River Deep, Mountain High
Standard disclaimers apply to this piece of Christy fan fiction.
This story continues where the TV series left off. Any similarities to other works of Christy fan fiction are purely coincidental.
Chapter 42
Christy searched everywhere she could think to look. She went to his cabin, and even tried checking his favorite spot by the river, the place where he often sought peace and solace, but Doctor MacNeill was nowhere to be found. He seemed to simply disappear. Of course, Neil knew the Cove far better than she, and perhaps he had not shared all of his secret places with her.
It was growing increasingly dark outside. The sun began to sink behind the mountains at least an hour ago, and only the palest of amber light remained in the dusky evening sky. Frustrated and downtrodden, Christy decided that she had better turn back and head home for the Mission before it got too dark to keep searching. Tomorrow was a school day, and though she was not sure how she would be able to concentrate on teaching with her mind on Neil MacNeill, she knew she could not disappoint the children.
When Christy came back to the Mission that night, David had never seen her look more defeated. Having no appetite, she retreated to her room without supper. She tried to sleep, but it was to no avail. Her mind was spinning, her thoughts consumed with Neil. All she could see when she closed her eyes was the look on his face just before he jerked his horse around and rode away. The hurt in his eyes, the pain etched in the lines on his forehead. Christy exhaled slowly, wondering how on earth she would be able to teach school the next morning
Christy finally found sleep in the early hours of the morning, though it was a fitful one. She ate her breakfast in silence with David, unable to shake the feelings that had kept her awake most of the night. Christy was getting her things together to head over to the schoolhouse, when a knock on the door of the Mission interrupted her thoughts.
"Miss Christy, Reverend," Dan Scott called out from the front porch.
David walked over to the door and opened it to let him in. "Good morning, Dan. What can we do for you?"
"I hope I haven't come at a bad time," he said, his eyes flickering between David and Christy. He could sense the tension in the air from Christy's expression.
"No, not at all, Dan," she quickly assured him. "I was just on my way over to the school house."
"I was wondering if you've seen Ben Pentland around lately," Dan asked.
David responded, "He was here only yesterday. He delivered a letter from my sister Ida in California. Are you expecting something?"
Dan shifted on his feet a bit nervously, turning his hat in his hands. He seemed deflated all of the sudden. "Actually, I've been expecting something for quite some time. I sent an application to a medical school, and I'm waiting on the response."
Christy's face suddenly lit up. "Why that's wonderful, Dan! I hadn't realized you already started applying."
"Well, I wanted to keep it sort of a secret, in case I didn't get accepted the first time," the dark man admitted. "I know it's still early in my training, but Doctor MacNeill said it wouldn't hurt to apply and see what kind of response I get. That way, we might get some feedback letting me know what areas I still need to work on. Only I didn't want to have to explain it to folks just yet."
"We understand and respect your right to privacy, Dan," Christy said. "Don't worry. We won't say anything."
"We will let you know immediately if Mr. Pentland comes around with anything for you," David told him.
Nodding, Dan smiled weakly at them. "Thank you, Reverend. Miss Christy." He put on his hat and tipped it at her as he turned away to leave.
"Dan?" Christy stopped him. "Do you happen to know where Doctor MacNeill might have gone yesterday?" She stood there and bit her lip nervously, hoping Dan might know where Neil ran off to.
Shaking his head, Dan answered, "All I know is he left my cabin yesterday afternoon after our lesson." His brows wrinkled as he tried to recall if the doctor had said anything else to indicate where he might have gone. "If I remember right, he did mention something about a shipment of supplies in El Pano he was expecting. I suppose it's possible he went there, though I can't imagine he would have gone that late in the day instead of waiting till morning."
Disheartened, Christy resigned herself to the fact that Neil MacNeill was gone, and she would just have to find him and explain things to him when he decided to make an appearance.
"If I happen to run into Doctor MacNeill, I will certainly let him know that you're lookin' for him," he said. "And that it's important."
