I shot him a look. The last thing I needed was for him to start rumors. “Fortunately, I avoided both of those.” I gestured at Blair. “This is my brother. He’s visiting for….” I trailed off, realizing we hadn’t discussed time frames.

“A few days,” Blair filled in. “Maybe a couple of weeks. As long as I’m needed, really.”

“Blair.” I huffed. “You have a career. You can’t just walk away from it indefinitely.”

His chin set mulishly. “Can and will. You’re more important.”

Arthur smiled and offered him a hand. “I like you,” he said. “I think we’re going to get along well.”

Blair’s expression was smug.

“Now that we’re introduced, indulge an old man.” Arthur led us to one of the display cases. “I want to take you on a historical journey.”

“Go for it,” I told him. “We have nowhere else to be.”

As we followed Arthur through the rooms, he gave a practiced spiel, pausing every now and then to add facts or clarify. I was amazed, once again, by how much knowledge he held. I didn’t pay much attention to the stories themselves, since I’d heard most of them before. It was a photograph, and the accompanying note, that caught my eye.

“Wait,” I interrupted before he moved on to another point. “You’re saying the couple in that picture are the ones who started the mythology around Destiny Falls being a destination for young lovers wanting to pledge themselves to each other?”

“They are.” His expression wistful, he took the framed photograph off the shelf so I could see it better. “We don’t know much about them other than they were married at the waterfall and the photographer referred to them as Rocky and Jewel. I have no idea if those were nicknames or their real names.”

“Wow.” I studied the photograph, which showed a pretty brunette with a beauty mark not dissimilar to Marilyn Monroe’s, and a slightly older man with his arm around her. His face was craggy, but there was no denying the devotion in his eyes as he gazed down at her. It was a powerful picture. I understood why the story had captured people’s imaginations. “Rocky and Jewel.” I wondered if there was more evidence of them around the township. “I’d love to find out what became of them.”

“Don’t go getting all mushy on us,” Blair warned. “They were just a couple who got married and didn’t leave much of a paper trail. Hardly some small-town Romeo and Juliet.”

“We’d all like to know, dear,” Arthur said. “If you ever find out, I hope you’ll come to me first.”

“Of course.”

We finished the tour and lingered in the exit.

“I’m keen to get back outside,” Blair said. “Didn’t you say there are walking trails around here?”