Hello all thought i would do a short one shot for Valentines day using one of my favorite pairings. This story is in no way related to my story Choices. I do asure those of you wjo are waiting for the sequel that i am indeed working on it so not to worry i should be posting it with in the month. Any way thanks again to Hippogriff-Tamer for being my beta and i hope you all enjoy this story.

Standard disclaimer applies....

"Hello…United…States…Mail," came the loud call of the Coves mail currier Ben Pentland.

Christy, who was up in her room finalizing the following weeks lessons, heard the call and came rushing down the stairs to greet the gruff older man who had shown her into the cove over a year ago. When she got to the front door he was waiting, letter in hand, bundled up against the freezing January wind.

"Oh, Mr. Pentland, do came in," she said, allowing the older man into the house so he could warm up.

"Thank ye Miz Christy," he returned, coming into the nice warm house. Once inside he handed her the letter saying, "It come all the way up from Ashville way, reckon it be from your folks."

Christy smiled and took the letter, quickly scanning the return address and saw that it was indeed from her parents.

After a few minutes Ben stood and said, "Well, I best be going now got a ton of letters to deliver…..which reminds me Miz Christy, do ya know if doc is back from Low Gap yet?"

Christy, wanting the excuse to go and see Neil, who had come back earlier that morning, lied and said, "Not yet. Is there a letter for him that needs to be delivered? You could leave it with me Ben and I can give it to him when he gets back, " she told the older man.

"Well thank ye Miz Christy," he said handing her the small package before turning to leave.

"You're welcome Ben," she said, waving goodbye to him. She then headed up to her room to read her letter.

Once in her room, she closed the door and sat on her small bed, opening the letter from home and began to read.

Dearest daughter,

I hope this letter finds you well. Your father is gaining more and more of his strength back from his stroke he had last year and I have you and Doctor MacNeil to thank for that miracle. Had you not been so persistent, I would have just let him continue to lay there in that bed for the rest of his life. So I thank you again for all you did to help him Christy.

Now, for the real reason for my letter to you. Last year when I visited I noticed that two men held your attention and I could tell that you were having a hard time choosing between the two. My dear, I know the pain of holding two hearts in your hands and I know how hard it is to give one of them back broken but I also know that when one of those hearts is given back, there is such a relief in ones soul. So I am writing to give you some motherly advice whether you want it or not. In your last letter you mentioned some questions that your friend Mrs. Spencer had asked you. Now I want you to ask yourself those questions and I want you to be completely honest with yourself with the answers. In other words, Christy, I want you to think with your heart and not your logical head. You know who it is who holds your heart but you will not allow yourself to love him, not in the way that he wants you to love him that is. You see I could see a difference in you when ever the two of you were in the same room together and I am sure that if I, who didn't want to see it, could see it then everyone else in the cove can see it too. You brightened considerably when you came into contact with him dear and so did he. Now if you don't know who it is I am talking about well then I will spell it out for you. Doctor Neil MacNeil. Yes, my dear daughter, you have lost your heart to the doctor though because of your differences you will not allow yourself to love him the way he wants you to. I know that David would be the better choice but as I observed the two of you I noticed that you two acted more like brother and sister than potential lovers. I suppose that this revelation surprises you dear but your father agrees with me on this.

Your father and I both know that the doctor is as of yet still not a believer but we pray each day that he will come to know the Lord because of your influence and that of everyone else in the Cove. I also hope that you too are praying for him dear.

Now, for a little surprise for your school children. Your father and I have put together a package which we hope will not long follow this letter. It's our Valentines gift to them.

We love you and miss you but know that God has a plan for you in those mountains.

Love,
Mother and Father.

Christy laid the letter down in shock. Was she really that transparent? Was that the reason Neil found every opportunity to be near her? Could Fairlight and the others really know who it was that she was really in love with? Was that the reason Fairlight had asked those questions a few months ago?

She sat there, questions swimming through her mind at a rapid pace. She picked up her mother's letter and reread it just to be sure that she had read it right the first time. Then she began to think about the two men in her life. David and Neil were two very different men with two very different goals in life. Both held a place in her heart but now, as she thought about the questions that Fairlight had asked her a few months ago, she realized that she had not been truthful with her best friend then. She did indeed know who it was that held her heart and it wasn't the man who had asked her three different times to marry him either. It was Neil, her very best friend, the one she counted on in a pinch, the one she thought of almost every second of everyday. If she was honest with herself she had been thinking of him more and more especially since they had learned that shortly after the events of two months ago Margaret had died, making Neil a single man again. He was now free to pursue a romantic relationship if he so wanted to.

She looked over at the small package that she would be delivering to Neil later on in the afternoon. She had hated lying to Ben about Neil not being home when he was but she had wanted to see him again. With that thought she was brought up short with the realization that she was in love with the doctor and had been almost from the first moment that she had met him. Their arguments were just a cover, hiding their real feelings for each other. Before she realized it, she was on the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

Neil sat in his laboratory thinking of a certain schoolteacher. He wanted to tell her that he loved her but knew that she would never return his feelings especially with the preacher in the picture. He may have just become a widower in the past month, but he knew that he had stopped having any feelings for his wife long before she died, in fact his feelings for her had all but evaporated the first time he had thought she had died. Now that he was free, he wanted to pursue Christy openly but wasn't sure how to. He hoped that with Valentines Day he would be able to express his desire to be with her. He hoped he received his package soon, for it contained her Valentines Day gift.

He had thought long and hard about what to get her and then while he had been gone for Margaret's funeral he had seen the perfect gift and had wanted to get it but hadn't. It wasn't until he had returned home and he and Christy had become even closer that he had regretted not getting the gift, so he had gone to El Pano and called the store to find out if they still had it and when they had said that they still did he had ordered it. Now it was just a case of having to wait for it to arrive.

