancements,” her eyes glittered, “He’s in love with you,
Ellie
.”

Ellie
, putting on her best acting skills, laughed uncomfortably, “Surely that’s not so
. 
Are you lying to me,
Marce
?”

“No, no, of course not, h
e told me so himself.”

“Well,”
Ellie
took a deep breath and let it out, “That certainly wasn’t news I’d expected,” she looked up at
Marcelle
guiltily and asked, “You’re not angry with me are you
? 
Because I know you wanted
Jon
so much
and
...
”

“Angry?”
Marcelle
laughed, “Well, of course I’m not angry
. 
I’m happy for you
! 
Can you believe your luck
? 
Jon
really is a wonderful man
. 
He’s so sweet and handsome, and oh, he’s just perfect for you
Ellie
.”

“Do you really think so?”
Ellie
asked innocently with a slight smile.

“Oh, yes.”

In truth,
Marcelle
was very happy for her friend, for even though she had fallen for
Jon
she hadn’t wanted to marry him or anything like that
. 
She just wanted a little fun
, but
still, in the very bottom of her heart, she was jealous of
Ellie
for she still had feelings
for
Jon
. 

Marcelle
left that afternoon
. 
Only twenty minutes after her carriage had faded into the distance,
Jon
’s horse Penny came bounding up
the lane
again
. 
Ellie
let him in and they set up a game of checkers in the parlor.

“Brilliant plan I had, don’t you think?”
Jon
asked as he moved one of his black pawns.

Ellie
nodded, “Yes
. 
Quite good
, but
how long will we have to keep this act up?”

Jon
shrugged, “I’m not sure.”

Ellie
rolled her eyes in a joking m
ann
e
r, “Hopefully not too long.”

“Yes,”
Jon
agreed with a smile, “For I’m sure it’s going to be quite an unpleasant experience for us both.”
             

“Oh, yes
, q
uite unpleasant, indeed.”

Jon
laughed, “But in all seriousness, Mae, it won’t be so bad.”

“And we’ll only have to put on the act when
Marcelle’s
in town, which isn’t so often.”

Jon
nodded, “That’s true,” he smiled
. 
A glitter appeared in his eyes as he said, “But maybe we should start preparing sooner
. 
Would you like to accompany me for a ride in the country this evening
? 
We’ve still got a few hours of light left.”

“All right
, o
nce we finish this game.”

“Can’t we just go now?”

“You only want to go because you know you’re going to lose.”