Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

***ARCHIE***

I t took Felicity so long to answer, Archie began to get nervous. It was a crazy idea; he'd been so sure that she was going to love it, but now disappointment was slowly building. "I could teach again?" Felicity finally asked. "What if I don't know the language?"

"They speak English in a lot of places we could go, and we wouldn't leave right away; we'd have a couple of months to get ready," he said, hope replacing the wave of negative emotion. "It would only be for a year, then we'd come back home, but if you were really miserable, we could always leave sooner. Sharon says it happens sometimes."

He could tell that she was still a bit surprised, but when she looked over at him, her eyes sparkled with excitement. "It would be an adventure," she said. "I've always wanted to travel, to see new places, and if you don't think……well that my scar would cause any problems, I say let's go for it."

"Really?" he asked, unable to believe that all his dreams were finally coming true. "Do you mean it?"

Felicity grinned at him, "Where do I sign up?" she asked. " One thing I've learned for sure, life is too short not to take a few risks."

He jumped up and pulled her into his arms. "You are the most amazing, most intelligent, sexiest woman I know, and I'm lucky to have you," he said, then kissed her until they were both wishing for more privacy. "I hate to run off again, but I have a few more things to take care of before the day is over. At the top of the list is setting up a meeting with Sharon."

"Will I see you for dinner?" she asked. "Or should I make plans with Brittany?"

"I'm sorry, I should have told you this morning, I have plans with Max tonight," he said, already thinking about the next step in his plan. "Will you be okay without me?"

"I think I can live for one night without seeing you," she said. "But that's my limit."

He laughed. "So noted," he said. I'll see you for our run in the morning. Don't make plans for tomorrow night; I have something special in mind."

"Oh really?" Felicity asked. "I like the sound of that. What is it?"

"You'll just have to be surprised," he said, kissing her on the nose. "I'm not saying another word."

"You are just full of surprises lately, Dr. Robinson," she said, smiling up at him. "Should I be worried?"

"No, you're going to like this surprise," he said, praying he was right. "Now run along and let me get to work."

He found Max in his office, plopped down on the other side of the desk, and grinned at him. "I need a favor or two," he said. "And you owe me, so don't even think of saying no."

"Oh man, I don't think I like the sound of that," Max said, putting down his pen. "What are you up to?"

He outlined his plan to Max about sticking it to Susan, then paused to catch his breath. "I'm going to ask Felicity to marry me, screw Susan and her father. I want to marry her. I love her, Max," he said. "I don't want to spend another day without her."

"I'm happy for you, Archie," Max said, beaming at him. "But I still haven't heard this big favor you need."

"I want to have the wedding before we leave the island, and I'm going to need your help making that happen," he said. "I want to make sure that fate and the island know I got the message. I want Felicity to be mine officially before we leave here next week."

"Are you sure that she'll say yes?" Max asked. "What you're asking isn't going to be easy. It's going to take a lot of last-minute planning. This isn't exactly a wedding venue."

"All we need is a simple ceremony on the beach and some food afterward, but I will need to get over to the big island and get Felicity a ring, I can't marry her without one," he said. "Do you think Montgomery could help me with that?"

"She's going to want her parents here," Max said. "Have you thought about that?"

"I was hoping……well……that you would take care of that," he said. "I'm sure if we ask Brittany she'll help too, and Felicity is going to need a dress, I don't know what to do about that. I know that this is a lot to ask, Max, and you don't really owe me, I was just kidding……"

"We're friends, Archie, you know I'll help you," he said, then sighed. "This isn't the first time we've put together a wedding, I just didn't know it was going to become a habit."

"Maybe this island will change your mind about love. It certainly changed mine," he said, grinning at his friend. "Life looks a lot different from my perspective now. You should try it sometime."

"Thanks, but I'm perfectly happy with my single life," Max said. "This island is my only passion, and it's more than enough for me. I don't need love or what you all think is love."

He studied Max for a second. "I hope someday you find out how wrong you are," he finally said. "Just maybe not the way I did."

Max just shook his head. "You've turned in a mushy romantic on me," he said. "Come on, let's go find Montgomery, he should be down by the dock. If you're going to make it over to the big island, you'd better leave soon."

***Felicity***

Felicity stood in front of the mirror studying her reflection, butterflies flitting around in her stomach, anticipation making her heart beat a little faster. She hadn't heard from Archie since early that morning when one of the employees dropped off a box with the dress in it and a note from him asking her to meet him at the dock later that afternoon. Wondering why she was nervous, she turned from the mirror to find Brittany standing in her bedroom doorway.

"You look beautiful," she said, a smile on her face. "Archie has good taste in clothes."

