Chapter Thirty-one: Quinn

Chapter Thirty-One

Quinn

“No?” Archer echoes, face paling.

“I want to hear the speech.” I close Archer’s fingers around the ring. “Ask me like you had it planned.”

Archer looks down at the ring. “Are you…are you going to say yes?”

“Yes!” I say, and tears fall from my eyes. “I love you so much, Archer.”

“I love you too,” he says, wrapping his arms around me. He pulls me onto his lap, and when we kiss, everything fades away. Breathless, I break away, cupping Archer’s face with my hands.

“How tired are you?”

“Pretty damn tired.”

I gently kiss him. “Do you want to get a good night’s sleep and make sure this is what you want?” I ask with a smile.

“It’s what I’ve always wanted.” He shifts his weight, holding me close. “I brought the ring to Hawaii with me.”

“You’ve had this since then?”

“Not that particular one. Your grandma’s ring. I bought this one yesterday.”

“That was fast,” I say, taking the ring from his hand. It’s gorgeous, with a large oval center stone in between the two diamonds from my grandma’s ring. The entire thing is encrusted in tiny diamonds that glitter and sparkle in the light.

“The setting was already made. They just had to put in the big stones.”

“Big stones,” I repeat with a smile. “Ask me now. I want to wear it.”

Archer raises his eyebrows, laughing. “No. I want to do this right when you’re not expecting it.”

“I’m literally holding the ring.”

Archer takes it from me and puts it back in his pocket. “I’ll ask you later.”

“Did you just take back your proposal?”

“You said no.”

Shaking my head, I lean in to kiss him again. “You’re lucky I love you.”

He hugs me tight, then looks out at the yard. “I think one of the dogs got into something.”

“Really? This is why I like cats.” I get up and hurry to the door. I see Rufus and Chrissy roughhousing in the grass, Boots sitting on a lounge chair, and Carlos digging something in the corner. “I don’t—”

I cut off when I turn around, seeing Archer down on one knee. “You weren’t expecting that, were you?”

“No, not at all.” I can’t help the smile that takes over my face.

“What started as a teenage crush has turned into something more,” he says, looking into my eyes. “You went from the hottest girl in the world to the most amazing woman in the world. I like waking up with you, even though you sleep with a million blankets and I wake up all sweaty.”

I laugh and bring my hand into my chest, feeling so much for him right now.

“And if I start every day hot and sweaty but next to you, I’ll be the luckiest man in the world.”

I knew this was coming yet I’m still getting emotional. Archer opens the ring box.

“Will you marry me?”

“Yes!”

Archer stands and wraps me in his arms. “Good. I was a little worried there you changed your mind.”

Laughing, I bring my hands to his chest, looking into his eyes. “I would have if the speech was a letdown. I had high expectations, you know. You nailed it. Not too long with just the right amount of sap. Can I try on the ring now?”

He takes it back out of the box and slides it on my finger. It’s a little big, but not so much I can’t wear it. We kiss again, and the garage door opens. Wiping my eyes, I turn to see who it is.

“Did you do it already?” Dean asks.

“Yeah,” Archer replies, still holding me tight in his arms. “I couldn’t wait any longer.”

“Wait,” I start, looking from Dean to Archer and Dean again. “You knew?”

“I did,” Dean tells me. Kara steps in behind him, smiling. “I was going to record the thing. We know how you like pictures and videos and stuff.” Dean kicks off his shoes and comes into the living room. “So I’m guessing you said yes.”

“He had to do some begging, but I finally took pity and said yes.”

“I did have to bribe her with diamonds,” Archer says.

“Congrats, guys!” Kara says, holding up a camera. “We missed the action, but do you still want a photo?”

“Yeah,” Archer says, turning his body into mine. “What was that one pose you suggested to them?”

“Put your hand on my waist,” I tell him, and hold up my left hand. This time, it’s anything but awkward.

*

I pull the blankets up around us and lean back on the pillows, looking at my hand. We’re still at my parents’ house, and after going out for a celebratory dinner with my family, Archer and I went to bed.

“Do you like it?” Archer asks, hooking his arm around me. He’s exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes, and needs to go to sleep.

“I love it. It’s beautiful. And having my Nana’s diamonds in it makes it even more special.”

