by Nia Arthurs
Though Melody was the youngest out of all of us, she was the most mature in the Kingdom. If she said we needed chaperoning, we needed chaperoning.
“I can deal,” Archie nodded in consent and I shrugged.
“So we all go make out on the beach later?” Spencer joked.
We laughed at the look Melody gave him and then trailed inside. I held Archie’s hand as we walked. It felt good to finally let my feelings out. I loved this incredibly talented, wonderful man and that was okay. I was okay. I could trust him. He made sure that I could. His every move, his every word, his every action was a garnering of that trust. Maybe it was all an act. Maybe I was making another huge mistake. But this time, I’d done my homework first. For now I would rest in the beauty of that love.
As much as we joked around about it, we did not end up making out on the beach that night. Instead, the guys built a campfire and Archie tugged his guitar out of its case. He played simple melodies and I even sung the few that I recognized from church. The mood was reverent and hushed as we sat around the campfire on this beautiful beach marveling at the wonders of nature. I felt the stirring of the King in my spirit and I knew that I was ready to dedicate my life to the Kingdom, to have my passport returned, and to walk in rightness with the King. As Archie quietly played the melody of “Oh how he loves us”, I let tears slide down my cheeks as I cried out to The King and asked for citizenship into His kingdom.
“Hey Dude,” I mouthed silently, “Hallowed be your name. I guess that means holy is your name. And I believe that you exist and I believe that you are holy.” I paused and listened to the strains of the music once more, “You and I have been talking for a while, but this is the first time I’ve been ready to accept the gifts that you bought for me when you died on a cross. Thank you for doing that so that I could be a part of a world far greater than the one I can see. Thank you for taking a chance on me,” I stopped, overcome by emotion, “Make me a new person. Help me to be a better woman, a better daughter, sister and friend. In your son’s name, Amen.”
I lifted my tear-filled eyes and saw Archie staring at me. He motioned with his head for me to come over and I obliged standing and moving toward him with my blanket in tow. He stretched out his legs and I placed my blanket on the ground before I rested my head on his lower thigh. Softly, he plucked the strings and sang,
“Allelujah, Allelujah… for the Lord God Almighty reigns,”
He sang that a couple more times before raising the volume and singing out, “Holy, holy, are you Lord God, Almighty,”
The rest of the gang joined in enthusiastically, “Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. For you are holy. Holy… are you Lord God Almighty.”
Their sweet song inspired more tears. I felt as though I had been transported to another world and in a sense, I had. One by one the voices dropped out so that the only sound cutting through the silence was Archie’s guitar. He strummed and the soft lullaby was like a balm to my soul. I stared up at the stars amazed that I could see so many and so clearly. I’d needed this trip. I hadn’t known how much until I had it. Finally, the soothing melody and contentment in my heart lulled me to sleep. I felt Archie kiss my forehead right before I waltzed into utter unconsciousness.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The next morning, I woke up in my own bed with the clothes from last night still on my body. Archie was probably the most honorable man in the world. Another type of guy would have taken advantage of my drowsiness a long time ago. This was the third time I’d fallen asleep near him only to wake up in my own bed with my virtue intact. I stretched and smiled at the sunlight, looking forward to spending another day with Archie. As I turned, a sheet of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and noted, with excitement, Archie’s crooked handwriting. The note read:
GOOD MORNING BEAUTIFUL,
I DON’T KNOW IF I’VE MENTIONED IT LATELY,
BUT I LOVE YOU. LAST NIGHT YOU FELL ASLEEP
ON THE BEACH AND I CARRIED YOU TO YOUR ROOM.
I MUST ADMIT I STOLE A FEW KISSES BUT THEY DIDN’T
WAKE YOU. I MUST BE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.
MAYBE WE COULD TRY AGAIN WHEN I SEE YOU MONDAY.