She studied her sister for a second. "You know what's going on, don't you?" she asked. "He told you what we're doing, didn't he? You didn't go for a walk this morning; you were helping him."

"I'm not admitting to anything," Brittany said, a secretive smile on her face. "All I'm going to say is that this one is a keeper. You're a lucky woman, Felicity."

"And to think you didn't like him," she said, grinning at her sister. "You have no idea how much I love it when you're wrong."

"Don't get used to it. It's not going to happen that often," her sister said. "Now, you'd better get going, you don't want to be late."

"To what?" she asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Nice try," Brittany said, then grabbed her and pushed her toward the door. "Get out of here, I have a couple of things I need to do while you're gone."

Archie was waiting for her on the dock, and her heart swelled with love with she saw him. "You look beautiful," he said. "Are you ready for a romantic dinner?"

"You look pretty good yourself," she said, straightening the collar on his button-down shirt. "You clean up really nice, Dr. Robinson, although I have to admit, I like that tuxedo you had on in the second dream quite a bit."

"Hmmm……maybe I'll have a reason to wear one again soon," he said, grinning at her. "But first, Montgomery is waiting to take us to dinner. Are you ready?"

She took his hand and let him lead her down the dock, "Archie, where are we going?" she asked. "Are we having dinner on a boat?"

"No, we just need it to get us where we're going," he said, waving when they saw Montgomery. "He's going to drop us off and come back for us later."

A few minutes later, they were roaring around the coast of the island, Archie's arm firmly around her shoulders. "It's not far," Archie said. "Then I'll have you completely to myself, and I have a few ideas how I want to spend that time."

A blush crept up her cheeks. "Oh, do you now," she said. "I wonder what that could be."

Archie just wiggled his eyebrows at her, then sat back and watched as the boat sped through the water. Ten minutes later, Mongomery cut the engine and let the boat slowly come to rest on the beach, then Archie jumped out, swept her up into his arms and carried her to the shore. He gave the boat a little push back into the water. Montgomery started up the engine and drove away, leaving a small wake behind him.

She looked up and down the beach, thinking it looked deserted, then over at Archie, who was watching her. "Okay, what do we do now?" she asked. "We're definitely all alone here."

He held out his hand. "Come on, let's go find your surprise," he said. "I've been working on this all day."

Archie led her down the beach and into a cove she hadn't noticed before, and she froze when she saw a little table set up under the trees. It was covered with a white cloth and set with sparkling dishes and crystal, a small vase of flowers in the middle, and a candle waiting to be lit next to them.

"Oh, Archie this is amazing," she said, feeling tears sting her eyes. "No one has ever done anything like this for me."

"You deserve this and more, sweetheart," he said. "Are you hungry, or would you like to go for a walk before we have dinner?"

"Oh, I don't know, a walk maybe," she said. "I'm a little overwhelmed."

"Good, that was my plan," he said, taking her hand again. "Let's walk for a while before we eat. It's a cold supper, so we don't have to worry about the food staying hot."

They meandered up and down the beach as the sun slowly sank in the sky, talking about their plans for the future and learning more about each other, then headed back to the table. As they sat eating, Felicity realized that she'd never been as happy as she was right that second, and hoped the night would go on forever. But eventually the food was gone, and she helped Archie pack everything back up, reminding herself that they had many more nights together.

When Archie came over and put his arms around her, she leaned into him. "I don't want this night to end," she said, looking up at him. "It's so beautiful here, and you've gone to so much trouble. It really was a wonderful surprise."

"The night isn't over, sweetheart, it's just beginning," he said. "Mongomery won't be back for hours. There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about."

"Now what have you got up your sleeve?" she asked. "You're always surprising me, Archie."

When he pulled out a velvet box and dropped down onto one knee, her heart skipped a beat, "Archie……." she breathed. "What are you doing?"

"I'm asking you to marry me," he said, flipping open the box to reveal a beautiful ring. "I love you, Felicity. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to go traipsing around the world helping people with you by my side, then settle down and have a family. I want us to be together for the rest of our lives. Please say yes. It would make me the happiest man on Earth."

She didn't have to think about her answer, didn't have to question what she wanted to do. "Yes, of course I'll marry you," she said. "I love you too, Archie. I think I've loved you since that first time I saw you on the dock. You saw me, not the scar on my face, and I knew then that you were special. I can't think of anything I would like more than to spend the rest of my life with you."

He pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. "It fits perfectly," she said, holding out her hand. "I don't think I've ever been this happy."

"Me either," he said, then scooped her up in his arms. "And I know the perfect way to celebrate."