“It also made it possible for me to get you a bigger center stone,” he jokes.

“It’s massive.”

“Yep. I know,” Archer says, nodding. “Oh, you were talking about the ring?”

“Hah, and yes to the ring, but that other thing is massive too.”

“I wanted to get you something fitting for a doctor’s wife,” he jokes.

“Right. I can quit working and become your trophy wife now. You’ll be my sugar daddy.”

“You still have more money than me,” he laughs. “Give me a few years.”

I nestle my head against him, and everything feels perfect. And it is, in a sense, but there’s still so much up in the air. Remembering Weston’s words about the need for important communication, I lift my head off his chest and look into his eyes.

“What are you going to do about work now that you turned down the fellowship?”

“I’m going to give Dr. Crawford a call and apply to Northwestern as well as every other hospital within driving distance from your apartment.” He takes in a slow, deep breath and runs his hands through my hair. “You need to know that even though I’m not taking the fellowship, I’ll still be busy with work, especially within the first year or two. I’ll be on call a lot, and will work weekends and holidays and there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“I know. I’ll miss you, but we’ll make do. Emma and I can come visit you at work or something if that happens.”

“I’ve thought about this a lot,” he says. “Pretty much the whole way I was in the car driving from the airport. Which was a long time since traffic was terrible.”

“Thinking about what a lot?”

“How there’s a good chance I’ll be working over Thanksgiving or Christmas next year.”

“Oh, right.”

“And if we were in Chicago and it was one of my on-call nights, I couldn’t leave to come back here to spend the holiday with your family.”

“That’s okay. I’ll stay in Chicago with you. You’ll be my husband by then.”

“I know,” he says softly. “But then I think of you sitting alone in the apartment on Christmas while I’m stuck at the hospital and it upsets me.”

“You’re a surgeon, Arch. I knew that from the start. It comes with the territory and I’m fine with that.”

“What if there was a solution?”

Not seeing where he’s going with this, I sit up and give him a quizzical look. “That’d be great. What is it?”

“We move here.”

“Here? As in, Eastwood here?”

“Yeah. That way you’ll be close to your family so when I’m doing an overnight shift at the hospital or attending to patients on Christmas morning, you and Emma won’t be alone.”

I blink, heart rapidly beating in my chest. I hadn’t thought of that because I know Archer won’t like it at a small county hospital.

“You’ll hate it at the Eastwood hospital.”

“I will for like a year or two.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What’ll change after a year?”

“The new hospital.” He smiles, entire face lighting up. “Dean told me about the plans to tear down the current hospital and build a new one, replacing the smaller hospitals in the surrounding towns. It’ll serve the entire county. The outpatient offices will be in the same area, and there’s a chance of partnering with one of the nearby colleges for teaching opportunities.”

“How does Dean know about it?”

“Your dad’s company is doing some of the construction. The plans went through not long after I turned down the job, but I’m not above going back and begging for another interview.”

“Wow,” I say, taking it all in. I’m overcome with emotion again from Archer being so willing to do whatever it takes for our family. “What do you want to do? Don’t think about me this time.”

He laughs. “You’re the deciding factor in everything, babe. You and Emma. Before, I wanted to keep going with schooling until they kicked me out, but that was because I didn’t have anything else. Being busy kept me distracted from how much I wanted you, because I have for years. And now that I have you…I want us to be a family. I like Eastwood. It feels like home to me now too.”

“You haven’t answered the question.” I rake my fingers through his hair and his eyelids become heavy. “What will make you the happiest? Don’t overthink it. Just answer.”

“I want to get married, build a house, and raise Emma in Eastwood. I’ll probably knock you up again not long after you have our first kid, so being by family is a priority.” He tips his head down to mine. “My parents even want to move here. They think it’ll be good for Bobby to get a fresh start away from his junkie friends.”

“Oh. I hope it is. Though there are a fair share of meth labs scattered in barns in the more rural parts of the county.” I turn off the bedside light and lay down, rubbing Archer’s back with my right hand. My left wrist has been aching again, and I’m trying not to move it so it’ll rest and get better. The brace will clash with my new ring.

I kiss Archer’s lips and smile. “Then I guess we better move here too.”