"Thank you, Dan," she smiled dimly.
Dan turned to leave, and Christy could see that the children were already starting to gather in the school yard to play their morning games before classes began. She knew it was no use waiting around for Neil for come back, so she figured she might as well distract herself with her school work for the day. Christy headed down the front steps of the Mission and walked towards the school house.
Not long after she announced that school was session, Christy began to realize that she was in no frame of mind to teach. Not only did her eyes sting from lack of sleep, but she was finding it difficult to focus on her lessons as her mind began to drift off. It took all her strength and concentration just to make it to lunchtime, and much of that time was spent having the children read silently to themselves from their readers and then writing out sentences containing the week's new spelling words. Christy dismissed the children a bit early for the dinner spell. It was a lovely day, after all, and they would enjoy the extra time for recess in the fresh mountain air. Even more, she knew she needed the time to think out what she should do about Neil.
Only minutes after the children burst through the doors of the school house to begin their lunch and recess hour outside, David walked into the building. Looking up, Christy was surprised to see him.
"David," she began, her voice filled with question, "I don't have Bible or mathematics on the schedule for today."
"Christy, let me take over classes for the afternoon," David suggested, getting directly to the point. "You look dead tired, and I doubt you'll be able to concentrate on your lessons."
"I appreciate the offer, David," she said with sincerity, "but I can't let that stand in the way of teaching. And I cannot let my personal life affect the job I came here to do. I'll be fine."
David took a few steps closer to Christy who stood by the chalkboard in the front of the classroom and placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly. She was trying to put up a brave front, but he knew that she was in turmoil over Doctor MacNeill.
"You don't need to pretend for me, Christy," he said. "I know you too well."
Sensing that she was beginning to let her guard down, David continued. "You should go after MacNeill, you know." He stood next to her, peering deeply into her eyes though she tried hard to hide what she was really feeling. "Or you should just sit outside his cabin and wait for him to come home. He'll have to eventually. He can't avoid you forever. You should tell him how you feel."
Christy brought her gaze back up to his. "And how is that?" she asked.
"Come on, Christy. I've know for a long time that you love Neil MacNeill," David acknowledged bluntly. "And he loves you. Only the two of you are too stubborn to admit it. But I see the way you look at him when you think nobody's watching." His sapphire blue orbs bored into hers with a tangible power, piercing down into very soul. "And I know the look of a man in love."
Examining his expression – the smooth, clean planes of his face that never ceased to amaze her – Christy marveled at the miraculous change in David. Not long ago, he had been so bitter towards her, so hateful and jealous of her growing relationship with Doctor MacNeill. And now he stood before telling her that she had to go to the man who had been his rival…that she had to fight for Neil. Just as she once told Margaret to do back at the El Pano Teahouse.
Her eyes drifted along with her thoughts. It all seemed so long ago, she reflected. The journey of her heart had been a wild and wondrous one, filled with unexpected turns and obstacles along the way. But it was also filled with unexpected joy as well…Joy that Christy could have never imagined possible.
Seeing the struggle of fluctuating emotions flash across her face like a storm, David laid both hands on her shoulders and bent his head down towards her slightly. "Go, Christy," he asserted.
As if shaken back into reality by the strength of his firm grip, her head snapped up to look at him again. "No. Not yet," she said. "I'd like to talk to Fairlight. I have a few things I need to settle in my mind first."
"Alright."
"David, thank you so much for all your help. You've been a true friend when I needed you most," Christy said gratefully. Her expression revealed the depth of her appreciation. "I don't know how I'm going to bear it when you leave."
"You'll do just fine, Christy Huddleston," he stated with a smile. "I have complete confidence in that."
With one final squeeze on the shoulder in affirmation, David let Christy go. Picking up her satchel, she practically raced out of the school room to head past the Mission and down the familiar path to the Spencer's cabin.