He sat back and continued to think of her and how she had changed his life in more ways than one. He had known almost from the moment that they had met that she would change his life and unbeknownst to her she had. As he continued to think of her he had the overwhelming urge to see her and looking at the clock decided to make a quick trip up to the mission. Moments later, he was out the door on his way to see the love of his life.

Alice Henderson walked into the mission house and could hear someone crying upstairs. Curious as to whom it was she made her way up the stairs and stopped outside Christy's door. Hesitantly she opened the door and found the young schoolteacher on the floor crying uncontrollably. Thinking that something was wrong she went over and pulled her into a loving embrace and let her cry.

"Christy, why are thy crying? Has something happened?" she asked concerned.

"Oh Miss Alice, why am I so blind?" she sobbed into her mentors shoulder.

"Dear child whatever do you mean by that?" Alice asked gently

"Miss Alice, I love him. I know I shouldn't but I do and I don't know what I am going to do." Christy sobbed brokenly.

Alice knew who it was that Christy was talking about; in fact she had known for a long time that Neil and Christy were meant to be together. She just hadn't wanted to believe it.

"Love who?" she finally asked brushing the distraught young woman's hair away from her face in a soothing manner.

"NEIL," came a high thin wail from the sobbing teacher.

"Christy? Why does this distress you so?" Alice asked perplexed.

"Be…Because Miss Alice… He…isn't…that is he…he doesn't…." she sobbed brokenly

"Isn't what?" she asked softly.

Christy looked up into her mentors face and baulked at her, "Miss Alice! How can you even ask that? You and I both know that Neil isn't a believer. How can we be together when our views are so different?"

"Christy, there is something that you need to know…." she began but was interrupted when the man in question came into the room.

Neil was instantly concerned when he saw that Christy had been crying. "Miss Huddleston I do hope that everything is alright at home."

Christy quickly wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and stood before answering the doctor, "Yes, everything is fine. I just had a slight break down a few minutes ago, " she explained hoping that he would let it go but knowing that he wouldn't.

Alice knew that they needed sometime to talk privately and quietly excused herself, closing the door as she left. She left them staring intently at each other.

Neither of them was willing to be the first to speak. However, Neil finally broke the silence. "Lass," he said the pet name softly, causing Christy to look at him in surprise. She stared into his sea green eyes and nearly fainted at the warmth and love see found swirling in them.

"Lass, why were you crying before I got here?" he asked her gently.

Christy, knowing that he wouldn't allow her to not tell him the reason behind her tears, said, "Neil, I realized something that I should have recognized a long time ago and I didn't and for that I am sorry. Neil I realized that I love you." There she had told him. She waited for his answer in silence and wondered if she and everyone else had been wrong in their assumption that he loved her in return but was taken completely by surprise when she felt him take her into a deep embrace and then she felt his lips press against hers in the briefest of kisses.

Neil couldn't believe it she loved him! He hadn't been able to stop from pulling her into his arms and kissing her.

When they pulled away from each other he asked perplexed, "So why were you crying? Surely you were not crying because you love me. So why were you crying love?"

She frowned and then said softly, "I was crying out of shame. You see I realized that I loved you and then I thought of all the times I had turned my back on you in favor of David and I was ashamed of my behavior. That and I was crying because even though I love you, I still cannot be with you because of our difference of opinion on our religious views. For, even though I want to be with you I know that I can't," she said again tearing up.

Neil knew then that she still didn't know that he had given his life to God and that was what Alice was going to tell her when he walked in and interrupted their conversation. "Oh Lass, please don't cry, my love. There is something I think Alice was going to tell you when I came in. You see when Margaret died, I came to the realization that I needed God in my life and that night I gave my self to my creator. I have been meaning to tell you and I thought that maybe Alice had already told you but I know now that she didn't. I am also glad that you want to be with me, not only glad but honored. I don't deserve you Christy and I want you to know that I love you too."

Three weeks Later….Valentines Day

"Alright children I have a special surprise for you," Christy announced as she walked to the front of the classroom.

At once the room became silent, which was a feat that didn't happen very often. "Now my parents have sent me something to give to each one of you. And as you know today is St. Valentines Day, so my parents have sent to each of you a gift." At this the entire room erupted into loud chattering. It took several long minutes to get them to quiet down long enough to hand out the little packages that had each child's name on it.

When the last one had been handed out she allowed them to open their gifts. Each child had received a small Valentines Day card made especially for them and a small box of candy. Christy was surprised by the generosity of her parents at this. Just when she was about to cry there could be heard footstep's coming up the schools steps.

Seconds later the doctor came in and walked boldly down the center aisle. When he reached Christy he knelt down in front of her, to her and everyone else's astonishment, and for the second time that day the room fell silent.

"Christy, Lass, I know that I haven't been truly free for very long and that I am a new believer but I love you and I would be honored if you would do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife, " Neil said in a strong voice holding out the ring box that he had ordered (the ring was in the package that Christy was going to deliver to him).

Christy could only stare at the man kneeling in front of her. She had dreamt of how he would propose to her and never in her wildest dreams had it been with him kneeling before her in the middle of the schoolhouse during school.

"Miz Christy aint ya gonna answer Doc MacNeil?" Little Burl asked innocently.

This snapped Christy out of her daze and she looked at Little Burl and said, "Of course I am going to answer him."

"Neil, of course I will marry you," she said turning back to the man who held her heart.

With her answer the room again erupted into cheers and shouts. Neil pulled her into his arms and simply held her close to his heart; he would kiss her after school dismissed.