Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

***ARCHIE***

A rchie looked down at their joined hands, feeling as if a huge weight had just been lifted from his shoulders, the empathy in Felicity's eyes making him beginning to feel warm all over. "It's probably nothing compared to what you've been through," he said, looking over at her. "But it is nice to talk about it with someone who understands what I'm feeling."

"Don't minimize what happened to you based on anyone else's experience, Archie," she said. "It sounds like you've done the best you can with a terrible situation. It's not fair when one bad decision ruins your life, but we have to keep going and keep trying to get it right."

Before he could say anything, the bell signaling the next group of traps went off. Felicity got to her feet, then gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "It will get better," she said. "You've been through a really hard time, but life has a way of tipping the scales back in the right direction if you just let it."

He watched her walk away, the skin on his cheek still tingling from her lips, amazed that she could be so positive, and wondered for the first time if he was making a mistake ignoring his feelings for Felicity. Women like her didn't come along every day, but then he reminded himself that he'd thought the same thing when he met Susan for the first time, and shut down his train of thought. They were just friends, no matter how much they shared about their lives, and he was determined to keep it that way.

After they'd emptied and rebaited the next pod of crab traps, the captain took the boat a little farther out to sea, broke out the fishing poles, and they spent several hours trolling for bigger fish. The hold of the boat was bursting with sea life by the time they stopped for lunch. His muscles ached, he smelled like fish, but it had been one of the best days of his life. Felicity was grinning when she joined him on the deck, her cheeks were full of color, and her eyes sparkled in the sunshine, sending a jolt of desire racing through him.

"This was so much fun, and we still get to eat all of it. I can't wait," she said, looking up at him. "Thanks for arranging all of this. Max says we can have lunch anytime. I don't know about you, but I'm starving."

"I could eat," he said, his stomach growling. "I hope Max brought enough food."

They filled their plates down in the galley, then took them back up on deck to watch as they headed back to the island. Max and Brittany joined them a few minutes later, and they traded fish stories while they devoured the food, laughing and talking like they were old friends.

"I could use a nap," he said when the conversation died away. "I'm full and sleepy."

"Me too," Max said, stifling a yawn. We're only about an hour from the island. Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a second. It's been a long time since I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon."

"Maybe I'll join you," he said. "I am on vacation, after all."

Before he even had a chance to get comfortable, the captain came rushing up, "Sorry to interrupt, but we've got a squall forming a few miles away," he said. "It's headed straight for the island, and we're in its way. I don't think we can make it back before it hits, so I'm going to take the boat farther out to sea."

Max sat up, "How bad is it?" he asked, then got to his feet and looked at the three of them. "Looks like I'm not getting that nap."

He rushed off with the captain but was back in only a few minutes, "Sorry guys, it looks like the trip is going to be a few hours longer than we expected," he said. "These storms can blow up out of nowhere, but they usually burn themselves out fairly quickly. We'll position ourselves to follow behind it; we shouldn't see much rain, but the seas may get a little rough."

"What should we do?" Brittany asked, her face filled with worry. "The boat isn't going to sink, is it?"

"No, I wouldn't worry about that," Max said, shaking his head. "If you stay out here, you might get a little wet, and the ride is going to be a little bumpy. You might want to wait out the storm below."

Brittany got to her feet, "That sounds good to me. The less I see, the better," she said, then looked over at Felicity. "Are you coming?"

He saw a flash of panic on Felicity's face and she shook her head, "I think I'll stay up here for a while longer," she said. "You go on ahead. If it gets too rough, I'll come down."

Brittany didn't look happy, "I'll stay up here with her," he said. "I'll keep her safe, I promise."

"I'll be fine, Brittany," Felicity said, her face full of relief. "You go on. Look, you can see the dark clouds already."

"I'll walk you down there, then I'm headed back to the pilot house," Max said. "You two should put on some raingear if you're going to stay out here and stay away from the railing. You never know when a wave might come over the side in a storm like this one."

When Max and Brittany were gone, he went to the pilot house and grabbed a couple of rain slickers, then found them a sheltered spot to sit on deck. After he helped Felicity into hers, he couldn't help but laugh at the picture that she made in the oversized rubber jacket. She gave him a dirty look, then flapped the arms making him laugh again, and they settled down together to watch the storm.

***Felicity***

Felicity leaned back against the wall of the pilot house, then looked over at Archie, who was still smiling, "Thanks for staying out here with me," she said. "I'm not very good with small spaces……they make me feel a little panicky."

"I don't mind, we should have quite the show from here," he said. "I love a good storm, the more lightning, the better."

Just then the sky lit up followed by a huge crack of thunder and she jumped, "Oh, that was a big one," she said, a smile spreading across her face. "Can you feel the power in the air? I love that feeling, it makes me feel alive."

"It's the static electricity in the air," he said. "I've heard that if you get close enough to lightning without getting hit, it will literally make the hair on your head stand on end."

"I don't think I want to get that close," she said, shaking her head. "This is good enough."