***
Chapter 43
Christy made it to the Spencer place in record time. From the moment she scurried up the front steps, Fairlight could tell that something was wrong. She asked if Christy wanted to go for a walk so they could talk. She quickly told Jeb, who was busy with his bees, that she and Christy were "goin' a-traipsin'".
Once they had arrived to their special spot overlooking Bear Ridge, Christy confided in her friend about what happened the day before. Since the announcement had not yet been made public, she also made Fairlight promise to secrecy about the fact that David was leaving the Cove at the end of the summer for a position in California near his sister, Ida.
"Fairlight, Neil saw David and I together," she began to explain, "and I believe he got the wrong impression. We were simply rejoicing in the good news of Ida expecting twins and his new assignment in California. My relationship with David has been nothing more than friendship ever since I declined his proposal." She paused for a long moment, shaking her head in confusion. "I'm afraid I've lost Neil. I can't lose him…because I love him."
Fairlight squeezed Christy's hand comfortingly while she listened. It was the first time Christy admitted to her that she loved Neil, even though she had known it for a long time, possibly even before Christy knew it herself.
"I know ye do, Miz Christy," she said.
Big blue eyes penetrating into older, wiser ones, Christy sighed. "Oh, Fairlight, what am I going to do?"
"Ye gotta tell Neil how ye feel," Fairlight told her young friend matter-of-factly. "Plain 'an simple. Ain't nothin' else to do."
"But how can I do that if I can't find him?" she asked.
"He'll turn up sooner or later. He can't stay away too long."
"What if he won't speak to me? What if…What if this is God's way of letting me know that I shouldn't be with Neil because he isn't a believer?" Christy wondered. Her mind was racing, filling with doubts by the seconds, and it was apparent in her tone and manner.
"Miz Christy, don't you fret none," said Fairlight. "You an' Neil wuz meant to be, jes' like Jeb an' me. Things'll work out somehow. Ye'll see."
Christy nodded reluctantly. She wished she had Fairlight's faith and optimism.
"Why don't ye come back to the house now," the blond woman suggested. "I got some fresh bread warm from the oven and some o' Jeb's honey waitin' inside."
"I think I'll just stay here for a while longer, Fairlight. Thank you."
Smiling at her friend, Fairlight rose and left Christy alone with her thoughts.
Christy leaned back against a tree while she sat on the rocky ledge, her thoughts consumed with Neil MacNeill. She stared out at the mountains in the distance and let the silence envelope her until all she could hear was the low echo of the rushing river in the valley down below. She inhaled deeply the spring mountain air and pungent spiciness of the surrounding evergreens, feeling it fill her lungs with its familiar, fresh scent. It was the scent of home.
She felt her breathing slow and her body began to relax as she submitted to the peaceful comfort of the mountains she had grown to love. Christy grabbed the satchel lying next to her and pulled out her sketchbook. She flipped through the pages, her gaze lingering at the many drawings of Neil MacNeill. She felt the sting of tears at the back of her eyes when she looked at each picture and the specific memories they evoked.
Sighing audibly, Christy put down the sketchbook, and leaned her head back to rest on the tree trunk. She closed her eyes and began to pray.
***
Neil had spent a sleepless night at an old hunting cabin near Ingles' Cove. The cabin was well hidden by the dense woods so that only those who knew it existed were able to locate it. It was the very same cabin that Neil had taken the doctors from New York when he was just a boy. Those were the same men who were responsible for making his dream of becoming a doctor possible.
Neil came to the cabin the night before after he saw Christy and David…Neil had just finished a medical lesson with Daniel Scott, and it was about the same time school had let out. He wanted to find Christy right away and tell her the good news. He had gone to tell her that he accepted God into his life. Neil had been so happy, and he wanted to share this with her more than anything. He also wanted to tell her that he loved her. Knowing that his lack of belief in God was no longer an obstacle between them, Neil hoped beyond hope that, perhaps, Christy might love him, too.
