There she stood. Christy Huddleston in all her confused glory. What a beautiful sight she was to behold! Her big blue eyes stared up into the dark eyes of the gentle preacher. He was not as confident as the mountain people thought him to be and this was revealed to Christy through his eyes. David Grantland was scared. Scared to lose her. The thought pained her and stabbed her heart. Oh, what to do! She did not know quite how to respond to this.
The sparkling diamond caught the sun and, therefore, caught her eye. She gazed down at it in disbelief, completely flattered. David did love her. Of that she was certain. The ring he must have spent forever working towards on the mission's meager salary just helped enunciate that love he professed so meekly to her now. But there was something about his proposal that was out of the place. Was it the confident look in his eyes? The feeling Christy had when he handed her the ring was of jubilation, terror, and compassion all at once.
"Christy?" David voiced. He sounded almost frightened. No, he could not be overconfident in her answer, she thought.
The confused schoolteacher looked up at the man she held dear. He had been her Knight in Shining Armor, as she thought the day she told the truth surrounding Bessie Coburn's dreadful lie. Then she remembered. The man behind them.
Christy turned and saw Neil. What was he doing here? Margaret. The name echoed in her mind like a bad memory. She was a bad memory. A bad memory that had suddenly popped its way back into their lives. His eyes spoke the words Christy longed to hear fall softly on her ears. The curly hair, the wooing accent..... and so many more traits. But more than his outward charm was his heart and soul. She trusted him explicitly with all she had. She cared for him. He was her confidant. She loved him. Fairlight had helped her see that. So why must Christy love Dr. Neil MacNeill, a married man? Why was it in God's plan her heart break into a million pieces as it was now?
He was begging her. Of what she was not sure. His wife. The words took the place of Margaret's name and haunted her thoughts. Why must he have made such a mistake as a youth? Christy was being tortured. It was impossible to think under such stress.
Christy turned to David. His eyes showed his expectancy. Better make this short and sweet as it can be, Christy Huddleston, thought the young woman.
"I...." Christy stuttered.
David stepped forward and covered the distance between them. He enclosed her small ivory hands in both of his and squeezed them until he drew her alluring eyes to his once more.
Neil thought of how he met this "bonnie lass." He had all but told her to run back to Asheville and stay out of his life. His eyes and aggressive manner told her. He had been startled by the feelings she stirred in him. Feelings long-ago buried after his parents died. No, his wife, (what a mockery that was!) never stirred anything near those feelings. Christy had continued pursuing a relationship with him. He had pushed her off, infuriated her, made her come close to tears, made her laugh, made her happy..... everything. He had only pushed her off in an effort to keep her sweetly prying hands away from the armor around his heart.
He had fallen in love by the time Margaret came. It hurt him more than he could imagine he might lose her now. And to Grantland, of all people!
Neil began their relationship telling her to leave, practically. He wanted to begin the new one begging her to stay with him. He could never ask her to be with him while Margaret remained his wife. He respected her too much. She respected herself too much. He felt a love this deep surely must be felt by her, too.
Why the hesitancy, lass? Neil asked her in his thoughts, daring to hope he was the reason for her hesitant answer.
"Christy, I love you," David repeated.
She bowed her head, willing her mind to not interfere with her heart. Oh, the pressure of this entire situation! Why had she been so blind as to the full reasons of why Neil and David were rivals? What was wrong with her? "I know," she whispered.
"It's that simple," David added.
Christy met his eyes. She remembered her talk with Fairlight. David had come up as more of an infatuation by the end of the talk, more of a dalliance. Neil. He was sturdy. He was dependent. He was kind. He was her confidant. He was....
He was married. And he was her love. What a blunder she had made! Christy felt to be a fool.
Despite herself, her mind had something to say about the confusing 'thoughts' of her heart. Logic told her David was the one to marry. First, he was not already married. (Always important.) Second, he did love her. The ring was an added testimony to that. And he believed in God. However far he might have to go on his walk with God before truly understanding Him, he still accepted Him as his Savior and loved Him. Christy always thought Neil did. But he did not want to admit to himself or to her or David or Alice.
"No," she whispered.
"What?" David croaked.
Christy realized she had uttered it aloud. She had been thinking about Neil. She knew the wise thing would be to put him aside. He was married. Her heart screamed at her to love Neil openly as she so wanted to do. Her mind asked her, quite loud as well, if she was insane. Neil was a married man. Married. The newest word to echo through her overworking mind.
"I mean," Christy faltered. "I can't.... I can't think." She gathered strength from somewhere deep within. She looked at David evenly. His eyes show how startled he was at the prospect of her not marrying him as he had planned. "I have to think, David," she said. "Please. Understand. I need time to think."
David felt relieved she had not yet said 'no' and nodded willingly.
Neil watched in stunned silence. Christy, his beloved Christy, was considering marrying another man. That, in itself, was horrible. Neil wanted to have an open relationship of love with her. Does she love Grantland? he wondered. But, more than the relationship of love, his love meant sacrifice. Which meant he wanted her to be happy above everything. Marriage to David would not make her happy. The children made her happy. Neil knew he made her happy. But David was a fleeting romance. Insignificant in its entirety. They would both come to resent each other. David would resent her for dreaming of another when she married him and Christy would resent him for taking her from the Cove. David planned to leave. They all knew that well. He had not the tolerance for the people. But he wanted to take Christy with him.
David bowed his head to kiss her but she put her fingers to his lips. Neil knew he could not stand to see more and turned his horse jerkily. He saw David leaning in so close to the amazing sapphire eyes Neil, himself, drowned in several times. Neil yearned to lose himself in her eyes. He heard his name shouted but continued. He could not stand to see those eyes now. It hurt too much.
Christy watched him go. Her heart began to physically ache. She had not even realized she yelled his name after him until she felt David's hands enfold her shoulders. "Let him go," David coaxed. "He's married. He can't offer you anything."
Christy looked up at the young preacher. Oh, how little he knew. She knew her decision. Without Neil there she could think more clearly. Her hands trembled as she placed the box in David's hands. She drew his fingers around it and held them there with her own small hands. "David, I am so sorry," she whispered. "You have no idea."
David stared at her in shock. "You're not saying no," he willed her.
"I have to," Christy said softly. "It won't work, David. Oh, dear David. I'm sorry."
Her heartfelt sympathy only irritated David. He snatched his hands from hers, not noticing the hurt look in her eyes as he hurried from her grasp. "Fine," David mumbled angrily. He strengthened his voice. "Then go after a married man and let all logic slip through your fingers. I won't ask you again."
"I won't marry for logic," Christy said, her eyes reflecting her pain. David watched and saw the pain he caused her. He did not care at the moment. His own pain consumed his thoughts. "And I won't go after him. He has his life, I, mine.... you, yours. David, I only pray you'll forgive me for turning you down and remain my friend. I don't know what I would've done without you."
David stared into her eyes and mentally admonished himself for letting himself lose sight of all reality for that moment as he drowned helplessly in her pools of blue. He turned his back to her and left the heartbroken schoolteacher standing in the yard, her hands emptied of the bedazzling jewel, her heart emptied of a true love lost.
Christy looked up at David's retreating back. Her mind kicked in. She could not let this opportunity slide. On impulse, Christy ran forward a step and called, "David!"