LOVE, ARCHIE
I looked around in confusion. Monday? Stepping out of bed, I walked to the room across the way and knocked. No one answered. I opened the door and stepped through, observing the carefully made bed and bare drawers. It was empty. I frowned. I heard voices in the kitchen and padded down the hall to see Melody and Spencer cooking together and laughing. I cleared my throat to get their attention.
“Hey, Susan.” Spencer greeted me.
“Morning,” I said groggily, “Did Archie leave?”
“Yeah,” Melody said, flipping the pancakes on the stove, “He plays on the worship band on Sundays. Didn’t he tell you?”
“I knew that he did that,” I sunk into the chair in front of the shiny marble island, “I was just hoping to have more time with him.”
“It’s not like he’s dead,” Spencer pointed out, very unromantically.
Melody poked him in the arm with her spatula, “She wants to be with her man, babe. Get with the program,” Melody teased. She then turned to me, “I know you’re bummed out right now, but look at it this way. Archie sticks to his commitments so much that he left you to keep one. Imagine how he’ll treat your marriage.”
“Whoa,” I slowed her down, “We’re not anywhere near marriage yet.”
“Maybe you aren’t.” Spencer set a cup down on the counter and poured me some orange juice, “but Archie is. That guy’s been crazy in love with you for a couple of weeks now. It’s a wonder he’s been so patient.”
My eyes bugged. This was news to me. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah, well, you weren’t helping his cause with the whole ‘let’s just be friends’ thing.”
“Spencer,” Melody warned her husband. “Don’t worry about him, Susan. Men think things of the heart are so cut and dry. Sometimes we need time to make sure that they are who they say they are.”
I nodded, but felt sort of sad. Unrequited love was the worst kind. I hated that I put Archie through that. “So what do we have planned for today?” I asked as I gladly accepted a pancake from Melody. Though I missed Archie, I knew he wouldn’t have wanted me to spend this opportunity pining after him. I was an individual first, after all.
“We wanted to go rent a yacht and maybe do a little sailing. Peyton and Mia want to try hand gliding.”
“Sounds like fun,” I remarked and it was. The guys did daring twists and turns on the hand gliders. While Mia and I just rode along for the heck of it. As I held on to the handle of the tool keeping the glider connected to the water, I thought I spotted Jamie on the shore. It looked like he did not hold the same value for commitments as my Archie.
Good riddance.
We played in the water all day and even Melody got a little more water time. Spencer extended it by a whole half-an-hour. All in all, it was a heck of a day.
Later that night, Archie called me.
“Hey, Vegan,” he said.
“Hey, Hotstuff,”
“Uh, no.” Archie axed that nickname.
“Tiger, Cuddle cakes, Stud, Honey Bear?”
“No, no, no and what?”
I grinned, “Hi Archie,”
“That works… for now,” he joked. “How was your day?”
I told him about the hand gliders and about Spencer’s gift to Melody of an extra-half hour in the water.
“A whole half hour?” he exclaimed, “Wow. Spencer’s getting soft.”
I laughed, “And we’re all getting so dark. I’m a burnt coffee brown right now.”
“Huh, I guess I have no choice but to break up with you.”
I grinned, “Yeah right. Like I’d let you go that easy.”
I could hear the smile in his voice. “So how was your day?” I asked, settling into the bed pillows.
“Well, most of the time I missed you.” he replied.
&
nbsp; I laughed.
“Too cheesy?”
“Nah,” I quipped, “It’s just right.”
He told me about how the church service had gone and how he sat down with the Reyes family for their Sunday lunch and it was just like old times. I nodded along and interjected phrases to let him know that I was listening. I did not want to tell him about my Kingdom citizenship over the phone. That deserved a face-to-face conversation, so I aptly avoided all speech that could lead to that.
When we’d exhausted all the topics we could think of, neither of us could hang up. I shifted the phone away from my face and croaked,
“Archie, it’s after two in the morning,”
“Oh is it?” he said with surprise, “I didn’t feel the hours.”
“Neither did I.”