But what he saw brought his hopes and dreams to a crashing halt. Seeing Christy and David embracing each other, laughing and smiling together on the front porch of the Mission, crushed his spirit in an unforgettable instant. Christy was beaming with joy as David spun her around in his arms, and Neil felt his heart sink to the floor knowing that it wasn't him. Long ago, he suspected that she still harbored feelings for the young reverend, but the visible proof of his intuition sent Neil MacNeill's emotions in a tail spin.
And so, Neil turned and rode away. He led Charlie through paths less often traveled so that he could be by himself. He came to the hunting cabin many miles away from the Mission where he knew no one would find him. He spent a restless night alone with nothing but his thoughts and the well-worn family Bible he had begun to read a couple of weeks ago.
As Neil stewed in the desolate cabin, he began to pray. He stayed awake all night long, reading and praying, and when the morning came, realization washed over him like the rays of dawn. He realized that he had been running away again. He had run away from Margaret all those years ago, and now he was running away from Christy. Even if she did not love him…even if she decided to be with David, Neil knew he could not stand in her way. At the same time, he could not keep his feelings to himself any longer. If nothing else, Neil wanted to tell her that she had helped lead him to God, and that he would always be indebted to her for that.
He waited for school to let out for the afternoon, and then Neil rode back towards the Mission to find Christy and tell her what he felt in his heart. Finding the school house vacant, Neil went to the Mission to look for her there. He found David instead.
"Reverend, is Christy about?" he asked, his voice indicating he was in a tremendous hurry. "I have an urgent matter I wish to discuss with her."
David examined Neil closely for a moment. The doctor was practically breathless, his ruddy curls strewn all about his face. His clothes were wrinkled and his general appearance disheveled. But there was something else that stuck David as unusual. Something was different about him, but he could not put his finger on it just yet.
"Christy went to see Fairlight after lunch," David said.
Neil was about to mount his horse again when the preacher called back after him.
"Doctor MacNeill, there is something you should know," he began. Neil paused and turned back to face the preacher, his expression a question mark. "I am leaving Cutter Gap at the end of the summer. I'm taking an assignment in California, near my sister Ida and her husband. They have been expecting their first child and just found out they are having twins." David stepped closer to Neil and gave him a pointed look, hoping that the doctor would fully comprehend what he was trying to explain. "Christy and I were overjoyed yesterday when we received the news."
Neil's facial expression seemed frozen for several long seconds as he absorbed David's words and took in their meaning. Reverend Grantland was leaving the Cove, and his sister will be giving birth to twins. Immediately, he understood that he had completely misconstrued the embrace between Christy and David the day before. Though he felt like an utter fool, a sense of relief unlike any he had ever experienced before flooded him, and Neil felt his heart begin to surge with a renewed optimism once more.
"I am sorry to hear that," Neil said with sincerity, tempering the hope he felt welling up inside. "You will be greatly missed, Reverend."
"Christy cares about you very much, Doctor," David added, as Neil hoisted himself up into the saddle.
"I know," he simply replied. "Thank you, Reverend."
With a quick tug of the reins, Charlie was off and running at full speed in the direction of the Spencer's cabin. David watched intently as Neil rode away, smiling to himself slightly in satisfaction. Learning to let go of his love for Christy Huddleston and jealousy of Doctor MacNeill had been one of the hardest things he ever had to do, but with much prayer and introspection, God was able to change his heart and make him see that he had been wrong to behave the way he did towards them.
Suddenly, David figured out why the doctor seemed different. His heart had been changed too. He realized that Neil MacNeill was a man who had not only found love, but maybe he had found something more. Perhaps, he had found God as well.
David stared out as the figure of horse and rider began to disappear behind the horizon. He said a silent prayer for Christy and Neil before heading back inside to the Mission.
***
Chapter 44
Neil rode faster and harder than he had ever ridden before. His mind was racing the entire ride there wondering what he would say to Christy when he finally saw her face to face. When he arrived at the Spencer's cabin, he found Jeb and John tending to the beehives. He leapt off Charlie and tethered the horse frantically to a tree.