The boat was cutting through the water at top speed, skirting the edge of the storm, but it was starting to get choppy, and every time the boat lurched, she was thrown into Archie. After apologizing several times, she tried to anticipate the sway of the boat, but it didn't help and once she was thrown into his lap, sending thrills shooting through her. It was impossible not to notice the hard muscles of his chest or the way he smelled, and she scrambled away before she did something to embarrass herself.

Another bolt of lightning caught her by surprise. She let out a little cry and scooted closer to Archie, no longer worried about what she might do. "I'm scared and thrilled all at the same time," she said, slightly breathless. "I don't know whether I want to run away or embrace the storm and all the dangers that come with it."

"I know exactly what you mean," Archie said, putting his arm around her and pulling her close just as rain began to splatter on the deck. "I wasn't ready for this, I didn't think a storm was in my future, but now that it's here, I don't know what to do about it. I don't want to miss it, but I don't want to get hurt either."

She looked up at him, instinctually understanding that he wasn't really talking about the storm. When their eyes met, she saw more than just desire in their chocolate-brown depths. His eyes strayed to her lips, and she was sure he was about to kiss her, but then the boat lurched breaking the spell, and the rain began pouring down in heavy sheets.

"Are you sure you want to stay out here?" he asked. "We could probably go into the pilot house if you don't want to go downstairs."

She thought about it for a second, then realized that she was happy right where she was, and shook her head. "Only if you want to," she said. "I'm fine right where I am."

Archie pulled her a little closer, "Me too," he said. "But you let me know if you change your mind."

They watched the worst of the storm rage a few miles from the boat, huddled together against the rain and cold wind, the boat rocking beneath them. Felicity was very aware of Archie's strong arms around her and could feel the strength of his muscles under the layers of clothing, but she wasn't scared, and she didn't feel the need to pull away. Instead, waves of comfort and contentment washed over her, and she found herself snuggling closer to him.

The storm had almost worn itself out, the rain had stopped, and the waves were slapping against the sides of the boat in a lazy fashion, and Felicity knew that she was ready to share her story with Archie. She pushed the hood of her rain slicker down, then turned to look up at him, giving herself a few seconds to change her mind, then took a deep breath, hoping to make it through without crying.

Archie pulled his hood down, a curious look on her face. "Felicity, are you okay?" he asked. "Your face just turned white. Maybe we should go inside."

"I'm okay," she said, shaking her head, then settled back into his arms. "How come you never seem to notice my scar?"

He was silent for a second. "It's just a part of who you are to me, I guess," he said, shrugging his shoulders. You'd be just as beautiful to me with or without it."

"I don't talk about what happened very much," she said, searching his face. "But I'd like to tell you if you want to listen."

"Felicity, you don't have to do that," he said, shaking his head. "I told you about Susan because I wanted to, no, needed to, but……"

She reached up and covered his lips with her finger. "I want to tell you, "she said. "My therapist says that it's good to talk about it. I don't know if she's right or not, but I want you to know."

"Only if you're sure," he said. "You don't have to talk about it if it's going to upset you."

"I'll be okay; I feel safe with you," she said, then turned back around and settled down into his arms. "I thought that I'd met the man of my dreams when my friend introduced me to Joe, and he was perfect in every way until we moved in together. It seemed like he changed overnight. He became jealous and possessive. Little by little, he managed to cut me off from my friends and family. He even got me fired from my job."

She paused, the bitter memories leaving a bad taste in her mouth, "There were so many times I should have left, but I was sure that the old Joe would come back once he saw what a great life we had together," she said. "Eventually, it got to the point that I never left the house. He took my car, my wallet, anything that would have let me escape."

She had to stop to gather her courage to go on, "He had complete control over me. He beat me, and no one knew; he forced himself on me, and there was no one to stop him. I was trapped with a monster, and it was my own fault. I wanted to believe the dream he'd spun for me so badly that I stayed long after I knew that it was dead."

Archie's muscles were rigid, his breathing was a little faster, "None of that was your fault," he said through gritted teeth. "You were the victim; you weren't to blame for what he did to you."

"I'm trying to believe that, but sometimes when I look back, I see how stupid I was," she said. "I should have left him long before things got so bad."

"You can't blame yourself, Felicity, and you did get out," he said. "You're here now."

She nodded, "But not before he almost killed me," she said. "I was trying to escape, but he came home unexpectedly. I made a run for it, but he caught me in the middle of the street. He started beating me right there, and before anyone could pull him off of me, he'd done this to my face, and even worse to the rest of me."

Dragging in a deep breath, relieved that there were no tears in her eyes, she let it out slowly, "He's in jail now," she said. "He will be for a long time. "

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that," Archie said, pulling her a little closer. "But I meant what I said earlier. It wasn't your fault. The only one to blame is Joe."

"I'm working on believing that, on getting past what happened," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "The only problem is that every time I look in the mirror, I'm reminded of the stupid mistake I made, and then my brain is twisting everything around again."

Archie was quiet for a second, "Have you thought about seeing someone to see if they can……well, clean up the scar some?" he asked, then quickly added. "Not that it matters to me, I think you're beautiful just the way you are."

She looked up at him, warmth spreading through her, "You really mean that, don't you?" she asked, then, almost afraid of the answer he would give her, turned away. "I didn't think anyone would ever think that I was beautiful again."