“I guess we should go now.” He said though we did not make a move to disconnect. I heard him yawn across the line. “Have I mentioned that I love you?” He said.
“Quite often,” I grinned closing my eyes, “but that’s okay, because I love you too.”
“I love the way you say that.”
“What?”
“I love you,”
I smiled, “I think that’s just exhaustion talking now.”
“Maybe,” he chuckled lightly. “Good night, Susan.”
“Good night, Archie,”
I pressed the END button and sighed into my pillows. No relationship remains in the season of euphoric chemicals. I knew that. I also knew that those happy chemicals were pumping through me right now. The fact that hard times would come just gave me more incentive to savor the high.
The gang decided to leave San Pedro early Monday morning instead of in the afternoon. I think it was the romantic in Mia and Melody that provided a way for me to be reunited with Archie earlier. As soon as the boat docked on Belize City shores, I hopped out and urged Mia and Peyton along so that they could drop me in front of Archie’s house. They did so with secret smiles and lots of silence. I waved at them when the vehicle left. Almost giddy with excitement, I stepped up to his verandah and knocked on the wooden door. A shirtless Archie appeared in the entry, his hair still messy from sleep. As soon as he recognized me, Archie launched the screen door aside and captured me into his arms. We kissed… um… a lot on his front verandah. After a few minutes, I had to stop because I couldn’t keep the smile from climbing my face.
“What?” he asked.
“You’re purposely keeping us out here.” I quipped, loving him even more for it.
“Are you mad?” He asked. “We could have more privacy inside, but I don’t think privacy is a good idea if we keep kissing like that.”
He raked a hand through his hair. I shook my head, “No, I’m not mad. I’m a little shy, but I guess kissing you in public is still kissing you, so I don’t have a problem.”
For a bit more seclusion, Archie sat me on his lap as he scooted onto the top step of his house. We could be visibly seen by his next door neighbors if they so chose to walk out of their houses but at least the whole neighborhood wouldn’t be a part of our little bubble. I separated my mouth from his to ask,
“Your neighbors don’t have little kids, do they? I don’t want any ‘birds and the bees’ conversations on my account.”
He shook his head and followed the line of my throat with kisses, “They’re all older folks. Unless they have grandchildren over.”
His admission brought me to reality and I stood. “Hey, let’s go inside now.”
“No,” Archie groaned, stubbornly tugging me back down to his lap and kissing me again.
I giggled, “Enough. I’m hungry. I want to go make an omelet.”
“Will you wear one of my sweatshirts when you do it?” he asked.
“Why?”
He shrugged, “I like to see you in my clothes.”
I shook my head at his flirting, “Okay, but I’m wearing tights this time.”
“Do you have to?” Archie whined like a child, winking at me to let me know that he was only teasing.
“Well, I guess I don’t…”
“Really?” his eyes brightened.
I laughed, “Sucker.”
He snickered as he led me inside and shut the door. I strode through the living and down the hall to his bedroom and clucked my tongue at him when he tried to follow.
“You made rule number one. Rule number two is mine. No bedrooms.”
“What? What do you mean I made rule number one?”
“No smooches in private. That was your one, buster.”
“Hey,” Archie protested, “I never meant for that to be a rule.”
I grinned at him, “Oh, it’s a rule, baby. And so is this one.” I flounced around and laughed as Archie emitted a low growl. He respectfully leaned against the door of his own bedroom and did not enter.
“Where do you keep your hoodies?” I asked.
“They’re in the closet.” He directed.
I turned toward his closet and opened it. For a guy, it wasn’t as messy as I’d expected. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but it wasn’t that bad. I selected a dark blue hoodie and sauntered toward Archie.
“I’m going to change now,” I informed him saucily and slowly closed the door in his face, not breaking eye contact with him until it was soundly shut.
I snickered when Archie’s voice rang through the wood, “Yeah … I’m going to need to take a cold shower.”