"Jeb, have you seen Christy?" Neil asked, his voice frenzied.
Gingerly placing the frame buzzing with bees back into the hive, Jeb responded, "She went traispin' with Fairlight 'round noontime. But Fairlight came back alone over an hour ago."
Frustrated at yet another obstacle in his path to Christy, Neil slapped his hand hard against his thigh.
"Don't get yerself all worked up, Doc," Jeb tried to calm him. "We'll jes' go in an' ask Fairlight."
Once the bees were settled back in their hives, Mr. Spencer brought Neil into the house to speak to his wife. Fairlight was more than happy to see Doctor MacNeill and tell him how to find Christy. She could tell just by looking at Neil that he was not angry, and the misunderstanding about what happened with David and Christy must have been clarified. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief knowing that everything that had been separating the young teacher and stubborn doctor would be resolved at last. The two paths that had weaved back and forth, intertwining with one another for over two and a half years, would finally converge. Fairlight rejoiced internally for her dear friends.
Neil climbed his way up to the rocky overlook that Fairlight described, his determination and exhilaration building with each step. It felt as though he would never make it to the top, his heart was pounding so in his chest. He stopped suddenly when came to the ledge that jutted out the side of the mountain. He saw Christy. She was sitting there leaning against a tree. Her eyes were closed, and her hand was resting at her chest, clutching the gold cross necklace she always wore. Neil thought she was either asleep or she was praying. Either way, she had not heard him approaching because she did not budge from her spot.
His voice unexpectedly caught in his throat, and he simply stood there for a few minutes and stared at Christy. Neil felt his heart flutter in his chest with uncertainty, and he began to wonder if he was a fool for coming her to confess his love for her. He watched the slow and steady rise and fall of her chest. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful. She wore a dark blue dress cinched with a burgundy waistband and a white blouse with lace at the collar that waved lightly in the breeze. Her hair had begun to fall loose from her bun to frame her face which was illuminated by the late afternoon sun.
Then, his eyes traveled to the ground next to Christy's still form. It was her sketchbook, he realized. It was lying open, the wind teasing at the edges of the pages making them almost appear to dance. The drawing on the paper began to come into focus as Neil stood there, not more than ten feet away from Christy.
It was a picture of Becky O'Teale…and him. He was next to Becky, her eyes irritated and weeping with disease. Neil recognized that it was a drawing of when Christy had brought Becky to him and they discovered she had trachoma. Then, the breeze caught the edge of the paper, causing it flap and flip to another page in the book. Mesmerized, Neil saw another sketch of him. This time, it was a drawing of him leaning over the river to release a fish back into the rippling waters. It was the time he took Christy fishing, when he was consoling her after she learned of David's visits to the Teahouse in El Pano.
His spirits began to soar as he saw his features captured so vividly and accurately, and so lovingly, on the pages of Christy's sketchbook. Neil felt that maybe his hopes had not merely been a fool's dream….that, maybe, Christy loved him too.
At almost the same moment, Christy's eyes fluttered open, and she turned when she realized that someone was standing there. She had been so lost in her thoughts and prayers that mind finally succumbed to the peaceful tranquility she began to feel once she allowed herself to be completely quiet and listen for God. She must have drifted off to sleep for a few minutes. Christy was stunned to awaken to find Doctor MacNeill next to her. She blinked away the last remaining signs of sleep and quickly rose to her feet.
"Neil." She looked at him questioningly for a moment, as if wondering to herself whether he was real or just a figment of her imagination.
"Christy," Neil began, finally finding his voice. "At last I've found you!"
Realizing that Neil MacNeill was indeed standing only a few feet away from her, she suddenly remembered what she had to tell him. She had to explain what he thought he saw yesterday before he turned and rode away.
"Neil, I need to explain—" she said, only to have her explanation cut short.
"Christy, there is no nothing to explain," he tried to reassure her. "I know I was mistaken in what I thought I saw yesterday. Reverend Grantland told me about his new assignment and about Ida and Clarence's good news."
Christy was instantly relieved to hear those words. Her breath caught in her throat as Neil stepped closer to her. Her heart began to beat rapidly inside the walls of her chest, the blood coursing through her veins with anticipation and a little anxiety.
"I came by yesterday to tell you that I have accepted God into my life, Christy," Neil told her, his beaming smile and proximity making her feel slightly weak in the knees. "And I have you to thank for that."
"Neil, I don't know what to say," she said in surprise, but happily. "This is something I never expected."
He was positively radiating light and joy. It was the light of God and accepting His love into his life. "Believe me, it is the last thing I expected. But I have been reading the Bible these past several weeks. At first I was skeptical, but I eventually began to see that science and religion are not necessarily polar opposites of each other as I once thought. There are not so many contradictions with my existing philosophies as I expected. I began to feel a change come over me. It reminded me of what Margaret experienced, right before she passed away."
"Oh, Neil," Christy reached out and touched his hand tenderly. "That is wonderful news! I am so happy for you. But why are you thanking me?"
"It was your letter to Margaret that made me start to examine my thoughts on God," he explained. "I found a note you wrote to her with some of your favorite passages. Without warning, I found myself reading the Bible, and soon I was questioning everything I held as true."
Neil described how his original notions of God were formed when he was a young boy. The Highland God – the God of the Old Testament – was harsh and unforgiving, and it was those stories that shaped his perception as he grew into adulthood. The concept of a loving Father from the New Testament seemed not only foreign, but paradoxical, causing Neil to question the truth of the Bible. When he left the close-knit but isolated community of Cutter Gap to go to Edinburgh, Scotland for college and then medical school, his exposure to the latest scientific discoveries and explanations of the physical world was the final step leading to his rejection of religion and God. In the precise logic of physics and chemistry, he thought he had found all the answers he'd been searching for.
As Neil began to explain to her how his old ideas were transformed and his newfound faith emerged when he opened his heart to God's love, Christy felt the last of her fears about pursuing a more serious relationship with Neil MacNeill completely dissolve. She never dreamed that he would accept God into his life. Of course, she hoped and prayed that he would, but she never wanted to force it on him. Christy was bursting to tell him that she loved him, but she did not want to break his enthusiasm while he shared his story of coming to God.
"I wanted you to be the first person I told," he said to her, his voice bright with joy and passion. "That's why I came by the Mission yesterday after school let out." Neil reached out and clasped Christy's hands in his own. He looked deeply into her eyes, which were shining with happiness for him.
"But there's another reason I came to see you, Christy." He paused for a moment and swallowed hard, preparing to say the words he had felt in his heart for such a long time. He could feel Christy squeezing his hands back, as if sending some of her own strength into him to urge him on. "I love you, Christy Huddleston. I've loved you for such a long time, only I was too much of a coward to tell you. I know I have no right to hope that you might feel the same for me, but…"
Neil stopped himself when he saw Christy's face crumple before him, the tears beginning to stream freely down her cheeks. Immediately, he thought he had said the wrong thing and that his timing was poor. He cursed himself for having made her cry.
"I'm sorry," he said. He dropped her hands and turned away from her, shaking his head and running his hand through his hair the way he did when he was nervous or unsure of himself. Then a warm hand reached out for him, and he turned back around to face her. When he did, he saw that Christy was smiling at him. Her lips quivered with emotion when she began to speak.
"No, Neil. Don't be sorry. Don't ever be sorry," Christy said, smiling through her tears, her blue eyes glistening in the sunlight. "You see, I love you, too."
Unable to contain himself, Neil swept Christy into his arms. For the first time in his life, he felt that all of his dreams were possible, and he bent his head towards her to share love's first kiss. They tasted each other hungrily, savoring sweetly, as the many months of sequestered emotion was at last released like the busting of a dam. Christy was suddenly sent soaring, flying on a cloud high atop the mountain peaks of Cutter Gap. She never knew a kiss could be so perfect, and she realized that it was because the love she shared with Neil was true, based on a deep understanding and friendship. It was like nothing she had ever experienced.