After I changed I allowed Archie into his room to grab clothes for his shower and padded to the kitchen to start the omelets. I knew that Archie was not particular about anything but meat when it came to food so I made sure to beef it up with small dices of ham and cheese. When he emerged from his shower, he smelled so good. It took all my restraint not to lean over and kiss him soundly. He grinned when he noticed my struggle and wiggled his eye brows at me.
“Go put on a shirt.” I commanded, mumbling, “You’re too sexy.”
He laughed and did as I bid. A few minutes later, we settled around the island. He prayed over our meal and then we dug in, talking about superficial things as we enjoyed the omelets. After the dishes were cleared, I proposed to Archie,
“Want to go sit on your back verandah?” he enthusiastically agreed and so for the rest of the afternoon we sat cozily together on the back porch. I played with his hand.
“Do you know where you come from, Archie?” I asked him.
“If you’re asking if I know my heritage then I do. I’m part Swedish and part German. If you want to know who created me then that’s different story.”
I laughed. “Do you know where you’re going?”
He glanced quizzically at me again but played along, “Well, right now, I’m going toward earning that placard on my door. But eventually I want to open a retreat for underprivileged kids. I want workshops and speakers and activities. I want trips to the States so the kids can get to visit universities. One day I want to broaden the horizon for children who can’t see past their poverty.” He kissed my nose and smiled down at me, “I want to have a bunch of little babies that look like their mama because Lord knows, their daddy’s a monster.”
I grinned, warmth spreading through me as he mentioned a future with me in it.
“How many kids?”
“A dozen.” He grinned at the expression on my face and then rectified his answer, “Whatever pops out of that tiny belly.” His large hand spanned the width of my stomach.
“Not to be crude, but they don’t pop out of my tummy, they pop out of my v-”
“Okay, enough talking,” Archie tipped me backward and kissed me till I was breathless. I moved away first.
“Wait,” I grinned, “I was getting to something.”
“What are you talking about?” He looked curious but distracted me when he pushed a short tendril of hair behind my ear. The lock defiantly popped out again to rest against my forehead. I stilled his hand.
“Remember Saturday night when we were on the beach around the campfire?”
; “Yeah,” he nodded.
“I decided to become an ambassador.”
He looked confused.
“For the Kingdom of God,” I added.
Archie’s reaction was immediate, he stood and whooped, pulling me to my feet and swinging me around the back yard.
“Does anyone else know?” he said when he set me down.
“No, I wanted to tell you first.”
His silver eyes were shining so brightly I thought they’d sear me.
“I’m so happy for you, Susan.”
“I am too. I finally have purpose. I was put on this earth for a specific reason and now I have His help in finding out what that purpose is.”
“Mia and Melody are going to blow their heads off.” Archie chuckled at the thought.
“I figured as much.” I grinned and then sobered, “Would you have loved me even if I’d never become a citizen?” I asked.
“That’s a hard question.” Archie returned to his seat on the step, “Would I have had feelings for you still? Probably. Would I have acted on those feelings? Probably not.”
“I think I understand.” I replied.
“But to be honest, I told you that I loved you even before you became a citizen so maybe I’m not as strong as I think.”
“Well, it’s working itself out,” I assured him before his mind trekked down the ‘Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda’ lane.
He nodded and then looked down at me, “I’m hungry.”
“Again?” I said in astonishment, “We just ate like four hours ago.”
“That was four hours ago,” he pointed out.
“I’m not cooking,” I said firmly, “You can order out if you’re hungry.”
He shrugged and went to get his cell phone from inside the house. I followed him through the door and chuckled silently as he ordered the largest steak they had and then looked at me and asked what I wanted. I told him nothing, but I was totally taking half of that steak. Besides, he shouldn’t be eating so much fat on his own anyway.
CHAPTER THIRTY
The next day, I sat beside Persia in the library and regarded the essay that she’d convinced Peters’ to let her hand in late. No one had known that Persia had a child and when she admitted this to the lecturer, her punishment was slated.