Neither wanted the moment, or the kiss, to ever end, but eventually it had to. When it did, they simply held onto each for a long time, content that they finally freed the love they had kept locked inside their hearts like a fortress. The walls had come crashing down, and they had opened themselves up to experiencing the beautiful gift that God had surely given them. Even as the sun began to retreat behind the mountains, the love between Neil MacNeill and Christy Huddleston had finally dawned. For the two of them, it was a brand new day.
"Christy, I wanted to ask your permission to court you," Neil asked in a gentlemanly fashion. Though, the question seemed almost moot at this point.
She turned at smiled at him, laughing at the how Neil was always bound by convention, even at such an unconventional moment. "Oh, Neil. We've been courting for months now. Only you didn't know it." She thought about the time they had spent together recently. Their waltz at the singing, the lunchtime picnic by the river, the teasing and flirting during their school planning sessions. It had all been part of an elaborate courting process…part of their dance.
He glanced at her glimmering expression and nodded in acknowledgement. "Aye, I suppose we have. I was just too afraid to let myself believe it. I didn't want to raise my hopes too high."
"You don't have to be afraid or insecure any more, Neil," Christy told him, her eyes locked with his so that he could feel the power and honesty when she spoke. "There is no need to wonder if I still have feelings for David. The only man I've ever loved was you."
Neil thought his heart might leap out his chest at her words. He was so full of love and happiness that his last shred of self-doubt and uncertainty completely vanished as it was carried away on the cool spring breeze. A comfortable silence enveloped them as they stood close together, their hands never parting.
"It is getting quite chilly out," Neil remarked, punctuating the glorious stillness. "I should get you home to the Mission before it gets too late. And before loose tongues are sent wagging," he added with a slight smirk.
"No, not yet, Neil. Please," she implored him. "Let's just sit here together for a while and watch the sunset."
"Alright," Neil conceded, admittedly unwilling to leave her side any sooner than necessary.
He and Christy sat together on the rocky ledge, and as the night began to grow colder, she nestled closer to Neil until he could feel his warmth. She inhaled deeply, basking in the comforting, masculine scent that always lingered on his clothing. Then she let out a long, slow breath in utter contentment. Together, they watched in blissful silence as the sun painted the sky behind the mountains with a splendid array of colors, from red to orange and amber, and then to the softer pinks and blues that signaled the end of the day. The first few stars of twilight began to pierce through the inky blanket of the sky to usher in the peaceful stillness of nighttime. With the shadow of the rugged peaks of the Great Smokies in the distance, and the melodic trickling of the river in the valley below, Christy marveled to herself at what a beautiful world this was.
"Oh, Neil," she sighed dreamily, "I never want this day to end."
"Neither do I, lass. But I am afraid we cannot stop the earth from turning and make time stand still, as much as we would like it to," Neil responded reluctantly.
"I know. I just wish I could capture this moment and make it last forever." She nuzzled her head into the hollow of his neck, sending rose-infused waves of scent from her hair to his nostrils.
"Weren't you paying attention to any of my science lectures? As I recall, I had at least two or three where I discussed the topic of astronomy and the cosmos," he added with a teasing tone.
Christy chortled in return. "I suppose I must have been daydreaming, Doctor, because when you are around, I find I cannot concentrate on the subject at hand."
"Hmph. I am afraid I will have to detain you after class, Miss Huddleston," he said with mock sternness, "for some private lessons until you can better control your wandering mind."
Christy turned her face towards him and threw him a mischievous grin. "Is that a promise?"
The two laughed heartily and leaned in closer together to watch the sun make its final descent behind the mountains. Even though the day was coming to an end, Christy knew that for her and Neil, this marked only the beginning.
***
TO BE CONTINUED